I have no clue what’s going on on this cover. It’s X-Man and Blink fighting Dani, Sunspot, Warlock and Magik which occurs exactly never in this book and Magik isn’t even part of this team! Misleading, inaccurate covers are my Pet Peeve!
So anyway, last issue Blink seemed to have found a lead in a string of disasters, linking them to a scary metal band called Diskhord. Diskhord whipped up a strange pink lightning storm which struck the New Mutants’ Blackbird. The jet falls from the sky, but Blink uses her teleportation powers to save it and the team within. Warlock reveals that the lightning was not from this world and uses his techno powers to “sniff it out,” accompanied by Cypher (Doug Ramsey).
Back at the concert, Diskhord whips up another catastrophe, a tornado headed toward the concert venue. Sunspot and Magma attempt to protect the crowd, which is growing increasingly disorganized. (Not that metal fans are that organized to begin with.) Doug and Warlock locate the band’s van and the source of their supernatural abilities, but it may cost them their lives! Dani and the others combat the band themselves, but Diskhord puts up a fight! The storm worsens and they have to forget about the band and tend to saving lives. There are no casualties, but eight people are injured. Diskhord, meanwhile, are headed toward Chicago. With as much destruction they caused in a low-population area, the damage they could potentially inflict in the Windy City could be massive!
This may not be the most dramatic X-Book, but it’s still highly enjoyable thanks to they way Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning write the characters! There’s a real comedic, almost sitcom-esque tone to their dialogue and the way they interact. As the X-jet plummets from the sky, Dani actually verbalizes something I’ve complained about since I was a kid, “These Blackbirds are supposed to be cutting edge flying machines! How come we crash them so much?” I mean, those things aren’t cheap and the X-Men lose and replace one about every three issues! X-Man’s response is also humorous, “Oh, now’s the time for that conversation!” When describing Diskhord, Blink states “It’s noisy crap, but you know ‘the kids dig it’.” To which, Magma, in reference to Sunspot replies, “He likes Rihanna.” The characters just click like a good sitcom ensemble cast.
Not to downplay the action at all. The major plot still works and there is a real sense of danger. Things look very bad for one of the characters, but I’m hoping this person isn’t dead! Or at least that they can come back from the dead. It’s happened before.
The art is quite nice. It’s not very stylized. Just clean and straight forward. The talking scenes work. the action scenes work. And there’s even a hint of comedy to a few panels, which adds to the familiar, light tone of this book.
Reading ‘New Mutants’ is like hanging out with buddies. If you like a lighter approach to super heroics, definitely check this book out!
Verdict: Buy
NEW MUTANTS #35
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pencils by David Lopez
Cover by Leandro Fernandez with Andres Mossa
