How many comic books can say that they truly has an all star cast?
I can understand peoples’ issues and problems with newuniversal. On nearly every page, the characters in newuniversal #3 are going to remind you of an actor. Look, here’s James Cromwell and over there is Johnny Depp. And you can’t miss the special appearance by Bruce Willis that happens around the middle of the book. We’ve gotten used to photo-realistic swiping of celebrities in our comics. Panels here and there of Sue Richards will look like FMH models and Clint Eastwood pops up all the time when a rugged and ragged tough guy is needed to illustrate a point. And sometimes, if it’s a book we like, we’ll talk about our ideal Hollywood casting if a movie was ever made of our favorite books. In newuniversal, Salvador Larocca has taken it to a new level. He’s taken Warren Ellis’ scripts and done his own Hollywood casting, creating an all-star ensemble within the pages of a comic book.
Instead of thinking that at some point in the future that Bruce Willis would make an excellent dead cop in some hypothetical movie, the dead cop really IS Bruce Willis. When the character shows up, he’s the world-weary Willis, slightly out of place but driven by some unknown need to exact justice on his killers. Angelina Jolie is the scientist sent after the new superpowers in the world and James Cromwell is the one who’s sent her on the mission.
Using actors in most of the major roles, Larocca is building a fascinating visual shorthand. We know these actors and the types of characters they play. We can hear their voices and see their mannerisms as they walk and talk. By building a world with these actors’ likenesses, Larocca is instilling deeper character into the people inhabiting the story. With the large cast he has to work with, it could have taken a long time to work in these characteristics into the book but he’s quickly established something more than two dimensional characters within the span of issues instead of years.
The reason it works in this book is because every character is an actor. After a few pages, the actors drift into the background and the characters come out. In most comics, when you see one panel that resembles a famous celebrity, it’s jarring and can knock you out of the book. With newuniversal, it may be jarring at first, but if you let it, it will settle in to a rhythm and pace that flows.
Writer Warren Ellis continues to slowly build his story. We’ve maybe only moved hours since the White Event in issue one. Maybe a day at most as the world begins to realign with the latest arrival of superpowered beings. He deepens a couple of mysteries as he explores the archeological dig in Latvia as well as shows hints that there may be a larger impact from the White Event than originally thought. newuniversal is slow and deliberately paced but it’s also well plotted and excellently produced.
newuniversal #3
“Mathematics”
Written by: Warren Ellis
Drawn by: Salvador Larroca
Colored by: Jason Keith
Lettered by: VC’s Rus Wooton
