New Mutants (Vol. 1) #8

"The Road to...Rome?"
Published October 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Bob McLeod


What's Going On?
The team continues its Brazilian vacation with Nina DaCosta, exploring an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River.  During one of their shore excursions, they encounter a group of aggressive female Native Brazilians and decide to capture one.  When Nina tries to interrogate the captured girl, Amara, she gets a lot of conflicting information; the girl does not appear to speak any recognizable language, some of her weapons are from far away lands, and one of them is surprisingly modern.  Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw and Emmanuel DaCosta have a crew member on the boat that has been charged with ruining the expedition.  He does this by knocking out the New Mutants, Amara, and Nina; he apparently kills the rest of the crew and steers the boat down a waterfall.  After the boat crashes, the New Mutants all make it to shore, but Roberto's mother is missing.  Amara also survived, but it turns out that she was not really an indigenous person; she was a white blonde that was disguised as a Native. 

 

And then, on the shore, the survivors are confronted by the Roman Legionnaires, who decide to enslave them.  

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Cannonball has learned how to make turns while blasting.  It apparently happened off-panel between issue 5 (when he last lamented his skills) and now.  So much for that sub-plot.  I don't think it ever really comes up again.

- Speaking of the team's continuing development, Psyche has developed the ability to project specific thoughts instead of just someone's fears.  Here, she uses Rahne's memory of snow to cool her down.

- Professor Xavier is still teaching Team America?!?  I am 99% certain this is the last time this is mentioned in any X-book.

- Professor Xavier continues to encourage the team to assume that Karma is dead.

- Rahne is still sensitive about people's reaction to her mutant power.  She pours her heart out to Amara, assuming that she does not understand English.  When she learns otherwise, she is pretty upset.

Writing!
The poor writing continues with this issue.  Even ignoring the bizarre choice to have Sam and Dani capture Amara, or the completely illogical decisions made by Shaw's saboteur, this is an issue that ends with the Roman Legion showing up in the middle of the Amazonian rain forest.  There is no payoff on Earth that will make this ridiculous moment worthwhile.

Art!
The saving grace of the art in this issue is, once again, Bob McLeod's inks.   The action isn't too impressive in this issue, but there are some solid character moments.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- So this issue's action hinges on the choice to kidnap a Native Brazilian that was minding her own business, until Cannonball and Psyche ran into her.   Sure, they fought, but she was basically defending herself.  It's an odd choice for teenagers to make, but it's even weirder that none of the adults on the ship are shocked or tell them this is a terrible idea.

- Emmanuel DaCosta has a super-villanesque hidden map behind a wall in his home.  I love that this revelation receives zero comments from Sebastian Shaw.

- Sebastian Shaw's operative that is trying to ruin the expedition makes some bizarre choices.  First, he knowingly risks Psyche's life by attracting piranhas to the boat while she was swimming.  Then, he sticks up for the New Mutants when the rest of the crew considers mutiny when they realize there are mutants on their boat.  After that, he tries to beat information (what information?) out of Amara.  Later, he causes the shipwreck and murders some of the crew members...but not everyone. 

Worth Noting:
- As far as I can tell, this is Team America's last appearance for a while.  According to the Marvel Wikia, they next pop up in The Thing #27, almost two years after this issue.

- This is the first appearance of Amara, AKA Magma, AKA the girl who was apparently wearing body paint and hair dye to pass herself off as a Native Brazilian.

- It looks like Rahne will fall victim to the ongoing "beat the women easily" trend in this title, but she recovers nicely:

 

It's not exactly empowerment, but it is one of the better instances of a female character holding her own in battle in The New Mutants.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #7

"Flying Down to Rio!"
Published September 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Bob McLeod

What's Going On?
After last issue's final page explosion, the dust has settled and the New Mutants are all okay.  Except for Karma, who has disappeared and is presumed dead; it's been a few days since the explosion and there is still no trace of her, which certainly doesn't bode well.  Sunspot's mother, Nina DaCosta, arrives at the scene to console her son and to invite the entire team to Rio de Janeiro, to accompany her on an archaeological expedition.  Because nothing takes your mind off the recently deceased like uncovering the remains of the long-deceased.  The team leaves for Brazil and witnesses the marital discord between Sunspot's cold, capitalistic father, Emmanuel DaCosta, and the environmentalist/liberal attitude of Nina.  She takes the kids out to see the sights of Carnival, but Nina is kidnapped by members of the Hellfire Club while the team is shopping.  The team works together to fight off the basic Hellfire goons and Axe, a hired thug who wields a large (you guessed it!) axe, and they manage to save Nina DaCosta.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Professor Xavier confides in the X-Men that he is confident that Karma is alive because his psychic link to her would have sensed something as catastrophic as death.  However, he cannot psychically detect her.  He senses the residue of a "malefic psychic entity" that he fears has played a part in her disappearance.

- Axe and the Hellfire goons were working on behalf of Sebastian Shaw and Emmanuel DaCosta.  Emmanuel does not want Nina's expedition to succeed, so the kidnapping was Shaw's attempt to help Emmanuel and curry favor with him.  Since this plan failed, Emmanuel has already taken steps to sabotage the expedition; he seems unconcerned with the lives of his wife and child.

Writing!
Wow.  Just...wow.  I didn't thing Chris Claremont's writing could get less logical than the last few issues, but this issue is very impressive in that regard.  The team, who are all mourning, are all able to dismiss their melancholy  by dancing with bikini-clad Carnivale-goers?  Sure, why not?  Xavier believes that Karma is alive, but implies to the New Mutants that she is dead?  Why wouldn't he?  Emmanuel DaCosta is a prime target for Sebastian Shaw to turn into a Hellfire Club inner-circle member because his son is a powerful mutant; naturally, Shaw is perfectly fine with Emmanuel possibly risking the life of his son in an effort to stymie his liberal wife.

My biggest surprise when rereading this was the fact that Claremont doesn't take this opportunity to have the characters reflect on how dangerous super-heroing can be.  

This is yet another issue of The New Mutants where Claremont clearly doesn't care.  The character progression is minimal, the removal of a main cast member (and the apparent team leader, to boot)
was surprisingly casual, and the villain was hilariously shallow.  The change of location promised to be interesting, but amidst the rest of the crap in this plot, it just feels forced.  I keep hoping for more well-developed plots and characters, but issues like this make that seem like a remote possibility.

Art!
After last issue's ugly inking, Bob McLeod returns to smooth out Sal Buscema's angular pencils.  It's not the prettiest work you'll see --- Buscema wouldn't know subtlety if it bit him on the ass --- but the facial expressions in most scenes are actually pretty good.  Considering how ridiculous the story is here, that is pretty remarkable.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Xavier is confident that Karma is alive, but leads the New Mutants to believe that she is dead.  Why?  Because he thinks that a powerful villain is involved in her disappearance and doesn't want the New Mutants nearby if the villain decides to strike again.  So, this is essentially the same set-up as last issue, where a teammate was in the clutches of a deadly villain that Xavier assumed was out of their league --- only this time, Xavier is nipping the situation in the bud by lying to the kids so they don't attempt a rescue.  Tough, but I suppose this might be a job for the X-Men.  Too bad they're helping the New Mutants look for Karma's remains, instead of trying to track down the villain.  All in all, Xavier is admitting that a baddie captured Karma and isn't trying to find her.

- Storm laments the missing Wolverine, whose tracking abilities would have proved handy in tracking Karma.  Sure, Wolfsbane can track, but Wolverine is a more experienced tracker, so the decision is made to not try to track Karma at all.  That makes (zero) sense.  Note: this comes after Storm requested Wolfsbane help out the X-Men with her tracking abilities in Uncanny X-Men #169. Yes, both issues were written by Chris Claremont. 

- The editor's note explaining why Wolverine is not around refers to his limited series, which ended nine months before this issue was published.  In Uncanny X-Men #172, the editors indicated that Wolverine's wedding drama occurred after the events in this issue, so I'm thinking that was just a well-meaning mistake on the part of editorial.

- Like the Silver Samurai did a few issues ago, Axe is able to deflect Cannonball's flight path by swatting him.  Sam is seeming less like a "cannonball" and more like a "baseball" lately.

- Axe. Wow.  Between the stupidly simple name, the fact that he doesn't actually hurt anyone with his trademark weapon, the phonetically-spelled "black" dialogue, and his ill-defined abilities (he's a mutant that has the power to...purchase an axe?), this is just a terrible character that tries to capitalize on the popularity of Mr. T and absolutely fails.

- As the above scene shows, we have yet another issue where a female character is easily dispatched by a physical attack.  Dani manages to beat up a Hellfire Club goon later, but getting knocked off her feet by a backhand slap is pretty bad.

- I LOVE the fact the Hellfire Club thugs are afraid of ghosts.  I especially love the fact that these ostensibly hardened soldiers (I'm assuming the Hellfire Club would only hire the best) know about the local ghost stories in Brazil.  That seems likely.

- Remember how warm and supportive Emmanuel DaCosta seemed in Marvel Graphic Novel #4?  Yeah...so much for that, I guess.

- At the end of the issue, Emmanuel DaCosta and Sebastian Shaw are discussing the kidnapping attempt and Emmanuel states that the plan's failure was not persuading him to join the Hellfire Club.  Back in New Mutants #2, Shaw stated that DaCosta was a member of the Hellfire Club --- he just wasn't a part of the secret Inner Circle.  So let's just assume that, in this issue, Emmanuel is referring to joining the Inner Circle.  The entire point in getting Emmanuel to join the Inner Circle was for Shaw to have more influence on Roberto, so that he would eventually join forces with the Hellfire Club.  And yet, Shaw, a ruthless businessman, appears to be ambivalent for the safety of this potential asset.  When Emmanuel implies that his wife and child may be hurt or killed, Shaw doesn't seem to care --- so, he's recruiting Emmanuel to get to Roberto, but doesn't care if Roberto lives or dies.  Got it.  That makes sense.

Worth Noting:
- This issue marks the first appearances of Axe and Nina DaCosta. 

- Karma is officially no longer on the team, as of this issue.  Let's see how often she is mentioned by the team while she is gone.

Everything 80s:
- We have another Magnum PI reference in this issue!  It's pretty useless, but it's there!

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!"

A Look Back on Bob McLeod's New Mutants Run

Modern commission via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

As co-creator of the New Mutants with Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod played an important part in the X-Men mythos.  If nothing else, he helped design Cannonball, Karma, Psyche, Sunspot, and Wolfsbane; collectively, that group includes two future Avengers, four future members of X-Force, a member of X-Factor, a leader of the Hellfire Club, an agent of SHIELD, a mutant terrorist, and a Valkyrie.  Clearly, the characters have grown to have a sizable impact on the Marvel Universe.  A broader perspective would also indicate that McLeod helped bring about the X-Men as a franchise, instead of just a single comic title.

Modern commission via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

Despite the historical impact of McLeod's run, it was surprisingly short.  He pencilled and inked the graphic novel and three issues, and inked two others.  According to interviews, McLeod blamed his short time on the title on a combination of deadline difficulties and problems with Claremont's scripts.  Instead of having the full script treatments that Claremont is known for --- a script that would plan out every panel of every page --- McLeod received "detailed plots" from the writer that were about 40 pages long for a 22-page story.  So, take a book that was already having problems meeting the deadlines, give it a an artist doing two jobs, and then make him take a lot of extra time to figure out what he is supposed to draw, and you have one seriously stressed-out Bob McLeod.  Fun fact: it appears that the Team America crossover was the breaking point for McLeod, because he got tired of doing what he considered "crap."

Vintage 1983 art via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

From a story impact, McLeod's run was uneventful.  Aside from introducing the team and playing a small part in the Brood storyline, these stories aren't particularly good or important.  That's not necessarily McLeod's fault, since Chris Claremont was writing the title, but it's an unfortunate legacy for a co-creator.  Before reviewing these issues, I didn't particularly care for McLeod's art, but I've grown to appreciate it now, especially his inking; I am still amazed at how much his inked work over Sal Buscema's rough style actually looked like McLeod pencilled it himself.

It's not all fantastic, granted.  McLeod was at his best in casual, character-based scenes.  His action scenes are sometimes laid out awkwardly, and his faces occasionally looked grotesque.  Still, McLeod provided artwork that made these five team members look and feel like distinct individuals of different shapes and sizes --- something that would prove difficult for future New Mutants artists to pull off.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #5

"Heroes"
Published July 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Bob McLeod
Cover: Armando Gil

What's Going On?
The New Mutants go on a trip to the town fair with Stevie Hunter, which has typical fair stuff: cotton candy, a Ferris wheel, target practice, airplane rides (?), and a peep show (?!?!).  At the fair, the kids watch Team America perform sweet-ass dirt bike stunts for the crowd.  Unfortunately, the show is interrupted by armed thugs that attack Team America, because that is the sort of thing that happens to stunt bike riders.  Not being ones to sit out a fight, the New Mutants do what they can to even the odds; they do pretty well, until the Silver Samurai steps in and kicks ass.

All this trouble leads to the appearance of the mysterious Dark Rider --- exactly as the bad guys have planned.  The Silver Samurai destroys the Dark Rider's motorcycle and captures the Rider, who turns out to be...Danielle Moonstar?!?  When Dani awakens, she finds herself in the clutches of the Silver Samurai and his evil mistress, Viper.  Apparently, Viper wants the Dark Rider and Team America to steal something for her, and if Dani can't do it, Viper will use her as a hostage to force Team America to do the deed.  Professor Xavier helps convince Team America to help Viper, as it will buy time for the X-Men to arrive and rescue Dani.  The members of Team America are mutants whose abilities are unusual; when around each other, the team are a "projecting gestalt," which possesses someone and gives them the sum talents and abilities of Team America --- the Dark Rider, in other words.  Team America are untrained, though, and their projecting gestalt possesses innocent bystanders, like Dani.  Since Team America is a dangerous loose cannon, Xavier opts to give them a crash training course in controlling their mutant power.  Meanwhile, the New Mutants decide to take their own actions to save Dani.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Professor Xavier is still having trouble walking.  Lilandra suggests that the pain is not psychosomatic, but the idea dies there.  While Xavier is in pain, he loses his psychic powers, which means that he is not in psychic contact with the New Mutants at the fair.

Above: Xavier the pirate

That's a nice picture of Jean Grey on the wall.  I wonder where Thunderbird's picture is?

- Cannonball is frustrated with his difficulty learning to turn.  Sure, he made a successful turn last issue.  No, turning had nothing to do with the Silver Samurai beating him up in this issue.  That's just how Sam feels.  Deal with it.

Writing!
This is truly awful stuff.  It's bad enough that the New Mutants are relegated to spectator status in this issue, but to play second fiddle to Team America?  That's rough.  If you are unfamiliar with Team America, join the club.  If you're curious as to their origins, click here.  Otherwise, suffice to say that they were a toy line that Marvel was under contract to make a comic book about.  If nothing else, this issue makes two things clear.  The first is that the New Mutants was selling pretty well; normally, guest stars this early in a series would be featured prominently on the cover, to draw fans to the new title.  Instead, Team America is given the "backdoor pilot" treatment, as New Mutants fans were given an introduction to the stunt-riding group (and why bother?  The Team America comic was cancelled earlier in 1983).  The second thing made crystal clear by the inclusion of Team America is that Chris Claremont had absolutely no direction in mind when this series started.  After the initial Xavier-recruits-mutants-because-he's-possessed-by-an-alien arc wrapped, we had last issue's Very Special abuse story and now the beginning of a two-part Team America crossover!?!  It's bizarre to see this series floundering with its writing and art, especially since its sister title, Uncanny, was doing so well at the same time.


The logic in this plot is also baffling.  Viper wants to capture the Dark Rider to steal a MacGuffin.  When that fails, she just blackmails Team America to steal it.  Since her pitch to Team America is essentially "I have a hostage that I won't identify and won't give proof exists --- do my bidding," it seems like there is a wasted step there.  The end of the issue is worse.  There are two missions: save Dani and help Team America steal the MacGuffin.  Xavier choosing to train Team America instead of working to free Dani, who is in deadly danger, goes against the past year of character development; after months of mourning the X-Men, he has a new team that he wants to keep out of danger (like when he wouldn't let the X-Men borrow Wolfsbane).  Now, he is willing to spend time training a group on a time-wasting mission instead of saving one of his students?  That might have worked when he was possessed by the Brood, but not now.  Also, the entire reason Team America is going through with their mission is because they need to buy time to summon the X-Men to save Dani.  Where are the X-Men?  That is never mentioned, oddly enough.  Naturally, the New Mutants --- who did not do well against the Silver Samurai --- are going to take matters into their own hands and try to rescue Dani on their own.  After all, waiting for help might mean waiting too long and Dani may get hurt.  Xavier seems to be aware of their plan, though, and doesn't confront them about it.  Seriously, fuck this issue.

The few character moments in this issue aren't any better than the big picture.  Dani is, once again, pretty worthless in this issue.  Karma gets to be this month's example of a female character being helpless against any physical force.  Sunspot hero worships Wolf on Team America because...why the hell not?  Someone has to try and convince readers that Team America is worth talking about.  Karma does step up and lead the team at the end of the issue, so at least that's a positive development.  Still, this was wretched writing.

Art!
The art is not a whole lot better than the writing.  This is Bob McLeod's last interior work on the monthly New Mutants title (he would later do some covers and an annual), and you can tell that he did not turn in his best work.  Check out this panel from the beginning of the issue:

McLeod's softer, more expressive inking is clearly on display here.  Toward the end of the issue, though, his inking became less expressive and more like tracing:

Both panels were drawn by Sal Buscema and inked by Bob McLeod, but it is obvious that less time was spent on the second half of the issue.  I'm generally not a fan of Buscema's work, but seeing what McLeod did with Buscema's pencils (at least in part of the issue) impresses the hell out of me.  I normally don't give a second thought to inkers, unless they are extremely expressive, but McLeod did a great job here...for part of an issue.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- This is the second issue of The New Mutants that Tom Corsi has appeared in.  He doesn't really need to appear in either issue, but what's weird about this appearance is that the only characters in the extended X-Family that have a history with him are Wolverine and Carol Danvers...and yet, we haven't even been shown that they know he's alive!

- When the Silver Samurai is fighting off the New Mutants and Team America, his prowess is ridiculously overstated.  Not only does he throw a shuriken at a gun to make it explode with near-lethal force (which makes that gun seem poorly designed, to say the least), but he does something no one has ever done to Cannonball.  He swats Cannonball, mid-blast, and this actually diverts Sam's path; until now, he has been like a runaway train when blasting.  Not only does he change Cannonball's direction (something Cannonball has trouble doing on his own), but Sam is knocked unconscious --- despite being invulnerable when he uses his powers.  So...either the Silver Samurai is a total bad-ass, or Cannonball is written inconsistently. 

- Team America seems astonished to discover that they are mutants...even though they learned that in their own series.

- Team America is a group of mutants who, together, can make one superhero.  They're like a dirt bike version of Captain Planet!

Worth Noting:
- The Silver Samurai got his teleportation ring from John Belushi in an issue of Marvel Team-Up.  In case you were wondering.

Everything 80s:
Here's a photo of the Team America toy line:

For a closer examination of the ridiculous Team America story, click here.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #4

"Who's Scaring Stevie?"
Published June 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Bob McLeod

What's Going On?
The team's dance teacher, Stevie Hunter, is receiving threatening phone calls.  The police can't do much about it, since that would give the New Mutants nothing to do this issue --- er, because the threats are not specific, I mean.  The New Mutants decide to help Stevie track down the caller and end his reign of terror.  The perpetrator turns out to be another one of Stevie's dance students, Peter Bristow; Peter suffers a lot of physical and mental abuse at home, and didn't know how to handle Stevie being nice to him.  So, there's that.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Xavier makes a definite choice to not try and overpower the New Mutants with his personality, as he may have with the original X-Men.  Since he was a real dick in the first few years of X-Men comics (and pretty much in every major story after Brubaker's run, for that matter), that is a major character choice for him.

- Xavier apologizes to the team for being possessed by an evil alien and trying to kill them, thus marking the very last reference to the Brood saga in this series.  The New Mutants are surprisingly forgiving, by the way.

- Cannonball's still having difficulty making turns when he's "blastin'," but he finally manages his first turn in this issue.

Writing!
Well, Claremont uses his this issue to address child abuse; I guess that makes it an Issue issue.  As far as that goes, I've seen clumsier comics (usually in Spider-Man or Captain America), but this hasn't aged particularly well.  Nothing of any real consequence happens in this issue, which makes it feel like a fill-in spot, despite the contributions of Claremont and regular penciller Bob McLeod.  Oddly enough, Karma is a victim of physical and sexual abuse (as shown in issue #1), which would have made her a prime choice to act as the angry, scarred victim in this issue; while it would make for a far more interesting choice for her character, I suppose that's a lot of baggage to give a main character in the early 80s.

Art!
I have to admit, while this is the first New Mutants issue to not be pencilled by Bob McLeod, you have to have a good eye to notice.  Sal Buscema must have tailored his more angular style to fit the style of previous issues, but McLeod obviously put a lot of work into his inks here.  Just look at the facial expressions in this scene:

That does not look like Sal Buscema art.  That looks like Bob McLeod's work, pure and simple.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Rahne is portrayed as having super-speed in this issue.  Not faster than the eye can see, but fast enough to throw and catch her own frisbee toss.  I don't know if that kind of speed is ever mentioned again.

- Roberto puts together a phone tapping device that both records phone calls and tracks the location of the caller.  Since Roberto has never displayed such talent before, the unlikeliness is explained away by having Xavier help him make it.  

- Continuing with the disturbing violence against women theme that has been established in this comic, here we have Rahne at the mercy of the abusive Peter:

I don't think that the victimization of the female New Mutants is intentional by any means, but it is interesting that the only "strong" female in this team is Dani, who is only considered tough because she has attitude.  Sooner or later, these gals will have to start being fully developed characters, capable of defending themselves.

- At the end of the issue, Xavier "edits" young Peter's mind to remove any memories of the New Mutants.  While I understand how convenient that is for the kids, it is morally questionable, at the very least.  What I love about this scene, though, is that it doesn't worry any of the New Mutants.  Xavier was just recently controlled by an evil alien, and none of them are worried about Xavier manipulating people's (particularly their own) minds?  Those are some trusting kids!

Everything 80s:
- Roberto proudly admits that he took his phone-tapping idea from an episode of Magnum, PI.  Either Chris Claremont really liked that show, or he liked to use it as an excuse to explain away silly plot devices.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #3

Quite the coloring job, Marvel.  Was "pitch black" too difficult?

"Nightmare"
Published May 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Bob McLeod
Inker: Mike Gustovich

What's Going On?
Dani's having nightmares about the creature that attacked her in the Danger Room last issue, to the point where her screams wake the entire house.  "It's okay," the other New Mutants assure her, "It's just a dream..." except for the fact that the knife she stabbed the creature with in her dream is covered with blood!  Gasp!  Dani takes the knife to present as proof that she is not crazy to Professor Xavier, but he is already on the phone with Moira MacTaggert, explaining how crazy Dani is, and how he doesn't know what deep, dank hole to put her in.  For whatever reason, Dani dismisses her own proof to the contrary and decides that she must be nuts.  But maybe she's not!  Dani gathers the New Mutants together to help her decide if she's nuts, when their entire world goes topsy-turvy.  The evil Brood creature appears and attacks the team, but when they fight back, the creature vanishes!  The entire grounds of Xavier's school transform into a nightmarish landscape, where the New Mutants don't know what is real and what is not.  That is because the Brood creature is using Dani's powers against the entire team, without her knowledge.  Eventually, Dani realizes that her powers are the key to defeating the monster and has Sam knock her unconscious.  This wins the day, and the New Mutants are left wondering what happened to them that day...until Magnum, PI is on TV, which heals all wounds.


Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Banshee witnesses Illyana singing a song of tribute to missing friends; he assumes she is referring to the X-Men, but she is really singing her tribute to the friends she lost in Belasco's dimension --- the story of which has not been told yet, because her limited series hasn't been written yet.

- Cannonball still has trouble making sharp turns when he's "blasting."  At what point will that stop being the defining factor with his powers?  (Best guess?  After Chris Claremont leaves the title.)

- Is that Sunspot holding Wolfsbane's hand I see?  Woo-woo!  Romance on the horizon!  Or not...

Writing!
The further I get into this series, the less impressed I am with the writing.  Why?  Because this issue is obviously crap.  Let's ignore the fact that this issue takes place chronologically between two much better issues of Uncanny X-Men that have already been published.  On its own merits, this is still a poorly written comic.

Let's start with Dani's dream; I am okay with the "death" scenes she imagines for her friends, but the actual nightmare creature was just...boring.  The fact that is was a bear wearing a mask just made it seem ridiculous instead of scary.  Worse than that is how Brood Xavier handled the New Mutants.  I can understand the Broodling wanting to get rid of Dani, since she has psionic abilities.  I do not understand why she was the sole target, when Karma also has psionic powers.  I also don't understand why the Brood Xavier ever made a physical appearance when attacking the team; it is apparent that the Broodling is forcing the New Mutants to fight apparitions.  What is less obvious is the fact that sometimes --- especially when Dani stabs the Brood when she is dreaming --- the Brood is actually fighting and getting injured.  If it has access to Xavier's mental abilities and Dani's illusion abilities, why would the Broodling ever need to put itself in danger?

Worst of all: this issue does not actually ever explain what is going on!  I get it; Xavier has become possessed by a Brood that is using his mental powers.  But if I was just reading this title, I would definitely not know any of that.  New Mutants has not explained that Xavier has been possessed by an alien, it has not explained what the hell a Brood is, and it sure as hell didn't explain that Brood Xavier was manipulating Dani's powers in this issue; there's a hint at the end of the issue, but not enough to satisfy readers that aren't keeping up with the X-Men.  Did that all need to be spelled out?  Not necessarily, but this comic isn't making it easy to be a casual reader.


Art!
I'm sure that this is just me seeing a trend where there really isn't one, but there seems to be an awful lot of dudes beating on women in these first few issues of New Mutants.  The first issue has Roberto giving Xi'an a full forehand smack, and here he is, using his super-strength against her ribcage:

And how does the issue climax?  With Sam rocketing his fist into Dani's face!

These images may have been taken completely out of context, but I think we can all agree that Bob McLeod is good at drawing women getting knocked out.

Keep in mind that this comic is probably aimed at an audience younger than that of the X-Men.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Apparently, a Demon Bear "murdered" Dani's parents.  In case the word "Demon" didn't clue you in that this is an unusual bear, the fact that she uses "murdered" instead of "killed" is a nice hint.  Also, how hilarious is it that the monster in her dream was wearing a mask, revealing a bear's head underneath?

- Dani takes the blood-stained knife to Xavier as proof that she's not crazy, and yet none of the artwork after that first scene supports her claim.  Yay, Comics Code!  The lack of blood on the knife doesn't at all make her look batshit crazy when she contemplates suicide a few panels later...

That's right...Dani shouldn't be allowed to live and we shouldn't be allowed to see blood

- When Dani screams herself awake from her nightmare, Sam and Roberto are immediately at her door.  That implies that their rooms are next to hers.  That seems like a poor arrangement on Xavier's part; I'm not saying that these are not well-behaved kids, but that's an awful lot of faith to put into horny teens not trying to have sex in the middle of the night.

- Moira MacTaggert does not want to have children with former X-Man Banshee, because her last child turned out to be a murdering bastard.  Good point.

-  Sam brings up an excellent point; why doesn't Xavier just expel Dani, if the Brood Xavier is that worried about her?  Does there need to be a solid reason for him to get rid of her?  Hell, Illyana went to Europe with Moria MacTaggert because...um...reasons.  Why couldn't Dani get shuffled off in a similar fashion?  This entire issue is a waste of time!

- Karma tries to possess Brood Xavier in this issue and is defeated by Brood Xavier's mental ickiness.  Thank goodness she tries the exact same thing, minutes later, in Uncanny X-Men #167.  Just because she's the oldest doesn't mean she's the smartest.

- According to Brood Xavier, it is well within Dani's abilities to turn her psychic projections into physical apparitions...if only she had trained more!  Wah-wah!  Too bad this is never mentioned again.

Worth Noting:
- The first page of this issue helpfully points out that this story takes place between Uncanny X-Men #166 and #167.

- This is the first mention of the Demon Bear. 

- For all intents and purposes, this is the end of the first story arc of New Mutants.  This is the 80s, of course, so this wasn't being written for the trade, but this is the effective end of the storyline that led to the formation of this team.  The New Mutants were gathered because Xavier has lost the X-Men, and has decided to teach a new generation of mutants.  Now that the X-Men have returned (in-between this and the next issue), the theoretic dynamic will shift.  Theoretically, there should be less pressure on the New Mutants to

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #2

"Sentinels"
Published April 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Bob McLeod
Inker: Mike Gustovich


What's Going On?
Stevie Hunter takes Rahne, Roberto, Sam, and Xi'an to the mall to see "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" in the theater.  They are secretly monitored by agents of Project Wideawake, under the orders of Henry Peter Gyrich.  The idea is for the agents to detain the students because they are mutants (that makes sense, right?).  While the agents are making their move, Stevie receives a surprise encounter from Michael Rossi, from Air Force Intelligence.  Rossi alerts Stevie to the abduction of the students, and they (and the kids) manage to fight off the Project Wideawake agents.  That's when the gigantic, mutant-hunting robot Sentinels arrive.  The New Mutants manage to defeat the three Sentinels that were trying to capture them, but they also wrecked the mall in the process.  All's well that ends well, though, as the Project Wideawake agents get arrested and the kids return back to Xavier's school.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Remember how last issue ended, with Dani in a very dangerous Danger Room module?  Yeah, that doesn't really go very far in this issue.  Dani avoids some danger, is confronted by a gigantic Brood, and she gets knocked unconscious.  This somehow saves her from the Danger Room program and the Brood.  When the rest of the team finds and wakes her, Dani doesn't think anyone believes her tale.  However, Stevie knows that only three people can activate the most dangerous Danger Room sequences; Stevie was in town with the other students, Moira was in Europe, and Professor Xavier was at home, without an alibi.  Hmm...

- Sebastian Shaw is the man ultimately responsible for sending the Sentinels to attack the New Mutants (I guess?  More on that later...).  Shaw's plan is to make the kids ultra-paranoid, "suspicious of everyone, save their own kind;" once Xavier is "eliminated," Shaw plans to swoop in and have the kids willingly join the Hellfire Club. 

- After Roberto made a vaguely sexual comment about Rahne at the end of last issue, it is implied here that she has a crush on him.  I don't recall that ever being a major sub-plot in this series, so I'm curious as to when this is abandoned.

- Sebastian Shaw realizes that Roberto's father is a member of the Hellfire Club.  Not the evil, power-hungry Inner Circle, but the fancy high society club.  Shaw plans to use the older DaCosta to bring his son to the Hellfire Club.

Writing!
Woof.  This is a poor issue. 

Pushing the cliffhanger ending of last issue to the background of this issue feels unnatural, from a pacing perspective.  Having the situation resolve itself by having Dani get knocked unconscious and then not coming to more serious harm when she was utterly defenseless makes absolutely no sense and undermines the danger she was originally in.

As for the main plot, the Sentinels show up because...um...okay, fine, there is no clear cause-and-effect.  Bringing back Michael Rossi seems absolutely random.  On the bright side, it is fun seeing the kids' powers in action against the Sentinels, but they should be out of their league against Sentinels.  The small character moments in the story came across decently well, but Claremont's attempts at teenager dialogue don't feel very natural.

And then there are the thematic problems.  Just last issue, it was stressed that the New Mutants would not become a team of superheroes.  The very next issue, they are fighting giant robots in public.  Even worse, they do this without masks!  For some unknown reason, the team uniforms that they seem to wear under their street clothes --- because they're not a super-team that would need to switch into their disguises en route to hero-ing --- do not include even the most basic masks.  These costumes are based on the classic original X-Men uniforms (which all had masks) and the modified original Kitty Pryde uniform (which also had a mask).  And what about their lack of training?  None of the New Mutants who defeated these supposedly deadly Sentinels passed even the most basic Danger Room training sequence, and yet they easily defeat one of the X-Men's major enemies?  I'm not saying that I want the kids to die, but don't you think that maybe this win should have been a little less dominant?  Already, it feels like the focus of this title is being pulled in different directions, and the end product is suffering for it.

Art!
I like Bob McLeod's action sequences in this issue; I think he portrays the awkward bulk of the Sentinels very well.

...But there are some serious storyboarding problems.  There are slightly goofy, but annoying problems, like having the kids wearing their New Mutants uniforms under their street clothes --- including the long gloves and boots that they clearly were not wearing under their clothes.  That's a little silly, but not a big problem.  I'm more annoyed by the kids changing their clothes between panels, as they fight for their lives; that just seems like a misuse of time in an emergency. 

My biggest problem is sloppy storytelling.  Take this scene:

Roberto is inside a parking garage, when Sentinel hands block his way.  His only way out is to desperately break through a wall to the outside.  And yet, the last panel shows Roberto breaking through a wall one story beneath the Sentinel's attack. 

Or how about this? 

What happened to the Sentinel that was holding onto Sam?  It clearly was not shown crashing into Sentinel #3.  Did it just let go, and quit?

Retrospectively Amusing:
- The kids watch "E.T." in the theater and of course have to discuss whether or not E.T. is a mutant.

- Local teens go out of their way to introduce themselves to the New Mutants, because the locals haven't seen them around before.  That's pretty nice, I suppose, but it's not like Westchester is a small, remote village where everyone knows your name; the county has almost a million people in it in 2014, with dozens of schools.

- Sebastian Shaw's student recruitment plan is a bit overcomplicated, especially when you consider that the Hellfire Club eventually decides to recruit its own students at the Massachusetts Academy.  "Wait...you mean we can get kids to be on our side without creating a conspiracy?"
 
- Michael Rossi has been pretending to be dead for the past several years as part of Air Force Intelligence?  The Air Force?!?  Not the FBI or CIA?  Not SHIELD?!?  Unless I missed out on a rich history of Marvel using the Air Force as ultimate spy badasses in the 80s, this is a bizarre choice.

- You've got to love Project Wideawake's camera and microphone network.  It's not like they would have set up their own gear at the ice cream shop that the New Mutants visited on a whim, so that means they have the ability to hack the security cameras at the mall (which apparently also transmit audio?).  I would *LOVE* to hear a technical explanation for that, especially one that uses 1983 technology.

- Project Wideawake has its motives spelled out in this issue, and they essentially boil down to this: since mutants are not a nation-specific resource, it is possible that other countries are creating their own elite offensive unit of mutant soldiers and specialists.  That is a legitimate and sympathetic motivation.  So what is Project Wideawake supposed to do?  Um.  Well.  Be bigoted bad guys, I guess?  It's not very clear.

- According to Henry Peter Gyrich, he is under direct orders from the President to keep Project Wideawake a secret for as long as possible.  And now the Sentinels have publicly battled children and wrecked a shopping mall.  Oops.  Don't worry, though; I'm pretty sure this debacle is not mentioned again and has no lasting repercussions to the program.

- The Sentinels get called in as the "contingency plan" when the Project Wideawake agents encounter resistance.  Henry Peter Gyrich, head of Project Wideawake, said that he would never use Sentinels to apprehend children, only the most dangerous adults.  Which is right?  Did the agents have the okay to call in the Sentinels, or are we to believe that Sebastian Shaw has several Project Wideawake agents on his payroll?  And if that's the case, wouldn't they be found out and punished pretty damn quickly?

- The New Mutants and the Sentinels wrecked the local mall.  You would think that would be a big deal, but the kids get to go back to school at the end of the issue, scot-free.

- The "Professor Xavier has a Brood egg in him" sub-plot continues, even though the story got a resolution last month in Uncanny #167.  Looks like somebody is still getting the hang of publishing multiple related titles per month, eh Marvel?

Worth Noting:
- Michael Rossi was believed to have been dead before his return in this issue.  I believe his death was in Uncanny X-Men #96 at the hands of Sentinel master Stephen Lang, but I'm not 100% sure, since he did pop up in a few issues of  Ms. Marvel (Vol. 1) afterward; it looks like those appearances were only in flashbacks, but I can't be certain.

- The computer screen in Project Wideawake headquarters shows the ages of the New Mutants.  Roberto is 13, Rahne 14, Sam 16, and Xi'an 19.  I'm pretty sure that Roberto is not portrayed as the youngest in the group in any other issues, so this may be retconned quickly.

- Sunspot falls three stories and lands on a car, but does not seem to be hurt.  A Sentinel observes "evident by-product of enhanced strength is increased physical resilience."  So a three-story fall barely hurts him, but Wolverine can knock him out without any trouble in Uncanny #167.  Good to know.

Everything 80s:
- There are a few house advertisements for "Blip" magazine, Marvel's attempt to capture the attention of video gamers.  The attractions are things like video game-themed comic strips, "video games of the stars," and "visual appeal."  It lasted seven issues.

- As someone who went through a major First Wave Punk phase, this just made me groan:

Marvel Graphic Novel #4

"The New Mutants"
Published: September 1982
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Bob McLeod
Inker: Bob McLeod

What's Going On?
As Charles Xavier mourns the passing of his former students, the X-Men (as totally not seen in Uncanny X-Men #161), new mutants are manifesting all over the globe.  As the foremost expert on mutation in the world, that means that people are coming to Chuck with their mutant problems.

• Moira MacTaggert comes across a young Rahne Sinclair as she is being chased by men with torches; Rahne apparently can turn into a wolf or a wolf-human hybrid.  
• Xi'an Coy Mahn was referred to Xavier by the Fantastic Four; Xi'an can possess and control others with a very specific psychic ability. 
• Dani Moonstar is apparently the orphaned daughter of one of Xavier's as-yet-unmentioned best friends; her specific psychic ability is to pull an image from someone's mind and present it like a hyper-real hologram.  
• Roberto DaCosta manifested in the middle of a soccer stadium that was clearly too large for a game between rival high schools; Roberto has super-strength, but apparently only in short bursts.  
• Sam Guthrie was a sixteen-year old miner, struggling to provide for his family when he was caught in a cave-in; Sam can fly fast and hit hard without injuring himself. 

Donald Pierce of the Hellfire Club is also targeting Xavier and these young mutants.  Is it because the Hellfire Club has a stated goal of gathering mutant resources and using them to become more powerful?  Er, no.  Apparently, Pierce hates mutants, despite having only appeared working closely with evil ones in his previous appearances.  His goal is to kill each of these new mutants, as soon as they manifest.  Then his goal changes to kidnapping some of them and fooling Sam to work for him as hired muscle.  Then the goal changes again to sucking the knowledge out of Xavier's head.  But then that extremely complicated process stops being the main goal, and Pierce once again decides on simple murder.  The kids work with Xavier and Moira on a globe-hopping adventure to foil Pierce's mad plan and then all enroll at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters as students who wear black and yellow spandex.

Subplots!

• All five new mutants join the team that has not yet been officially named.
• While this comic directly references Uncanny X-Men #161, no mention is made to the alien creature that is trying to possess Xavier's mind.
• Xi'an is hired by Xavier to help run the school.  I am pretty sure that point is never brought up again in The New Mutants comic.
• Both Xi'an and Sam have serious economic problems and extended family that they care for.  While Xavier's job offer explains how Xi'an will support her siblings (although not where they will live), Sam's problem is not resolved by the end of the comic.  He just decides to quit work and go to school.
• Donald Pierce hates mutants now.  Apparently.

The Retroactively Amusing:
- Xavier explicitly states that he does not trust Tessa.  At the time, that made perfect sense, since she was Sebastian Shaw's girl Friday.  However, Claremont did a massive retcon on Tessa when he returned to the X-titles in 2000, making her into Xavier's super-secret agent.  It's funny to see evidence of how unplanned that change was.

- It never struck me as odd before this moment, but "The New Mutants" is really a terrible name for a super-hero team.  Why not the X-Men?  The last time Xavier lost some students, he just grabbed some more and slapped the team name on them.  This time, though, he goes with a team name that simply accurately identifies them?  Lame.

- Dani Moonstar is really, really, really stereotypically American Indian here.  The character gets a lot of depth as the series goes on, but her bit in this issue can be boiled down to "Angry Injun."

Also: is that a bulge in Rahne's pants?

Points to Claremont for ethnic diversity, but writing Dani like she was in a '60s Western is pretty bad.

- Donald Pierce, a cyborg with many weapons at his disposal, uses a flintlock pistol as his back-up weapon.

Fact: you can't shoot a gun and poop standing up at the same time

I get it, the Hellfire Club likes to dress like they're from the 18th century, but really?  A flintlock?  He just shot an energy burst from his hand and is mostly robot.  Where's his ray gun?

- Mutants are popping up all over the globe.  As proof, this comic has five that manifested at roughly the same time.  Xavier agrees to re-open his school (was it even closed?) for these mutants, but stops short of looking for more mutants to help.  I guess five is his maximum class size.

The Peculiar:
Rahne's mutant ability in this comic is substantially different than how she appears after this.  Typically, she is either a wolf or a werewolf-looking thing.  Here, she has the torso of a werewolf and the hind quarters of a wolf.

Of the five new mutants, only Xi'an (Karma) and Sam (Cannonball) are given code-names.  That would be a little odd, even today, for an origin story, but in the early '80s, when character names are mentioned as often as possible...?  That was highly unusual.

Why does Xavier presume that the X-Men are dead?  They disappeared in a comic that was published in the same month as this graphic novel, and there was no indication that Xavier thought they were dead then, or even that he knew they had been kidnapped yet.

Rahne is chased by villagers carrying torches.  Where would you even find a torch in the 1980s?

Worth Noting:

• This is the first appearance of Sam Guthrie (Cannonball), Dani Moonstar (Psyche), Roberto DaCosta (Sunspot) and Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane).  Xi'an Coy Mahn (Karma) first appeared in Marvel Team-Up #100 (which was a Claremont/Frank Miller collaboration).
• This is the second appearance of Cole, Macon, and Reese, although they are not specifically named here.  They are the Hellfire Club guards who Wolverine tore apart during The Dark Phoenix Saga, and would later be founding members of the Reavers with Donald Pierce.

And so it begins...!  This is the moment that the X-Men stopped being a single team and became a family of titles.  While I wouldn't argue that this issue was very good (Pierce's always-changing plan and a lot of stereotypes at work), it does an okay job introducing the characters.  Xavier's school hadn't been used to teach mutants much of anything since Xavier's fake death in Uncanny X-Men #42, so I see the void this title is filling.  Does Claremont make the best use of this concept?  Time will tell.