New Mutants #23 - What lurks in the shadows

[blinkingblah]

Anybody else feel like Cosmar was inspired from Amethyst?? Just a little?

[Kingdom X]

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...nkId=147718317

Not much new information here, but confirmation that issue 25 is coming out in April and that it’s part of Destiny of X.

[BobbysWorld]

All I wanna know is when the original Hellions can get a scene or two in this book, lol. I've been wanting it since it started. I really feel like the New Mutants and Hellions always had such an interesting dynamic because it differed between various characters of course, but for the most part, they never actually like hated each other, and swapped members so many times that they're all pretty well known to each other and some were even very close. Magma went to school with them long enough that Firestar sought out both Manuel and Amara to let them know about the Hellions' deaths, Jamie WAS classmates with the Hellions even before he ever joined the X-teams and became closer with the other New Mutants and X-Force, etc, etc. And the Hellions weren't the first big deaths in the X-universe by any means, but they were a big one still, and it was shown to impact a lot of the New Mutants in a lot of ways.....and now they're all back, like, idk, I just would love to see them all engaging in some kinda friendly-but-in-an-aggressive way old school rivalry.

Like, gimme Jetstream and Roulette being like yeah looks like some of you New Mutant losers have done pretty well for yourselves and are hotshots in the mutant community, but that was only because we were dead and couldn't show you up. You've got competition now! Or I always thought Xi'an and Tarot could make good friends, with Marie-Ange just coming over to hang out with her and Dani in relative quiet because Beef and Bevatron are being particularly loud and obnoxious over at Hellion House and breaking all the furniture. Doug's like oooh, Krakoa's not gonna like that. I should go tell them to chill. And Tarot's like yes, you should definitely do that because they respect your authority very much and it does not chafe and also they are not at all intimidated by your bad-ass warrior wife so you should definitely not take her with you. And Doug's like ugh why does everyone always think I need Bei to fight my battles for me I can fight my own battles I mean its BEEF for god's sake, the most dangerous thing about him is his body odor. And he just stomps off to go serve B&B some respect this sacred land juice and Xi'an like hands Marie-Ange her deck of Tarot cards and she's like I'm guessing we don't need these to know how THAT'S gonna go, and this conjures Roulette out of thin air and she's like bet? Who wants to bet? Did somebody say bet? Because I can't imagine that girl NOT being all about that gambling and for some reason all of a sudden I'm remembering how similar her personality is to Illyana's and omg I want a Roulette and Magik causing mayhem on a night out in Vegas or something, and bonding over the fact that between the two of them, the sum total of all their give a fucks about anything ever is still a big fat zero. Meanwhile, back at the Akademos Habitat, every time Catseye and Wolfsbane pass by each other they wrinkle their noses and are like ugh cat, ugh dog at each other and its literally just that deep for them and not a drop deeper.

Look, I'm just saying I missed the Hellions and want drama and petty rivalry that neither side is all that invested in and mostly keep to because like Its Tradition Guys, We Gotta. I have been waiting for at least some of these things ever since NM #1 and omg its been like eighty four years, when will I get Hellions trying to bully the New Mutants in their extremely bad-ass pink and purple jumpsuits while Sam and Berto manfully hold back their giggles and nod gravely at the threat the Hellions present and that they are totally taking seriously.

Firestar, on one of her rare visits to the New Mutant house to catch up:

So, I'm glad to see you all have definitely grown up and aren't perpetually stuck in the dynamic I remember you having when WE WERE ALL LITERALLY FIFTEEN.

[SilverScarlet]

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...nkId=147718317

Not much new information here, but confirmation that issue 25 is coming out in April and that it’s part of Destiny of X.

I was really happy to see this....I think the previous cancellation of #26 was only because the book had been pushed back so far!
Great batch of covers, but I especially love the Phillip Tan one!

[sunofdarkchild]

It looks like the marketing campaign for the next arc is starting to kick into gear even though we're 3 months out. I expect Marvel to pull out all the stops in promoting issue 25 and do everything they can to ensure it sees a huge boost in sales over the previous issues.

[SilverScarlet]

It looks like the marketing campaign for the next arc is starting to kick into gear even though we're 3 months out. I expect Marvel to pull out all the stops in promoting issue 25 and do everything they can to ensure it sees a huge boost in sales over the previous issues.

Yep.....I think that was a big part of the delay....they wanted to kick #25 (and the ensuing arc) off with a bang, and tying that in to the whole Destiny of X launch was the best way to do so.

[rcaguy]

All I wanna know is when the original Hellions can get a scene or two in this book, lol. I've been wanting it since it started. I really feel like the New Mutants and Hellions always had such an interesting dynamic because it differed between various characters of course, but for the most part, they never actually like hated each other, and swapped members so many times that they're all pretty well known to each other and some were even very close. Magma went to school with them long enough that Firestar sought out both Manuel and Amara to let them know about the Hellions' deaths, Jamie WAS classmates with the Hellions even before he ever joined the X-teams and became closer with the other New Mutants and X-Force, etc, etc. And the Hellions weren't the first big deaths in the X-universe by any means, but they were a big one still, and it was shown to impact a lot of the New Mutants in a lot of ways.....and now they're all back, like, idk, I just would love to see them all engaging in some kinda friendly-but-in-an-aggressive way old school rivalry.

Like, gimme Jetstream and Roulette being like yeah looks like some of you New Mutant losers have done pretty well for yourselves and are hotshots in the mutant community, but that was only because we were dead and couldn't show you up. You've got competition now! Or I always thought Xi'an and Tarot could make good friends, with Marie-Ange just coming over to hang out with her and Dani in relative quiet because Beef and Bevatron are being particularly loud and obnoxious over at Hellion House and breaking all the furniture. Doug's like oooh, Krakoa's not gonna like that. I should go tell them to chill. And Tarot's like yes, you should definitely do that because they respect your authority very much and it does not chafe and also they are not at all intimidated by your bad-ass warrior wife so you should definitely not take her with you. And Doug's like ugh why does everyone always think I need Bei to fight my battles for me I can fight my own battles I mean its BEEF for god's sake, the most dangerous thing about him is his body odor. And he just stomps off to go serve B&B some respect this sacred land juice and Xi'an like hands Marie-Ange her deck of Tarot cards and she's like I'm guessing we don't need these to know how THAT'S gonna go, and this conjures Roulette out of thin air and she's like bet? Who wants to bet? Did somebody say bet? Because I can't imagine that girl NOT being all about that gambling and for some reason all of a sudden I'm remembering how similar her personality is to Illyana's and omg I want a Roulette and Magik causing mayhem on a night out in Vegas or something, and bonding over the fact that between the two of them, the sum total of all their give a fucks about anything ever is still a big fat zero. Meanwhile, back at the Akademos Habitat, every time Catseye and Wolfsbane pass by each other they wrinkle their noses and are like ugh cat, ugh dog at each other and its literally just that deep for them and not a drop deeper.

Look, I'm just saying I missed the Hellions and want drama and petty rivalry that neither side is all that invested in and mostly keep to because like Its Tradition Guys, We Gotta. I have been waiting for at least some of these things ever since NM #1 and omg its been like eighty four years, when will I get Hellions trying to bully the New Mutants in their extremely bad-ass pink and purple jumpsuits while Sam and Berto manfully hold back their giggles and nod gravely at the threat the Hellions present and that they are totally taking seriously.

Firestar, on one of her rare visits to the New Mutant house to catch up:

So, I'm glad to see you all have definitely grown up and aren't perpetually stuck in the dynamic I remember you having when WE WERE ALL LITERALLY FIFTEEN.

A rivalry? Over what? The book basically has moved pass that sort of silliness,that why you're pretty much not going to see it.

[rcaguy]

A rivalry? Over what? The book basically has moved pass that sort of silliness,that why you're pretty much not going to see it.

I mean really, Wolfsbane has more pressing concerns in her life now than being sniffed by Catseye.....

[SilverScarlet]

Hickman did just recently say that he had wanted to do a Hellions book (as well as a Generation X one)....would have been interesting to see what direction they would have taken them.
I think the team has serious potential (Ditto M and Husk. Has Skin been brought back?).

[Kingdom X]

Hickman did just recently say that he had wanted to do a Hellions book (as well as a Generation X one)....would have been interesting to see what direction they would have taken them.
I think the team has serious potential (Ditto M and Husk. Has Skin been brought back?).

Skin is alive and was actually brought back to help Synch with his transition back to the living. We’ve only seen them together in some silent panels though.

[ericng]

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...nkId=147718317

Not much new information here, but confirmation that issue 25 is coming out in April and that it’s part of Destiny of X.

No wonder Marvel has been delaying the publication of recent issues of New Mutants to bimonthly instead of monthly.

All these delay so that issue 25 can be in Destiny of X with the same writer and same artist? lol

[Sutekh]

Like, gimme Jetstream and Roulette being like yeah looks like some of you New Mutant losers have done pretty well for yourselves and are hotshots in the mutant community, but that was only because we were dead and couldn't show you up. You've got competition now!

Jetstream particularly intrigues me because there aren't a heck of a lot of Saudi heroes out there, and his mutation required bionic implants to channel his energy and allow for flight (who knows what it did without the bionics, explode in all directions?). We don't know if the bionics were a gift from his fabulously wealthy parents, or from Frost Industries, and if he's been resurrected, *he shouldn't have them at all.* Which would mean we get to learn what his powers were *before* the cybernetics (unless he mysteriously has them again, despite a whole new body, like Karma and her bionic leg), and possibly even get to see him being trained to control his own power manifestation, or find a productive use for it, *without* resorting to a bunch of mechanical implants (which I'd find fantastic, a mutant actually training to overcome a limitation, rather than just slap on a pair of gloves / goggles and resolve never to touch / look at anyone again).

Plus Catseye. A totally fascinating character. Not only did she have transformation abilities and animalistic traits, like Wolfsbane, she *also* demonstrated other gifts, like enhanced stealth/blending, and the ability to walk on ceilings! She's kind of like Nightcrawler in that respect, having multiple not-really-related gifts, and that intrigues me. I wish we'd never seen her human form clearly, I would have loved if she was African and her mutation tied to the cryptid called the Mngwa. C'est la vie.

And Empath. The original dark haired, dark eyed fellow who *wasn't* born a mutant, and was a jerk because he *chose* to be a jerk, not because the poor woobie was a victim of his powers making him unable to form normal emotional connections. It would be interesting to see if he's just mysteriously changed both heritage and history, or if there's more than one of him, for some reason...

But oh gosh, they need new costumes, stat.

[sallyblevins]

I loved the hellions since I was 6years old. They died when I was 10 and I feel devastated. When the krakoa era begun they were the first ones in my list to resurrect (with skin,synch,berzerker and scaleface) so now I’m hoping they pop up soon because the hellions are so well created and fascinate me.
Catseye is my favorite.
Also we know that the cybernetic implants of Jetstream are from the hellfire club thanks to the official handbook marvel.

[Kingdom X]

No wonder Marvel has been delaying the publication of recent issues of New Mutants to bimonthly instead of monthly.

All these delay so that issue 25 can be in Destiny of X with the same writer and same artist? lol

I do think it’s a weird strategy. I guess sales were good enough that it didn’t need to be renamed/ relaunched like X-Men Red, Knights of X, and Legion of X?

[sunofdarkchild]

I do think it’s a weird strategy. I guess sales were good enough that it didn’t need to be renamed/ relaunched like X-Men Red, Knights of X, and Legion of X?

If you look at what they're doing and how they're marketing this, there's no need for a renumbering or relaunching to boost sales. Where the previous arc split the focus on over a dozen characters dealing with several real-world issues and some soap-opera-type drama, this is a battle of mythical proportions between two larger than life Shakespearean figures. Instead of a wide focus it's laser focused on the book's most popular and marketable character. The first ever meeting between the two stars of the original Inferno will interest fans of that event and gives them a hook which is easy to market. It would be shocking if sales of issue 25 aren't a huge leap above the previous issues.