Walt Simonson is off the art, which is a tremendous loss. Brett Blevins is on as the new series artist for #74, and he’s fine, but he’s no Walt Simonson. To be fair, very few artists are as good as Walt. John Byrne draws #75, and then it’s Bret for a while.
Like its companion X-books, this is the post-Inferno clean up story.
There’s some decent character work, but most of this is plotting. Here’s what you need to know when these two issues are over:
Lila Cheney appeared to die in New Mutants #70 when she teleported her spaceship into the sun to destroy Gosamyr’s evil parents, but Rahne explains that Lila’s teleportation powers can only take her to a place she’s familiar with, and clearly she wasn’t familiar with the sun, so she (and Gosamyr’s parents) is probably alive.
Also, Gosamyr is still enchanting all the males on the team—but I don’t think she can help it. It seems like her seduction power is not completely within her control. It becomes extremely disruptive, so Gosamyr leaves to go off in space and find a way to control the raging horniness that lives within her. Good riddance.
She was annoying.
The boys don’t want her to go, though.
Also, Magneto and Shaw wrestle about philosophy–and Magneto begins his shift from teacher back to bad guy.
It’s odd to see Shaw as the voice of “reason” here. Extremely odd, given his past instructions of kidnapping and other crimes to his Hellion Club. It’s just a plot device to make Magneto a mutant extremist again, and have him leave the Xavier School.
See what I mean?
But no sooner are they arguing than Shaw, Magneto, and the other Hellfire Club leaders all go and fight the New Mutants. The fight doesn ‘t make a lot of sense—but again, it’s just a way to make Magneto an opponent again.
It ends with Magneto convincing Emma Frost and Selene to cast out Shaw and form a new Hellfire Club leadership team. Selene immediately goes to the Amazon to do some private business, so it’s really just Magneto and the White Queen leading the Club. And they’re already think-talking about eliminating Selene.
Some other stuff happens, including a gratuitous Sabretooth fight.
But in all that’s the really the important stuff: Establishing a new paradigm.
These are some of the weakest issues of this book so far, especially given that several of the characters act, well, out of character.