New Mutants (Vol. 1) #6

"Road Warriors!"
Published August 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inkers: Armando Gil, John Tartaglione
Cover: Bob McLeod

What's Going On?
Picking up from where last issue left off, Team America learns to work together as a team, en route to the AIM facility that Viper wants them to steal something from.  Professor Xavier coaches them, telepathically, from afar.  They manage to steal the McGuffin, but it doesn't really matter, since the New Mutants have taken the fight to Viper.

The issue begins with the New Mutants breaking into the home of Nguyen Ngoc Coy, the self-styled kingpin of the San Francisco underworld and uncle to Karma.  The idea is to force General Coy to give them information on Viper, which will help them rescue Dani.  Unfortunately, the General realized that the New Mutants wouldn't actually kill him; instead, he offers the information they seek for a price --- Karma must work for him for a year.  With this knowledge, the team attacks Viper's base.  Just when victory seems to be within their reach, though, the Silver Samurai and Viper teleport away.  While the team applauds themselves on a job well done (assuming that Wolfsbane's injuries are not serious, that is), Viper instructs the Silver Samurai to hit the self-destruct button for the compound.  The building explodes, with the New Mutants inside!  Cliffhanger!

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- While in captivity, Dani laments how often her mutant powers seem useless.

- Karma agrees to serve her uncle, in a criminal capacity.  No mention is made of her two younger siblings, who depend on her.  This is the same job she risked her life to avoid taking, back in her first appearance (Marvel Team-Up #100).

- Silver Samurai is upset that his father, Shingen Yashida, has died and left him without an inheritance.  Why he is bringing this up, abruptly, roughly ten weeks after his father's death, I do not know.  Nevertheless, he and Viper agree to attack Mariko Yashida and her fiance, Wolverine, as soon as they are done with this mission.  This is picked up in Uncanny X-Men #172. 

- Xavier suffers a crippling psychic attack while monitoring Team America.  Its source is unknown, although Xavier is somehow able to identify that it came from a mutant, one he believes is just manifesting its ability.  UPDATE 05/25/2016: I stumbled across some info on SuperMegaMonkey that provides some insight into this scene.  According to a fanzine (Amazing Heroes #39, the 1984 preview issue that I cannot find any screenshots of), Claremont was planning a second New Mutants graphic novel with Bob McLeod, and the mutant Xavier sensed here was supposed to show up in the graphic novel. 

- During and after the attack on Viper's stronghold, Karma is taunted by a malevolent psychic voice.  It claims that it will possess her, body and soul, and use her as a weapon against Xavier. 

Writing!
I hope you don't like  logic, because this issue is completely devoid of it.  Remember that time when Xavier decided that the New Mutants shouldn't try to attack a terrorist, and instead should wait for the X-Men to arrive to save the day?  And to buy the X-Men time, Xavier helps Team America steal the thing that the terrorist wants?  Yeah, that was last issue.  Now, Xavier is well-aware of the New Mutants' plan to attack Viper's base --- in fact, he's planning on it!  The X-Men aren't mentioned once in this issue, so I guess waiting for them (Where are they, anyway?  It can't be Japan, because the Silver Samurai is there when they arrive, and that story takes place after this one.  Maybe they were busy packing for Japan?) was forgotten about.  Now, if the New Mutants are going to be attacking Viper's base, it makes Team America's task --- which was essentially just a stall for more time --- completely irrelevant.  Sure, you can argue that the New Mutants were supposed to check-in with Xavier before attacking (but after infiltrating?  Um, okay, sure.  Whatever), but that ignores the fact that they were there in the first place.  Were they supposed to wait until Team America delivered the McGuffin, and attack only if Viper didn't free Dani?  Then why get in place hours before Team America could have shown up?  Ugh.  I hope the stories get better, now that this Team America tie-in is over.

Art!
Woof.  This is an ugly issue.  I'm not a big fan of Sal Buscema in general, but this issue obviously needed more TLC.  On the bright side, the characters are all very expressive.  On the other hand, those expressions were all pretty ugly, and their expressions don't always match up with the dialogue.  Check out the first panel here, where the team is getting berated, but everyone is all smiles:

The fact that this is there are multiple inkers credited implies that this issue had to be rushed to meet its deadline.  That doesn't make it pretty, though.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Looks like Team America doesn't rate a mention on the cover, for the second straight month.  BEST.  GUEST APPEARANCE.  EVER.

- I love how the team breaks into General Coy's penthouse.  Sunspot could have easily just forced the door open, but instead he shatters the door to splinters while Cannonball breaks through the ceiling.

- General Coy's bodyguards are very...intimidating.  They don't at all look like disco prostitutes.

- When stealing the McGuffin from the AIM facility, a member of Team America says this:

What is he holding them off with?  I don't see a gun.

- When the AIM facility explodes, two members of Team America are inside it.  Neither is injured, and the only explanation given is that the McGuffin they stole must have protected them; this is never brought up again.  Um.  Okay.  I guess that's better than "the artist and writer were not on the same page."

- Yet again, a female member if the team is beaten by a man, with ease.  This time, it is Wolfsbane (again), and she has once again been dispatched, off-panel.

- The entire Team America subplot winds up being irrelevant.  Their search for a McGuffin never plays an important part in this story, aside from keeping Xavier from preventing Xi'an from promisng to work for her evil uncle.  Hell, even that subplot winds up being irrelevant after next issue.  Good writing, Claremont.

Worth Noting:
- Karma's mutant powers seem to have become more powerful.  She is seen possessing multiple people multiple times in this issue.

- Wolfsbane apparently has a healing ability.  I guess it's supposed to be a side-effect of her lupine abilities (why would a wolf or a werewolf heal faster than normal people?), but it apparently is still effective when she is in human form.

"Good, now we can stop caring!"