State of the Multiverse 14

Friday, Aug. 28 2009 | Author: darrren

Still regressing here, back to my teenage years if not my childhood.

Yesterday saw the release of New Mutants #4, the conclusion of the first arc in the series, and I have to say I am suitably impressed. We have seen the return of Legion to the X-Men fold, Cannonball leading the team and already butting heads again with Dani. Just like old times, it’s as if they never left.

So far we have seen Sam and Dani, Magma, Karma who had risen to prominence again this last year, Sunspot of course and the newly returned Illyana. And Wolfsbane is cavorting in the Rockies with her Asgardian boy friend.

I enjoyed seein

g Legion back in the spotlight, in a fashion that illustrates perfectly how his powers and his condition operate. And there seems to me to be a slew of new personalities making a home in there now, and I hope that we will see a lot more of them.

These four issu

es have been a treat for those of us that remember the New Mutants the first time around. Remember Bird Boy? Or when Magneto was headmaster at the School for Gifted Youngsters? A time before anyone even knew the name of Cable!

Since those more innocent times, our team have gone through many trials. Sunspot confronted h

is father, had a rogue clone (sort of), and served time in the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. Illyana spent years in the Inferno, and the question of whether she really did wipe herself out of existence or not seems a little moot. Rahne’

s nervousness around Illyana was maintained, even if Rahne has come to terms with her own

: New Mutants #4 cover

mutation to a far greater level since those early days.

Many of the old tensions are here as an undercurrent, though I wonder how much of this would be picked up by readers seeing the New Mutants for the first time. However, these factors are so subtly done that if you had no knowledge, it will come apparent in time, and the story has not been bogged down by having such a voluminous history.

Next month we see the return (maybe) of Warlock. So hopefully now we will find out if Douglock was or was not Warlock. I seem to remember he wasn’t, but not why, looks like I have an excuse to dive into my back issues. Shucks.