1984: New Mutants Year One Part VII: We Didn't Start The Fire (Amara's always burning!)*

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

In the seventh and final part of our lookback at the New Mutants' early days, the teens finally wrap up their South American holiday and return home with their newest member Amara, who coughs up a volcano whenever she gets upset... Which she does. A lot.

The New Mutants took their merry time getting home. They spent their entire 12th issue wrapping up the extensive Rio de Janeiro/Nova Roma storyline. For one thing, we learn that Roberto's mother decided to stay behind in the Amazon while Amara's dad told her to go back with the American mutants to learn how to control her powers. Which wasn't the worst idea...

                                                      "You're talking nonsense, child"

Tell that to the fresh lava plume in your living room, senator. Amara packed her bags and said goodbye to Nova Roma, venturing out into the real world for the first time. Going from ancient Rome to modern day Rio de Janeiro can be quite the culture shock. Luckily, the New Mutants spent another two weeks (!) vacationing in the city. During that time, Sunspot decided to pay his father a little visit, after all it was Emmanual DaCosta's greed that had almost gotten them killed.

"Find some other land to exploit. If you make a move into that hidden valley, I'll know."

After a heart breaking falling out, Roberto left the man he once called father. Disheartened and emotional, DaCosta the elder made a decision and called a certain New York gentleman's club.

                                               "Regarding your invitation to join
                          the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, Sebastian... I accept."

And with that subtle scene, Claremont set up another storyline for his second year on the title. Having Emmanuel as a prominent member of one of the X-Men's most implacable foes could lead to all kinds of interesting conflicts. Speaking of hellfire, things were about to heat up in Rio as well. Amara, still not quite used to this new world, was being harrassed on the beach...

                                               "I am no strumpet, dog! Unhand me, or...
                                                          Blessed Minerva, NO!"

Afraid of her powers and scared she might actually hurt her new friends, Amara ran off. The New Mutants did their best to chase her, but the upset Amara kept triggering tiny tremors that unleased sufficient sulphur into the atmosphere to confuse Wolfsbane's senses. After several hours of walking around in her bikini without sufficient protection, Amara began to suffer from heatstroke and started to hallucinate. In her fever dreams, she unwillingly created a gigantic volcano that engulfed all of Rio in molten rock.

By the way, how ironic and unbelievable is it to have the girl who can become lava on legs get stricken with heatstroke? Eventually, the New Mutants tracked Amara down (which wasn't that hard, they simply followed her trail of destruction to one of the favellas where a poor family had taken the delirious girl in. Dani Moonstar quickly and correctly diagnosed her condition. Curing it was another challenge altogether.

                                      "We'll have to cool her down right here and now!
                                      Sam, 'Berto, find me all the ice you can carry!"

The two boys flew off together and spotted a nearby ice delivery truck. They also noticed that a volcano was starting to form in the heart of Rio harbor, Amara's powers were subconsciously making her fever dream come true. With time of the utmost essence, Sunspot picked up the truck and Sam, in a supreme effort, flew both his teammate and their cargo back to the favella. Thanks to the ice, Amara rapidly recovered...

             "I see now I cannot do so by myself. Like it or not, I need your professor Xavier"

We all need professor Xavier, Amara... That's why issue 13, appropriately titled "School Daysze", reunited the mutants with their mentor. A man sworn to protect these minors with his very life, yet didn't think twice to let them roam around Rio unsupervised for a week or two. Now, technically speaking, we're already on the New Mutants' second year in the business. Still, it's necessary to include this issue in the review because it very neatly bookends the New Mutants' earliest days at the school.

Remember how back in Marvel Graphic Novel I#4, the proto team went to Rio de Janeiro to recruit Roberto Da Costa? A year later they were in Rio again to gain another new member in Amara. In the New Mutants' debut issue, they had their proper introduction to the school and first go in the Danger Room. History is about to repeat itself for Amara.

                               "Professor, are none of my thoughts to be secret or sacred?"

A valid and fair question, Amara... Imagine how freaked out you'd be if you arrived at a boarding school on another continent only to find your room was an exact replica of your bedroom back home. Then, the headmaster calmly informs you he telepathically plucked the necessary information from your mind "to make you feel more at home".

It's amazing Amara wasn't so shocked she produced a lethal lava spout right then and there. But, Charles being Charles, he assured his newest student he'd never enter her mind without permission (even though he already did when he played interior decorator). Amara believed her honored teacher, though when she caused a brief tremor in a moment of panic a little while later, Xavier did this...

                                    "I'd best maintain a constant, light rapport with her.
That way, I can monitor her emotional state and prevent any accidental tectonic catastrophies."

Well, so much for telepaths respecting a person's privacy. You might say the professor isn't actively sifting through her mind, but this "constant, light rapport" is like wire tapping someone's phone or checking her social media output every second of the day. And worst of all, he doesn't even tell her. 

In yet another attempt to make Amara feel more welcome, the New Mutants decided to throw her a get-to-know-you barbecue. During the preparations, Claremont took a little time to flesh out the New Mutants' personalities some more, finally bringing romance and teenage hormones into play. Amara's arrival had heated things up considerably. Cannonball was immediately taken with her, which didn't sit well with Wolfsbane who harbored a secret crush on Sam.

Meanwhile, Roberto acted like a true casanova, much to Dani Moonstar's chagrin who would have loved to be courted this way. Maybe lose the hat, it isn't you...

"That riff's working on Amara, she's actually smiling. I wish he'd use it once on me."

Of course, nothing came of this supposed rivalry and Roberto was merely being courteous to Amara, making sure she felt okay about coming downstairs for dinner in her fanciest gown, while the others were dressed casually.

Amara briefly met Stevie Hunter, who by then had been officially signed on as a teacher at the school. Just as she was starting to relax, Cannonball came flying in, carrying a box of sodas for the party. When he spotted Amara, the lovestruck teen decided to impress his crush with some fancy mid-air manoeuvring. And, well, you can guess what happened next...

                                                                 "Amara, ah'm real sorry."

Thoroughly embarrassed by the incident, her powers kicked in, accidentally forming a small chasm Dani almost dropped into. Amara didn't even see this, she was too busy running towards the woods behind the school to have a proper cry. It's easy to dismiss her as a big ol' crybaby (and to be fair, she's fairly emotional) but considering her background as a Nova Roman senator's only child, she was raised with outdated ideas on the importance of grace and dignity, both in appearance and actions. Getting covered in sticky grape soda, while wearing your finest attire at a celebration thrown in your honor... Oy, the humanity. And, oy again... how Amara wished she was actually part of humanity.

                                            "If he fails... I cannot allow myself to live."

Those are some pretty dark thoughts, though plenty of teens have felt so thoroughly miserable at one point or another they briefly entertained the notion of ending it all. And that's even without seemingly uncontrollable, potentially catastrophic mutant powers. While Amara remained by herself in the woods, Claremont decided to fully benefit from having the New Mutants at the school again by checking in on another young mutant: Kitty Pryde.

She'd been visiting with her friend Doug Ramsey, in his first appearance. She and Doug immediately hit it off when they met at Stevie Hunter's dance studio and found out they had a lot in common. Computers, for instance... Kitty roped Doug along into hacking into the Hellfire Club's systems only to end up in the database of the government run Project: Wideawake. Their poking around activated a Sentinel that attacked Shaw before Henry Peter Gyrich triggered its self destruct sequence. All in all, Kitty was pretty pleased with herself.

                                                             "Can they trace us, Doug?"

Ironically, in 1984 you enjoyed far greater online anonymity than nowadays. If Kitty and Doug tried a stunt like that today, the authorities would be kicking down the door to Doug's room well before they even got past the first firewall. Also, note how 30+ years ago, Sal Buscema basically figured a computer was like an electric typewriter with a screen? (which, to be fair, they basically were). All that hacking had caused Kitty to completely forget the time. Realizing she was late for a training session with the X-Men, she rushed home and phased her way to the woods to save time. Guess who she bumped into...

        "It always happens this way, whenever I try to talk to someone my own age I screw it up."

Shades of Liz Lemon aside, Kitty Pryde was about to prove her own point again when she continued her trek towards the mansion and ran into the New Mutants. Claremont established there was no love lost between Shadowcat and the "X-Babies" as she called the team. The rivalry had begun behind the scenes of Uncanny X-Men I#168, in which Xavier had briefly demoted her from an X-Man to becoming a New Mutant. This led to the now classic "Professor Xavier is a jerk!" line. Incidentally, that quote became more and more true with every new misdeed and crime that Charles had committed over the years. 

                                                                     "I can take a hint."
                                                     "... Do better than that. Take a hike."

Ouch, talk about a burn. Add to that Xavier's crimson red, furious psi-call and Kitty was in deep trouble. Charles chastized the youngest X-Man for slacking off, missing a scheduled training exercise with the X-Men and continuing to refer to the New Mutants as "X-Babies" when two of them were actually older than her. He then refocussed his attention to Amara, who had sobbed herself to sleep. He directed the New Mutants to find their teammate and bring her home. The next day, she was to have her first real go in the Danger Room, complete with X-costume and a brand new codename!

                   "Since your talent involves the manipulation of lava and tectonic forces,
                                              "Magma" seemed most appropriate."

Good to see you got a bit more inventive with those codenames after sticking your first batch of students with clunkers like "Beast" and "Iceman", Charlie. And while Magma is a fine sounding name, how exactly will it protect Amara's identity if her face is still there for anyone to see and recognize?

At any rate, Magma freaked out when Xavier proposed she burned through the block of steel lowered into place by Stevie Hunter. Already spooked about having to use her powers, she completely lost it when Charles announced he'd be in her mind to make sure nothing went wrong. Feeling he had violated his earlier promise, Amara became furious and ran off... Boy, imagine how she'd respond if she found out Xavier had been eavesdropping on her all along?

Later that night, when she calmed down a little, Amara came out of her room and went down to the professor's study to make amends. When she neared his quarters, she noticed a remarkable white blue light emanating from his office. Charles was catching up with his ladylove, Lilandra Neramani who had only recently left Earth with the Starjammers in Uncanny X-Men I#174. 

Amara couldn't help but listen in...

                                                 "I'll be waiting. Farewell, my love.
                                                     Fare thee well, my heart."

Sharing such a personal experience caused Charles and Amara to open up to one another. If nothing else, this brief scene showed just how much Xavier himself had grown over the past year as the New Mutants' teacher (even if he sent them away for about 6 months of it). Charles had become far more open and personable, no longer the strict, almost uncaring taskmaster of old who brooked no opposition, handing out demerits like they were going out of style. 

                                              "Have you ever failed with a student?"
                                       "Oh, yes! But that will never stop me trying!"

... Run, Amara, run right now! Go on girl, you're so good at it! All kidding aside, Xavier had learned to relate to the newest generation of mutants, which was a theme that would continue well into the second year of New Mutants.

They would gain two more, rather unusual, members in Warlock and Magik. They'd also have the first encounter with their somewhat evil counterparts the Hellions. All that, plus the demon S'ym came a-callin', while Xavier and the X-Men went missing during the first Secret Wars. Not to mention the techno-organic threat of Warlock's dad and the arrival of artist Bill Sienkiewicz looming on the horizon.

The teen team was headed for great things in the mid 80s, but none of it would have gotten off the ground if Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod and Sal Buscema hadn't laid the foundation in those initial 12 or 13 issues. They may not have been the first or last batch of freshmen to walk the halls of Xavier's, but the New Mutants added a lasting class to the X-universe.

*with sincere apologies to Billy Joel.

1983: New Mutants Year One Part V: Walk Like A Maderian...

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

In the fifth part of our lookback at the New Mutants' early days, the teen team is still coping with the loss of one of their own... And professor Xavier knows the best way to deal with loss: go away on a holiday. Xavier's youngest get shipped off to Rio de Janeiro where rest is the last thing on their minds...

                                           "They're not as tough as they look. are they, Sam?"

As we covered last time, the New Mutants had just survived a fight against Silver Samurai and Viper who had kidnapped Danielle Moonstar. The young teens had the experienced villains on the run, but the spiteful Viper decided to blow up her own mansion while the New Mutants were still in there. As issue #7 showed, pretty much all of them had survived... except for one.

                          "We didn't even catch the bad guys... Shan's killers got clean away!"

Yup, 19 year old Karma, the oldest of the New Mutants, had disappeared after the explosion which was cause enough for Xavier, Lilandra and the X-Men to mount a massive search mission. Do note that this is the first time the senior team appears in New Mutants and that judging from her outfit Storm apparently had a party to go to after the search.

Also, having Rahne still be afraid of Nightcrawler plays into her deeply religious upbringing, though that gets a bit tedious... She's faced monstrous robots, parasitic aliens and cybernetic thugs out to kill her and she throws a fit when a fuzzy blue haired German acrobat brings her some cocoa? Pick your battles, girl...

And even though Shan is still missing, professor Xavier had arranged for a little distractions. Roberto Da Costa's mother Nina showed up to, well, distract... Clever as he is, Charles had invited Nina over for a very particular reason...

            "Roberto, your mother will soon be leading an expedition to the headwaters of the Amazon                  river. She's invited the New Mutants to accompany her. I think that's a splendid idea."

Needless to say, Roberto wasn't that happy about getting shipped off to spend time with his mom, not when he could be out there looking for Xi'an. He even threw quite the fit, but Xavier was adamant. He wanted the New Mutants to go away for a while to, well...enjoy themselves. You have to love the lax curriculum requirements at Xavier's: miss classes for a fortnight or so because you were on a life and death mission in the Savage Land? The headmaster will send you on an all expenses paid holiday for however long you want... Don't worry about finals!

That still didn't fly with Roberto, though... He stormed off, allowing Charles to reveal his true reasons for sending his youngest students away.

         "I am convinced Shan is alive... But the entity that attacked her may strike again. If that                                         happens, I want the New Mutants far away, out of danger."

A noble sentiment, Charlie... But you as a telepath should know that adding distance does very little to stop a psychic entity? The best way to fight a strong telepath is by having a stronger one within shouting distance. But by sending them away with Sunspot's mother, Charles might as well have painted bullseyes on the back of their skulls. Incidentally, it's hardly a spoiler alert 30+ years after the fact, but this "entity" Charles sensed was actually his old enemy the Shadow King. The New Mutants would be facing him (and Karma) a good two years down the line. For now, let's focus on their South American adventure...

Nina insisted that Roberto and his friends stayed at the DaCosta's palatial mansion in Rio de Janeiro where they had dinner with 'berto's father, Emmanual... a wealthy businessman last seen in Marvel Graphic Novel I#4. Claremont wasted no time establishing that Nina en Emmanuel didn't have the best of marriages. That led to this particularly nerve-wrecking scene over dinner...

                                  "Stop it, both of you! In mercy's name, shut up!
                                        Don't you see you're tearing me apart?!?"

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who can't relate to this particular, cringe worthy situation... When your elders are fighting before your friends, basically showing the terrible, disfunctional dynamic you'd been trying so hard to hide from the outside world. And the sad truth of the matter is, just like Roberto says, the parents have no idea that their passive agressive bitchiness is like a bitter poison to all those around them.

It's interesting to note that Claremont at this point already proved himself to be a fine writer with an undeniable knack for subtle pacing who would add unexpected but oh-so relatable layers of emotional depth to his characters. That having said, by 1983 Chris could still behave like a good ol' trope enabling hack, in the kindest sense of the word. For instance, when you say Rio de Janeiro, one of the first things that comes to mind is the annual "carnaval" celebration.

That's not lost on just about every writer who brings their characters to Rio: it's almost always during carnaval. Which considering that celebration only lasts 6 days means it's a small miracle all those heroes never ran into each another. Be that as it may, it added a bit of flash and color and allowed for scenes like this...

                                                                           "Golly!"

Fifteen year old Sam just got his first "proper" kiss, which left him slightly embarrassed but not as much as Rahne Sinclair who began to act like the team's unwanted moral conscience. Dani Moonstar tried to get the Scottish redhead to loosen up a little and took her for a little outfit shopping, visiting nearby Sal's Costume Shop (undoubtedly named after the issue's penciller Sal Buscema). However, just as they were starting to have fun...

                                                                      "We got her!"

The New Mutants immediately jumped into action, recognizing the signature armored outfits of the Hellfire Club. However, before Cannonball or one of the others could stop the getaway car, they met the villain of the story... Mr. T....erm, Axe. Mr. Axe.

                       "I'm AXE!! Mess with me, you be chopped down to size... you dig?!"

Now, I'm not saying that Chris Claremont was inspired by the popularity of A-Team star Mr. T, who was the breakout character on the NBC hit series that debuted in January of 1983... I'm not saying that at all. And I pity the fool who thinks there are any kind of similarities that would hold up in court...

Well, maybe the whole "axe" thing was original... But then again, that's exactly how a stereotypical African-American would pose a question, wouldn't it?

Axe was hired by the Hellfire Club. In fact, the entire kidnapping of Nina DaCosta was arranged by Sebastian Shaw who was planning to get Emmanuel to join the Inner Circle. A shrewd business man in his own right, DaCosta insisted that Shaw first proved his worth which led to the convoluted mission Axe and the Hellfire henchmen were sent on. They were ordered to prevent Nina DaCosta from going on that Amazon expedition, but not hurt her in the process. Eventually, the New Mutants tracked Axe and Nina down, courtesy of Wolfsbane's enhanced senses. Sunspot himself was so enraged over his mother's fate, he beat the mutant Axe all by himself. Nina was freed and ready to go on her expedition, which didn't sit well with Shaw and her husband.

                                "Whatever happens, Nina's expedition will not succeed.
                                                  She will not reach the Maderia"

Shaw insisted he would make sure that didn't happen, but it would take until halfway of issue #8 to find out just why DaCosta was so adamant to keep his wife from charting the rainforest. Spoiler alert: it wasn't because he was too concerned with her well being. In fact, it was mostly about his own bottom line... As explained in this scene from #8...

                                        "The evening's entertainment, my friend"

So, turns out Roberto's father is a criminal too... A good twenty years before 2003's Runaways would make headlines for having young heroes whose parents were secretly villains, we had Chris Claremont doing the same to most of his New Mutants... Karma had her crooked uncle Nguyen Ngoc Coy, Wolfsbane was raised by a religious zealot, Dani Moonstar's parents had involuntarily become part of the malevolent Demon Bear entity and now Sunspot's papa was an evil business tycoon. Only Sam Guthrie's parents were beyond reproach... Even though that was mostly because his father died young and his mom Lucinda was too busy bringing up the young 'uns to embark on a life of crime. Come to think of it, Sam started out on the wrong side of the track too.

It all works out... More or less.

                              "Her name is Rahne Sinclair and she's not at all what she seems"

In New Mutants I#8, the team finally reached the Amazon which led to this gorgeous opening page. Sal Buscema really outdid himself with the detailled pencil work on both the foliage and Wolfsbane. Coming up with wolf-like creatures is easy, drawing an actual, anatomically correct wolf... that's art. It's almost a shame Chris Claremont felt the need to obstruct so much of the page with his copy which mostly lists facts and figures about the rainforest.

The teens and Mrs. DaCosta had been on a yacht cruising up the Amazon, heading for the mouth of the river. While that sounds like a leisurely way to spend the day, they were still tasked to train their powers, using the forest as a biological Danger Room of sorts.

                            "Now, he can maneuver. The feeling is indescribably wonderful."

Unfortunately, despite all the progress he's made in controlling his flight path, Sam still has trouble seeing the forest from the trees...

                                                     "The fool... he toppled that tree!"

Luckily Sunspot was more than capable of dealing with a tree trunk. After completing their exercises, the New Mutants decide to check in with professor Xavier back at the mansion. 

"You're better off where you are. At the moment, I have my hands full dealing with new arrivals amongst the X-Men and training Team America. If you're needed, I'll contact you"

Talk about your classic "don't call us, we'll call you!" brush off. While Xavier's reasoning is sound enough, it undoubtedly stung the New Mutants that only a few short weeks earlier they were the professor's primary concern and priority... And now they're shipped off to another continent while he spends his time with the X-Men and a bunch of motor cyclists. How quickly the wheel turns... Still, it's a nice nod to both continuity and the ongoing storylines in Uncanny X-Men, where a month earlier (#171) Rogue had shown up at the school, looking for help.

With nothing better to do, the New Mutants continued their trip, unaware that Sebastian Shaw had bribed some of the yacht's crew to make sure the expedition would end badly. Not only did they quietly disable the engines, one of them tossed a bucket of chum in the piranha infested waters just as Dani Moonstar was swimming there. Cannonball got her out of the drink, but crashlanded on the other shore where they are attacked by a group of not too friendly local tribesmen. They run off when the yacht arrived, but Sam and Dani still decided to take a prisoner because, hey... why not?

                         "The Indians were watching the boat... But for how long and why?"

The answer to that question will have to wait. For now, the New Mutants had other problems like the crew realizing their passengers were mutant freaks. Luckily, the captain calmed them down, but nerves were frayed. Having a native as a prisoner below decks also didn't improve the mood, especially because it might mean the locals could return for her. She did however pose an interesting mystery...

                                "Who are you, girl? Where the devil do you come from?!"

Later that night, the bribed crewmen make their move, taking out the New Mutants by poisoning their food and locking them all up while they further disable the yacht. Of course, Sunspot can break free but that's when Claremont throws in another tired trope even children's cartoons try to avoid because it's so hackneyed: whenever you're on a boat on a river, there's always a giant waterfall you're about to go down... Case in point...

                                                         "We're about to hit the rapids!"

And before you can sing "Itsy bitsy pleasure yacht/went down the rapids' wrath/down came the boat/and washed the mutants out"... the boat crashed on the rocks, with the New Mutants grabbing all the survivors they could. Roberto's mother was nowhere to be found and, after a quick splash of water, neither was the Indian girl they'd captured...

                                                                   "GLORY!                        Her skin's white as my own and her hair's blonde! She was in diguise!"

Way to point out the bleedin' obvious, Chris... Also, even in the 1980s having a character in what is essentially blackface feels a bit tacky, not to mention a tad unrealistic. All the brown facepaint in the world can't make a Caucasian girl pass for a convincing Amazonian. Speaking of unrealistic, Take a moment to read Rahne's dialogue, do you know any 13 year old girl who talks like that while she's just survived a boat crash in the middle of the jungle?

But, as always, they had bigger fish to fry...

"You are prisoners of the 4th maniple, 1st cohort, Thunderclap Legion and henceforth...
slaves of Imperial Rome!!

... Well, of course they are. But more on that next time when the New Mutants visit New Rome where they'll encounter a very old enemy...

1983: New Mutants Year One part III: I'm Gonna Wash That Xi'an Right Outta My Hair!

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

In the third part of our lookback at the New Mutants' early days, the team's monthly title is finally launched. The kids are all ready for their new life as gifted youngsters, but something dark is brooding at the school...

And away they go! Last time, we discussed just how diverse this new team of X-Men-in-training was compared to Xavier's original students from way back in 1963. International, more women than men and even a lesbian (though Xi'an dutifully watched Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I.).

All the members and the premise of the book were already introduced in Marvel Graphic Novel I#4, so Chris Claremont hit the ground running and start with the New Mutants at the school, ready for action. The first page is literally a splash when we see Karma getting a haircut by none other than Stevie Hunter...

                                                     "Is this really necessary, Stevie?" 

Well, it actually is... Y'see, as Chris Claremont revealed in his interview for Comics Creators On The X-Men, the story that appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel I#4 was actually supposed to be told in the first two issues of the monthly New Mutants title. But, because the creative team scheduled for #4 couldn't make the deadline, Claremont and McLeod were asked to fill in. So, this rather mundane opening scene was intended as a scene for the team's third issue, after they'd settled into their new routine.

Still, it's a charming enough way to start a story, even if  having a rastafarian dance instructor turn out to be a qualified hairdresser stretches the suspension of disbelief quite a bit. In much the same vein one should never trust a skinny cook... Luckily for Xi'an, before Stevie can get to work Danielle Moonstar loses control over her powers and accidentally shows everyone Karma'  hidden terrors: the traumas she endured as a child in Vietnam. Xi'an didn't care for this too much...

                                                         "I'm sorry! I didn't mean...!"

Roberto is on hand to slap some sense into the incensed Karma... But the tone for the issue is set, Danielle Moonstar is a menace. You ask her, she'll tell you. Claremont focuses on Dani for most of the first three issues, establishing her background, insecurities and sense of isolation. Chris also used her to show what it must have been like for the New Mutants to arrive at the school which also doubled as the X-Men's home.

Sure, they were all lost in space and presumed dead, but their living quarters had been left undisturbed, giving off the impression they could come back at any given moment... But, let's not get too far ahead here. After the incident with Shan, Dani wandered the mansion and eventually discovered Storm's room in the attic.

                    "Doesn't anybody look after them? They're wilted... dying for lack of water."

Poor plants, but considering you can only reach the attic via a folding ladder you can hardly expect the wheelchair bound Charles to climb up there. Still, getting back to Dani for a bit: it makes perfect sense for her to feel the way she does. After all, she's barely 15 years old and essentially an orphan. Her parents left to fight a mysterious, mystical threat and left her with her grandfather Black Eagle who was recently killed, partly because of her. Add to that these mutant powers she didn't ask for and tend to make people apprehensive about being near her... After all, who wants their deepest, darkest secrets displayed to the world in glorious psi-enhanced 3d imagery?

But life goes on and so do the New Mutants, who get briefed by Xavier on the use of a piece of equipment X-Men fans were already intimately familiar with: the Danger Room. After showing them a holographic recreation of a monster filled swamp, which most of the New Mutants thought were real, Xavier proceeded to explain what they'd be doing in there.

                            "Your own sequences are primed and ready. Your task will be simple...
                                Merely cross the room to the exit and leave. Who'd like to go first?"

With Xavier and Stevie Hunter looking on, all the New Mutants made the attempt and succeeded, albeit with varying degrees of success. But when it's Dani's turn, she freaked out and refused to even try and complete the exercise. It was played as a great, embarrassing failure on her part but that's a tad unfair. If you're a scared, out of your depth teenager, barely in control of your powers and asked to enter a room where terrifying lifelike dinosaurs can pop up to eat you... Wouldn't you be scared? At least Cannonball, Wolfsbane and Sunspot have physical powers to fall back on, all you can do is play back nasty memories... which won't even work on holograms.

Dani ran off and decided she wanted to be alone for a while. She even ignored her friends' pleas to accompany them and Stevie Hunter to go see a movie at the Salem Center mall. The first issue's finale featured Dani overcoming her fears and returning to the now seemingly abandoned Danger Room. She activated the sequence Xavier had set up for her and proceeded to take the challenge, overcoming the robots that popped up as she crossed the room with grace and effortless ease. However, elation soon turned to terror...

              "In the booth, hidden from view, computers are engaged, safety locks deactivated."

Well, gee... wonder what Dani's complaining about? That sure looks more exciting than any film you'd get to see, especially considering the limited special effects of the early 80s. Speaking of which, before we continue Dani's arc, we might as well check in with the other New Mutants who had just been to the movies in issue # 2. As it turned out, they were being watched very closely...

         "That's why Project: Wide-Awake was established, Shaw. To combat that threat." 

That's another, truly revolutionary part of adding New Mutants to the X-universe... Claremont was able to seamlessly carry over storylines and characters from "the parent book" Uncanny X-Men to the spin off. People could suddenly interacted with others in an organic way and on a level previously unseen with other titles that received a spin-off. Amazing Spider-Man and Sensational Spider-Man all pretty much revolved around, well... Spider-Man. Not so much with New Mutants, who didn't even feature the X-Men, rather they used the tapestry of what had come before.

Stevie Hunter was an understandable first, she'd already been serving as Kitty's dance teacher and got involved in another of the X-Men's adventures against the Hellfire Club, making her a perfect choice to be the teen's fitness and dance instructor. But there were other, established supporting players Claremont could use. For instance, Moira MacTaggert and Illyana Rasputin who were seen in #2 visiting Israeli ambassador Gabrielle Haller (last seen as Xavier's lover in Uncanny X-Men #161). Gabrielle had a little secret to impart that she hoped wouldn't give you too much of a start...

                                                     "Charles Xavier... is the boy's father."

The man... in the wheelchair... made a baby! As for villains, it had already been established that the Hellfire Club was monitoring both the X-Men and any new mutants out there. Heck, ousted Inner Circle member Donald Pierce was the reason the New Mutants got together in the first place. Now the Hellfire Club's leader Sebastian Shaw and government operative Henry Peter Gyrich were working together on Project: Wide-Awake. Which was a direct result of a seemingly throwaway piece of dialogue Shaw had with senator Kelly back in July, 1980's Uncanny X-Men I#135.

                                                                         "Sentinels."

Ignoring the fact he's a mutant himself, Sebastian Shaw focussed the efforts of Shaw Industries to quietly help develop a new type of Sentinels to deal with "the mutant menace". Henry Gyrich, mostly known as a bureaucratic thorn in the Avengers' side up til then, was added to the mix and proved a perfect fit. Together, they launched the next generation of killer robots against four mutant teens and one African-American dance instructor with a bum knee.

                                                                            "Sentinels!"

Yeah, Sentinels... But, thanks to a little team work plus the help of CIA-operative Michael Rossi, a character Claremont wrote back during his days on Ms. Marvel. Rossi opposed the government's stance on mutants and decided to warn Xavier and his students of the impending threat. He was a little late, but still played a vital role along with Stevie to help keep the New Mutants out of the Sentinels' clutches in the long run. Ironically, the team relied heavily on Karma's mind control powers during this encounter, which would at first seem rather useless fighting killer robots. 

Yet, when Rossi spotted a number of government agents on the scene, having someone around who can take over a person suddenly turned out to be a true godsend. 

                           "All right Shan, that's enough. You can release your hold on him."

After making the government agent John Ogilvie confess to the Salem Center police he is responsible for calling in the Sentinels who wrecked the mall, the New Mutants head home. Interestingly enough, Rossi disappeared sometime before the team got home. You'd think that he might want to at least fill in Xavier first hand. Instead, the teens and Stevie return to find the barely conscious Dani in the Danger Room.

                "I was first attacked outside the Danger Room! Don't any of you believe me?"

Ow, I believe you Dani... And so would any other reader of Uncanny X-Men at the time. In perhaps one of the most unfortunate scheduling conflicts of the early 1980s, New Mutants started in March of 1983, a month before that the closing page of Uncanny X-Men I#166 revealed professor Charles Xavier was the unwitting host of a young Brood Queen. 

                     "Before she died, the Brood Queen boasted about another royal embryo"

The X-Men, Carol "Binary" Danvers and the Starjammers rushed back to Earth to stop the young queen from hatching. But that battle was decided the same month the New Mutants monthly debuted. So, by the time we got to #3, much of the dramatic tension was already gone. All we got to see was the nascent nasty subconsciously influencing Xavier as it prepared to take over. The focal point of the alien creature was Dani, interestingly enough.

You'd think that roping along the mind controlling Karma would be the ideal way to ensure the upperhand over your prospective hosts for royal eggs... but no. The Brood embryo used Xavier's telepathy to enhance the effects of Dani's powers, causing her illusions to appear beyond lifelike. This made her all but question her own sanity, especially when she started suffering from the most horrendous of nightmares...

                                 "I don't know, 'Berto. I think... I think I'm losing my mind!"

One has to compliment Chris Claremont for already having most of his early days on New Mutants plotted out before the book even got off the ground. In retrospect the bear's reveal might look somewhat trivial, but a year or so down the line it would bookend into the Demon Bear arc, possibly one of the most loved storylines of his entire run.

But for now, dreaming about a talking bear who didn't warn you about forest fires seemed like just cause for suspecting a major mental malfunction. Danielle certainly felt she was about to lose it, especially when she overhead Xavier making a particularly revealing phonecall...

                                                    "He thinks I'm insane. Maybe I am.
                                      If that's true, I don't want... I shouldn't be allowed... to live."

Rather than stabbing herself with Black Eagle's ceremonial blade, Dani lives to fret another day until she decides to have Xi'an summon the New Mutants for a special meeting in the nearby boat house. Now, I know this is 1983, well before the advent of pagers, let alone e-mail, social media or Whatsapp Messenger... but d'ya really think this is the best way to tell someone you want to meet them? Sam Guthrie certainly doesn't think so...

                      "NO WAY does that give you th' right t'go muckin' about with my mind!"

Oh Sam, so young, so much to learn about being in a Claremont comic... Of course someone's going to muck with your mind! For instance, moments after you arrived at the boat house to set Karma straight for messing with your head, Moonstar did the same thing! Yes, the reason why the Brood embryo focussed its attentions on Dani was the fact Xavier's telepathy could augment her powers, causing others to see lifelike illusions of the Brood's design. In this case, the young Queen influenced Dani to make them all believe they were suddenly on an alien world and attacked by a Brood Queen. Though scared at first, the teens rallied and took to the offensive... especially when they discovered Dani was inadvertently causing all this. Cannonball decided not to pull any punches.

                                                                           "KRAK!"

Now, don't let the sound effect fool you... Sam actually pulled his punch, leaving Dani merely knocked out instead of shattering her jaw or worse. Still, if their entire Brood encounter was little more than a shared illusion conjured up by Moonstar, why is she still wrapped in that weird cocoonlike webbing? That'll be a mystery for the ages, because the issue ended with the newly declared sane Dani on the porch watching the stars, just as Roberto came up to check on her. In yet another ironic twist, the young students ruled out Xavier's involvement in all of this. And, to add insult to about to be received injury...

                                     "Look, a shooting star... I've never seen one so bright.
                                                         Consider it a good omen."

And with that, it was May of 1983 and the sequel to the story, including that night's episode of Magnum P.I. was already told two months earlier. Let's briefly revist Uncanny X-Men I#167 to see the New Mutants' first encounter with the X-Men. For one thing, they were innocently watchin Tom Selleck hamming it up on screen in all his 80s glory when the X-Men stormed in. They valiantly tried to fight off the intruders, but pretty much failed. Then, the Brood Queen that was ready to hatch inside Xavier finally showed its face. After the transformation, the X-Men immediately engaged. Wolverine cut off her backstinger, forcing the Queen to try and escape. That did not exactly work out well for her...

                         "I hate to disillusion you, monster. But from us... there is no escape."

Long story short, the X-Men decided to take the not-quite-yet transformed Brood Queen up to the Starjammers' ship in hopes of somehow finding a way to reverse the process. While everyone waited around for Moira MacTaggert and the Starjammer's medic Sikorski to come up with a treatment, the New Mutants were left to their own devices aboard the vessel. That led to some telling remarks from both Nightcrawler and Storm.

              "It's one thing to watch someone like me on a cinema or a television screen...
                                    Quite another to share a dinner table with him."

That already set up the first attempt to bond the two disparate bands of mutants. What Claremont didn't forget was the simple fact they already had something major in common: Charles Xavier. While Sikorski and Moira failed to reverse the Brood's transformation process they were able to clone his original body, allowing Xavier a new lease on life. In this newly construed mortal shell, Charles was no longer paralyzed and all too giddy to introduce his students to one another.

                  "I have admitted new students to the school (...) I hope you'll all become friends."

And with that, we reach the end of part III. Next in New Mutants Year One, the threat of every day life, like a Viper's bite...