In the wake of the previous article, Doug Ramsey: Reloaded, I've been thinking about the New Mutants. I always liked the idea of an 'X-Men junior varsity' team. I wondered what it would be like to have superpowers when I was a teenager.* True, the stories weren't quite as good as what the X-Men got, and the artwork was absolutely atrocious sometimes. But I still really liked the team. Here are my thoughts on them.
Cannonball
Sam Guthrie was always my favorite member of the team. He was tall and a little clumsy, bright but socially awkward, and hung up on a girl who didn't even know he existed. He also had a strong sense of what was right and wrong and always wanted to do the right thing, even if he wasn't always sure what that was. I found a lot in him that I could relate to. And his graduation costume rocked!
Mirage
Dani's personality made her a fine complement to Sam as a team leader. Her 'I hate all white men' thing was a little clichéd and annoying, but fortunately it didn't peek out too often. The development of her powers was sometimes a little incoherent, though. Being able to show someone their deepest desires or fears is pretty cool—but what does it have to do with communicating with animals? The ability to create objects from thin air was a fairly logical development of her power, which I liked. But the Valkyrie thing made no sense to me. It seemed like the writers never knew what to do with her. They should have spent more time developing her personality, not her powers.
Karma
I thought Shan had a lot of potential, but any time she was on stage, her personality—like her mutant power—was just a little too one-dimensional. Too bad.
Wolfsbane
I also found some things to relate to in Rhane, and she did show some growth as the series progressed. But I think the writers put way too much emphasis on the internal conflicts and angst caused by her religion. Why is the media so quick to portray anyone with strong religious beliefs as either a prude, a fanatic, or just plain unbalanced? We're not all freaks....
Sunspot
One of the few bricks in comics that didn't also have exceptional defenses. Strong and powerful, yet also strangely vulnerable—which is also a pretty good description of his personality. His bravado at times seemed like a cover for deep insecurities he may not have even realized he had. And of course there was his hot temper. Every team needs an irritant, and Roberto made for a good one.
Magik
Every team also needs a bad@ss, and she was it. Illyana was just not to be screwed with, especially if you relied on any kind of mystical forces to keep you in the fight. I think even her brother was afraid of her—and he was seven and a half feet tall and made of steel.
Magma
While Amara's powers and personality were interesting enough, what I really liked about her was her history. The idea of a Roman colony lost deep in the South American jungle for centuries was a nice touch. Too bad the writers decided to retconn it and make it a hidden mutant colony instead. Lousy rewrites!
Warlock
I guess teams also need a 'fish out of water' character from time to time, and I suppose Warlock was as good a fit as any for this team. He did provide for a few interesting story lines, but usually only because of being pursued by his father, the Magus. Other than that, I never really felt that he fit in with the rest of the team. And having him run off with Sunspot and leave Doug (Cypher) behind in the "Fallen Angels" miniseries was just stupid.
Cypher
In retrospect, I can see that Cypher was just a waste of a good character concept. See the previous article for details. He had a lot of potential for growth and development in his own right, but was usually relegated to the roles of DNPC for the rest of the team, or someone for Colossus to get jealous over (because of all the time Kitty spent with him). The one really decent story involving him was the time he combined with Warlock to defeat the Magus—by rewriting Magus' DNA. That was seriously cool, and worthy of any true science geek (even a linguist).
Wow, it's kind of fun to think about characters from so long ago. Maybe I'll take a look at another superteam soon. Alpha Flight, maybe. That team really put the 'dis' in 'dysfunctional'. Suggestions, anyone?
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*Heck, sometimes I still do.
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