{"id":7601,"date":"2022-02-10T22:20:20","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T22:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7601"},"modified":"2022-02-10T22:20:20","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T22:20:20","slug":"new-mutants-24-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7601","title":{"rendered":"New Mutants #24 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>NEW MUTANTS vol 4 #24<\/strong>
\n“What is Deserved”<\/strong>
\nby Vita Ayala, Danilo Beyruth & Dan Brown<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hold on, is this book still going?\u00a0<\/strong>It is!\u00a0This issue was originally solicited for 1 December 2021 and now ships over two months late.<\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> The New Mutants in a sort of stylised snakes and ladders in a Krakoan tree. It doesn’t have much to do with anything in the issue. (However, the actual content of this issue does match the original solicitation.)<\/p>\n

PAGE 2.<\/strong>\u00a0Magik and Rictor in the Green Lagoon.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rictor<\/strong> developed an interest in magic while studying under Apocalypse over in\u00a0Excalibur<\/em>, and is now a rookie magician. He was briefly a member of the New Mutants in the latter days of the original run, though that was after Magik’s time; they don’t really know each other all that well.<\/p>\n

“I’m a self-taught infernal sorcerer.”<\/strong> Well, partly. As covered in the original\u00a0Magik<\/em> miniseries, Illyana learned magic from Belasco and from an alternate version of Storm.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, this conversation is pushing (not very subtly) the theme of connection. Ayala’s run on this book has always focussed on the idea of groups of mutants being able to use their powers in such a way that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, though, and keeps coming back to stories about people trying to connect with one another with variable degrees of success.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The idea that mutants are somehow better placed to achieve this than humans – “[w]e’re supposed to be united in a way that is not possible for humans” – continues to baffle me, frankly. Of course, Magik’s point here is that mutants\u00a0aren’t<\/em> achieving this greater connection, but she still seems to be buying into the idea that they ought to. It’s not at all obvious why that should be so. Of course, psychic and empathic characters are better placed to achieve it, and so are the likes of Cypher, but how do the powers of Cyclops or Blob or Micromax contribute to human connection? If the argument is that they work with the mutants whose powers\u00a0do<\/em> serve that function, why are other mutants better placed than ordinary humans to benefit from those powers?<\/p>\n

PAGE 3.<\/strong> Recap and credits. Note that although the official story title is “What is Deserved”, it’s paired with “What is Given” as a header for the recap section.<\/p>\n

PAGES 4-8.<\/strong> Mirage and Wolfsbane.<\/em><\/p>\n

Given the pointed ears, Rahne is apparently meant to be slightly in wolf form for most of this issue, though it doesn’t quite come across that way (possibly because the colouring doesn’t suggest any fur).<\/p>\n

In page 4 panels 2 and 4<\/strong>, Rahne is remembering her son Tier’s apparent death in X-Factor<\/em>\u00a0#256. Rahne’s discovery that Tier was alive, and her desperation to find him, was a major storyline in the run-up to the Hellfire Gala, but it’s been somewhat on the back burner during the Shadow King arc.<\/p>\n

Page 4 panel 3<\/strong> shows the Shadow King looking at Rahne in tears on the ground – this is the opening scene of issue #17, though it’s not obvious why Shadow King is saying “Bring the girl to me” when he was actually there.<\/p>\n

“After everything I’ve done…”<\/strong> Rahne was being manipulated into helping the Shadow King from issue #17 onwards.<\/p>\n

“You needed me and I wasn’t there…”<\/strong> Again, issue #17 – Dani was off on a mission when Rahne learned that Tier was alive, and wasn’t around to provide emotional support.<\/p>\n

“You’re my soul mate.”<\/strong> Dani’s telepathic link with Rahne was a big deal in early\u00a0New Mutants<\/em> stories in the 1980s and has tended to be forgotten about since.<\/p>\n

“Since I came back…”<\/strong> Rahne died in\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em> vol 5 #16 and was resurrected at the start of the Krakoan era.<\/p>\n

One thing about Vita Ayala’s New Mutants\u00a0<\/em>stories: characters do have a tendency to explain\u00a0very directly<\/em> what they’re thinking in terms of emotional connections, mutual understanding and so forth, in therapist language that sounds much more like an authorial voice than the voices of any of the individual characters. “I didn’t hear you before, when you called for me, but I hear you now” is a good example of that. See also page 10: “I was reacting as if we came from the same place and fought the same battles, but we haven’t. I should have listened to what you were saying, and tried to understand what you were really saying.” It’s a very noticeable writing tic at this point.<\/p>\n

The montage in\u00a0page 6 panel 3<\/strong> shows another image of Tier, Scout from Lost Club (who was killed by Shadow King as an indirect consequence of Rahne’s involvement), the Shadow King manipulating Rahne, and for some reason Dani Moonstar in her Hellfire Gala outfit.<\/p>\n

PAGES 8-11.<\/strong>\u00a0The New Mutants take Cosmar to Masque.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mutietown.<\/strong>\u00a0A lot of mutants who didn’t want to live in utopia, mostly former Morlocks, moved into Lowtown Madripoor over in\u00a0Marauders<\/em>. The Moira MacTaggert Memorial Public Hospital<\/strong> also comes from\u00a0Marauders<\/em>, and is due to be renamed shortly.<\/p>\n

“You wee willing to die for the chance to be who you feel you are.”<\/strong> Cosmar asked to be killed in the Crucible back in issue #15 so that she could be resurrected with her normal appearance. Dani refused and gave her a lecture about embracing her mutant qualities. It’s important to note here that (at least as Cosmar tells it) her appearance is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>an inherent feature of her powers – it’s the result of her injuring herself with her powers when she couldn’t control them. Cosmar was always in the right in this argument.<\/p>\n

“When my powers first came to me…”<\/strong> In issues #9-11.<\/p>\n

Masque<\/strong> has been working at the hospital since\u00a0Marauders<\/em> #18, and now mainly uses his face-altering powers for legitimate plastic surgery (scar removal and the like).<\/p>\n

PAGE 12.<\/strong> Data page. Warpath is still answer the series of questions that Dani gave him back at the start of Ayala’s run.<\/p>\n

Warpath’s older brother is, of course, the original\u00a0Thunderbird<\/strong>, and we’ll be seeing him in the next scene.<\/p>\n

PAGES 13-15.<\/strong> Warpath and Thunderbird are reunited.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thunderbird was resurrected in\u00a0X-Men: Trial of Magneto<\/em> #5 after the Scarlet Witch extended the memory banks of Cerebro back into the past. If you’re wondering how that fits with the appearance of Petra and Sway, who died before Thunderbird did, apparently that was a mistake – they were\u00a0meant<\/em> to be hallucinations of Vulcan, but the dialogue mistakenly had other people acknowledging their presence. Pretend that didn’t happen.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t avenge you…”<\/strong> In his earliest appearances, James wanted revenge on the X-Men for his brother’s death, but he didn’t go through with it.<\/p>\n

PAGE 16.<\/strong>\u00a0Back to Magik and Rictor.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Look, as much fun as it is to pretend that I don’t have feelings other than berserker rage…”<\/strong> The prevailing take on Illyana for some years now has been to write her as an ironically distant sociopath. Ayala clearly wants to dial that back.<\/p>\n

“I couldn’t touch earth for fear of my powers shaking me… apart…”<\/strong> This was Rictor’s status quo at the start of\u00a0Excalibur<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Goblin Queen.<\/strong> Madelyne Pryor was resurrected in\u00a0Hellions<\/em> #18, but in that issue she was dressed in her flight suit and only appeared in her Goblin Queen outfit when viewing herself in the mirror. Here, she’s just sitting around in the outfit, which is a rather odd look for someone sitting alone at a bar. (It’s not as if Havok wasn’t desperate to spend time with her, but presumably she doesn’t fancy being around him right now. We’ll come back to that.) To be honest, this does read a bit as if there are crossed wires between the\u00a0Hellions<\/em> and\u00a0New Mutants<\/em> creative teams somewhere.<\/p>\n

PAGE 17.<\/strong> Data page – the application for No-Girl to get a proper body.<\/p>\n

PAGES 18-19.<\/strong>\u00a0No-Girl receives her new body and takes the name Cerebella.<\/em><\/p>\n

No-Girl’s new body resembles the way she appeared in the Shadow King’s psychic landscape in issue #23. Thus, it’s her self-image.<\/p>\n

In page 18 panel 1, the characters (from left to right) are Chamber, someone I don’t recognise despite them being drawn<\/p>\n