New Mutants, vol. 3 (2009): A Post-Mortem

[Filthy Mutie]

Did you know? A fifty-issue run of New Mutants came to a close about a month ago. We read it, or read about it. Opinions were formed. Posts were made. We've let it marinate, swirl around, and digest. Now, let's really talk about it.

While we're unable to discuss the book in a more typical post-mortem fashion, having a lack of insight in the creative and development process of the book, what we can do is talk other key points:

What was good?

What was bad?

What have we learned? (About the process, the business, yourself, etc.)


The catch is that there's a rule for this thread: If you contribute a good, you must also contribute a bad; if you contribute a bad, you must contribute a good. Whether or not you learned something is completely on you, as is the option to share with the rest of us.

You can agree or disagree with other posters' goods, bads, and things learned, but expound why you agree or disagree.

To provide an example, I'll start.


Good: Thanks to the combined efforts of Zebb Wells, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Kieron Gillen, the character of Magik finally become relevant and multi-dimensional. (Geddit!?) Much of that was achieved in Uncanny X-Men and AvX: Consequences, but it began in New Mutants. If only we knew whether her character development was planned from the outset (originating from Zeb Wells), or if later writers picked up the loose threads and ran with it.

Bad: The importance of Cypher and his Omega-level reading comprehension. This is a character who was worth more dead than alive, like Phoenix and Nightcrawler, since his death helped shape the worldview of many of the New Mutants (and readers at the time). Alive, he was an obnoxious talking deus ex machina. That the series' climax centered on him is deplorable. (Cypher has been a hot button topic for about five months.)

What I've learned: Evidently, an ongoing Marvel series can be sustained by things other than revenue generation and/or demand. Was it some kind of moral obligation to the writers? Was it to spite Chris Claremont? This is something I wish I could learn, too.

[Personamanx]

Good: I very much enjoyed Cypher as an antagonistic Techno-Organic zombie. I thought he'd make for a very interesting foe to the NM clan and I could see him going places as if not a villain to the X-Folk, certainly a foe to them.

Bad: Interesting, antagonistic Cypher died.

What I learned: Don't let the New Mutants book fool you by interesting premises that will end in the least interesting and enjoyable way possible.

[Pixie_Solanas]

The best panel in the entire series had nothing to do with a titular NM:



u go, girl.

[krisis]

I look at this volume as two different titles.

New Mutants Vol. 3.0, #1-24, one of the best, most-consistent, entertaining X-titles of the past half decade, which managed to move forward characters who had been long trapped in suspended narrative animation. Zeb Wells had a strong sense of the team and the role it could fulfill, and nearly every issue had art that shined. It ended with Magik's ridiculous double down on summoning the Elder Gods, one of the all-time best moments in 2nd Tier X-Men (and, in fact, launching her into the big leagues!).

New Mutants Vol. 3.5, #25-50, a meandering waste of issues. Despite being stellar writers on the Cosmic line, DnA didn't seem to understand the team, their powers, their motivations, or what to do to further develop their characters. Aside from a few brief flashes of brilliance the art was largely dreadful. To be fair, three of the best characters were editorially stripped from the team after Second Coming, and it was saddled with the black hole of X-Man and the undeveloped 616 Blink.

With the end of the title a relative whimper, it's left to other writers to rescue these characters from obscurity once again. Luckily, people like Remender and Bunn have an affinity for the team that DnA lacked.

[.LuckyStar.]

Other than Magik, I really loved the arc David LaFuente penciled.

[darknessatnoon]

Exiled was good. The rest was trash.

[LeonardEugenius]

Good: Zeb Wells, Mike Carey. Rise and Fall of the New Mutants is one of . Everything from the beginning to shortly after Age of X was golden.

Bad: Cypher is one of my favorite mutants, and I enjoyed the initial augments/interpretations of his powers. DnA seemed unable to reel it in though, which really hurt the series. Nate Grey and Blink's return seemed hype for no reason. The focus on Dani during DnA's run also seemed to hurt the team dynamic, for me at least.

Lesson: I learned I like Zeb Wells' writing. Also, less is more.

[Emerald_616]

Good: Issues #1-25, 28-32, 37. Zeb Wells did an amazing job, and had a very cohesive run where he wrapped up everything except the Magma and Empath plotline. Everyone was in character and it was a nice slow burn that didn't get stale as it built to a climax. Age of X was just a fun take on everything and included Dust(!!) as part of the team. DnA also began strong, especially with the Fear Itself tie-ins. My issue list at the beginning has strange breaks because they're meant to include DnA's Magik who was deliciously twisted, and I was sorry to see her leave. The Fear Itself tie-ins (and #37) allowed Magma to actually show some dimension and Doug was not über-powerful to the point of ridiculousness.

Bad: ReGenesis onward. Everything seemed so haphazard and overdone that the book became a parody of itself. Some plots were stretched out too long with others where resolved too quickly. DnA seemed to lack a vision for what to do and made up ridiculous things that should've been left on the editorial office cutting room floor.

Learned: In conjunction with X-Treme X-Men being so satisfying with Sage's return, I'd rather have my faves in character limbo than written poorly and/or as wallpaper.

[Emerald_616]

Good: Zeb Wells, Mike Carey. Rise and Fall of the New Mutants is one of . Everything from the beginning to shortly after Age of X was golden.

Bad: Cypher is one of my favorite mutants, and I enjoyed the initial augments/interpretations of his powers. DnA seemed unable to reel it in though, which really hurt the series. Nate Grey and Blink's return seemed hype for no reason. The focus on Dani during DnA's run also seemed to hurt the team dynamic, for me at least.

Lesson: I learned I like Zeb Wells' writing. Also, less is more.

TRUTH @ all responses.

[Siryn]

Despite not caring much for Magma or Mephisto, I liked this issue:



Other than that, not so much.

I think the things that bothered me most about the series were X-Man, Blink, and Cypher. Specifically, Cypher talking to cupcakes--I actually really like Cypher, just not when he talks to everything. And I don't know much about X-Man or Blink, but I guess they could be decently written... I mean, it's possible.

Oh, and Kid Loki was cute.

[Emerald_616]

Honestly, no one has ever written Magma as more than background except Claremont, so it's strange to me when people say they don't care for her when no one's really used her. I'm not specifically calling you out Siryn, I've seen this sentiment elsewhere in the past from other posters and am bringing it up now in summary.

[Kaiolino]

Maybe people don't care for her because she's never used??

[Siryn]

Maybe people don't care for her because she's never used??

Pretty much. I've nothing against Magma, but I haven't read much with her in it so she's just okay for me. I'd probably like her more, if I had read more of her stories.

And I really liked her relationship with Mephisto, obviously. It was such a shame they had to turn him into a one-note, creepy ex-boyfriend type at the end. I mean, the guy's been around for thousands of years, right? He's probably figured out how to not be a creeper by now... hopefully...

[worstblogever]

I feel like the poll makes it hard to rate the series. If you asked me to rate Wells' run, I'd say it was really good. What came after that... other than a so-so "Exiled" crossover, it was mostly terrible.

[Pixie_Solanas]

Especially in retrospect, Zeb Wells wasn't bad at all.

The Abnett/Lanning run was totally, completely meh.