New Mutants Appreciation 2020

[Devaishwarya]

On lockdown here in Trinidad and I'm currently rereading my Classic NM by Claremont. I'm really enjoying the stories from issues #40-#50 (with AWESOME BWS covers)

[BroHomo]

On lockdown here in Trinidad and I'm currently rereading my Classic NM by Claremont. I'm really enjoying the stories from issues #40-#50 (with AWESOME BWS covers)

Noice Dude!

[ericng]

On lockdown here in Trinidad and I'm currently rereading my Classic NM by Claremont. I'm really enjoying the stories from issues #40-#50 (with AWESOME BWS covers)

Nobody has been able to beat Claremont's New Mutants era yet. They are really awesome. Unluckily he left in #55.

If he hadn't left, we wouldn't have Doug Ramsey being killed by stray bullet and Karma would have some character development with her siblings in the main series.

[BroHomo]

Nobody has been able to beat Claremont's New Mutants era yet. They are really awesome. Unluckily he left in #55.

If he hadn't left, we wouldn't have Doug Ramsey being killed by stray bullet and Karma would have some character development with her siblings in the main series.

Ohhhh more deets?

[houndsofluv]

Nobody has been able to beat Claremont's New Mutants era yet. They are really awesome. Unluckily he left in #55.

If he hadn't left, we wouldn't have Doug Ramsey being killed by stray bullet and Karma would have some character development with her siblings in the main series.

are you sure? I had the impression Claremont didn't care for Karma at all and Doug was killed off because artists complained he was awkward to draw in action sequences

[Fokken]

are you sure? I had the impression Claremont didn't care for Karma at all and Doug was killed off because artists complained he was awkward to draw in action sequences

Such a tragedy these artists didn't just draw him as the total babe he was.

[mikeydiaz81]

are you sure? I had the impression Claremont didn't care for Karma at all and Doug was killed off because artists complained he was awkward to draw in action sequences

I wish he hadn't left, but he had a lot on his plate. Louise Simonson tried her best, but the stories were terrible. By the end of her run, the only ones left were Cannonball, Sunspot and Wolfsbane. And she gave us Bird-Brain. I don't read past Claremont's run.

[mikeydiaz81]

Don't know if I shared on this forum before, but last year, I was able to talk with Chris Claremont a whole lot, and I asked him about the NM. Here's what he said:

- Magma- He didn’t like the fact that she turned out to be blonde, as Romans and Incans are not Nordic. He says that they should’ve focused more on the Incan aspect as well as the Roman. Fabian Nicieza was next to him and they had playful banter about how FN undid to whole Nova Roma thing (FN says it’s because he loved everything about the New Mutants except that notion of Magma). CC joked about he undid that story anyway in X-treme. She was always meant to be Selene’s granddaughter and that’s why she had the magma mutation, since Selene controls fire.
- Warlock- he came up with Warlock because Bill S. was drawing and he said Bill had fun with drawing Warlock and the other artists didn’t get Warlock as well. Art Adams did a good job but the pieces fit too well when AA drew Warlock.
- They got rid of the artist before the Demon Bear Saga because he wasn’t going to be able to get the art right for the type of story that CC wanted to tell (I think it was Sal Buscema).
- He always wanted the New Mutants to dress to reflect their personalities. Like in the NM Special Edition, where they were at the beach, Bobby and Magik are wearing the most revealing costumes, while Dani was a bit more conservative, and Rahne was wearing something ultra-conservative with a shirt over it.
- Karma- I asked him about whether the original idea was for her to come back after he wrote her out and he said, “Yes.” The corruption of her being by the Shadow King was always the plan. He said that the Shadow King was the ultimate evil for the X-Men (more so than Magneto). He corrupts someone and perverts their body and soul and moves on. He didn’t care about the damage done to Karma. He had her despair in NM SE #1 until Ororo gave her a pep talk to help her want to live. She was in the desert in Asgard for a year, slowly losing all the weight. The Asgard fates didn’t want her to die, so they sent the girl. He gave, for the most part, the NM their finest dreams in Asgard so they wouldn’t want to leave.
- He purposefully started New Mutants #1 with the haircut situation with Karma to show that they were kids and that this book would be different from X-Men.
- Cypher- as to how he came up with the character, he had a name and just created him to fit the name.
- Wolfsbane-he thinks she should still be a little conservative. He says that if he ever does another NM story, he would have Rahne wearing a t-shirt that in the front says, “I Heart” and in the back, have “NY” scratched off and “Arya” written really big and “Stark” smaller right under it.

[Havok83]

are you sure? I had the impression Claremont didn't care for Karma at all and Doug was killed off because artists complained he was awkward to draw in action sequences

Yes artists complained and fans hated him. He got alot of negative letters. He seemed like an easy kill bc he was the least popular

As for Karma, yeah Claremont didnt care for her either. She and Magma got the short end of the stick as he never knew what to do with them. They were just there

[ericng]

are you sure? I had the impression Claremont didn't care for Karma at all and Doug was killed off because artists complained he was awkward to draw in action sequences

Chris Claremont created the character Karma so how could he not care about her?

It's just like Karma disappeared in ish#8 believed dead but appeared much later in another subplot in ish #29.

Karma went to find his siblings in ish#54 and Chris Claremont would have a subplot for her to be told much later. Unluckily he couldn't get to tell her story because he left the writing chores. Or do you think the siblings story will never be told by him if he had stayed on?

What about these Claremont stories about Karma. Would he write her if he didn't care?





Doug was killed because some readers didn't like his passive powers and not because artists find it awkward to draw him. These readers prefer people with fire-power just like Cable.

If Chris Claremont had continued the writing chores, he wouldn't have killed Doug and would give him further character development and maybe enhanced his powers.

[ericng]

Don't know if I shared on this forum before, but last year, I was able to talk with Chris Claremont a whole lot, and I asked him about the NM. Here's what he said:
t.

Wow. Thanks for the long list but it would have been easier to read if you break it up into short paragraphs.

Magma first appearance has always been a blond not a brunette.

Cypher's name should come from the fact that he's an expert in computer languages. Cypher means put a message into secret code or de-Cypher means decode a secret message.

After the Demon Bear Saga, Sal Buscema should have come back for the Legion and Karma plots. It would have been better.

[Havok83]

Chris Claremont created the character Karma so how could he not care about her?

It's just like Karma disappeared in ish#8 believed dead but appeared much later in another subplot in ish #29.

Karma went to find his siblings in ish#54 and Chris Claremont would have a subplot for her to be told much later. Unluckily he couldn't get to tell her story because he left the writing chores. Or do you think the siblings story will never be told by him if he had stayed on?

Doug was killed because some readers didn't like his passive powers and not because artists find it awkward to draw him. These readers prefer people with fire-power just like Cable.

If Chris Claremont had continued the writing chores, he wouldn't have killed Doug and would give him further character development and maybe enhanced his powers.

No you are wrong. Simonson has gone on record in terms of how artists felt about him

During his run as a member of the team, Cypher was the least popular of the New Mutants, as series writer Louise Simonson recounted: "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. We never got any letters from people saying they liked him until he was dead."

The creators wanted him dead and the lack of fan support made it easy to do so

Karma...you can lack interest in a character you create, especially when there are 8+ other characters around to distract you. That was the case with Karma and Claremont. It wasnt just her. Magma suffered as a result as well

[Hypestyle]

... have any members of the group slept with one another at this point? If not, I'm surprised that no authors have tried to explore this angle.

[Fokken]

... have any members of the group slept with one another at this point? If not, I'm surprised that no authors have tried to explore this angle.

Tabby dated Roberto and Sam, so.... maybe?
I think Dani and Sam's tryst was brief but....also maybe?

[Havok83]

Tabby dated Roberto and Sam, so.... maybe?
I think Dani and Sam's tryst was brief but....also maybe?

Rictor and Rahne also had sex. Also Dani and Nate presumably if we consider the later team