| The New Mutants | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | September 7, 1982 |
| Main characters | New Mutants |
| Series | Marvel Graphic Novel |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Creative team | |
| Writer | Chris Claremont |
| Artist | Bob McLeod |
| Letterer | Tom Orzechowski |
| Colorist | Glynis Wein |
| ISBN | 0-939766-20-5 |
The New Mutants is agraphic novel published in 1982 byMarvel Comics. Written byChris Claremont and illustrated byBob McLeod, it introduceda new team of characters as teenage counterparts to the team of superheromutants, theX-Men. It returns to the premise of the originalX-Men, which featured a group of students, while retaining the diversity in race and social background introduced to the X-Men by the second incarnation of the team.The New Mutants is the fourth publication of theMarvel Graphic Novel branding and the firstspinoff ofX-Men. It was followed by an ongoing series in 1983, also titledThe New Mutants.
The graphic novel followsProfessor X, the leader of the X-Men, as he gathers the New Mutants to protect them from the villainDonald Pierce. WithKarma andWolfsbane, Professor X goes to collectPsyche when they are attacked. Another mutant,Sunspot, is kidnapped along with his girlfriend, so Karma and Wolfsbane try to rescue them. Sunspot's girlfriend is killed in the ensuing fight.Cannonball, a teenage mutant hired by Pierce, kidnaps Professor X. The four New Mutants find where Pierce is holding Professor X, and they battle with Cannonball and Pierce. After Pierce is defeated, Cannonball defects and joins the New Mutants.
Several teenagemutants from different parts of the world develop their superpowers.Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane) is shot byReverend Craig in Scotland after he learns of her mutant ability oflycanthropy, but she is saved byMoira MacTaggert.Roberto da Costa (Sunspot) plays a championshipfootball game in Brazil when another player attacks him for being half-black, but he transforms into an energy being and defends himself withsuperhuman strength, causing the spectators to panic.Sam Guthrie (Cannonball) is caught in a mine collapse in Kentucky when he discovers the power to propel himself with intense energy, rescuing one of his fellow workers.
Donald Pierce monitors the mutants with the intention of killing them.Danielle Moonstar of theCheyenne in Colorado is told by her grandfather Black Eagle that she is to learn to control her ability to create psychic images underProfessor X, but she protests due to her distrust ofwhite people. That night, Pierce has her grandfather killed. At theXavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Professor X has the Vietnamese refugeeXi'an Coy Manh (Karma) practice hermind control abilities on MacTaggert. Professor X is reluctant to take on new disciples, as theX-Men had recently been captured by an alien race and he fears they had died.
Professor X, Rahne, and Xi'an go to meet Moonstar and learn of Black Eagle's death. They are attacked by Pierce's armored soldiers, but Moonstar and Xi'an use their psychic abilities to stop them. Professor X uses his own powers to freeze Moonstar, preventing her from killing their defeated foes. MacTaggert, Rahne, and Xi'an then go to Brazil to find Roberto. Roberto and his girlfriend Juliana are held captive by cybernetic men, so Moonstar and Xi'an arrive to rescue them. Mistaking her for an enemy, Roberto activates his powers and strikes Xi'an. This releases her mind control over one of the cyborgs, who then shoots at Roberto. Juliana takes the bullet for him and dies. Meanwhile, Professor X is captured by Sam, who has been hired by Pierce.
In her wolf form, Rahne tracks Professor X's scent and enters the facility where he is held. Pierce holds Professor X captive with a device that can nullify his powers and read his mind. Sam attacks Rahne as Moonstar, Roberto, and Xi'an arrive. They confront Pierce, but he is resistant to the psychic attacks of Moonstar and Xi'an. Professor X breaks free during the fight and uses his stronger telepathic abilities to overpower Pierce's mind. Two weeks later, the New Mutants try on their superhero uniforms. Sam arrives at Professor X's request so he can redeem himself by joining their team. Professor X finds himself hopeful for the first time since he lost the X-Men.
The Uncanny X-Men had become one of Marvel's most popular series by the 1980s under writerChris Claremont, but at the time it did not have any of the spin-off series that the franchise came to be known for.[1][2] The editor-in-chief ofMarvel Comics,Jim Shooter, wished to focus on the school aspect of the X-Men. The artist for the series,John Byrne, suggested a separate team of mutants. This team would play the role of students, while the existing X-Men would act as teachers.[1] Claremont and editorLouise Jones did not want to create a new team of mutants, fearing it would detract from the novelty of the X-Men, but Shooter issued an ultimatum that either they create one or he would have someone else do it.[3] Claremont and Jones referred to the series as the "X-Babies" while they worked on it.[3] This nickname was dismissively used in the future by the characterKitty Pryde.[1]
Bob McLeod was chosen as thepenciller andinker forThe New Mutants.[1] He was a new artist at the time, having done some penciling jobs but never been the main pencil for a series. After pencilingX-Men #151 and #152, Claremont and Jones offered that he could become the series' main penciller, or he could co-createThe New Mutants, which at the time had not been developed or titled. He chose the latter.[4]Glynis Oliver was taken on as thecolorist, andTom Orzechowski as theletterer.[5]
The New Mutants was originally intended to be a standard comic book, and McLeod began drawing a 22-page issue. When he was approximately half way done, the plan was changed and he was instead to produce a 50-page graphic novel on a stricter time schedule. The process was even more challenging because it coincided with McLeod's wedding and honeymoon.[1]
By the timeThe New Mutants was written, there had been two iterations of theX-Men: the team ofmutant students introduced in the 1960s, and the later team of mutant adults that was primarily a superhero team.The New Mutants drew heavily from the 1960s team, featuring teenage characters still learning to use their powers, and McLeod depicted the team in the costumes of the original X-Men.[1] Even the team's name was devised as a play onStan Lee's original name for the X-Men, "The Mutants".[6] However, the plot of the graphic novel mirrors that ofGiant Size X-Men #1, the first appearance of the newer X-Men lineup: Professor X locates and recruits the members of the new team one-by-one as their mutant powers reveal them to the people of their respective homelands, then leads them against a new menace.[7]
The team is differentiated from all of the previous X-Men in that their story had them grouped primarily to learn about using their powers rather than specifically as a superhero team.[8][9]The New Mutants incorporated an element of teenage angst that had yet to appear inX-Men.[10]
One element retained from the newer X-Men was the team's diversity, with different members of the team coming from different cultures.[3][7] The characters ofThe New Mutants were drawn from different countries, age groups, classes, religions, and world views.[8] This builds on the social commentary seen inX-Men, combining the stigma against mutants faced by the characters with the problems faced by real-life marginalized groups.The New Mutants presents these issues as something that can be surmounted by using anger and a sense of injustice as a means to motivate oneself and do good.[10]
McLeod proposed that the majority of the team should be women.[1][4] According to McLeod, he liked drawing female characters and Claremont was well-known for writing female characters, so he felt that they should use this to avoidtokenism common among comic book portrayals of women.[4] Of the characters who appeared in the new team, Xi'an Coy Manh was the only one to be introduced prior toThe New Mutants, having first appeared inMarvel Team-Up #100 (1980) by Claremont and artistFrank Miller.[1]
The New Mutants was released as the fourth publication of theMarvel Graphic Novel series,[9] which featured longer stories printed on higher quality paper than that of standard comic books.[1] The story in the graphic novel was titled "Renewal" and was set afterThe Uncanny X-Men #161 (September 1982), in which the X-Men were presumed dead.[11]
Claremont and McLeod began working on an ongoing series for the team, also titledThe New Mutants, immediately after finishing the graphic novel. It debuted in 1983.[1] The New Mutants franchise allowed Marvel to compete with theDC Comics publicationThe New Teen Titans.[2] As the characters became adults in the 1990s, the New Mutants disbanded as its members left, died, or joined other X-Men spinoff teams.[2] The niche created byThe New Mutants was replaced byGeneration X.[12][2]The New Mutants was reprinted in the 2006 collectionNew Mutants Classic.[9]
