Thoughts

And so the New Mutants lose a member. The last issue ends with a big explosion, and this one begins with the team looking back on how they survived, but that Karma is now missing. And then, almost immediate the New Mutants embark on a new Brazilian adventure.

It all feels rather abrupt and jarring. I guess there’s quite a lot of overlap to her power with what Psyche can do, which might explain wanting to write her out but her backstory has been explored quite a lot so far, seemingly setting up a story. Which is now kicked into the long grass.

(Speaking personally its Rahne in the team that on this re-read has been the one I’d have ditched. Her 1850s puritan persona just gets grating in these issues – her constant shock and belief that things the others are doing “ain’t right” never feel like anything more than when a non-English speaking X-man drops a word of their native tongue into their English speech bubbles. But, on the other hand, her power is more interesting.)

It then feels extra weird that the New Mutants just decide to get over it. And end up partying in Brazil. I do love these moments, the teens getting to grips with carnival season is well written as long as you can forget all the business with Karma. If these were carefree teens (or as carefree as mutant teens can be) then it all makes sense. But they shouldn’t be. They’ve just lost a friend! It feels weird.

As long as you can park that jarring feeling though, this is a strong issue. The commitment to low key storytelling mean that the antagonist the New Mutants face in this issue is a Big Guy With An Axe. Called Axe. It feels like the right level of threat, and it feels credible when they win. And after some scratchy art last issue, Buscema’s back to his best here. A nice, colourful dynamic issue.

Fun Panel

Sunspot taking down Axe is a lovely full page of simply, yet effective, comic book slugging.

None More Claremont

Claremont is famous for deliberately leaving loose plot strands dangling to come back to at a later date. And no doubt that was his intention with Karma and the dialogue on this panel.

But it really doesn’t ring true. The loss of a kid is a big deal. And if the narrative stresses that the level is so great that the New Mutants can’t handle this, only the X-men can – then I want to see the X-men handle this as a priority. Except I know they don’t. The X-men just continue having completely different adventures. And Karma is just, well, gone.

If Kitty had gone missing, the entire X-franchise would have dropped everything until she was recovered. The fact that after a few pages, the New Mutants have dropped their search for her, and Xavier alludes to an X-men hunt that never happens really feels like doing the dirty on the character of Karma. I can buy her being written out if Claremont felt her, and her powers, weren’t quite working. But not like this.