New Mutants (Vol. 1) #9

"Arena"
Published November 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Tom Mandrake

What's Going On?
The New Mutants have been captured by English-speaking Roman Centurians (along with the mysterious Amara) and brought to Nova Roman, an isolated lost city, surrounded by mountains with heavy cloud cover, deep in the Amazonian rain forest.  After spending some time in a dungeon, the team is split up.  The girls are drugged and primped in preparation for their sale as slaves.  The boys are also drugged, but it is to make them bloodthirsty enough to fight in the arena as gladiators. 

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Roberto's mother is still missing, presumed dead, following the boat crash last issue.

- Amara was disguised last issue because she is trying to hide from someone in Nova Roma.  That "someone" is the mysterious Black Priestess and her evil cult.  Who is the Black Priestess?  Selene.  That mystery is solved almost immediately.

- Amara has been having awful headaches and hot flashes.  I wonder if this will be a precursor to anything?

- While she is drugged, Rahne calls Sam "my love," the first time there has been a hint at romance between the two.

Writing!
To be perfectly honest, this one could be a lot worse.  The concept is absolutely ridiculous (even by the standards of your average Marvel title), but there's enough action to keep the average reader from focusing on it.  So credit where it's due --- this should be incomprehensible garbage, but it's actually kind of fun. 


Art!
If you  think that the artwork looks a little different this issue, that is due to Tom Mandrake taking over the inking duties.  The effect is not drastic; he doesn't add the same level of detail as Bob McLeod did, but he seems to make a special effort in making the team look young.  For some reason, they went back to the hard-to-see neon pink coloring for Dani's illusion toward the beginning of the issue...

but tried a different (and clearer) color combination later in the issue.

They should really give up on the pink inks; they haven't worked well since the higher print quality of the graphic novel.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- So now Rahne has a crush on Sam?  So much for the Roberto/Rahne flirtations from issues #2 and 3.  That didn't last long.

- Both the boys and girls are drugged with wine that makes them aggressive.  The boys immediately notice that they have been drugged by the wine's bitter taste.  The girls, on the other hand...

I guess the lesson here is that the most responsible member of the team and the most innocent member were just waiting for an excuse to get loaded.

- Selene is described here as an "Inca lady."  Typically, if a comic book describes a character by their ethnicity or cultural heritage, they play it pretty broad, to the point of stereotyping.  Either Sal Buscema wanted to acknowledge that not every Incan looked Latino, or he had no idea what "Inca" meant.

Worth Noting:
- This is the first appearance of recurring X-Men villain Selene, as well as the first appearance of Nova Roma