Rise and Fall of the New Mutants

First appearance of the New Mutants:
Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (1982)

 

 

 

When Marvel Comics' New Mutants debuted in 1982, I was elated.  These were young X-Men dealing with their mutant powers, but they were also prone to making mistakes and having problems that normal youth have.  They were Marvel's answer to DC Comics' 1980s mega-successful New Teen Titans.  The original team of Cannonball, Karma, Sunspot, Mirage, and Wolfsbane were fantastic.  Each character was distinct, came from a different background, and had individual challenges with which to work out.  They were the United Nations of young mutants.  With the addition of Magma (one of my all-time favorite New Mutants) in issue #8 and Cypher in #13, I was enjoying their adventures more and more.  

New Mutants #20, featuring cover art
by Bill Sienkiewicz

Then came issue #18.  The New Mutants stories took a turn toward the dark, mystical, and weird side.   Their adventures became something reminiscent of Grant Morrison's wacky Doom Patrol.  During this time period, Warlock appeared (issue #18), as did Legion (#25), and Magik/Darkchylde/Lightchylde (Illyana Rasputin) sent the team to Limbo, leaving its readers there, too.  Issue after issue of this "new" New Mutants series, I thought, "Huh?"  Simultaneously, Bill Sienkiewicz took over drawing the series, and it was literally the worst comic book "art" I have ever seen.  To this day, I think Warlock looks like he looks only because Sienkiewicz is such an awful artist and that's the only way he could draw him.  Subsequent artists just thought that's how he was supposed to look.  Needless to say, I discontinued reading New Mutants because they weren't as much fun anymore, I wasn't crazy about the newest characters and weird storylines, and don't even get me started again on the art.  Since when did mutants become responsible for taking on demons and creatures from the netherworld in every issue?  Blah! 

New Mutants #1 (2009)

Cut to 2009.  Marvel Comics comes out with a new New Mutants title (volume 3) featuring the original cast of characters.  Yea!  Imagine my excitement?  Naturally, I added the series to my pull list.  I was disappointed to find Magik on the team, but I was happy to see the rest of the original team there (minus Wolfsbane because she's in the brilliantly written by Peter David X-Factor title).  

The new stories were so-so, but I wasn't giving up on them just yet.  Then came the "Fall of the New Mutants" and "Rise of the New Mutants" back-to-back storylines.  Here we go into Limbo again and I find myself saying "Huh?" after every issue.  Seriously--can we just remove Magik and her cast of demons from this team book?  That goes double for any character created during Sienkiewicz' run on the original title.  

Can we just have some quality stories with the original team (plus Magma and Cypher)?  Wasn't that the whole point of the revival of this series?  What happened to the so-called dawning of Marvel's "Heroic Age?"  I'll give New Mutants a little longer to redeem itself, but if it doesn't shape up soon, it's being pulled from my pull list. 

(se)X-Factor

One of my favorite comic books in the 1980s was Marvel Comics' X-Factor.  It revived the original X-Men team and brought Jean Grey back to life (the first time). 

The team today is very different than the team of yesteryear.  It focuses on X-Factor Investigations, which is a detective agency made up of mutants.  And some of the team consists of characters that I've never had a particular fondness for:  Madrox, Longshot, and Shatterstar.  On the other hand, Wolfsbane (one of the original New Mutants) and Rictor (one of the young mutants the original X-Factor takes under their care) are also team members and I've always liked the two of them.  

I read an article that the powers-that-be were pairing up Rictor and Shatterstar as a gay couple and it intrigued me.  To throw an even bigger twist into the storyline, Wolfsbane shows up seven months pregnant, carrying Rictor's baby, and catches the two of them together.  Whoa.  Talk about drama. 

I gave X-Factor #207 and #208 a try.  I was extremely impressed with writer Peter David's character development, as it gave me a greater appreciation toward characters I've always liked, as well as those that I never particularly cared for.  And the scenes involving Rictor, Shatterstar, and Wolfsbane were fantastic.   A special thank you goes out to Peter David and Marvel Comics for including scenes between Rictor and Shatterstar that were not limited to a hug or pat on the back.  They're shown as a regular romantic couple trying to work out their problems.

Peter focuses more on the interaction of the characters, by giving them their own lives and stories, rather than using the characters to just fight battle after boring battle.  He moves the characters forward with real-life events that will forever change their lives.  Unfortunately, this doesn't happen enough in comic books.  Oh, and I was happy to discover that Longshot no longer sported a mullet and Shatterstar no longer looked like a samurai with a ponytail.  

As long as Peter David stays on as the writer, I'm definitely adding X-Factor to my list of monthly comics.