New Mutants #18, Demon Bear Saga, Part One

[katefan]

nm99.jpg
My look at part one of one of the most important New Mutant stories ever.

[houndsofluv]

nice! I always love to catch some contextual/background info on the books I didn't read as they came out

[Devaishwarya]

This was a delight. I actually started with NM 18 and Sienkiewicz then eventually sourced and collected 1-17, long after...and yes, I can dedinitely see how/why the teen melodrama of those early issues would be a tad tedious.

Thank the Goddess Selene for Sienkiewicz.

[gurkle]

Let's also put in a word for Ann Nocenti, who had just taken over editing the X-titles after Louise Simonson left to focus on writing. It was a very bold move to turn a teen superhero book into something so dark and experimental.

Plus she and the creative team announced the new approach with one of the best house ads ever.

[Devaishwarya]

Yes, Indeed.

[From The Shadows]

Let's also put in a word for Ann Nocenti, who had just taken over editing the X-titles after Louise Simonson left to focus on writing. It was a very bold move to turn a teen superhero book into something so dark and experimental.

Plus she and the creative team announced the new approach with one of the best house ads ever.

Y'know, I always thought that Sienkiewicz' Illyana looked a lot like Drew Barrymore with the Heather O'Rourke haircut (Poltergeist) back in the day. This ad was so rad.

[Tugger]

Thanks for this.

I was a massive Uncanny X-Men fan at the time but I'd only read maybe one issue of NM before #18 came out and blew my socks off. From then on I was a regular reader.

I've since read some of the preceding issues and they just seem like a totally different book, even though written by the same author.

Did Chris Claremont deliberately choose to take the series in a different direction, based on Bill Sienkiewicz' art?

Great to see that Marvel Age ad again. It could have been done for the upcoming movie.

[ericng]

Thanks for this.

I was a massive Uncanny X-Men fan at the time but I'd only read maybe one issue of NM before #18 came out and blew my socks off. From then on I was a regular reader.

I've since read some of the preceding issues and they just seem like a totally different book, even though written by the same author.

Did Chris Claremont deliberately choose to take the series in a different direction, based on Bill Sienkiewicz' art?

Great to see that Marvel Age ad again. It could have been done for the upcoming movie.

Bill's art was scary and magical, just right for the Demon Bear Saga. But after that, I felt that Sal Buscema should have returned in Karma's and Legion's story.