New Mutants (Vol. 1) #11

"Magma"
Published January 1984
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Tom Mandrake
Cover Artist: Walter Simonson and Tom Mandrake


What's Going On?
As Amara and Dani continue their battle against Selene, it becomes clear that they are outmatched.   Amara's control over her powers is inconsistent at best, and Dani does not have the firepower (or really, much of any power) to overcome Selene.  In a panic, Amara uses her lava powers to burn a way out of Selene's murder cave and up to the surface.  There, the New Mutants find her and join the fray.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Roberto is reunited with his mother, who was feared dead after the events of New Mutants #8.  He finds her in jail, about to be murdered by the same Hellfire Club thug that sabotaged their boat in #8.

After beating her attacker, they join the Nova Roma underground and lead to attack on Senator Gallio's home.  It is interesting to note that Castro explicitly states that he is not acting under the orders of Emmanuel DaCosta, and yet that does not make Roberto or his mother any happier.


- After having their suspicions roused last issue, Sam and Roberto decide that they've backed the wrong power in town.  The more they see of Senator Gallio, the less they like him; that's perfect timing, as it turns out, because the Senator plans to murder them soon.  When Roberto and his mother arrive with anti-Gallio troops, Sam and Rahne join the fight.  Gallio is killed in battle by Amara's father, and Gallio's followers are subdued.


Writing!
After five issues, the New Mutants' Brazilian adventure comes to a close.  That's one issue enjoying Carnivale (and a bad Mr. T impersonator), one avoiding aboriginals, and three in Nova Roma.  That's a lot of time for Claremont to spend on what amounts to a pretty ridiculous story.  It's to his credit that it is not godawful, but this is a pretty bizarre thematic detour for a book that was supposed to be about kids learning to control their mutants powers and not getting involved in dangerous missions. 

Art!
The Buscema/Mandrake pairing is getting more consistent, so that's nice.  It's not the most striking artwork, but it gets the job done.  Amara's Magma form still looks pretty cool.  After an issue or two of trying to find a consistent visual style for Selene, they have settled on what can be recognized as her "classic" look (minus the panty/bustier uniform she will later sport).

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Sunspot ends the fight by throwing Selene in a pit of molten lava and then knocks huge boulders down, sealing the pit.

When Cannonball calls him out for murder, Sunspot shrugs it off by saying A) she deserved it and B) she is probably too powerful to kill that way, so it's not like he really killed her.  Probably.  I'm surprised no one had a problem with Roberto stabbing her in the heart earlier in the issue.

- How many powers does Selene have?  She is an energy vampire, can manipulate inanimate materials, has undefined psychic powers that include a degree of mind control, can "touch souls" (whatever that means), and appears to have super strength. Oh, and she has some sort of energy manipulation abilities that she offers to teach Dani (magic, presumably?), which also seem to tie into her vampirism/long life.

Worth Noting:
- Selene exhibits her ability to manipulate inanimate materials and her vampirism for the first time.

- Amara joins the New Mutants at the end of this issue.

- Continuing the theme of the female New Mutants falling easily in battle, Wolfsbane gets knocked out by a dude with a vase.  Granted, she defeats one attacker beforehand, so it's not too egregious, but you would think a werewolf would be a bit tougher. 

- The New Mutants' contribution to Assistant Editor's Month is this "Letter Page" contest.  It doesn't have anything to do with the characters or title, so it just seems weird.

New Mutants (Vol. 1) #10

"Betrayal!"
Published December 1983
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Tom Mandrake

What's Going On?
Remember last issue, when the team had been drugged, making Cannonball and Sunspot fight in the arena as gladiators?  Yeah, that's over now.  The team has been embraced as demigods because Wolfsbane is a redheaded werewolf (there's an explanation for that, but it's pretty dumb).  Now that they are honored guests, the team gets involved in local politics, helping Senator Gallio arrest his rival, Senator Aquilla.  Even though they appear to be on Gallio's side, Sam and Roberto are starting to question that loyalty.  The more they learn about Gallio and Nova Roma, the more they find to dislike.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Rahne gest angry whenever Amara is mentioned.  Dani wonders if Rahne's anger is due to something that occurred between the two girls, or if Rahne is jealous that Sam seems to be favoring Amara.

- Roberto is worried about his missing mother.  He thinks back to all his recent loss and blames himself for the deaths (presumed or not) of his late girlfriend, Karma, and his mother. That's a lot of death in a short period of time, although I would think that Karma's fate would be A) out of his control, since it was caused by a bomb B) less important to him, since he barely knew her, but loved the other two women.

- Rahne admits to Roberto that she enjoys being a wolf more than a human, and it is challenging her religious convictions.  The two almost discuss this and develop their characters, when someone shoots at them.

That was close!  Roberto almost had to console her!

- When Sam tries to reprimand Rahne, she gets upset, arguing that he is not the leader of the New Mutants.  Roberto reflects that Dani has been taking charge lately, and she would make a better leader than he would.

- Dani is kidnapped by worshipers of the Cult of Fire, to join Amara and another girl as human sacrifices to Selene.  When Selene tries to kill Amara by throwing her in a lava pit, Amara's mutant abilities manifest.

Writing!
The Nova Romans worshiping Rahne was both inspired and idiotic.  It is inspired because I doubt Claremont planned this story out when creating Wolfsbane, and it is a fairly clever manipulation of Roman history.  It is idiotic because...well, it just is.  "She has red hair like Caesar!  And we have a creation myth involving a lady wolf!  WORSHIP HER!"  I might have bought into it if Claremont had foreshadowed it, maybe with some Caesar artwork showing off his red hair, or maybe paintings or sculptures of wolves in background shots, but nothing like that is present.  This feels like exactly what it is: a way to have the team play both gladiators and gods in the same story arc.

Speaking of ways to get the story from Point A to Point B, it is revealed that Roberto speaks Latin, and has been hiding the fact.  I'll go into how goofy that is in a little bit, but what a lazy storytelling choice!  "I need to let the other characters know what the people speaking the foreign language are saying, but how?  Of course!  One of them is fluent is a dead language that exists only on paper!"

Aside from those lame choices, this story keeps on trucking.  It is still an awful concept, but Claremont is doing his best to sell it.

Art!
While I wouldn't argue that the art here is great, I don't have a problem with the Sal Buscema/Tom Mandrake team.  The storytelling is decently clear, and Mandrake softens Buscema's angular pencils almost as much as Bob McLeod's did.  It's just not very exciting.  I will give credit where it's due: the debut of Magma's mutant powers looked pretty cool.

I'm not a big fan of leaving major character design in the hands of the colorists of the time, but those pink/red accent marks on Magma's lava body are pretty striking.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Roberto mentions that his father, Emmanuel DaCosta, was once a slave.  Without more information, it's hard to disprove that claim, but the last nation in the Western hemisphere to have legal slavery was Brazil.  They abolished slavery in 1888.  So where was he a slave?

-  Dani is kidnapped moments after sneaking out of a guarded palace.  Those are some diligent kidnappers.

- Roberto speaks Latin.  Putting aside how unlikely it is that he would be able to understand the spoken form of a dead language, spoken in an accent he has never heard before, this is just an odd choice.  Roberto is the second-youngest member of the team, and is not portrayed as particularly studious.  Wouldn't it have been less of a stretch for the lonely Catholic girl, Wolfsbane, to know some Latin?

- Remember last issue, when Selene was referred to as the Black Priestess?  Yeah, that doesn't come up again when we witness her cult worshiping her.

- Dani and Amara get manhandled by Selene in this issue.  I don't know if this really qualifies as part of the whole "female characters being easily dispatched by physical force" theme in this title, but it's close.  The only reason I hesitate is because it looks like Selene is supposed to have super-strength.  It's not explicit, but she sure doesn't look like she should be able to pick Dani up by the throat...

...much less backhand Amara across the room, so I'm guessing that is the explanation. On the bright side, this is the first time we see a woman as physically intimidating in this title.

Worth Noting:
- Selene implies that she is a mutant, and Dani discerns that Selene's abilities are psionic in nature.  Selene can block Dani's abilities and force the drugged prisoners to act against their wills.  She can also touch souls, whatever that means, and maybe has super-strength?  I wonder if these will be the same abilities she has in later appearances?  The answer is "not really."

- Amara debuts her mutant powers for the first time

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