ORIGIN: Night Thrasher, using his vast wealth, formed the supergroup The New Warriors. The starting team consisted of Nova, Namorita, Firestar, Marvel Boy, Speedball, and Night Thrasher himself. The roster changed frequently, many members leaving and coming, giving a constant flow of different happiness and problems within the team.The team often contains at least one member of the original line-up, and is mostly composed of teenage superheroes.

Night Thrasher had originally gathered Nova, Marvel Boy (Vance Astrovik), and Firestar as the New Warriors, after being encouraged to do so by his legal guardians Chord and Tai. After they had gathered they heard about Terrax rampaging through a local park. They then went to fight him, and found Namorita and Speedball had joined the battle. Beating Terrax together, the five heroes unknowingly were on the way to creating something great. After this, they decided to stay together as a team. They called themselves the New Warriors, after a news report that Speedball had heard about the team.

PREFACE: For the purposes of this article I will not be doing EVERY version of EVERY character that has been a New Warrior. I will be focusing instead on the original lineup of the team and due to space constraint won't even be doing every version of them either. It will be more of a highlight reel of the original team. Also, as I am doing a team review, there will be no "Keys to the Kingdom" or "Who needs Keywords" section to the article.


mm203 LE Angelica Jones
Team: Avengers
Range: 6
Points: 50
Keywords: Avengers, New Warriors, Teen

8 8 15 2

8 7 14 2

7 7 14 2

7 6 13 2

6 6 12 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

PROS: It was a tough choice to pick which of the original Firestars to put in this article. I finally settled on this one as she kind of represents the best of all of the versions plus a little extra. Her keywords can represent the classic character as well as her more modern age version where she was an Avenger. She also has powers that can be helpful throughout the dial unlike some of her other versions. The barrier towards the end is a big help on a team. She isn't going to be doing much attacking when she hits that point, but the barrier alone could be just enough of a defensive edge to be game winning. Though her defense stats aren't very impressive to begin with, the poison on her dial is going to be enough of a deterrent to maybe get an opponent to waste a shot or two from range. This will also help her to use her ranged combat expert. If they miss a shot or two, they might get discouraged and come in close where hopefully they will take at least a click or two of poison damage.

CONS: Her stats are just abyssmal...from beginning to end. This is not just this piece, though. It's every Firestar that came out in Mutant Mayhem. Even the veteran only starts with a nine attack, and that just wasn't enough for her to make it in the top spot for me. Not a single early version of her starts with more than a 15 defense. The energy shields only slightly help her case out since an opponent will only have to shoot at the high end of an average defense should she be standing in hindering terrain at the time. He attack stats start where most modern age figures' attacks settle at. Her damage, though consistent, is not going to be doing much for you either. If her combined attack and damage powers have won you games it was either the most epic game ever or the most disappointing game ever...for your opponent.

THEME: As I had already touched upon, one of the biggest reasons that I selected this version of Firestar was that she has the versatility to be both the New Warrior that I needed for this artice as well as the ability to be an Avenger. There are better options for an Avengers team by far, but if you really want a Perez/Busiek era team, your Firestar options are limited. Sure, the Veteran has the keyword too, but I like the barrier and the nice even 50 point option.

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ws020 E Firestar
Team: Avengers|Spider-man
Range: 8
Points: 81
Keywords: Avengers, Hellions, Marvel Diva, New Warriors

10 9 17 3

9 9 16 3

9 9 16 3

9 9 16 3

8 8 15 2

8 8 15 2

8 11 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Absorb and Re-Channel Radiation: Whenever Firestar would take damage from Energy Explosion or Pulse Wave, ignore the damage dealt, heal her of 1 damage, and modify her damage value by +1 until end of turn. This power can't be ignored.

PROS: The Web of Spider-Man version of Firestar basically takes everything that you liked about the Mutant Mayhem versions, adds them all together, and pumps her full of mutant growth hormone. That tough choice of going for the Spider-Man team ability or the better dial with the Avengers team ability in the MM versions? Gone...now she has both. They also cranked her range up to an eight and added in running shot on clicks 2-3. She alternates between energy explosion and psychic blast which seems more character appropriate than poison did as well (Though I admit to missing the poison a bit). The sculpt is also breath of fresh air as well. She came out in a set and during a time period when static poses were too common and fliers were only identifiable by their combat symbols.

CONS: The attack, though better than the previous REV on the whole, is still a little lacking. I think that she would merrit a 10 attack to begin the dial with. There is that large burst of an 11 attack at the end of the dial, but that might be too little too late. As I mentioned, I miss the poison. It had become a staple of characters with fire powers/gimmicks and it just feels like it is missing. It may not be character appropriate, but I had still grown to love it. I also have a love/hate relationship with her special power. I fear that you might be losing almost 100 points of your build total if go out of your way to make this happen. I know I'm not alone when I overextend myself to get the wacky special powers to work. Luckily, this one is a power that isn't essential to make the character work.

THEME: Though it looks like Hellcat was passed over in the newest fan vote, I would still make a Marvel Divas team featuring this Firestar, Monica Rambeau, Hellcat, and Black Cat. It's not likely to be a theme team ever played at worlds. Heck, it might not even win a weekly event at my/your venue, but it's guaranteed to be something different and fun.

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sv013 R Night Thrasher
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 0
Points: 37
Keywords: Martial Artist, New Warriors, Teen

8 9 16 2

7 9 16 1

6 8 15 1

8 8 15 1

8 7 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

PROS: He brings a lot to the table for such a cheap package. He's likely not going to be the MVP on your team or anything, but he is not going to be doing anything to take away from it's overall effectiveness either. Going into any game with this piece, you should already know that he won't be your main attacker so don't try to use him as such. Though leadership is so much more useful now than it used to be, you are likely not going to have any characters on your team that are less points to pull tokens off of. You can still enjoy the other aspect ot the power though and gain extra actions. One of the biggest boons that the character offers is his wildcard team ability. He can jump around and be excellent tie-up and even offer up some offense to take care of the click or two remaining on a character after your main hitters soften them up.

CONS: I know you are getting what you pay for when you look at what he offers for 37 points, but when you compare it to other dials that are super efficient for a similar cost you can't help but feel cheated a bit with his dial. His attack and defense feel about right for a rookie level character in his weight class, but it would have been nice if he would have had some close combat expert to bolster his damage output a bit. The rest of his powers fit nicely for this stage in the heroes career, but as a martial artist, he should just be at tad more effective.

THEME: Given his low cost and overall utility with the leadership and the wild card team ability, I think that this version of Night Thrasher could really find a home on a Martial Artist team. There are a lot of good martial artist characters that are less points than he is so his ability to use Leadership could actually be fully useful in that environment. Plus, given the fact that it's a generic keyword, the chances that you will see a lot of the same team ability are lessened so his wildcard status will get to be fully exploited as well. He could be really good and useful on such a team.

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sv015 V Night Thrasher
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 4
Points: 73
Keywords: Celebrity, Martial Artist, New Warriors

8 10 17 2

8 9 17 2

7 9 16 2

7 8 15 2

6 8 15 1

6 7 14 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

PROS: This is a lot more like the Night Thrasher that I was thinking of when I pictured what he should look like as a HeroClix figure. He's picked up some great offensive and defensive powers along with some extra utility powers along the way. Now he's gained the power level of someone that could be used as a solid secondary attacker. He even has some of those damage powers that I thought the rookie should have. Though a range isn't much to write home about, it should help to catch an opponent off guard once or twice too. Thankfully he has also retained the Spider-Man team ability which only bolsters his overall value. There isn't a click on his dial that doesn't have value.

CONS: One of the things that has always bothered me about the old REV dials as well as some of the newer dials is that some characters have a tendency to "Forget" that they could do something once upon a time. Where did the leadership go? How about the stealth? Yes, I'm glad that he's picked up the ability to use outwit, perplex, and close combat expert, but one of the most unfortunate things about dials that existed before special powers and traits was the fact that in most cases you just had to accept the loss of some powers and abilities to make room for other things to take their place.

THEME: I would like to combine the ideas of two of his keywords and use him on a theme team from the "Reality Show" New Warriors era. It was a fun concept and though it ultimately led to the Super Hero Registration Act, it was an important growth stage in the New Warriors' careers. Unfortunately we don't have some of the newer members from that era in Clix form, but enough of the members were old core members to make it work. Just don't use them against Nitro....

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sv028 R Marvel Boy
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 6
Points: 53
Keywords: Mutant, New Warriors, Teen

8 8 16 2

7 8 16 2

7 7 15 1

7 7 15 1

6 7 16 1

5 7 17 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

PROS: He does one thing and he does it well...Telekinesis. He reminds me a lot of the first Cosmic Boy figure in that he is not at all impressive in any other way except for that power and with his wild card team ability. Luckily, for only 53 points, that's all he really needs to be impressive. He isn't without other powers at all though. I personally have gotten a lot of use out of his late dial defend. It doesn't see as much usefulness in todays game as it did in Supernova when he came out, but it can still be the difference between a hit and a miss.

CONS: As with many telekinesis one trick ponies back in the day, his offensive capabilities were often measured by what objects were in his vicinity to use as weapons. Unfortunately back in the day he was even more limited as you couldn't push/pull objects that you weren't right next to so that may have hurt his ratings early on. This made his six range and two damage more useful at the time, but now they are more of "Back-up" plans. It was doubtful that they were ever really relied upon, though.

THEME: Unfortunately, WizKids saw it fit to put the kaibosh on the mutant keyword. Otherwise it would have been a great alternate team to put him on. By all means you can and should still do so if you are able to scrounge together the pieces that had that keyword. The alternative, if not a New Warriors team, would be to put him on a teen team, and quite frankly the rookie cosmic boy does it for cheaper if looking for a piece with these capabilities for a teen team.

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sv030 V Justice
Team: Avengers
Range: 10
Points: 94
Keywords: Avengers, Mutant

8 10 17 3

6 9 17 3

7 9 16 2

7 8 15 2

8 8 14 1

8 7 16 1

9 7 17 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

PROS: The grown up Vance Astrovik has adopted the name of Justice now and he has brought a lot more to the party than his rookie counterpart. He has added such things to his arsenal as running shot, incapacitate, barrier, energy shield/deflection, and ranged combat expert. Something else that people often overlook (And the same can be said about his Guardians of the Galaxy self) is his massive 10 range. Everytime I pull off a large range attack from him (And Astro) my oponent looks at me as if they didn't have a clue that such a thing was possible.

CONS: I wish that his attack value had an upward swing to it like his defense does...even just a little bit. It is consistent, but it is a donward trending consistent, and Vance always has the fortitude and internal strength to fight against the odds. If anything, it would represent his drive to impress Captain America and the rest of the Avengers from the Perez/Busiek run of the Avengers. Once again, it would have been nice if he would have still had a nod to the New Warriors team a bit more and still retain the keyword. They were more specific about keywords back then as opposed to some of the characters that have come out in recent sets who have keywords that represent their whole careers.

THEME: Without a doubt or hesitation I would put him on a Perez/Busiek era Avengers theme team. Put Scarlet Witch, Firestar, Cap, Iron Man, Thor, and the other characters that made that team iconic and great on the team and go to town! Unfortunately it looks like the fans weren't so much digging on getting a Triathlon figure made based on the fan vote, so that aspect is going to have to wait a bit.

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sv038 E Kid Nova
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 0
Points: 66
Keywords: Celebrity, New Warriors, Teen

6 8 15 1

8 9 17 3

10 10 16 2

12 9 16 1

10 8 15 2

9 8 14 2

9 7 14 1

8 7 13 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

PROS: He may not be the GREATEST choice for Nova figures, but given the era that he was made, the team ability that he has, and the powers that he has to offer, he has held up VERY well over the years. He is a flying character with charge and super strength that, if he gets a good object can do 4-5 clicks of damage on the majority of his dial. You'd be hard pressed to find a figure that can do that with a consistently good dial and still have a wild card team ability these days.

CONS: He is just two clicks too long lived for my tastes. He has the activation click up front and the click at the end of the dial that has point sink written all over it. The activation click is probably what is saving him some of his cost so there is some good to go with the bad, but I would be interested to see what his cost would be without it and if it would retain it's utility or not. If anything, I'm sure the added cost could be balanced by losing the boat anchor that is that final click. That close combat expert, though useful, just seems wildly out of place on that dial. Luckily, with recent changes it doesn't conflict with his superstrength.

THEME: The reason I chose this Nova over others that have more powerful dials is that I wanted to highlight a Nova that represents the early New Warriors days for the character. He is the only Nova that WizKids has made that represents that brown costumed early years version of Nova. He's a really good version of the character and looks the part. Given the "Teen" keyword, that is about the only other team that I could see me playing him on other than the very appropriate New Warriors team. I would pair him up with other teen characters like Spider-Man.

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ffgga001 V Nova
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 7
Points: 125
Keywords: Avengers, Cosmic, New Warriors, Nova Corps, Soldier

11 10 17 3

9 9 17 3

9 9 17 3

8 9 16 3

8 9 15 2

11 8 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Worldmind Surge: Nova can use Perplex, but only to target himself or characters that share a keyword with him. When he uses it, he may modify an attack value by +2 instead of +1.

PROS: Probably one of the biggest things that this adult version of Nova has going for him is the Wordlmind perplex power. I've never met a player that wouldn't say "Sure" to a +2 boost to attack power. He also has the keywords that span the length of his career so he will fit in pretty much anywhere you put him both power-wise and point wise. His early and late phasing will also help him get to where he can be most effective early on and help him bug out if he needs to get to a safe place. Though it's not on his starting click, it is nice to have the running shot for the majority of his dial. Personally I only like energy explosion with more than one target so it is nice that he has two targets in conjunction with the perpex and running shot as well.

CONS: It's really unfortunate that some of the more powerful members of the Marvel Universe lately have been cut back on their stats to try to reign in the power creep. It goes back to what I was saying earlier about characters "Forgetting" about abilities that they had in the past. Veteran Supernova Nova had a 10 range yet when he gets a major power boost it somehow drops to a SEVEN?! I would have like to have seen some charge in the dial as well to harken back to the old design. Maybe a special power that let him use charge or phasing. He's still pretty good, but any of these things could have made him more appealing to the general public.

THEME: He could really shine in a Nova Corps theme...especially with the MASSIVE influx of options that was made in the Galactic Guardians set. All the Worldmind traits, if used properly an be a massive team boost, and he would be the guy to give them all a +2 attack boost to go with all their shared abilities. Another really fun option would be a Secret Avengers team. His stay on the team was a short one, but it was a VERY ecclectic squad of character for him to be mingling with.

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si038 E Speedball
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 4
Points: 77
Keywords: New Warriors, Teen

8 9 18 3

10 9 17 3

12 8 16 2

10 8 15 2

8 7 15 2

8 7 14 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Bounce: Speedball can use Charge and Leap/Climb, and automatically breaks away.

Speedball Effect: Once per turn, if Speedball defeats an opposing character or hits an opposing character with doubles, after the attack resolves he can break away automatically, immediately move up to his full speed value, and make one close combat attack against a different opposing character as a free action.

PROS: If you don't take a second look at this figure and dismiss him as goofy or bad, you're wrong. He may be a bit of a goofy character, but the HeroClix version of him is not bad. He's not an overlooked "Meta" piece or anything, but he's far from bad. Let's look at the facts. He has a full dial of charge that also lets him automatically break away. Properly supported he can use his SPEEDBALL EFFECT power to pull off multiple crippling attacks per turn. Not only is he super mobile, he also has pretty consistent numbers on his dial. Without some perplex or outwit to help him get his shots in he is not likely to be the guy to go toe-to-toe with the big guns, but with his high opening defense he might be able to get a lucky shot or two in before being taken down. Another major benefit to him is his Spider-Man team ability. I have never been upset about having a wild card team ability at my disposal.

CONS: All of his powers and stats are very character appropriate so it's hard to get down on him for any reason because it's not as if he wasn't really done justice. If I had to pick anything to dog on him about, it's the costume choice. I really hope that in the Amazing Spider-Man set that we get a classic costume Speedball. This was what he was in when the figure was getting made. I get that, but it just didn't translate well in my opinion. Given that he was practically un-harmable when he was bouncing off of things it would have been nice to have a better or more imaginative defensive power as well. Toughness just doesn't seem to cut it. Maybe if it had been a combination of toughness and super senses. Of course, it would have added to his point cost and then he would have been too expensive.

THEME: He only has the two keywords to pick from so it's either New Warriors or Teen. He would fit really well into that afformentioned "Reality Show" New Warriors team. The costume fits the era as does the experience level. This is Speedball right before he got all dark and emo as Penance and right before the Stamford disaster.

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av046 E Namorita
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 0
Points: 98
Keywords: Mutant, New Warriors

8 9 17 3

8 9 17 3

7 8 16 4

7 8 15 3

7 8 15 3

6 7 14 2

8 7 14 2

8 7 13 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

PROS: She is another great flying bruiser character. I like the split dial charge. It allows her to get into the fight and do her damage but also allows her to fight her way out of a larger battle as well. Paired with her shape change and poison at the end of her dial, it allows her to stay potentially unharmed while chipping away at those without damage reducers. It doesn't really need to be said at this point, but the Spider-Man team ability is really helping out her overall playability here too. She has a good solid base to work with and the freedom and options that the team ability gives her opens her up to some solid combinations.

CONS: As several people said in the review forum section for her, WHERE IS THE ATLANTIS KEYWORD?! She is a native of the realm and even ruled over it for a time and the keyword is nowhere to be found. So many fun team combos could be made if only that keyword were there. It was still early in the days of special powers so she has no swim ability either. It's not really necessary since she has flight, but what if that were to be outwitted? An Atlantean that doesn't have the keyword and doesn't do well in water isn't much of an Atlantean if you ask me.

THEME: Well, as I've already stated, the ball was majorly dropped on the Atlantis keyword. Has that ever stopped me before, though? HECK, NO! I'm going Atlantis with her all the way. Pair her up with her cousin Namor and some Atlantean Warriors and have fun. Most judges that I know (Myself included) would not hold you back from theme bonuses because of a silly oversight like that one.

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That wraps it up for Deep Dish Themes: New Warriors edition. Feel free to comment on the article and nominate figures to be reviewed. I prefer single figures but obviously I can do teams as well. Just realize that if it's a big team, it will be condensed as the New Warriors were above. I would really love to do full reviews but to do all the members would have been a huge undertaking! Please join me in two weeks when I tackle Goldpony's request and make things go nuclear around here with the FURY of FIRESTORM!

I read New Warriors and Speedball. I would like to see them make a 50 pt Speedball.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to run a New Warriors team soon.

Nice read!

Awesome Article and well done. That FF Nova does not get nearly enough play for how strong a figure he is good call. I would have actually liked to see you talk about the CTD Nova as well only b/c I think that is the best dial representation of early Nova ever done.

Out of curiosity, why would you select the Fast Force version of Nova for a New Warriors team over the CTD version which actually FITS the character he was when he was on the New Warriors? Sure you'd have to play the Nova Corps ATA to save 10 points on him, but for a New Warrior, he's the much more accurate choice. Personally I think overall the FF dial is a TERRIBLE representation of Richard Rider, but maybe I'm in the minority there.

I'm not a big comic buff, but it seems like every popular male super hero needs a female/kid version of themselves.

Why is that? Does it ever go the other way? Are there female heroes that have a later incarnation that's male, or a kid character that has an older counterpart that came after (not timeline wise)?

But you forgot about my boy Darkhawk.

Darkhawk isn't even close to an original member. Not that I have anything against Darkhawk, but he's not part of what the OP was doing.

Darkhawk didn't join till issue #22.

For what it's worth, Darkhawk would have been like the ONE figure I would have almost made an exception for!

he's the coolest and most underestimated guy in marvel.

One of the best comics. i love darkhawk Good call on new warriors love that Group alot of memory thanks

Thank you for the more the thorough write-up. I ran a New Warriors theme a few years ago after we got the Namorita and Speedball figures. It was not a good day for that team. I was rusty but still didn't think the team gave me a lot of good options. I'll have to pull them out again as soon as I pick up the new Firestar.