FREE THE BRAND OF EXILES: VOL. 12 PDF Jean van Hamme,Rosinski | 48 pages | 16 Jan 2013 | CINEBOOK LTD | 9781849181365 | English | Ashford, United Kingdom Exiles (comic book) - Wikipedia The New Universe is an imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from to It was the first line produced by Marvel Comics utilizing a pre-conceived shared universe concept. This was to be a distinctly separate world, fully divorced from the mainstream continuity of the Marvel Universeconsisting of its own continuing characters and stories in a more realistic setting. There would be no hidden racesgodsmythological beingsmagicor supertechnology a rule immediately broken by Justice. Superhuman characters and powers would be limited and thus more subdued in their activities, yet their actions would have more realistic consequences. This was in contrast to the traditional Marvel Universe, which always purported to take The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 in a mirror of the real world where public knowledge of superheroessupervillains and their activities had little effect on normal day-to-day business. Adding to the sense of realism, the New Universe titles were designed to operate in real-time : a month would lapse in the universe for each month that passed in reality. The limitation of fantasy elements, and the low-key nature of the characters' activities in the The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 Universe, gave the imprint verisimilitudeto seem like "the world outside The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 window," which was the series catchphrase. To discuss how to capitalize on Marvel Comics 's upcoming 25th anniversary, president Jim Galton held a meeting with Marvel's vice presidents, including Jim Shooterwho was also Marvel editor-in-chief. Shooter proposed an idea similar to the later Ultimate Marvel line: end the Marvel Universeand relaunch all the titles in a remade universe which would use the same characters and story concepts as the original Marvel Universe, but updated to the present era. After a false start in which Tom DeFalco was placed in charge of the project and reportedly made little progress, [1] [3] Shooter conceived a line of comics that would be the next innovation for greater realism in superhero comics. The concept was fleshed out, and ideas for the individual series proposed, at a meeting with Shooter, DeFalco, Archie GoodwinEliot R. BrownJohn Morelliand Mark Gruenwald. The premise behind the line of comics was that, prior to July 22,the New Universe was identical to the real world. It bathed the Earth in a bright white light and caused genetic anomalies in two out of every one million humans, which led to their developing superhuman powers. Many looked completely normal, but for others the anomaly resulted in a physical manifestation that led to horrible disfiguration. Human beings who developed a reaction to the White Event were referred to as paranormals. According to Goodwin, it was intended from the beginning that all the major characters in the New Universe would be either paranormals or in some other way linked to the White Event. The New Universe was heavily marketed but faced substantial problems. Jim Shooter had planned to recruit top creators, but this became unfeasible when Marvel's parent company, Cadence IndustriesThe Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 to sell off the company, creating immense pressure for Marvel to cut costs and increase revenues. Shooter was also involved with complex politics at Marvel Comics which eventually led to him resigning his positionand thus could not give the line as much attention as he would have liked. In addition, many readers felt that the line did not follow the advertised "world outside your window" concept; especially strong contradictions to the line's supposed realism were Justice about an alien knight from a quasi-medieval civilizationKickers Inc. The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 the end of the imprint's first year, four of the titles Kickers, Inc. Though the news bulletins published in the comics reassured readers that the cancellations were only a case of some series not selling as well as The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12, in fact, even the four remaining New Universe titles were on the brink of cancellation. In an effort to save the line, DeFalco now Marvel's editor-in-chiefGruenwald, John Byrneand editor Howard Mackie ended up removing some of the more fantastic elements from it and, in a few cases, doing radical revamps. This began initially with the idea of having Ken Connell go public with his identity as Star Brand. Similarly, the premise of Justice was revealed to be a hallucination that had been artificially induced in the title's protagonist by another paranormal. From this point on, Justice becomes a serial killer who targets paranormals who abuse their powers. Some of the characters whose titles had been cancelled returned as backup features or even as supporting characters in the remaining books. One of the founding ideas of the New Universe was that the existence of paranormals would have The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 and lasting consequences, [4] but so far these had been few and on the personal level. Gruenwald elaborated. There was a big misunderstanding among all of the creators, myself included, that we should keep the New U the world outside your window -- that it should never change too much, or else we'd lose reader identification or something. We missed the point of having a virgin universe, uncluttered by known super-beings, aliens, other dimensions, hidden civilizations, and all that. The point is enabling the reader to experience the first time the weird stuff starts happening -- and, more importantly, letting the weird stuff actually affect the status quo of the world. This changed in issue 12 of Star Brandin which Ken Connell transfers a portion of the Star Brand to an inanimate object. This same issue reveals that a similar transfer of the Star Brand's power into an asteroid was the trigger for the White Event in the first place. Connell's effort results The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 a tremendous release of energy, which scoops out a massive crater, obliterating the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and most of the surrounding area in what became known as the Black Event. The increasingly unstable political scene would have effects such as the forcible military recruitment of paranormals for a war with the Soviet Union believed by the Americans to have caused the disasteras portrayed in the graphic novel The Draft. Despite all of this, the imprint was discontinued in late after a total of comics had been published. Readers often assumed that the New Universe had suffered from poor sales, but in fact, all four series were solidly profitable right up until their cancellation; the actual reason for discontinuing the line was that, with Marvel Comics in one of its most successful eras, it was felt that staff and production resources would be better used on new, more promising series. He eventually revealed that Net Prophet was actually the New Universe character Justice, who slowly regained his memories during the course of the storyline. He later incorporated them into the Marvel Multiverseallowing crossovers with other Marvel titles, in the "Starblast" storyline:. In addition, Namor the Sub-Mariner 46, Quasarand Quasar were unnumbered tie-ins to the crossover. In this crossover, Kayla Ballantine is Quasar's secretary at the time that she receives the Star Brand. Once her powers begin to manifest, she The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 the target of numerous alien individuals and groups. These include: the Dance, the Chief Examinerand a group of interplanetary marauders known as the Starblasters. The Imperial Guard were informed about a hijacked Shi'ar craft and later joined Quasar. When it becomes clear that the Starblasters are working for the StrangerGuard members Solar Wind, Voyager and Moondancer opt The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 help Quasar's team against the Stranger, even though it means they have to The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 from active Guard duty. These three Guardsmen were once captured The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 caged by the Stranger some years before. After helping Quasar, these three 'former' Guardsmen are never seen again serving the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, and their whereabouts is unknown. Ballantine would eventually pass the Star Brand on to the Stranger in order to prevent Skeletron the leader of the Starblasters from forcibly taking the Star Brand. The Living Tribunal then judges the Star Brand to be a threat to the hierarchy of the greater powers of the Marvel Multiverse. The New Universe's Earth is quarantined, surrounded by an impenetrable energy barrier so that no one can enter or leave it, and none of the greater powers are ever allowed to observe it again. After the threat posed by the Starblasters is over, the Star Brand is returned to Ballantine. She remains on the New Universe Earth after it is moved into the Marvel Universe and cut off from the rest of that universe. After observing this world, Proteus becomes determined to The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 the most powerful weapon in the known universe, the Star Brandby attempting to The Brand of Exiles: Vol. 12 the body of Ken Connell. He also encounters JusticeDP 7and Nightmask. This arc runs through Exiles 72—74 and is the second of six stops on the "World Tour" storyline. This alternate universe has the Marvel Multiverse designation Earth and exists circashortly after the White Event. As a result of Proteus' actions, including the premature death of Justice, it is completely divorced from the original New Universe continuity. In late February and early March, Marvel launched the Untold Tales of the New Universea five-week comic event that took place in a pre-Pitt timeframe in the original continuity.