Don’t Call ‘Em X-Babies Anymore!

Bill Sienkiewicz +  Chris Claremont + New Mutants = Perfection.  What else is there to say?  I could try to justify or even support why I feel this way, but I’m not going to.  Seek out these stories.  Read them aloud to the teenager in yourself and see how you might be transformed.  Start at New Mutants (the original series) #1 and keep going through #18 (like this Marvel ad recommends).  New Mutants lasted a total of 100 issues and it’s a bumpy ride at times.  Different creative teams and too many crossovers abound (Secret Wars II really takes its toll on these characters), but somehow my love for this era has never faltered.

It never will.

To be hated and to be feared by a world in which you want to find your place is everyone’s thesis on some level.  It’s a timeless tale, the hero’s quest, made better for also being about unity through community.     Do these characters become the next generation of X-Men as they were originally created to be?  Well, yes and no.  Characters in never-ending sequential art periodicals (now referred to as franchises) are not created for resolution.  They can never have the full arc of character growth.  The best the reader can hope for is a poignant chapter that speaks directly to their own experience AT THAT TIME.  That is what the New Mutants did for me.  Perhaps it might do the same for you.  It wouldn’t hurt to find out and besides, Sienkiewicz’s art will enrich your perception of comic book art (Also read Elektra:  Assassin by Sienkiewicz & Frank Miller).