New Mutants 26 Spoilers/Review

[sunofdarkchild]

The issue opens with the team walking through the snowy area of Limbo. Illyana can only manifest the hilt of her soul sword and believes its shattering is preventing her from teleporting. Dani wants her to rest since she just went through something extremely traumatic, but Illyana says there's no time since Limbo under S'ym's control is a threat to the Earth and Krakoa.

Rahne hears the sounds of battle and runs off.

The fairy tale continues with a new 'Goblin Exile' holding the line against a never-ending wave of techno-organic virus infected demons.

They see an older version of Illyana who has been fighting for decades standing atop a military complex fighting an army of demons, infected with the techno-organic virus. They argue over whether to help, but the point is moot as Old Woman Magik uses her Warlock-sword/gun arm to wipe them out. She says they have 4 weeks until the demons attack again and invites them inside.

Exposition dump. Old Woman Magik and Warlock are the last mutants from Krakoa left as far as she knows, but she has been stuck in Limbo since losing her soul sword. Dani and Rahne were killed in battle and Madelyne was killed in a magic accident. Krakoa is no more and the techno-organic virus came to Limbo with Warlock, making the demons even more powerful and harder to beat. She's been fighting alone for decades, losing her arm in the process and not making any headway She thinks the key is to kill the leader like in so many movies, but she hasn't been able to reach the leader in all this time. The spell that she used on the demons drains both her and Warlock.

Data page where Madelyne comes into Illyana's room to ask again why she wants to give up Limbo. It's mostly a repeat of last issue, with some added info that the imprint Maddie left in Limbo has manifested in forms that Illyana has had to fight occasionally. There is confirmation Maddie wouldn't have the power Maddie wonders how this is any different than her being resurrected just because Havok wanted her back and Illyana says she'll have freedom to choose what to do as ruler of Limbo when it's all over instead of being given a one-time choice - though obviously not to attack Earth or Krakoa.

Old Illyana gives young Illyana coffee, and young Illyana asks why she fights this losing battle. 'It's what we do,' Old Illyana responds.

A flying demon shows up under a flag of truce to offer young Illyana and her friends safe passage back to Earth, and both Magiks laugh. Young Illyana flips him off and says they never abandon their own. The demon says she owes no loyalty to her older self and she should take what happened to her as a cautionary tale. The demon also says Old Magik is getting weaker and won't be able to protect them.

Young Illyana calls a meeting so Old Illyana can explain everything and there's another exposition dump juxtaposed with Colossus looking for his sister on Krakoa. He wants to talk to her about something which is never specified and neither Karma, the bartender, or Doug know anything about where Illyana is.

Old Illyana explains that each time they use that spell, Warlock gets weaker. He can't assume his original form anymore. But everything else they've tried failed and it's the only thing that's worked even a little. Young Illyana says that's just like her to keep using the same spell over and over even if it drains a friend, a reference to her year of trying and failing to create an acorn in which she hastened the death of Ororo's oak tree every time she cast that spell. Young Illyana says her older counterpart is thinking too small and suggests a new plan.

When the demons come for another attack, Old Magik challenges their leader to single combat, and S'ym steps forward and accepts. They slash at each other and it looks like S'ym has won, but per young Illyana's plan Old Magik just needed to get close so she could get Warlock into his system like a virus, destroying him from the inside. He turns to ash as the cyber-demon horde turn back into regular demons. While Madelyne, Dani, and Rahne fight the demons young Illyana uses Sy'ms remains to forge a new sword to use temporarily in place of her soul sword.

The rest of the fight happens off-panel and is recounted in a data-page by Old Magik But first there's another fairy tale page recapping what had just happened and saying Goblinyana gained hope from Goblin Exile's fight.

In the data page Old Magik is enamored with her younger self for coming up with the plan and for doing better than she had under the same circumstances. The new sword didn't last long but it served its purpose in wiping out those demons, and she was able to summon a stepping to to go somewhere unspecified, though Old Magik notes that the disk looked 'wobbly.' They offered Old Magik the chance to come with them, but she is going to go back to her Krakoa to see exactly what happened to it and get closure for that.

She also notes that young Magik is doing better than before, but is still in a bad place after losing her soul sword.

Finally, there is another backup from Illyana's time as Belasco's apprentice. Cat is chasing her until she casts a spell which transforms her back into Kitty for a few seconds. It doesn't last and she reverts to Belasco's pet quickly, but Illyana vows to do whatever it takes to get Kitty back for good.

[sunofdarkchild]

My review: This is a big step down from issue 25. Taken on its own, in a vacuum, the issue is fine. Unspectacular, but not bad. Taken as part of a 4-part story and as the next chapter following the events of issue 25, I think it misses the mark completely and reads as complete filler.

S'ym's rebellion, the mysterious villain behind everything, the demon who stole Illyana's hair comb, the shattering of the soul sword, the little goblin which is writing the fairy tale, all of the plot points set up in the first issue are not advanced at all in this issue, many of them are not even mentioned. The main characters end up fighting a different S'ym from an alternate timeline in a sidequest that leaves them in almost the exact same position they ended the last issue in.

Old Woman Magik takes up so much space that there's no room for the things that should have been in the issue, like Illyana dealing with her latest trauma or Dani, Rahne, and Dani doing anything at all. We are told at the end that Illyana is still not in a good place, with shattered confidence and needing to pull herself together, but that's again in a data page and not reflected in the art or dialogue. There are hints of that in the first 2 pages, and it all disappears the moment Old Woman Magik shows up. From then it's nothing but exposition about this new character and how she got there, and young Illyana being cool and collected while flipping off a demon and coming up with a plan to save the day instead of seeming like she's hurting at all. The one time the issue tries to do something with one of the other characters it is just a rehash of information from the previous issue in another data-page. And since defeating this S'ym has no bearing on defeating the S'ym who broke the soul sword or his mysterious 'master,' all that space was taken up for nothing. Even if Old Woman Magik shows to help in the final battle, I would still consider this an issue where nothing of importance or relevance happened and nothing was advanced.

This time I wasn't a fan of the fairy-tale pages. In issue 25 they were not a simple recap of what happened in the main story but a distinct story in their own right. This time they do nothing more than recap what happened in the main story.

The 3-page backup with Kitty was the best part. The emotional resonance that was missing from the main story was very strong there. It continues to play fast and loose with the continuity of the Magik mini, but I can live with that. But it does make me wonder why they chose to bring Piotr into this story instead of Kitty. It would make sense to bring in the character who is getting a lot of focus in the backup issues.

As I said, Dani, Rahne, and Madelyne are giving nothing to do. Maddie has a conversation with Illyana in a data page, but that is almost all repeating what was said last issue. Dani and Rahne are wallpaper and might as well not be there. Only the 2 Illyana's are relevant. There's a hint in the final data page that talking to Old Woman Magik helped young Magik figure something about about her situation, but that's never shown in the rest of the comic. Illyana seems just fine the moment her older counterpart appears. She doesn't learn anything from her older self, rather it's the other way around.

I think the choice to include Old Woman Magik has greatly hurt the overall story. Now the story is halfway through and they haven't started doing anything to advance any of the plot threads set-up in issue 1 and have only paid lip service to the idea that Illyana is in a vulnerable state. There's so much plot to get through that it's hard to see how they can get through it all and also include meaningful character interactions after wasting this issue. A 4-issue arc like this does not have room for an entire issue of filler.

[sunofdarkchild]

Thinking about it a bit more, I feel this issue really exemplifies the limitations of the comicbook medium which has 20-22 pages to tell its story. Even in a 22-minute cartoon there would have been more room for many additional scenes giving Dani and Rahne something to, having characters other than the 2 Magiks interact, develop the characters' relationships, show Illyana going through a stage of grief and maybe having to recover to an extent to reach the point where she can come up with her plan at the end. Using this story to explore and advance the characters so that when the main plot starts up again the characters would have already gotten the focus they needed so the plot could continue apace. Maybe if this was another oversized issue.

[JB]

Thinking about it a bit more, I feel this issue really exemplifies the limitations of the comicbook medium which has 20-22 pages to tell its story. Even in a 22-minute cartoon there would have been more room for many additional scenes giving Dani and Rahne something to, having characters other than the 2 Magiks interact, develop the characters' relationships, show Illyana going through a stage of grief and maybe having to recover to an extent to reach the point where she can come up with her plan at the end. Using this story to explore and advance the characters so that when the main plot starts up again the characters would have already gotten the focus they needed so the plot could continue apace. Maybe if this was another oversized issue.

I agree with this. At times I felt a lot of the content could have worked really well for a Magik solo/mini over a span of a few issues, thus giving Vita room to dive into more of young Illyana's trauma. In that case I would be fine with Dani and Rahne as kind of background characters. Last issue was a strong start, this one didn't stick the landing as well. But I'm still very interested in where this goes.

[sunofdarkchild]

I agree with this. At times I felt a lot of the content could have worked really well for a Magik solo/mini over a span of a few issues, thus giving Vita room to dive into more of young Illyana's trauma. In that case I would be fine with Dani and Rahne as kind of background characters. Last issue was a strong start, this one didn't stick the landing as well. But I'm still very interested in where this goes.

That's a good point. This would would better as an issue in a Magik solo than it does in a team book. It's such an odd thing to find myself complaining about more Magik given she's my favorite character in any medium. 2 Magiks for the price of one should be heaven for me, but the context matters. I'm also still interested in seeing where everything set up in the first issue goes since that stuff was compelling from the start.

[JB]

That's a good point. This would would better as an issue in a Magik solo than it does in a team book. It's such an odd thing to find myself complaining about more Magik given she's my favorite character in any medium. 2 Magiks for the price of one should be heaven for me, but the context matters. I'm also still interested in seeing where everything set up in the first issue goes since that stuff was compelling from the start.

Haha I get what you mean because at the end of the day we're invested in the New Mutants as a whole. I guess I'll chalk this issue up as a detour and now we'll get back to our regularly scheduled program of Maddie/Limbo/Illyana/lack of SoulSword situation, which is the really juicy stuff for me.

[Kingdom X]

I agree with this. At times I felt a lot of the content could have worked really well for a Magik solo/mini over a span of a few issues, thus giving Vita room to dive into more of young Illyana's trauma. In that case I would be fine with Dani and Rahne as kind of background characters. Last issue was a strong start, this one didn't stick the landing as well. But I'm still very interested in where this goes.

In a way, this issue (and this arc as a whole) feels like a response to some of the criticisms to the last arc. The Shadow King story was sort of a mega arc that developed several other characters and consistently had B and C plots going on, but due to that it took a whiiiiile to wrap up. Here Ayala has shortened the story they’re trying to tell by significantly shrinking the cast and only focusing on Magik’s (and to a lesser degree Madelyne’s) character arc.

I personally still enjoyed the issue, but the future of this book and these characters do worry me. I think I’d be fine with an arc that only develops Magik if I knew we’d be getting back to other cast members and some of their plots that we started before this. I also can’t get that excited about the Madelyne development because Wells is about to reclaim her for what seems like a purely villainous role.

[Krakoa]

I don't mind the lack of Dani/Rahne focus because they got focus in the previous arc and Illyana didn't. Comic readers are so impatient these days, I feel like everyone talks about the good old Claremont days but aren't willing to wait to let characters shine the way he did. This is nowhere close to Marauders or Excalibur where 90% of the cast had little to do for the whole run, it's a 3-issue arc largely focused on Illyana (and Dani and Rahne had roles in the previous issue). Ayala has earned enough goodwill for me to trust everyone will get their moment.

[sunofdarkchild]

I don't mind the lack of Dani/Rahne focus because they got focus in the previous arc and Illyana didn't. Comic readers are so impatient these days, I feel like everyone talks about the good old Claremont days but aren't willing to wait to let characters shine the way he did. This is nowhere close to Marauders or Excalibur where 90% of the cast had little to do for the whole run, it's a 3-issue arc largely focused on Illyana (and Dani and Rahne had roles in the previous issue). Ayala has earned enough goodwill for me to trust everyone will get their moment.

Illyana got development in the previous arc. Her letter to the Quiet Council was masterful character development. The problem isn't that Dani and Rahne aren't getting development. It's that they're not getting anything at all. If it was just Illyana or just Illyana and Maddie in the story I wouldn't complain, like I don't complain about there being nothing for Karma, Doug, Sam, or Roberto to do in this story. Dani and Rahne were chosen to be part of this adventure. By virtue of that alone they should be more than wallpaper. Even if they don't get development, they should be doing something and being characters. That's a bar Illyana cleared every time she appeared in the previous arc. When she was on panel, you knew it. Her presence was dominating. Dani and Rahne don't have that at all this issue. They have almost no dialogue and contribute nothing to the story.

The way it is handled, Illyana also doesn't get any development this issue. After the first scene the loss of her soul sword no longer affects her in any noticeable way. It's reduced to a plot inconvenience they have to overcome. They overcome that inconvenience temporarily at the end and everything is left the way it was. They could have shown her adapting to not having her sword and either having to use different methods or fighting smarter, but that's not how she was depicted at all. She just has the solution.

If something in Illyana is 'severed,' then that should be shown in how she's depicted and not told in a text-dump. Having her just be smart enough to win without needing to deal with the internal conflict at all just means she doesn't learn anything and diminishes was she lost and is going through. She's not better at the end . The problem just wasn't that bad to begin with and all she needed was a few minutes to calm down.

This can be fixed if they go for the angle that she's not letting herself feel the pain of what happened, which was enough to get through this specific situation but will only go so far. But if this is how the next two issues are going to go, then the story will have been a waste because Illyana will not have had to overcome anything.

What this really needed was either more scenes of Dani and Rahne trying to help Illyana deal with losing her soul sword, or of Old Woman Magik helping Illyana with advice from her experience. This is supposed to be a 'classic hero's journey,' but the hero doesn't seem to have any journey to go on based on this issue, and that's my big problem.

[Rnap22]

Sorry, but all these satellite books just don’t compare when you have X-men Red and Immortal and even X-men. There always seems to be “something” missing

[Thundershot]

These past two issues have been so much better than the previous ones. I couldn’t figure out why they were making a big deal about the demons having the transmode virus. Hasn’t that been a thing since Inferno?

[pkingdom]

Illyana: I have fought for decades because they're so powerful, and their leader has stayed hidden.

*challenges him to single combat, he comes out immediately and gets wiped out.

Its a really odd way to to tell this kind of story. Its something I see in bad manga all the time; introduce a huge, dangerous problem and then solve it the same chapter/issue. Also, there's being stubborn about trying the same solution, and there's being an idiot, by trying the same thing for DECADES

[Master of Sound]

These past two issues have been so much better than the previous ones. I couldn’t figure out why they were making a big deal about the demons having the transmode virus. Hasn’t that been a thing since Inferno?

It does sound very familiar indeed.

[ericng]

I like that this arc is focusing on Magik but I feel that Karma and Doug should have joined her in this adventure as long-time team-mates and close friends.

Instead what we got was just Karma holding hands with her new found girlfriend and Doug saying hello to Peter which just seem foolish.

I hope we can see more team dynamics as in X-Men when and if a new writer comes along.

[Frobisher]

I wish they'd stop releasing four books in one week and then having drought weeks that are just one random Percy book or something. Nearly missed this.