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  1. #136
    Incredible Member rf2044's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam-X View Post
    I feel like volume 1 of New Mutants was lightning striking twice back then. It mirrored the "All New X-Men" (Giant Size X-Men/X-Men #94), by giving us a diverse group.

    The group dynamics were incredible. Their powers were unique and different (well, other than Rahne, which is your standard "werewolf like powers" in terms of shifting from human to wolf/vice versa).

    They showed their inexperience and still always managed to overcome.

    They fought everything from Sentinels, to a guy named Axe... with an axe, to Selene in Nova Roma...

    All of these stories were just so incredible.

    And Dani, standing up for herself, was a large part of that. She always felt like the leader to me, even back then.

    Though it was clear, it felt like they were shooting for Cannonball to be the leader.

    Agree 100%. The New Mutants were interesting on so many levels back then because they were so... imperfect. Some of them didn't have powers that were all that useful in combat. They struggled with self-doubt and had normal teenaged problems, like Spider Man, that made them seem more "realistic." Dani was even deathly afraid of doing a Danger Room training session in the first issue, because she was so terrified about not having a handle on her abilities.

    And unlike the X-Men, while this new team had cool powers, almost all of them had tangible limitations. For example, Sam could fly but couldn't turn. Sunspot was strong, but he had no superhuman durability [meaning that he could be knocked out by a single normal punch, or killed by a superhuman one] and his solar reserves burned out quickly when he used his powers. Dani couldn't control her powers at all, and mistrusted everyone. Xi'an could control people, but had to concentrate so much to do so that she was extremely "vulnerable" when using her powers. Rahne had cool werewolf-esque powers, but was ashamed of her abilities due to her devout religious upbringing. Talk about dichotomies!

    And I strongly believe that it was their limitations, insecurities, and difficulties being comfortable in their own skins and with each other that made the New Mutants characters so relatable when I was a kid. Or, at least as "relatable" as fictional comic book super-powered characters can be.

    * * *

    Writing my own response to the "question of the week," something occurred to me that I hadn't realized before: the timeframe when I began collecting comics was just when the New Mutants volume 1 series began. I was only off by like a month or two, and collected New Mutants from the very beginning. In a sense, the NM's have been a figural part of my comics experience, right from the jump.

    Of course, I also was collecting Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc. -- all established books that were nearly all 200 issues into their run, but it is kind of coincidental to begin collecting right when a new series kicks off. All these years later I'm still a huge fan of the New Mutants team / characters. That's pretty cool.
    Last edited by rf2044; 04-19-2021 at 05:09 AM.

  2. #137
    Incredible Member rf2044's Avatar
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    So, since getting back into collecting about 6-7 months ago, I've slowly been building up my Dani Moonstar collection, to track:

    [A.] Major plotlines in her backstory
    [B.] Past series that I haven't read before

    I've gotten and now read the following:

    -- New Mutants volume 2 [issues 1 - 13]

    -- New Mutants volume 3 [issues 1 - 50]

    -- New Mutants Forever limited series [issues 1 - 5]

    I collected some individual issues of X-Force, but not the whole thing. Didn't really like the issues I read, so no interest in going back and collecting. Maybe that will change down the road.

    In any event, I'll break some of the Dani logistics for the above series down over the next few days.

  3. #138
    Astonishing Member Arachne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf2044 View Post
    Adam-X, your post is a great segue to the next question of the week. I'll break it down into a couple of components, just as conversation starters:


    A: What was your first exposure to Dani Moonstar? Original NM run? X-Force? In one of the later New Mutants volumes?

    B: What made her stand out to you initially, that made you a fan of the character?

    C: What there a specific Dani moment / plot / comic that made her stand out to you?



    I'll provide my answers after we get a few responses. Curious to hear what others have to say.
    A. New Mutants #54, original series. Claremont's last issue, though I picked up back issues as fast as I could.

    B. The way she never backed down if she felt she was right, I think. Hard to say, it was a long time ago.

    C. Lots. Forcing herself to wake up on the operating table, after Rahne tried to reach her, so she could tell them how to beat the demon bear was a big one. The conversation with Death at the end of NM#41. The alternate reality version in NM#48. The ones you mentioned earlier, too.

    I finally got caught up on my comic reading. Can't wait for Wednesday, now. Did I miss anything other than New Mutants 16 and Return of the Valkyries?

  4. #139

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    I mean what can't Vita write. New mutants was good. Vita is just so good at writing characters. Art on the dani story could be better though. In particular it drives me crazy when someone is supposedly running at full speed but the arms and legs providing the force and balance draw on the same side.
    Last edited by jwatson; 04-28-2021 at 06:10 AM.
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  5. #140
    Incredible Member rf2044's Avatar
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    Hey Arachne -- welcome back!

    It's funny that you mentioned New Mutants volume 1 #54 as your first exposure to Dani -- because that's a perfect segue into reviewing the New Mutants Forever limited series. Obligatory spoiler alert warning...



    New Mutants Forever

    New_Mutants_Forever_Vol_1_1.jpg

    Date of publication:
    2010


    The Concept

    Back around 2010, Marvel published a bunch of FOREVER titles -- with the concept being that these stories were NOT canon, but rather showed alternate things that could have happened at specific inflection points from teams' pasts, written by classic writers who'd previously worked on those books.

    For the New Mutants, they brought back Chris Claremont, who'd created the team in 1982, and was with the series through issue #54 [mentioned by Arachne in her recent post], published in 1987.

    The concept for this limited series was: what story would Chris Claremont have written if he'd continued with the book for five more issues? It isn't a "what if" or a parallel universe thing -- just where would he have taken the team's story if his last issue hadn't been #54?

    After I read the series, I went back and got NM vol 1 #54, so that I could "ground" myself in the events leading up to the limited series.



    The Plot... at a high level

    I'll begin by summarizing issue #54, since that not only was the "spring board" into the Forever limited series, but also because it had a famous plot from the New Mutants backstory vis a vis the Hellions. In this issue, Magneto has brought the New Mutants to NYC to the Hellfire Club mansion after being offered a place in the Hellfire Club's inner council, which he viewed as a basis for forming a truce with the X-Men's long time rivals. Naturally, the New Mutants are suspicious on two fronts -- they don't fully trust Magneto, but also because of their long standing rivalry with the Hellfire Club's team of trainees, the Hellions. The Hellions are similarly displeased with their rivals being on-site, and challenge the New Mutants to a contest to track down / catch thieves who'd stolen a statue from the Hellfire Club mansion during a recent raid.

    As the New Mutants' leader, Dani accepts the challenge and the two teams head off separately to track down the thieves, using their various powers [such as Rahne using her wolf senses to track the thieves from the mansion]. When she loses the scent, the New Mutants spy on the Hellions from Limbo using Illyana's powers, and gain intel on the lead the Hellions are pursuing -- then teleport to a warehouse where the Hellions believe the statue had been taken. Seemingly arriving before the Hellions, they end up in a fight with some mercenaries, who they take out with their powers. But they no sooner dispatch the goons when they discover that the Hellions set them up, and used the New Mutants to distract / take out the hired help while they nabbed the culprits -- Viper and Silver Samurai. The New Mutants are disappointed to lose the contest, but the issue ends with Dani and James Proudstar admitting that the two teams work pretty well in tandem, and maybe could move past their rivalry and become friends.

    And just like that... Claremont's legendary run with the team he created was over.

    The five-issue New Mutants Forever limited series picks up that same night. Xi'an is still searching for her younger siblings, and possesses Hellfire Club operative Tessa to force her to do a computer search for them. It's important to note that this story took place in the mid-to-late 80s, before the internet, so you have to suspend disbelief about Xi'an not being able to do this on her own. She's shocked when the search comes up empty -- and then she is caught by the members of the Inner Circle. Magneto intervenes on Karma's behalf, explaining that he'd already asked Tessa to look for the siblings and gotten the same result, and that Xi'an should have just asked instead of trying to force Tessa. This realization deeply affects Xi'an, who decides to quit the New Mutants to go search for her lost siblings, and doesn't participate in the rest of the limited series' plot.

    Meanwhile, Amara is really upset that her old enemy from Nova Roma, Selene, has been anointed the Hellfire Club's new Black Queen. She's even more upset by the recent revelation that Selene is her grandmother. She hates Selene -- how could this be? While she ponders this on a balcony, she hears gunshots -- and the team goes off to Central Park to investigate, where they get attacked by mercenaries. During the ensuing battle, Hela unexpectedly appears to Dani, informing her that she will soon have the Valkyrie duty of escorting one of her teammates to Hel after the teammate dies in battle. Rahne gets shot, but Dani drives off Hela to protect Rahne.

    When the kids return to the Hellfire Club mansion, the Inner Circle meets to discuss these events. While they are deliberating, more mercenaries from the same group attacks the mansion, and they kidnap Amara and Doug. The mercenaries are equipped with power armor that enables them to hold their own even with the adult members of the Hellfire Club, whom they defeat along with the rest of the New Mutants.

    Selene knows who kidnapped her granddaughter, and asks the New Mutants to go with her to Brazil to rescue Amara / Doug, but Dani insists on staying behind with the injured Rahne in case Hela returns.

    In Rio, Roberto is hanging out at Carnival with Warlock when he gets a phone call from his mother, who is being tailed by the same group of mercenaries that kidnapped Amara. She tries to lose herself in a crowded festival, but they shoot her. Warlock tracks the signal, and they fight off the goons and rescue Roberto's mother. She tells them that the men pursued her after she'd fled the Nova Roma, which had been invaded / taken over. But she has a magic ring given to her by Amara's father that allows people to teleport in and out of the hidden city undetected. Roberto and Warlock use it to go to Nova Roma.

    In the hidden city, Amara and Doug realize that their captor is... THE RED SKULL, who'd taken over Nova Roma by force with his paramilitary nazi army. He injects Doug with a formula he's created that transforms him into a mutated clone of the Red Skull himself, completely under the villain's control. The Skull elects not to inject Amara, basically because she's pretty, and instead brainwashes her to be a subservient harem slave. She meets another hostage, named Tiberius, who is also seemingly under the Red Skull's control.

    Roberto and Warlock show up and fight the Skull's minions. Roberto is captured, but Warlock is driven away, disturbed that Doug has been mutated and is now an enemy. Meanwhile, Amara is fighting off the Skull's influence. When he notices and threatens to mar her beauty by turning her into the same type of creature as Doug, she kisses him to show her continued obedience. Doug is now a super strong warrior who is highly formidable in combat, and he participates in gladiatorial games where he slaughters Nova Roma finest warriors.

    The other New Mutants arrive with Selene, and are surprised to discover that the Nova Roma populace doesn't fear / hate Selene -- they REVERE her as a goddess who's protected the city for centuries. Selene plans to lead a revolt. It turns out, she loves Amara and isn't the villain that the New Mutants thought she was.

    Doug shakes off the Red Skull's control, and is horrified that his physical form has been grotesquely transformed. He decides to kill the Red Skull to free Amara. But before he can confront the Skull, Warlock attacks unexpectedly, and Doug is forced to fight his best friend to keep up the charade, but he clues Warlock in that he isn't brainwashed anymore. The New Mutants and Selene attack the Skull's compound and free Roberto, and the group then fights off the Skull... only to be attacked unexpectedly by Tiberius, who reveals himself to be a powerful mutant who wants to take over Nova Roma as the new tyrant emperor. With Selene's help, the New Mutants vanquish this new threat, but not before the Red Skull escapes.

    Back in New York, Rahne has begun to recover from her wounds. Amara accepts that she was wrong about Selene. Warlock and Hank McCoy treat comatose Doug, and rewrite his DNA, so that his body returns to normal. Doug awakens the next morning overjoyed that he's back in his own body and surrounded by his friends. And as the story concludes, Dani declares that they are "...New Mutants forever!"



    The Good

    It was cool to see a Claremont story about the New Mutants after all that time. It was semi-interesting to see where he would have taken the plot, had his run not ended with issue #54. It was also interesting that Selene was cast in a completely different light, as both a caring "grandmother" and as a "hero" in the eyes of Nova Roma.

    This was also a rare story where Doug was one of the focal points [right, wrong, or indifferent]. Giving him superhuman prowess was a departure from how he'd been written up to that point, and made his place in the plot more "acceptable" than usual. Prior to that, his role primarily consisted of him doing behind the scenes work using his non-combat oriented powers, and then cowering behind trees once the action started.

    The team sported some cool new costumes, which were derivations of their classic New Mutant uniforms.

    Dani also got an updated look, with bangs.

    1181569-new_mutants.jpg




    The Bad

    For Dani fans, this was a huge miss. She was mostly not part of the plot -- her role was limited to the first issue and a brief cameo at the end of the fifth issue.

    And the Red Skull as a New Mutants antagonist? Weird.

    Too much focus on Doug Ramsey.

    The overall story was okay -- not great.



    The Ugly

    Amara as a brainwashed sex slave who kissed the Red Skull? Ewww.
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    Last edited by rf2044; 04-29-2021 at 09:07 AM.

  6. #141
    Astonishing Member Arachne's Avatar
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    Thanks, I'm glad to be back.

    I think I have all the issues of New Mutants Forever, but I stopped reading it after issue 2. It was really horrible, and no Dani. I'll take J. F. Moore's X-Force run over this any day of the week. It felt like a proper sequel to Claremont's run. Even with all the editorial interference.

  7. #142
    Invincible Member Havok83's Avatar
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    New Mutants is only as good as Dani is involved

  8. #143
    Astonishing Member Arachne's Avatar
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    Ha, ha, ha. Well, for me that's true, but I'm sure others disagree. Personally, I'm glad Dani didn't have much of a role in New Mutants Forever. I really didn't like it.

  9. #144
    Spectacular Member TraneTrax's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Havok83 View Post
    New Mutants is only as good as Dani is involved
    You right!

    I really wanted Dani to be on the main X-Team, simply because I feel it is long over due, and because I didn't want her to be stuck watching a bunch of bad@$$ kids forever. But Vita has proven that looking after wayward mutant children is a lot more interesting than I initially assumed. She still get to fight, take charge, develop her relationships with her friends, and push her powers in new directions. It's a good time to be a Mirage fan

  10. #145
    Incredible Member rf2044's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TraneTrax View Post
    You right!

    I really wanted Dani to be on the main X-Team, simply because I feel it is long over due, and because I didn't want her to be stuck watching a bunch of bad@$$ kids forever. But Vita has proven that looking after wayward mutant children is a lot more interesting than I initially assumed. She still get to fight, take charge, develop her relationships with her friends, and push her powers in new directions. It's a good time to be a Mirage fan
    Speaking of that, what did everybody think about New Mutants #17?

  11. #146
    Mighty Member norj's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf2044 View Post
    Speaking of that, what did everybody think about New Mutants #17?
    Still can't figure out why everybody wants Dani to kill them, on a unrealated note on of her former students Trauma has just become Franklin Richards therapist.
    There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
    There is no fear, there is power.
    I am the heart of the Force.
    I am the revealing fire of light.
    I am the mystery of darkness.
    In balance with chaos and harmony,
    Immortal in the Force.

  12. #147
    Astonishing Member Arachne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf2044 View Post
    Speaking of that, what did everybody think about New Mutants #17?
    I loved it. It's great to see Dani in character and getting some attention from the writer. I'm also intrigued by Tran. Looking forward to "meeting" him soon. I may have to reread the Dead Souls mini. I do wonder why Ayala let out Chamber, though. He seems tailor made for the themes they're exploring.

    Quote Originally Posted by norj View Post
    Still can't figure out why everybody wants Dani to kill them, on a unrealated note on of her former students Trauma has just become Franklin Richards therapist.
    Unexpected, but very cool.

    Can someone explain why Xi'an needs a partner in the crucible? Do they both get killed, try to kill each other, or is it a moral support thing?

    Also,

    Screenshot_20210429-115515_1.jpg

    What are they thinking?! That skirt just looks horrible with the rest of the outfit. Is she trying for the worst dressed list? Did she tick of Jumbo Carnation? Lose a bet? Did she skin Sharkgirl for those boots?

  13. #148
    Mighty Member Krakoa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arachne View Post
    Can someone explain why Xi'an needs a partner in the crucible? Do they both get killed, try to kill each other, or is it a moral support thing?
    With Apocalypse gone, they now need to pick someone to kill them in Crucible. If they don't, someone like Magneto gets appointed for them. So they would fight and then Dani would kill her.

  14. #149
    Invincible Member Havok83's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arachne View Post
    I loved it. It's great to see Dani in character and getting some attention from the writer. I'm also intrigued by Tran. Looking forward to "meeting" him soon. I may have to reread the Dead Souls mini. I do wonder why Ayala let out Chamber, though. He seems tailor made for the themes they're exploring.



    Unexpected, but very cool.

    Can someone explain why Xi'an needs a partner in the crucible? Do they both get killed, try to kill each other, or is it a moral support thing?

    Also,

    Screenshot_20210429-115515_1.jpg

    What are they thinking?! That skirt just looks horrible with the rest of the outfit. Is she trying for the worst dressed list? Did she tick of Jumbo Carnation? Lose a bet? Did she skin Sharkgirl for those boots?
    It looks like an unfinished sketch and I think most of those designs may look better under a different artist

  15. #150
    Astonishing Member Arachne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Krakoa View Post
    With Apocalypse gone, they now need to pick someone to kill them in Crucible. If they don't, someone like Magneto gets appointed for them. So they would fight and then Dani would kill her.

    Well, that's not morbid at all...

    At least we know Dani won't enjoy it, unlike some other characters.

    Quote Originally Posted by Havok83 View Post
    It looks like an unfinished sketch and I think most of those designs may look better under a different artist
    Maybe, but I don't see how. I thought it was designed by the artist drawing the issue?
    Last edited by Arachne; 04-29-2021 at 09:17 AM.

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