New Mutants 13 spoiler/review

[superjosh]

Great issue. I'm glad it made mention of the body language thing. I don't super remember exactly what Necrosha-Doug was, but he was kind of a zombie, no? An explanation for his combat proficiency during Necrosha could be that he was sort of a mindless killing machine on auto-pilot. Current Doug has his humanity so it makes him less battle-ready.

I almost thought that that's what Exodus was going to bring up... I thought he was going to unlock something in Doug. Then I thought he was going to transfer their consciousnesses. But his idea of killing him was a surprise haha.

[ericng]

I feel like Doug gonna die or Magik.

I really hope Exodus downloaded how to swordfighting in Doug's head.

Magik was seen in the cover page of New Mutants #14.

Doug is the one that has a higher possibility of death bcos he's not in the cover although Hickman might have a surprise up his sleeves.

[ericng]

Great issue. I'm glad it made mention of the body language thing. I don't super remember exactly what Necrosha-Doug was, but he was kind of a zombie, no? An explanation for his combat proficiency during Necrosha could be that he was sort of a mindless killing machine on auto-pilot. Current Doug has his humanity so it makes him less battle-ready.

I almost thought that that's what Exodus was going to bring up... I thought he was going to unlock something in Doug. Then I thought he was going to transfer their consciousnesses. But his idea of killing him was a surprise haha.

Yes, Doug was sort of a zombie back then, and I think you are right, he is less battle-ready in his human form.



Exodus or another powerful telepath should have downloaded or transferred swordfighting skills to Doug, it doesn't make sense to kill him. It's just bad writing.

[superjosh]

Yes, Doug was sort of a zombie back then, and I think you are right, he is less battle-ready in his human form.

Exodus or another powerful telepath should have downloaded or transferred swordfighting skills to Doug, it doesn't make sense to kill him. It's just bad writing.

I thought about that too, but it’s a slippery slope in storytelling. They’ve mentioned things like hardwiring the Krakoan language into everyone, but I think that’s as far as they want to go. Uploading specific skill sets would just open Pandora’s box. It’s like, oh we can all have Beast’s knowledge, and Logan’s fighting skills, and then it’s just a hive mind situation. Probably best to just ignore that and hope no one really thinks about things like that.

[loke13]

I thought about that too, but it’s a slippery slope in storytelling. They’ve mentioned things like hardwiring the Krakoan language into everyone, but I think that’s as far as they want to go. Uploading specific skill sets would just open Pandora’s box. It’s like, oh we can all have Beast’s knowledge, and Logan’s fighting skills, and then it’s just a hive mind situation. Probably best to just ignore that and hope no one really thinks about things like that.

Not to mention just because you have a knowledge of certain techniques doesn't necessarily mean that your body will be able to pull it off muscle memory is a thing.

[Triniking1234]

Brisson wrote this? So why were we getting nonsense for most of his issues?

Also I have no crazy Russian girl to beat me up, Sad stuff.

[Daedra]

Not to mention just because you have a knowledge of certain techniques doesn't necessarily mean that your body will be able to pull it off muscle memory is a thing.

muscle memory is stored in the brain not in the actual muscle, there is no reason why a tp user would have trouble acessing it, Krakoa resurrection process does it all the time.

[Jack The Tripper]

Exodus or another powerful telepath should have downloaded or transferred swordfighting skills to Doug, it doesn't make sense to kill him. It's just bad writing.

I'd argue it's worse writing to just have such a deus ex machina introduced that means that the one character shown to be not so good at fighting, gets good at fighting. At the end of the day, despite continuity, these books are made for entertainment. If every book followed so strictly to continuity and canon, there would be no fun or drama in these stories.

[Killerbee911]

Being able to put all the skills needed in character is actually the bad writing, If the X-men can make everyone expert fighters and proficient many areas of knowledge. It makes for a boring story and no challenge will happen in books. Writers use the Telepath implant knowledge as a cheat so they don't have explain why a certain character can fly a plane or do some other skill. It is use to smooth out a little details instead explaining something like " a certain character has secretly taking pilot lesson for the last 5 years" when all know that it does make sense with in the timeline. It shouldn't be use eliminate a big plot point, It just meant to be fictional short cut were a writer doesn't have to waste time explaining a detail that isn't that import to story like every one on Krakoa spending months to learn a language.

[Ikari]

I have personally never liked the 'instant downloading of complicated skillsets' by telepaths, even with the language. That is of course entirely plot convenience - we need this kid who grew up on a Russian kolkhoz to suddenly know English so he can communicate with others - but it opens a whole new can of worms.

[Glio]

I'm fine when used to learn a language because in the end all it does is speed up the plots normally.

Skillsets like surgery or flying an airplane are already bad for me and should be avoided.

Combat knowledge is just nope.

[DrMcNugget]

My goodness this is the only issue of Brisson's New Mutants that I genuinely liked. It's a damn shame that the rest of his run wasn't this good. I mean on the bright side, I guess it was at least a nice swan song...

[Harasar]

Even without telepaths giving Doug knowledge about sword fighting they could have done more to train and prepare him for a fight. Illyanna alone could have done more. For example, she could have teleported him to Limbo, where time is faster than on Earth, so they would have months, if not years for training, instead of just few days. Or she, or Eva Bell, could have brought Doug back in time and let him train for a few years, before bringing him back into present. Or even use some bizarre combinations, like for example, they could have asked Sage, with her super-brain, to analyze physical condition of the best swordfighters, their muscles, nerve system, etc. and then provide this knowledge to Masque who would change Doug's body to be better suited for fighting. I mean, anything would have been better than just wasting time trying to persuade him not to go.

[Laemar]

muscle memory is stored in the brain not in the actual muscle, there is no reason why a tp user would have trouble acessing it, Krakoa resurrection process does it all the time.

Of course, it is stored in the brain but muscle memory changes from person to person. It's the memory to use that person's muscles. Like the brain knowing exactly how much strength that person should use while swinging a sword. My muscle memory won't help you to use your body if we do not have exactly the same body. So I don't think that would be a viable option.

The only way I can think of is putting said person in a psychic training session and make them train for 5 years in 3 seconds time or something. The brain has to learn the body's limits.

I always loved Doug's interpretation of body language in combat in Necrosha arc. However I'm glad that he cannot fight like that anymore. He was too powerful for my taste

[ericng]

My goodness this is the only issue of Brisson's New Mutants that I genuinely liked. It's a damn shame that the rest of his run wasn't this good. I mean on the bright side, I guess it was at least a nice swan song...

I think Brisson didn't put enough effort to his previous issues as this one, the stories were just fillers and the art poorly drawn.

Yes, this is the best issue of his run because it is a crossover although it would have been better if the rest of the New Mutants team were in it.

This issue should be retitled 'Cypher and Magik' instead of New Mutants.