New Mutants
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The New Mutants are two now-defunct series featuring an eponymous group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training, both spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise published by Marvel Comics.
The first team of "New Mutants" was created by Chris Claremont (long-time writer of Uncanny X-Men) and artist Bob McLeod; they first appeared in 1982's Marvel Graphic Novel #4 and were subsequently featured in their own title from 1983 until 1991, at which point they were reinvented as X-Force. Like its parent title, The New Mutants highlighted interpersonal and group conflict as well as action and adventure, and featured a large, ensemble cast.
The second New Mutants series, launched in 2003, featured another group of teenaged mutants, but unlike the original New Mutants, they were only part of a huge cast of students at the Xavier Institute. At first they were notable for their drive to become superheroes, but soon rival groups played a large role in the series. In 2004 it was relaunched as New X-Men: Academy X, after which the central group was formally dubbed "the New Mutants". In the aftermath of the M-Day event in late 2005, the remaining students were merged into one junior team, the New X-Men.
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The New Mutants (vol. 1)
By the early 1980s, Uncanny X-Men (under the authorship of Chris Claremont) had become one of the comic book industry's most successful titles, prompting Marvel to launch The New Mutants, the first of several X-Men spin-offs.
The New Mutants were teenaged students of Professor Charles Xavier, much like the original X-Men, who had since grown into adulthood. These students, however, rather resembled the "All-New, All-Different X-Men" in terms of ethnic diversity. The original team consisted of:
- Karma (Xi'an Coy Manh), a 19 year-old Vietnamese girl and the team's original leader, who could mentally possess other people's bodies.
- Cannonball (Samuel Guthrie), a mild-mannered Kentuckian and eventual co-leader after Karma's "death", who became nigh-invulnerable when rocketing through the air.
- Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), a Scot who could transform into a wolf-like creature.
- Psyche (Danielle Moonstar, also called Mirage and Moonstar), a Cheyenne and eventual co-leader after Karma's "death", who could create visual empathic three-dimensional illusions.
- Sunspot (Roberto da Costa), a Brazilian who gained superhuman strength fueled by sunlight and could store solar energy in his body to use his super strength during the night.
The team debuted in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (1982), which continued a plotline from Uncanny X-Men. The group was formed by Professor X when he was under the control of the menacing alien race the Brood. The youths were intended to be hosts for Brood embryos, but the X-Men returned and set matters straight. The five youngsters remained at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters to learn to control their powers.
The series was originally written by Claremont and illustrated by McLeod, the team's co-creators, but McLeod soon passed artistic duties onto Sal Buscema. Claremont gave the series an oddly dark tone, which was heightened with the arrival of artist Bill Sienkiewicz. In addition to very serious depictions of teenage angst and growing pains, the series featured themes of mysticism and psychic boundaries. The New Mutants also encountered a secret society called the Hellfire Club, and began a rivalry with their young apprentices, the Hellions.
The New Mutants initially had a semi-antagonistic relationship with the youngest X-Man, Kitty Pryde, sparked by Professor X's decision to "demote" Kitty to the junior team after its establishment. Though Kitty ultimately proved herself to Xavier and remained an X-Man, she held a grudge against the New Mutants nonetheless, dubbing them "X-Babies"; the New Mutants, blameless in Xavier's decision and resenting Kitty's attitude, responded in kind. The animosity softened after the team attempted to rescue Kitty from the Hellfire Club's White Queen Emma Frost, and furthermore after Kitty's friends Illyana Rasputin and Doug Ramsey joined the team (see below).
After the apparent death of Karma, Cannonball and Danii Moonstar were appointed co-leaders. New recruits included:
- Magma (Amara Aquila/Alison Crestmere), a fiercely-tempered native of a secret Roman society in the Amazon who could control lava.
- Magik (Illyana Rasputin), the sister of the Russian X-Man Colossus and long-time resident of the X-Mansion, an accomplished mystic who could open "teleportation discs" allowing travel to Limbo and from there any point on Earth.
- Warlock, an extraterrestrial of the techno-organic race known as the Technarchy.
- Cypher (Douglas Ramsey), an otherwise ordainry young man who could learn any language spoken or written at an exponential rate, whether it was human, alien or machine, making him an unmatched computer expert.
In 1986, Professor X was written out of the series. Before he left he made the X-Men's one-time nemesis, Magneto, headmaster of his school. Not trusted by his students, Magneto struggled in his new role and eventually joined the Hellfire Club.
In 1987, the series was turned over to writer Louise Simonson and illustrator Bret Blevins. Simonson's run was controversial, as Magma was written out of the book, Cypher was killed off, new characters Bird-Brain and Gosamyr were added to the team, and Magik was de-aged back to childhood. Simonson also folded the X-Terminators, a group of young wards from X-Factor, into the New Mutants.
The X-Terminators added to the team were:
- Rictor (Julio Richter), a young Mexican who could create shock waves.
- Rusty Collins, a pyrokinetic wanted by the U.S. Government.
- Boom Boom (Tabitha Smith), a teen runaway who could create “plasma bombs.”
In 1989, Simonson crafted a saga in which the team journeyed to Asgard, the home of the gods of Norse mythology. The storyline wrote Dani Moonstar out of the series, as she joined the Norse pantheon as one of the Valkyrie
[[File:NewMutants100b.jpg|thumbnail|right|210px|The New Mutants (vol. 1) #100, featuring the debut of X-Force. Art by Rob Liefeld.]]
Sales of the series had slumped for several years, but took a sharp upturn after Rob Liefeld took over the penciling and co-plotting chores at the end of 1989. A new mentor for the group, the mysterious mercenary Cable, was introduced, further helping sales. Over the next year, several longtime team members were written out or killed off. When Rob Liefeld, providing ploting and pencils, and Fabian Nicieza, who wrote dialogue based on Liefeld's plots, took over as writers of the final three issues of the series, they included several harder-edged characters:
- Domino, Cable's pale-skinned, black-garbed mercenary lover.
- Shatterstar, a swashbuckling warrior from another dimension.
- Warpath (James Proudstar), the younger brother of slain X-Man Thunderbird and a former Hellion, an Apache who possessed super strength and speed,
- Feral (Maria Callasantos), who possessed a bestial temperament and appearance.
The New Mutants was cancelled in 1991 with issue #100, but the new platoon-like team formed by Cable continued in X-Force, a successful series (whose first issue sold approximately one million copies) that would continue until 2002, and feature a variety of the former New Mutants cast.
Bibliography
- The New Mutants (vol. 1) #1-100 (March 1983 - April 1991)
- The New Mutants Annual #1-7 (1984 - 1991)
- The New Mutants Special Edition #1 (1985)
- The New Mutants Summer Special #1 (1990)
- New Mutants: Truth or Dare #1-3 (1997)
The New Mutants (vol. 1) has been reprinted in several trade paperbacks, some containg specific story arcs (such as the "Demon Bear Saga" by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz), and some collected as part of a larger crossover of the various X-titles. Only in 2006 however did a chronological reprinting of the series began, with the commencement of The New Mutants Classic series of trade paperbacks.
The New Mutants (vol. 2)
The second incarnation of the New Mutants debuted in 2003 with an ongoing series of the same name, written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. The series featured a handful of the dozens of mutant teenagers attending the Xavier Institute, as well as their instructors, which included various X-Men as well as former members of the original New Mutants, Dani Moonstar, Karma, Wolfsbane, and Magma.
The featured group of students were only formally dubbed "the New Mutants" with the series relaunch as New X-Men: Academy X in 2004, and the re-organization of the Xavier Institute student body into various training squad. The New Mutants, advised by Dani Moonstar, were:
- Prodigy (David Alleyne), the team's co-leader, who can utilize the skills and knowledge (but not powers) of those near him.
- Wind Dancer (Sofia Mantega), the other co-leader, who can create winds, fly via said winds and eavesdrop over distances by conducting air vibrations.
- Wallflower (Laurie Collins), a shy girl who generates pheromones that usually cause people near her to match her moods, although she has learned to control this.
- Elixir (Josh Foley), who can heal himself and others as well as inflict damage.
- Surge (Noriko Ashida), who absorbs electricity which she can release as blasts, or use for super-speed, but requires mechanical gauntlets to prevent overcharge.
- Icarus (Joshua "Jay" Guthrie), who flies on red, angel-like wings, heals rapidly and possesses a very beautiful singing voice.
Another such group, advised by Emma Frost, were known as "the Hellions", and like their predecessors, were the arch-rivals of the New Mutants.
After M-Day, the cataclysmic event that decimated the world's mutant population, only 27 of the 182 students enrolled at the Xavier Institute retained their powers. The New Mutants and the other training squads were disbanded, and the remaining students were folded into a single junior team, the New X-Men.
New Mutants (vol. 3)
It was announced at New York Comic Con 2009 that a new New Mutants volume will begin in May 2009. The series will be written by Zeb Wells and pencilled by Diogenes Neves. The team will consist of Cannonball, Dani Moonstar, Magma, Sunspot, Karma, and Magik, and serve as a follow up of X-Infernus.
Other versions
Rahne of Terra
The graphic novel Rahne of Terra, by Peter David, is set in a heroic fantasy universe in which Wolfsbane's counterpart is Princess Rain of Geshem. Members of the royal household include her lady-in-waiting Tabby (Boom Boom), the knights Robert (Sunspot), Samuel (Cannonball) and Richard (Riktor), and her Prince Consort, Douglas (Cypher). None of them have the powers of their counterparts, although the knights have magical items that duplicate their effects.
New Mutants: Truth Or Death
In 1997, a three-issue reunion series written by Ben Raab and illustrated by Bernard Chang, New Mutants: Truth or Death, featured the young New Mutants traveling forward in time to meet their older, jaded selves in X-Force.
Ultimate X-Men
In Ultimate X-Men, the Academy of Tomorrow (previously called New Mutants) is founded by Emma Frost. They are loosely linked to the X-Men via Emma Frost's professional relationship with her former lover and teacher Charles Xavier. This Academy accepts any talented students, regardless of their genetic status.
The team is headed by a non-telepathic and more pacifistic version of Emma Frost and headed by field leader Havok. Members include Havok's girlfriend Polaris, Cannonball, Cypher (a human genius), Northstar (the current boyfriend of this universe's Colossus), Sunspot and Shinobi Shaw (Emma Frost's current boyfriend and secretly part of the Hellfire Club). Former members include Karma, Angel, Colossus, and Beast.
Appearances in other media
- The animated TV series X-Men: Evolution (2000-2003) featured a group called the New Mutants who, like their comic book counterparts, were a junior team living at the Xavier Institute concurrently with the X-Men. The team featured Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Magma, Boom-Boom and Sunspot. Other members, such as Iceman, Jubilee, Berzerker and Multiple Man were not New Mutants in the comic book series, but were featured in other X-Men comics. Conversely the character of Doug Ramsey was mentioned in the series bible as a friend of Kitty Pryde, but was never seen on screen either as Doug or Cypher.
- New Mutants is the name given to the 'race' of Mutants on the television show Mutant X.
- It has been rumored by Zak Penn, screenwriter of X-Men: The Last Stand, that he will possibly direct a fourth installment of the film series. While no details have been released, it is believed that it may be an adaptation of the New Mutants, featuring the younger mutants from the films, such as Iceman, Rogue, Colossus, and Kitty Pryde.
