Dani Moonstar: Mirage Appreciation 2018

[billee0918]

I want Dani back, with her original powers. No valkyrie stuff. And let's call her Psyche again! yay

[Arachne]

I just want her back. Her powers don't matter to me much, anymore. The wait is getting very frustrating.

[Starleafgirl]

where the hell is Dani? Is she in any current book and if not, what is her last canon appearance? Did she ever get her powers back?

I think her last canon appearance was back in Fearless Defenders. :/

I think she's better without powers, but either way I still want her back in comics! Way more than I ever wanted Cannonball or Sunspot in comics...

[juan678]

Ed Tadeo

[a0040pc]

Issue Information
Title- New Mutants (Volume 1) #18
Release Date- August 1984
Writer- Chris Claremont
Artist- Bill Sienkiewicz

Major Notes
Return of Rachel Summers. First appearance of Warlock and the Phalanx. First issue drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz

Brief Summary

Death Hunt

Mirage is in bed as she has a terrible nightmare about the demon bear. Elsewhere the X-Mansion is seemingly being attacked and a young woman named Rachel Summers runs through the mansion to Professor Xavier. The military are surrounding the mansion and he tries to use his telepathy to convince them that they are not a threat. Unfortunately Rachel watches as he is gunned down.

That was in her own reality and Rachel is standing outside the X-Mansion as she remembers being captured and enslaved. She finds it odd that these events have yet to happen and if her plan works they never will. She sees a policeman who is concerned about her and when he asks her what she is doing she responds that she is there to see Xavier. He lets her on her way but informs her about a snowstorm that is on its way.

Inside the mansion Cannonball, Sunspot and Magma are training in the Danger Room while Mirage and Illyana watch on. Cannonball is having a particularly hard time against the robots and is even knocked towards Magma. He is able to stop himself and rocket away. The distraction allows Magma to be grabbed by a robot and taken up into the air. She is able to melt it and Cannonball saves her from injury as she falls.

Inside the observation room Mirage and Illyana begin to talk about their teammates’ performance. Mirage admits that she doesn’t know if she can trust the others since they were at the hands of Emma Frost for a week and they don’t know what kind of mental manipulation they have undergone. Illyana suggests that she could try and go back in time and discover what happened but she thinks that it could do more harm than good. Xavier is not there and Mirage wishes that he was so that he can help her with her nightmares about the Demon Bear.

Suddenly they hear the doorbell and Illyana goes to answer it along with Lockheed. When she answers the door she sees Rachel who asks to see Xavier. She notices that Illyana looks familiar and when she learns her name Rachel runs away in shock. She doesn’t even leave a message and she knows that time is happening different here since Illyana is much older than she should be.

Meanwhile in deep space a fugitive alien named Warlock is hiding out on a barren planet. He has been running and is very drained, he thinks he has escaped but he is then bathed by a bright light.
He looks up and sees another member of his race who has come to exterminate him. It throws a powerful blast at him but before it strikes Warlock flies away. The planet is destroyed in the process but the alien vows that he will find Warlock and take his life since it was he who gave it to him.

On Earth Mirage is hunting with her bow and arrow in a snowed forest. She comes across a bear but she is able to kill it before it can attack. There is a second bear and she only has one arrow left.
She is able to duck under its attack and then strike it with an arrow right in its neck killing it. She then sits by a tree and tells Illyana to end the simulation. The room changes as Illyana approaches and asks her what she is trying to prove. Mirage replies that if they were to face another villain that is immune to her mutant abilities she wants to make sure that she isn’t deadweight. They leave intending to get something to eat but as they leave a streak of the Demon Bear appears.

Later that night it is snowing heavily as Mirage looks out of the window. She wants the New Mutants to help her with the Demon Bear problem but she feels that it is something that she needs to do herself. She thinks about her parents before donning Native American face paint and steps outside into the snow.

Mirage demands the Demon Bear show itself and it does as a gigantic bear with red eyes. She creates an illusion of herself which the Demon Bear attacks but she fires an arrow into its neck. The arrow should have killed it but all she has done is made it mad and it grabs her. She uses another arrow to stab it through the mouth and fires another arrow seemingly killing it. She looks at it and she thinks that she has won but its eyes open.

Moments later Wolfsbane wakes up after feeling Mirage’s pain and terror through their mental link. Seconds later the New Mutants are running into the woods at the mansion trying to find Mirage. They find her in a pool of her own blood and they believe that she has been killed.

My Thoughts

Now we return to the New Mutants in an issue that you could say ushered in a new era for the series. Not only is it the first part of the infamous Demon Bear arc but we also see a new character who will have a lot to do with the team, one character returning after just over three years and a new artist.

First I will talk about the artist who is Bill Sienkiewicz who brings a unique blend of art to the series. I have to admit that it somewhat took me by surprise at first and it had a very abstract feel to it. His run on the series will last a good while and he is remembered fondly by fans and critics alike of this series.

The issue introduces future New Mutant member Warlock who is from a race of beings known as the Phalanx. You could describe them as electro-metallic like beings who assimilate. They have a varied amount of abilities like shape shifting and stretching but I don’t think it is the only things that they can do. Warlock himself will eventually join the New Mutants and will have a strong bond with Doug Ramsey. Not much is known about him in this issue but he is running from his father who seems to be able to destroy an entire planet.

Returning in this issue is Rachel Summers or Grey. I’m not too sure which name she goes by nowadays but this is her first appearance since the Days Of The Future Past storyline back at the start of 1981. For now we have no idea how she got to this time and exactly why she wants Xavier but we already see that her reality is an alternate timeline since Xavier never walked again and Illyana never went to Limbo.

The issue itself was definitely a good read and was from the POV of Mirage. She has been having these nightmares of the Demon Bear and even goes as far as to confront the being itself. We know that it killed her parents and she wants some manner of revenge and the opportunity to put their souls to rest. I can fully understand her wanting to do it alone but as she saw it is too powerful for her and she has seemingly been killed because of this.

We also saw that Lockheed has a strong bond with Illyana as well as Kitty Pryde. I can see this happening since Illyana is Kitty’s roommate so they spend a lot of time together. I remember there even being a figure of Illyana in the late 90’s that came with Lockheed. She is somewhat like a second mistress to him but there is no doubt that he still values Kitty over her.

The ending was definitely shocking and at the time it threw into question whether Mirage would survive. Nowadays we know the end result but back then it was a reason for the reader to buy the next issue and discover the fate of one of the best characters in the series. It won’t be the first that a member has been seemingly killed off. Even so it is definitely a good way to end an issue.

In conclusion I’m giving the issue a solid 8 out of 10. A great start for a very famous arc for this series.

Next Issue
Uncanny X-Men (Volume 1) #184

[juan678]

Danielle Moonstar by UltimateTattts

[Arachne]

I really like that picture.

I don't suppose anyone has a clue if or where Dani's going to be in Secret Wars?

[Drakeon]

The only place she may hopefully appear is in Inferno since she was part of the original story.

[norj]

The only place she may hopefully appear is in Inferno since she was part of the original story.

There is a tiny chance of her showing up in House of M

[Arachne]

I think those would just be cameo appearances.
I don't think Dani's been MIA this long since Liefeld took over the New Mutants.

[juan678]

[DDD]

Forge is Cheyenne too.

[norj]

Forge is Cheyenne too.

Southern Cheyenne, Dani is Northern Cheyenne.

[DDD]

I prefer Mirage to Psyche.

[Paleo_Rage]

I just want her back with her powers. All the other stuff can be attributed to a potential for magical abilities due to her grandfather. All they have to do is stay that her mutant power is to manipulate ambient psi energy and all the stuff she does with it are things shaped by her will. It would neatly explain her powers and even to extent her quantum abilities.