New Mutants
The New Mutants is the name of two defunct
Marvel Comics superhero teams, as well as the title of two series featuring those teams. Both were offshoots of the popular
X-Men franchise and both featured a team of teenaged,
mutant superheroes.
The first New Mutants were a junior team of X-Men. Created by
Chris Claremont and
Bob McLeod, they first appeared in
Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (1982) and were featured in an eponymous title from 1983 until 1991, when it was reinvented as
X-Force. Like its parent title,
The New Mutants highlighted interpersonal and group conflict as much as action and adventure, and featured a large, ensemble cast.
The second
New Mutants series, launched in 2003, featured another group of teenaged mutants, tutored by members of the first group. Unlike the original New Mutants, they were only one part of a huge cast of
students at Xavier Institute. 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 late 2005, as part of the
Decimation "event", the remaining students merged into one group, known only as a junior segment of X-Men.
History
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, persuading Marvel to launch
The New Mutants, the first of many
spin-offs, deemed "X-Books".
The New Mutants were teenaged students of the
telepathic Professor X, much like the original X-Men, who debuted in 1963 and had since grown into adulthood. The New Mutants, however, more resembled the "All-New, All-Different X-Men," who debuted in 1975, in ethnic diversity. The original team consisted of:
*
Cannonball (Samuel Guthrie), a mild-mannered
Kentuckian who became nigh-invulnerable when rocketing through the air
*
Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), a
Scot who transformed into a
wolf-like creature
*
Psyche (Danielle Moonstar, also called Mirage and Moonstar), a
Cheyenne who could create visual illusions of others' greatest fears or greatest desires
*
Karma (Xi'an Coy Manh), a
Vietnamese girl who could mentally possess other people's bodies
*
Sunspot (Roberto da Costa), a
Brazilian who gained superhuman strength in the presence of sunlight
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. But, predictably, they were thrown into a series of adventures in
The New Mutants monthly series.
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 and then
Bill Sienkiewicz, who often painted covers for the series. Claremont gave the series an oddly dark tone. In addition to very seriously-toned depictions of teenage angst and growing pains, the series featured themes of
mysticism and psychic boundaries. The New Mutants battled various
demons, a secret society villain group called the
Hellfire Club and their young apprentices, the
Hellions.
Although
The New Mutants never reached the popularity of its parent title, the series gained a loyal following among many readers.
|
New Mutants #11, featuring Magma. |
As typical with X-Books, new characters were frequently added to the team. Early new recruits included:
*
Magik (Illyana Rasputin), the sister of the
Russian X-Man
Colossus, who possessed the ability to
teleport and many mystical powers
*
Magma (Amara Aquila/Alison Crestmere), a fiercely-tempered native of a secret tribe in the
Amazon Rainforest who controlled
magma and
lava*
Cypher (Douglas Ramsey), a shy boy who could understand all languages
*
Warlock, a goofy, techno-organic
extraterrestrial lifeform, of a race called the
TechnarchyIn 1986, Professor X was written out of the series. Before he left, he made the X-Men's one-time nemesis,
Magneto, headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. 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 controversially killed off Cypher and shortly thereafter
retconned Magik's origin, reverting her to childhood. She also folded the
X-Terminators, a group of young wards of
X-Factor into The New Mutants. The X-Terminators added to the team were:
*
Rictor (Julio Richter), who could create
shock waves*
Rusty Collins, a
pyrokinetic *
Skids (Sally Blevins), who projected a force field around her body
*
Boom Boom (Tabitha Smith), who created “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 and was essentially the last gasp of the high-flying, mystic-minded version of the team.
Sales of the series had slumped for several years, but took a sharp upturn after
Rob Liefeld took over the pencilling 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. When Rob Liefeld (plots) and Fabian Nicieza (scripts) took over as writers of the final three issues of the series, they replaced them with harder-edged characters:
*
Domino, Cable's pale-skinned, black-garbed mercenary lover
*
Shatterstar, a swashbuckling warrior from an alien dimension
*
Warpath (James Proudstar), an
Apache who possessed super strength and speed
*
Feral (Maria Callasantos), who possessed a beast-like temperament and appearance
In 1991, with key characters and plot elements from the series gone,
The New Mutants became the
platoon-like
X-Force, a series that would last until 2002 and incorporate many members of the New Mutants; Liefeld plotted the last few issues (with
Fabian Nicieza supplying dialogue, as well as pencilling the title. He also claimed to be inking the art as well, but later acknowledged that the bulk of the inking was done by his studio assistants.
In 1997, a three-issue reunion series,
New Mutants: Truth or Death, written by
Ben Raab and illustrated by
Bernard Chang, featured the younger New Mutants, traveling forward in time to meet their older selves (the contemporary team).
Creators
Writers
* Chris Claremont -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #1-54, #81, Annuals #1-3 (March 1983 - August 1987, November 1989, 1984 - 1987)
* Louise Simonson -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #55-80, #82-97, Annuals #4-6 (September 1987 - October 1989, December 1989 - January 1991, 1988- 1990)
* Fabian Nicieza -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #98-100, Annual #7 (February 1991 - April 1991, 1991)
Art
*
Bob McLeod -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #1-3 (March 1983 - May 1983)
*
Sal Buscema -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #4-17 (June 1983 - July 1984)
*
Bill Sienkiewicz -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #18-31 (August 1984 -
September 1985)
*
John Byrne -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #75 (May 1989)
* Rob Liefeld -
New Mutants Vol. 1 Annual #5, #86-91, 93-96, 98-100 (1989, February 1990 - April 1991)
Inks
*
Bill Sienkiewicz -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #35-38 (January 1986 - April 1986)
*
Whilce Portacio -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #43 (September 1986)
Cover art
*
Walt Simonson -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #11 (January 1984)
*
Bill Sienkiewicz -
New Mutants Vol. 1 Annual #1, #18-31 (1984, August 1984 - September 1985)
*
Barry Windsor-Smith -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #36 (February 1986)
*
Art Adams -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #38-39 (April 1986 - May 1986)
*
John Byrne -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #75 (May 1989)
*
Rob Liefeld -
New Mutants Vol. 1 Annual #5-6, #86-100 (1989 - 1990, February 1990 - April 1991)
*
Mike Mignola -
New Mutants Vol. 1
Annual #7 (1991)
Cover inks
*
Bill Sienkiewicz -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #17, 35 & 37 (July 1984 - March 1986)
*
Todd McFarlane -
New Mutants Vol. 1 #85-89 (January 1990 - May 1990)
History
In 2003, Marvel launched a second ongoing
New Mutants series with writers
Nunzio DeFilippis and
Christina Weir. The series featured a handful of the dozens of teenagers attending the Xavier Institute. The kids were instructed by the
X-Men,
Dani Moonstar,
Karma, and
Northstar, while
Wolfsbane and
Magma also appeared in several issues.
After 13 issues, this series was relaunched as
New X-Men: Academy X in 2004. Ironically, it was only after the name change that the main group of characters was formally dubbed the New Mutants and received
codenames.
The former line-up of the New Mutants, advised by Dani Moonstar, included:
*
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 is learning to control this.
*
Elixir (Josh Foley), who can heal himself and others.
*
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.
The current group of
Hellions is another squad at the school advised by
Emma Frost, and the antagonism between the two teams plays a significant role in the series. The Hellions'
Wither was previously a New Mutant, and Icarus was previously a Hellion.
Supporting characters in the series include fellow students
Anole, and the
Stepford Cuckoos.
After the Decimation
Main articles: Decimation (comics), New X-MenAs a result of the
Decimation event, in which the
Scarlet Witch's magicks de-powered most of the mutant population, only 27 of the 182 students enrolled at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning still retain their powers, and the comic changed its name to simply
New X-Men. In response to the increasingly desperate situation that mutants now faced, Emma Frost has disbanded all the former training squads (most of which had lost much of their membership to the Decimation) and integrated those students she deemed capable of combat, including new addition
X-23, to a new team that is essentially a junior team of X-Men, while relegated the others to the sidelines and an unknown future, since Emma seems to have abandoned the general education program formerly in place at the school.
Of the former New Mutants, Prodigy and Wind Dancer were among the students who lost their powers; Wind Dancer left the school almost immediately, but Prodigy has been forced to stay to avoid wide-spread attacks worldwide against former mutants who are now seen as easy targets by mutant-haters. Most if not all of the other de-powered students were killed in an attack by the anti-mutant fanatic, Reverend
William Stryker. Furthermore, Icarus was misled by Stryker into allowing his wings to be amputated, and was later killed by Stryker after serving his purpose in leading the former Hellion
Dust to her apparent death (although the "vision" showed Dust disappearing as a threat, it was later revealed that the girl who had arrived in the burqa was actually X-23, Dust's roommate with a nearly undefeatable healing factor). A sniper working for Stryker was responsible for the shooting death of Wallflower, and Elixir, who had a former romantic relationship with Wallflower and witnessed her death, was reduced to a near-catatonic state over this event compounded with his inability to save any of his former classmates after Stryker's prior attack. The New X-Men were able to defeat Stryker's forces, but now they must face the threat from
NimrodCreators
Writers
* Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir -
New Mutants Vol. 2 # 1-13 (July 2003 - June 2004)
Cover art
*
Josh Middleton -
New Mutants Vol. 2 #1-6 (July 2003 - December 2003)
*
Chris Bachalo -
New Mutants Vol. 2 #7-11 (January 2004 - June 2004)
* Randy Green -
New Mutants Vol. 2 #12-13 (June 2004 - June 2004)
|
Cover of New X-Men: Academy X Issue 1, Pencils by Randy Green |
New X-Men (also
New X-Men: Academy X), relaunched from
New Mutants volume 2, was launched during the "X-Men Reloaded" event. It resumes directly where the most recent
New Mutants series ended, with the same writers, artists, and cast of characters. The
Academy X subtitle was dropped from the title when the new creative team of
Craig Kyle and
Chris Yost took over the series as of Issue #20.
Whereas the other X-Men comics mostly deal with established adult mutants, this comic concentrates on the lives of young students residing at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning as they learn to control their powers and, as of late, to survive the backlash against mutants that befell them as part of
House of M.
Founding
New Mutants/New X-Men began where
Grant Morrison's run on
New X-Men ended. The school was rebuilt and
Emma Frost and
Cyclops were named the headmasteres of the school. They organized the students fifteen-years-old and older into several squads who trained together.
Featured are two teams, the
New Mutants, whose members tend to be more clean-cut, and the
Hellions, whose members are generally more belligerent. The rivalry—not only academically, but certainly also in private matters—plays a significant role in the series.
The cast of this series are described in the following paragraphs.
New Mutants squad
The
New Mutants squad's tutor is
Dani Moonstar. It is co-led by Wind Dancer and Prodigy.
*
Wind Dancer, a.k.a. Sofia Mantega. A girl from
Venezuela who controls winds. (Depowered)
*
Prodigy, a.k.a. David Alleyne, could absorb any non-superhuman talents from nearby people. (Depowered)
*
Icarus, a.k.a. Jay Guthrie, can fly, sing mesmerizingly and heal himself rapidly. (Deceased)
*
Wallflower, a.k.a. Laurie Collins, exudes
pheromones which alter the feelings of other people. (Deceased)
*
Elixir, a.k.a. Josh Foley, is a healer who ironically was a rabid mutant-hater before he found out he was one himself. (Catatonic)
*
Surge, a.k.a. Noriko Ashida, is a
Japanese girl who has electric and speed powers.
Hellions squad
The
Hellions squad's tutor is
Emma Frost. It is led by Hellion.
*
Hellion, a.k.a. Julian Keller, is
telekinetic.
*
Dust, a.k.a. Sooraya Qadir, is a shy girl from
Afghanistan who can turn herself into a living whirlwind of dust. She regularly dresses in a
niqab.
*
Mercury, a.k.a. Cessily Kincaid, who is stuck in a mercurial substance which bears a certain resemblance to "T-1000" from the film
Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
*
Rockslide, a.k.a. Santo Vaccaro, consists of solid rock and can shoot his appendages at targets.
*
Tag, a.k.a. Brian Cruz, could "tag" a person so that bystanders are compelled to run away from the person. (Deceased)
*
Wither, a.k.a. Kevin Ford, can destroy organic matter on touch. He accidentally killed his father when his powers manifested. (Ran away)
Other squads
There are also other teams advised by different X-Men.
*
Alpha Squadron, tutored by
Karma (formerly by
Northstar). Consists of:
**
Anole (leader),
Rubbermaid,
Indra,
Kidogo,
Loa, and
Network.
*The
Corsairs advised by
Cyclops consists of:
**
Stepford Cuckoos (co-leaders),
Specter,
Dryad and
Quill. Quill was killed in Rev. Stryker's attack on the school.
*The
Paragons, tutored by
Magma (formerly tutored by
Wolfsbane), consists of :
**
Match (leader),
Trance,
Wolf Cub,
Pixie,
D.J., and
Preview.
*
Gambit's squad, introduced in
X-Men, consists of:
**
Bling,
Flubber,
Onyxx, and
Rain Boy *
Rogue's squad, shown in
Uncanny X-Men was never named.
*
Storm's squad that was mentioned in
New X-Men has one survivor, the student called
Nezhno.
*The
Excelsiors,
Iceman's squad, and the
Exemplars, whose mentor is
Beast, have only been mentioned, never having appeared.
Decimation
|
Cover of New X-Men #20, pencils by Mark Brooks. This issue marks not only a new direction for the title, but the dropping of Academy X from its title. |
In
New X-Men #20 the cast begins to deal with the after effects of
House of M, in which the student body was almost entirely depowered, going from 182 students to "about" 27. (The real number, however, is 29:
Quentin Quire is technically still in existence at the Institute and
X-23 joined the school soon afterwards.) Wind Dancer, Prodigy,
Aero, Preview, Network, Tag and even teacher Dani Moonstar were amongst the mutants at the Xavier Institute who lost their powers.
Emma Frost, fearing their safety, ordered all non-mutants to leave the school, Dani among them. As the depowered students and staff were being bussed away, the mutant-hating Reverend
William Stryker began to set into motion his plans to destroy mutants while at their weakest, and began to concentrate on systematically killing the students, killing several former students by bombing the buses. Styker's actions continued to haunt the Institute until he was killed in issue #27.
M-Day survivors
It has been stated that the mutant student body in the academy dropped from 182 to 27 (though that number is technically inaccurate; 29 remain). The following are the students that have been confirmed to have retained their powers.
New Mutants (4)
*Joshua "Jay" Guthrie (
Icarus) [deceased]
*Laurie Collins (
Wallflower) [deceased]
*Josh Foley (
Elixir) [catatonic]
*Noriko Ashida (
Surge)
Hellions (5)
*Julian Keller (
Hellion)
*Sooraya Qadir (
Dust)
*Cessily Kincaid (
Mercury)
*Santo Vaccarro (
Rockslide)
*Kevin Ford (
Wither) [away]
Corsairs (4)
*Celeste Cuckoo (
The Three-In-One)
*Mindee Cuckoo (The Three-In-One)
*Phoebe Cuckoo (The Three-In-One)
*Maxwell Jordan (
Quill) [deceased]
Alpha Squadron (3)
*Victor Borkowski (
Anole)
*Paras Gavaskar (
Indra)*Alani Ryan (
Loa)
Paragons (4)
*Ben Hammil (
Match)
*Nicholas Gleason (
Wolf Cub)
*Megan Gywnn (
Pixie)
*Hope Abbott (
Trance)
Gambit's Squad (2)
*Roxy Washington (
Bling)
*Sidney Green (
Onyxx)
Storm's Squad (1)
*
NezhnoOther Students (5)
*
Blindfold*
Eosimias*
Ernst*
Hisako Ichiki*
Martha JohanssonNote: Although
Quentin Quire is no longer a student at the Xavier Institute (as he has evolved to a higher state of being), he retained his powers is being held in a containment unit at the school.
Most of the students listed above were confirmed in
New X-Men #21 and in
X-Men: The 198 Files. Indra and Quill were confirmed in
Decimation - The Day After, while Bling was confirmed in
X-Men vol 02 #177.[
1]. Wallflower was killed by Reverend Stryker in
New X-Men #26. Quill was killed by one of Stryker's henchmen in
New X-Men #27. Icarus was shot by Stryker and died a few issues later.
X-Men trainees
In the aftermath of
Decimation,
Emma Frost created a team of X-Men trainees. The team consists of:
*
Surge [leader]
*
Dust*
Hellion*
Rockslide*
Mercury *
X-23 [add-on]
**
Elixir (comics) [kicked off the team for a violent outburst, currently catonic]
**
Bling [not official, but has been participating in X-men missions]
The other students still reside at the Institute, and do indeed train, but are not part of this select group.
*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
Professor X's school 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.
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 if that film is a success he will direct a fourth installment of the film series. While no details have been released, it is believed that it may be an adaptation of New Mutants.
*
New Mutants Vol. 1 #1-100 (March 1983 - April 1991, Marvel Comics)
*
New Mutants Annual #1-7 (1984 - 1991, Marvel Comics)
*
New Mutants Vol. 2 #1-13 (July 2003 - June 2004, Marvel Comics)
*
Hellions*
New X-Men*
X-Men*
X-Force*
Bibliography of X-Men titles*
MDP: New Mutants - Marvel Database Project
