Spotlight on New Mutants Classic

Magick is back.  Long Live the New Mutants.  Many comic readers might not realize this, but there was a time about 20 years ago when there were only two X-books produced by Marvel each month - the Uncanny X-Men and the New Mutants.  

At the time, it was like nirvana for comic fans yearning for more stories of the children of the atom.  After successfully dodging cancellation with the release of a new team in Giant-Size X-Men #1, the franchise took its first and next logical step into Marvel lore with the beginning of the New Mutants.

As was the case with everything mutant back in the day, Chris Claremont found himself at the helm as he created a new team for a new audience.  These characters were similar in age to the first X-team of Scott Summers, Jean Grey and friends.  They were also similar in experience.  However the New Mutants did have the benefit of the older team to learn from, and "intern" with if you will.

One of the classic early stories was when Professor Xavier decided to "demote" Kitty Pryde to the junior circuit even though she had proved herself time and time again in battle.  Remember that whole thing with the brood.

As they have done with some of the other titles in their vaults, Marvel has slowly been collecting the original New Mutant stories in trade paperback in New Mutants Classic.  Volume four was released a few weeks ago and reprints up to issue #34.  This new volume shows the team in its heyday of the team with Magick, Warlock, Cannonball and Bill Sienkiewicz providing masterful strokes as the artist.

With the upcoming release of New Mutants #1 now is a perfect time to go back and re-read the classic first adventure of Marvel's second mutant team - The New Mutants.

It's a brand new day, and no we are not talking about a certain friendly neighborhood web-head.  We are talking The Outsiders.  For the second time in a year and a half, the Outsiders are enjoying a reboot and now is a perfect jumping on point.

As we all know (Warning Spoiler Alert if you have been living on a deserted island the past six months) since Batman's demise the entire DC Universe (and the Bat books in particular) has been topsy-turvy.  With all the uncertainty and new directions the one title that seems to have gotten stronger is The Outsiders.

Despite the loss of Batman, the dark knight's blueprints are all over this new team beginning with its selection and new leader (a certain butler who has a lot of time on his hands now), as seen in Batman and the Outsiders Special #1.

Peter Tomasi has returned The Outsiders back to its roots with original team members Halo, Geo-Force, Black Lightning (fresh from slumming it with the JLA), Katana and Metamorpho.  He's also added some fresh new faces in Owlman (who looks a lot like the Watchmen's Owlman) and the Creeper.

The current issue (#16) has an excellent explanation of why each of them are on the new team.

Lee Garbett supplies some very consistent pencils and Trevor Scott and Livesay take care of the inks.  I like the style of art in this book.  Too many titles (especially the Marvel ones) have this real fluid look to their titles that makes them look a little too real and not as much a comic.  But that's just me ...

The Deep is the current storyline which began in Outsiders #15.  The new squad is just finding its leg and learning to trust its new members and relearn to trust some old friends.  However, no one ever tells the bad guys that the good guys need a breaking in period and there are some new interesting Powers That Be that are proving to be an interesting foil for our new team.

So that is my story and I am sticking to it.  A lot of people have been questioning the quality of the DC books lately, and while I have not been overwhelmed by much of their product lately, the latest incarnation of The Outsiders has been consistently good and I am enjoying it more than I was when it was called Batman and the Outsiders.

Watchmen (Spoiler-Free)

 Zack Synder gets it. He really gets it. For me Snyder's take on the Watchmen hit the nail on the head. To start, I am not what you would say a disciple of either Alan Moore or the Watchmen. I read the book when it originally came out, issue-by-issue, month-by-month. I remembered most of it. I liked it. At the time I probably did not appreciate or realize the true impact the story were to have on all future comics.

That being said, it was with anticipation that I awaited the release of the big screen version of Watchmen. I was a little nervous, remembering the severe miss of League of Extraordinary Gentleman and the not so close job that V for Vendetta was. But the trailers for Watchmen intrigued me. At the end, Watchmen was the closest adaptation of what Moore intended than anything that has come before on the big screen, and that is a compliment to Snyder and the suits at Warner Brothers for allowing Synder to make the movie his way.

As far as other compliments, the movie is also a perfect companion for the book. There is so much that looked as if it were lifted directly from the page, and panel. There were some omissions, but the movie was two hours and 40 minutes long. They could not include everything (although a director's cut DVD is already scheduled for July and will add another 40 minutes to the film).

I was talking to a few people after seeing it, and the more we discussed it, the more I liked it. It was a really good movie. Stepping away from the source material, Watchmen is a good-old fashion murder mystery. It's just the victim was a super-hero (sort of). It's an epic tale that has a real edge (please note the "R" rating for violence, gore, nudity and sex - staying true to the book).

Snyder's inclusion of the pop soundtrack worked for me, with many of the songs also being pulled from the book. He also put his mark on the film with some of its slow motion action scenes that were done in a way that we really have not seen before, making the movie even more unique. I for one like it when they slow down those scenes because I can actually see what is going on. It does not always have to be a Jackie Chan, wham-bam, thank you ma'am fight.

And the visuals and CGI work were stunning. Dr. Manhattan looked good in all his glowy-blueness. And the Mars scene pays off for fans the way the first fight between the Alien and Predator paid off in Aliens vs Predator.

Here's the thing, even if you have never read the book or like super-hero movies, Watchmen is still a very well done movie with an interesting story that should keep all viewers waiting for what will happen next. Now you will have to excuse me, I want to go read Watchmen again.