Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… My final make up review is for ‘New Mutants.’ Hope you enjoy it.

New Mutants #9 (preview)
Writer: Zeb Wells
Art: Paul Davidson

NOTE: Wolverine appears only in the background in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with a scientist working in an undisclosed location. A solider comes in and reports there is ice and they both leave. They approach a location where a third man is watching a gate to hell. The gate opens and some men come through. The scientist challenges them and General Ulysses has the correct response. He and his men keep coming through the portal.

On Utopia, Doug and Warlock are being checked out by Nemesis and Danger and are free from Bard’s infection although Warlock is still operating at only 3.8% capacity. Danger seems quite interested in Warlock until she finds out he reproduces asexually. Warlock then reveals that Illyana is not the original but rather a copy.

In the Danger Room, Sunspot is fighting a demon and gets into trouble forcing Illyana to teleport it back to Limbo. Dani and Shan come in and say that Emma wants to speak to Magik in her office.

Magma is still trapped in her molten form and is being visited by Sam. She says she will be let out soon and thanks him for saving her but Sam says it was Roberto that took care of her. Their discussion is interrupted by Doug’s appearance. Amara is still scared of Ramsey and tells him to leave and Sunspot reinforces it. Doug leaves rather then cause a problem.

In her office, Emma questions who Magik really is and Illyana answers honestly that she has the body and mind of Magik but not her soul. She explains about the first Inferno and how she was reborn from Belasco’s magic. She then went into the future after the second Inferno and saw what would happen if she had not stopped Legion.  He would have killed the X-Men until Emma slayed him.

In the control room, Amara confronts Doug and wants him to leave the island. She does not feel like he is really her friend because he is so different. Ramsey explains that he now can translate everything. Although she is still frightened, Doug wants to talk to her in a language that he made just for her. When he finishes, she hugs him and welcomes him back.

Illyana explains some of what she did when she was in the future. Magik hunted down Witchfire and put her to the sword but did not get her Bloodstones back. In her travels, Illyana heard of creatures from Limbo leading the X-Men to the Bloodstones but Magik arrived too late to save them. So she came back in time to make her former teammates ready for the attack which could happen at any time.

MY TAKE: This is another good issue and gives a very nice start to the next plot, which looks to be a return to form. I am glad that the cross-over event is finished and I am looking forward to this new take on Limbo. I am not sure what exactly the general and his troops are but I have wanted a new type of Limbo story for a long time. Hopefully, the group will prove to be an interesting and powerful enemy.

The characterization is uniformly good, as expected, and mostly focused on Illyana, Amara and Doug. I was glad to see that the attack on Magma was addressed and that there was a focus on making peace between her and Ramsey. I am not sure I completely buy how quickly Amara changed her mind but a lot of the issue was focused on them, so it was good to get past it.

I was a bit disappointed with Illyana’s part in the issue, however. I love her character and am glad to see her get some focus but the story was a victim of the advertising that focused on Magik’s secret. I was expecting some sort of major relevation about her personality and her past and instead got a brief recap and a little additional information to fill in the gab between X-Infernus and the first issue of the series. Hopefully, we will see her get her soul back in this story, the last panel hints that is at least possible.

In the end, this is a great story that does feel a bit slow. That is pretty normal when transitioning from one story arc to another. I am glad that there was an effort to address the plot threads from Necrosha but this does seem to give away at least some of the ending of that story.  Still, it works to build a continuity and it gives a very good introduction to the next story, which looks to be excellent. Hopefully, the next issues will continue to have a strong focus on Magik.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.