After two out-of-continuity Graphic Novels (including one that brought Dreadstar to Marvel’s Epic imprint line—a truly amazing comic by Jim Starlin), we get a Claremont X-Men tale that really, really matters. Mostly because it introduces a new group of mutant teens: The New Mutants.
They’ll get their own title next year, but for now we meet the crew in a series of vignettes about them as individuals having trouble with their powers. Most of them are brand new characters: Rahne Sinclair…
…Moira MacTaggert was her mother’s OB-GYN. Sunspot…
…Who beats up those three poor Hellfire Club guards who already got sliced up by Wolverine. His story is pretty tragic, and involves the death of his girlfriend, Juliana Sandoval, who will (decades later) be revived by Blackheart in attempt to turn Sunspot evil.
He’s also got very rich parents.
Then we have Cannonball, child of West Virginia miners, who later will have a mutant sibling, Paige “Husk” Guthrie. She’s mentioned in the story but not shown…And why didn’t Cerebro pick her up? (Can Cerebro only see mutants when their genetic code gets activated? I guess so?)
Dani Moonstar, who goes by Psyche in her early appearances but will soon become Mirage, a much better name for someone who can manifest images from the thoughts of others.
And the body-possessing Karma, who was introduced by Claremont and Frank Miller in Marvel Team-Up #100 to the team is also added as a member. She’s also the only one with a superhero name—the other four are called by their given names of Sam, Roberto, Rachael, and Danielle.
The kids come together because The Hellfire Club is screwing with each of them individually (they even kill Danielle Moonstar’s pet mountain lion!), and Professor Xavier pulls them together to save them.
The story is solid, but the real kudos here go to Claremont introducing a team with an Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and Irish female—and one with more girls than boys. This kind of gender balancing and internationalism had NEVER been done in a comic before.
And it’s a little weird that Professor X hasn’t formed new teams more often.