New Mutants
The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, generally in association with the X-Men. Originally depicted as the teenaged junior class at the Xavier Institute, subsequent stories have depicted the characters as adult superheroes or as teachers and mentors to younger mutants.
The team first appeared in The New Mutants by Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod, part of the Marvel Graphic Novel line, followed by the ongoing series The New Mutants which ran from 1983 until 1991. Like the X-Men parent title, also written by Claremont, The New Mutants featured an ensemble cast, with stories often focused on interpersonal relationships and coming-of-age arcs, blending teen drama with action and adventure. The title was taken over by writer Louise Simonson, ultimately taking a more action-oriented focus under artist Rob Liefeld, who relaunched the characters as X-Force following the series' end.
Since their inception, several New Mutants series have been published, either focusing on the continuing adventures of the original lineup, new groups of young mutants, or some combination of both. Individual characters have appeared in various film, television, and other media adaptations of the X-Men franchise, while most of the original lineup of the New Mutants was featured in the 2020 20th Century Studios film of the same name.
Original run
By the early 1980s, The Uncanny X-Men had become one of the comic book industry's most successful titles, prompting Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to launch The New Mutants, the first of several X-Men spin-offs. X-Men editor Louise Simonson recalled "Neither Chris or I really wanted to do it. We wanted X-Men to be special and by itself, but Shooter told us that if we didn't come up with a new 'mutant' book, someone else would." The name was a modification of Stan Lee's original name for the X-Men, "The Mutants".The New Mutants were teenaged students of Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and wore matching uniforms, much like the original X-Men, who had since grown into adulthood. These students resembled the "all-new, all-different X-Men" of their era in terms of ethnic diversity.
The original team consisted of:
- Cannonball, a mild-mannered 16-year-old coal miner's son from Kentucky, United States and eventual co-leader, with the ability to generate thermo-chemical energy and propel himself through the air, during which he is invulnerable.
- Karma, a 19-year-old girl from Vietnam and the team's original leader, who could mentally possess other people's minds.
- Mirage, a Cheyenne Native Americans in [the United States|Native American] girl and eventual co-leader after Karma's apparent death, who could create visual empathic three-dimensional illusions.
- Sunspot, a 14-year-old boy from Brazil who had superhuman strength fueled by sunlight and could store solar energy in his body to use his super strength.
- Wolfsbane, a 13-year-old Presbyterian girl from Scotland, United Kingdom who could transform into a werewolf-like creature.
In addition to very serious depictions of teenage angst and growing pains, the series featured themes of mysticism. The stories also relied on wilder, more far-fetched premises than were typical of X-Men at the time, shaping into more of a science fiction and fantasy series than the superhero coming-of-age comic it had been touted as in its early days. Locales included demonic dimensions, alternate futures, and an ancient Roman civilization hidden within the Amazon rainforest. The New Mutants also encountered a secret society called the Hellfire Club, and began a rivalry with their young apprentices, the Hellions.
Karma was dropped from the series after six issues under initially unclear circumstances. The New Mutants #6 ends on a cliffhanger as the building the New Mutants are in explodes, but issue #7 skips ahead several days and opens with the New Mutants grieving the missing Karma, with no explanation for how she was lost. It was not until a flashback by Sunspot in issue #10 that Karma's absence was explained. Adding further to the confusion, while Karma was dropped from the series head roster for the cover of issue #7, she returned to the head roster on the covers of issues #8 and 9, even though she was still gone. After the apparent death of Karma, Cannonball and Dani Moonstar act as co-leaders. New recruits included:
- Cypher, an otherwise ordinary young man who could learn to read or speak any language rapidly, whether it was human, alien, or machine, making him an unmatched computer expert.
- Magik, younger sister of the X-Man Colossus and long-time resident of the X-Mansion, an accomplished mystic who can open "teleportation discs" allowing travel to Limbo and any point on Earth.
- Magma, a fiercely tempered native of a secret Roman society in the Amazon who can control lava.
- Warlock, an extraterrestrial of the techno-organic race known as the Technarchy. Considered a pariah due to the uncommon trait of empathy.
Furthermore, in 1990, Ann Nocenti and Bret Blevins produced an 80-page issue called The New Mutants Summer Special. The special saw several New Mutants dragged into a world of television, which served as a vehicle for Nocenti to discuss mass media theory.
In 1986, Professor X was written out of the series. Before he left, he made the X-Men's one-time nemesis, Magneto, headmaster of his school. Magneto would be the team's longest-running headmaster, holding the position from The New Mutants #35 through to #75. Fiercely overprotective of his students, particularly after the events of the "Mutant Massacre" and "Fall of the Mutants", he was increasingly used as an uptight foil for the adventurous New Mutants, setting rules that they would inevitably break in the interests of helping their friends.
During Simonson's run, Magma is written out of the book, and Magik is de-aged back to childhood. Due to his unpopularity with readers and artists, Cypher is killed off in The New Mutants #60. Simonson recalled, "He wasn't fun to draw. He just stood around and hid behind a tree during a fight... Every artist who ever did him said 'Can't we kill this guy?' We would get letters from fans about how much they hated him." Simonson also folded the X-Terminators, a group of young wards from X-Factor, into the New Mutants.
The X-Terminators added to the team were:
- Boom-Boom, a teen runaway who could create "plasma bombs."
- Rusty Collins, a pyrokinetic wanted by the U.S. government.
- Rictor, a young Mexican who could create shock waves.
- Skids, a former Morlock who could project a frictionless force field around her body.
A new mentor for the group, the mysterious mercenary Cable, was introduced. Over the next year, several longtime team members were written out or killed off. When Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza took over as writers of the final three issues of the series, they included several harder-edged characters:
- "Domino", Cable's pale-skinned, black-garbed mercenary lover. She is later revealed to be Copycat impersonating Domino.
- Feral, who possessed a bestial temperament and appearance.
- Shatterstar, a swashbuckling warrior from another dimension.
- Warpath, the younger brother of slain X-Man Thunderbird and a former Hellion, an Apache who possessed super strength and speed.
Critical response
Literary scholar Ramzi Fawaz emphasizes the significance of the original run. He argues that in contrast to the original X-Men stories, New Mutants "radically reassesses the concept of the 'mutant superhero.'" For example, Fawaz writes that mutant powers are re-envisioned as traumatic experiences of shame. He argues that this is a response to the fragmentation of social liberation movements in the 1980s. He writes that "Like the social movements of the 1980s that destabilized instrumentalist understandings of politics, The New Mutants recast the figure of the superhero as a contingent political actor detached from an assumed role as a purveyor of liberal ideals."New X-Men: Academy X
The second incarnation of the New Mutants debuted in 2003 with an ongoing series of the same name, written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. The series would continue for 13 issues, until June 2004. Following the end of Grant Morrison's New X-Men, New Mutants was then relaunched as New X-Men: Academy X. The series featured a handful of the dozens of mutant teenagers attending the Xavier Institute, as well as their instructors, which included various X-Men as well as former members of the original New Mutants.The featured group of students never refer to themselves as "the New Mutants" before the series relaunch as New X-Men: Academy X in 2004, and the reorganization of the Xavier Institute student body into various training squads. The New Mutants, advised by Dani Moonstar, were:
- Elixir – Elixir is an Omega-level mutant who can manipulate his or others' biologies to heal or harm. He was one of the 27 students at the Xavier Institute to retain his powers after "M-Day". He was seemingly killed by the Dark Riders before returning with vastly enhanced abilities.
- Icarus – Jay possesses red wings that allow him to fly and give him an accelerated healing process. Furthermore, he possesses the ability to manipulate his own voice. He was one of the 27 students at the Xavier Institute to retain his powers after "M-Day". Jay's wings are amputated by William Stryker, who later kills him.
- Prodigy – David was the team's co-leader who could temporarily gain the knowledge and skills of those near him. Although he was de-powered after "M-Day", he has retained all the knowledge he had acquired prior to the "Decimation".
- Surge – Noriko is Japanese. She absorbs electricity from her environment which she can discharge as powerful electric blasts or utilize as superhuman speed. She requires mechanical gauntlets to prevent overcharge. Surge was one of the 27 students at the Xavier Institute to retain her powers after "M-Day".
- Wallflower – Laurie is a shy girl who generates highly potent pheromones that influence people's emotions. She was one of the 27 students at the Xavier Institute to retain her powers after "M-Day". Laurie was later killed by one of William Stryker's men.
- Wind Dancer – Sofia was the other co-leader and was a temperamental aerokinetic who was particularly adept at using this power to manipulate sound. She was depowered after "M-Day" and joined a group of fellow ex-mutants as part of the New Warriors. Donning a variety of mechanical gear, she took up the codename Renascence before the group disbanded.
- Wither – Kevin could cause organic material to decay with his touch. He eventually switches to the Hellions squad. He is later killed by Elixir.
After "M-Day", the cataclysmic event that decimated the world's mutant population, only 27 of the 182 students enrolled at the Xavier Institute retained their powers. The New Mutants and the other training squads were disbanded, and the remaining students were folded into a single junior team, the New X-Men.
Original team reunion
In May 2009, a third volume of New Mutants was launched. The team is a reunion of the cast from the first volume, consisting of Cannonball, Karma, Magik, Magma, Danielle Moonstar, and Sunspot.The reunion is spun from events from the limited series X-Infernus. Magik shows up at the X-Men headquarters in San Francisco, claiming to be from the future and warning that Dani Moonstar and Karma are in danger. Once tests show that Illyanna is not an imposter, Cannonball leads a rescue mission with her. They are joined by Magma and Sunspot. They end up taking on Legion.
In a later issue, Warlock returns to Earth and Cypher reappears alive, under the control of Selene. After Warlock frees him from Selene's control, Cypher joins the team.
During "Siege", Hela empowers Dani as a Valkyrie to bring the souls of the fallen Asgardians to her. During "X-Men: Second Coming", Karma loses her leg after being stabbed by Cameron Hodge.
Magik leads the team to Limbo as part of her plan for revenge against the Elder Gods. Cyclops has her imprisoned for her actions. When the X-Men split in the "Schism" storyline, the majority of the team sides with Cyclops and stays on Utopia, while Cannonball and Karma side with Wolverine and leave to join the new Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.
Cyclops tasks the remaining team with closing off some of the X-Men's 'unfinished business', and they ultimately recruit:
- X-Man, an alternate version of Cable from the Age of Apocalypse timeline, who joins the team after they rescue him from Sugar Man.
- Blink, a pink-skinned mutant who can create portals.
Dead Souls
A six issue mini-series The New Mutants: Dead Souls was launched in March 2018, written by Matthew Rosenberg and pencilled by Adam Gorham. The new team is a corporate-sponsored squad employed by former New Mutant Karma, who has inherited the multinational Hatchi Corporation. The team consists of other former New Mutants Magik, Wolfsbane, Rictor, and Boom-Boom, alongside:- Strong Guy, a mutant with the ability to rechannel kinetic energy into physical strength, who was first introduced during Claremont's run of The New Mutants as a bodyguard to Lila Cheney.
Krakoan Age
New Mutants was relaunched in November 2019 as part of Dawn of X. There were initially two teams who appeared in rotating issues. The first was a reunion of the original New Mutants team, featuring Mirage, Karma, Magik, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, and Cypher, as well as:- Chamber, a mutant originally from Generation X, whose body is a chamber for psionic energy.
- Mondo, another mutant originally from Generation X, who has the ability to take on the properties of any organic or inorganic material he comes into contact with.
- Armor, a Japanese mutant who can generate an impenetrable psionic exoskeleton body armor.
- Glob Herman, a mutant with a transparent, wax-like body.
- Manon and Maxime, two young twins from an alternate timeline who can manipulate memories and emotions respectively.
When Vita Ayala took over as writer, a new team featuring older New Mutants Karma, Magik, Mirage, Warlock, Warpath, and Wolfsbane acted as teachers and mentors to a new group of younger students known as the Lost Club. This new group of students falls under the influence of and later into conflict with the Shadow King, culminating in an adventure through the astral plane.
In the concluding mini-series New Mutants Lethal Legion, a group of students from the Lost Club join the New Mutants in an adventure that pits them against Count Nefaria and the Lethal Legion. This includes:
- Escapade, a transgender mutant who can switch locations or trade possessions and abilities with anyone within seven feet.
- Scout, a clone of Laura Kinney who shares her regenerative powers, as well as natural strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reflexes.
- Cerebella, the telepathic mutant formerly known as No-Girl, who was reborn into a new body after spending years as a disembodied brain in a capsule.
- List of [Marvel Comics characters: G#Galura|Galura], a Filipino mutant with the ability to fly and who had entered into a romantic relationship with Karma.
New Mutants members
In 1982, the original New Mutants team debuted in Marvel Graphic Novel #4. Originally led by Professor X, and later by Magneto, the lineup gradually expanded to include additional recruits, with subsequent volumes and titles have features a variety of team members and associated characters.| Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
| Professor X | Charles Xavier | Marvel Graphic Novel #4 | Team founder |
| Karma | Mạnh Cao Xuân | Marvel Graphic Novel #4 | Original team leader |
| Wolfsbane | Rahne Sinclair | Marvel Graphic Novel #4 | |
| Psyche / Mirage | Danielle Moonstar | Marvel Graphic Novel #4 | Eventual co-leader |
| Cannonball | Samuel Guthrie | Marvel Graphic Novel #4 | Eventual co-leader |
| Sunspot | Roberto Da Costa | Marvel Graphic Novel #4 |
| Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
| Psyche / Mirage | Danielle Moonstar | New X-Men #2 | Team Advisor |
| Wind Dancer | Sofia Elizabeth Mantega | New X-Men #2 | |
| Wallflower | Laurie Collins | New X-Men #2 | |
| Prodigy | David Alleyne | New X-Men #2 | |
| Surge | Noriko Ashida | New X-Men #2 | |
| Elixir | Josh Foley | New X-Men #2 | |
| Wither | Kevin Ford | New X-Men #2 | |
| Icarus | Joshua Guthrie | New X-Men #2 |
| Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
| Anole | Victor Borkowski | New Mutants #14 | |
| Honey Badger / Scout | Gabrielle "Gabby" Kinney | New Mutants #14 | |
| Rain Boy | Carl Aalston | New Mutants #14 | |
| Cosmar | Natashia Repina | New Mutants #14 | |
| Cerebella | Martha Johansson | New Mutants #14 | Formerly known as No-Girl |
| Escapade | Shela Sexton | New Mutants #31 | |
| Leo | Leo Eng | New Mutants #31 |