The Draft (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Draft was a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 in Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

's New Universe
New Universe
The New Universe is a comic book imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989. It was created by Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Eliot R. Brown, John Morelli, Mark Gruenwald, Tom DeFalco and edited by Michael Higgins.In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics'...

 imprint, detailing the aftermath of the reintroduction of the draft
Conscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...

 following the destruction of Pittsburgh. The Draft was put into effect on January 28, 1988, and its unstated purpose was to establish a fighting force of soldiers with paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...

 abilities. Paranormals were detected by a number of means, and were sent to a boot camp separate from non-paranormals.

The one-shot follows a cast of mostly new characters, with some appearances by existing New Universe characters.

The Draft crossed over with some of the other New Universe titles, particularly affecting D.P.7
DP7 (comics)
D.P. 7 was a 32-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics as a part their New Universe imprint. It ran from 1986 to 1989. Along with Justice and Psi-Force, it was one of the few New Universe titles to last for 32 issues....

.

Major characters

  • Lieutenant
    Lieutenant
    A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

     Keith Remsen (Nightmask
    Nightmask
    Nightmask is a title given to several fictional characters who appear in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Nightmask, Keith Remsen, was created by Archie Goodwin and Tony Salmons and first appeared in Nightmask #1 , a series which was published under Marvel's New Universe...

    )
    : Possesses the ability to enter the dream
    Dream
    Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...

    s of others. His ability is used to evaluate the mental fitness of potential soldiers.
  • Sergeant
    Sergeant
    Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

     Haldeman
    : Possesses the ability to project extreme grief
    Grief
    Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...

     (which he calls Weltschmertz
    Weltschmerz
    Weltschmerz is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind...

    ) into the minds of others. Haldeman is a drill sergeant.
  • Christopher Barrett (Metallurgist): Has a 1949 Chevy hubcap
    Hubcap
    A hubcap, wheel cover or wheel trim is a decorative disk on an automobile wheel that covers at least a central portion of the wheel. Cars with stamped steel wheels often use a full wheel cover that conceals the entire wheel. Cars with alloy wheels or styled steel wheels generally use smaller...

     that he can apparently control with his mind. He's able to use it to fly. Barrett turns 18 the day before the United States Congress
    United States Congress
    The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

     approves the draft.
  • Garth (Gridlock): Able to create tubes of force in geometric forms. Garth is 34 years old, and married with a daughter, but enlists out of a desire to take charge of his life.
  • Harlan Mook (Blow Out): Has the ability to teleport
    Teleportation
    Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...

    , with the unusual twist that the space he leaves explodes. The greater the distance he teleports, the greater the explosion.

Plot synopsis

The comic follows three draftees as they discover their abilities and decide to register for the Draft. Chris has a tense relationship with his father, who registers early in part as an act of rebellion. Garth feels like his wife and children don't respect him. Harlan's a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 but all his notes for his dissertation
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...

 are destroyed when he teleports for the first time.

The three wind up at the paranormal boot camp and become friends of sorts, but Harlan has a lot of trouble fitting in due to his relative physical weakness and is picked on by another trainee with the nickname Pitt Bull. Lt. Remsen enters and analyzes Harlan's dreams as part of his mental evaluation, but, despite a lot of disturbing imagery, gives him a pass.

Two days later, after more harassment by Pitt Bull, Harlan attempts to kill him by teleporting away. Pitt Bull survives, and Harlan is put into solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...

 as punishment, the stress of which finally breaks him.

The comic ends with Blowout teleporting into a live broadcast by President Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 (although he is left unnamed) and then teleporting away, essentially making it an assassination attempt. The President survives in part because he is secretly also a paranormal.

Elements of The Draft were seen, sometimes from other perspectives, in other titles in the imprint.

The Draft in the rest of the New Universe

The Draft focused mainly on new characters, but other titles, in particular DP7 and Psi-Force
Psi-Force
Psi-Force was a thirty-two-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics under their New Universe imprint from 1986 to 1989. Along with D.P...

 had major characters impacted as they were drafted. Most of them eventually went AWOL, but a few stayed with the military. Also, The Draft and its successor, The War (comics)
The War (comics)
The War was a four-issue comic book mini-series, published by Marvel Comics. The final publication in Marvel's New Universe line, it resolved a number of unfinished plotlines and radically changed the New Universe setting.-The Platoon:...

was an opportunity to use characters from cancelled New Universe titles.

The Draft also impacted the world in other ways, as other countries made a more concerted effort to create their own paranormal armies. Also, as the draft only applied to males, female paranormals were highly attractive to groups like the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 and offered very lucrative recruitment terms.

Existing New Universe characters who join the military

  • Thomas Boyd (Psi-Force
    Psi-Force
    Psi-Force was a thirty-two-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics under their New Universe imprint from 1986 to 1989. Along with D.P...

    ) (does not appear in The Draft)
  • Tyrone Jessup (Psi-Force) (does not appear in The Draft)
  • David Landers (Mastodon) (DP7
    DP7 (comics)
    D.P. 7 was a 32-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics as a part their New Universe imprint. It ran from 1986 to 1989. Along with Justice and Psi-Force, it was one of the few New Universe titles to last for 32 issues....

    )
  • Captain Jack Magniconte
    All-American (comics)
    All-American , who has also been called Mr. Magnificent is a fictional character published in the New Universe imprint of Marvel Comics. He was the central figure of Kickers, Inc., and when that title was discontinued he became a supporting character in other New Universe titles...

    (Kickers, Inc.
    Kickers, Inc.
    Kickers, Inc. was a twelve-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics from 1986 to 1987 as part of the New Universe imprint. Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, the series featured a group of former professional American football players for the fictional New York Smashers team who ...

    ) (does not appear in The Draft)
  • Randy O'Brien (Antibody) (DP7)
  • Gaylord Picaro (Pitt Bull) (DP7)
  • Jeff Walters (Blur) (DP7)
  • Major Zentner (DP7)
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