'New Men' Review - Death Equals Rebirth

New Men Story in a Nutshell (Spoiler)

Alternate Cover for New Men by Collectible Comics

New Men begins with the story of a teenage girl, the lover of a certain boy, Ayo. He is the son of a single father struggling to care for his children.

Ayo and the girl both agree to jump off a building with the knowledge that that doing so would gift them incredible powers. This very act is apparently highly illegal and very strident measures have been put in place to prevent such occurrences.

In a twist of fate, Ayo jumps to his own death, while the girl survives, gains power and ultimately becomes an enemy of the state.

A mysterious woman is then charged with finding our girl within seven days; thus beginning what promises to be a wild adventure.

Dissecting New Men

Ayo jumps to his own death, a scene from a page of the comic

New Men opens us to a dark world of paranoia and hatred for all things super. One unique thing about this book is that super powers are procured through a deliberate confrontation with death, in other words Suicide. Those who survive the act become gods.

The comic points out the fact that, the act of becoming a new man is a gamble. Only the brave attempt it. However, not everyone who confronts death walks away unscathed. The writer also notes that death leads to the re-creation of a new being. Hence the name, New Men.

Being a new man makes one an enemy of the state. As a super enemy of the state, a task force has been created to apprehend and/or eliminate anyone attempting to make him/herself a new man. This also includes anyone with superpowers.

The writer, in this issue establishes two major antagonizing sides to the story; the government, who are obviously anti-newmen and, a mysterious organization which may or may not have a safe haven for the New men.

With such pronounced conflict, it’s safe to say that we are in for a fun and thrilling ride with well written characters, especially the mysterious woman who enjoys nonchalant banters and sarcasm in the face of seriousness.

Shade, a character in the New Men — *Shade from New Men*

That notwithstanding, however, one thing Murewa failed to do was name the characters. Names are very important in identifying a character. Save for Ayo, the ill-fated lover, none of the characters have names.

Is New Men Good?

In all, it is a good story with a lot of potential. I hope the writer surprises us with a lot of twists and blood cuddling action that makes for a thrilling experience.

I also hope that subsequent issues dissect the world of New Men more as well as answering majority of the question boggling the minds of readers.

For a first issue, this is a great start and I can’t wait to see the story unfold. Read New Men online here. Check out some panels from the first issue at the end of this post.

Have you read New Men? Comment your thoughts below.

New Men #1 was written by Murewa Ayodele with art by Dotun Akande.
New Men is published by Collectible Comics NG, one of the many comic publishers in Nigeria.