Contrary to what I said last week, there's actually one more issue of New Mutants to go.  It's due out this week, meaning that Marvel will be shipping three issues of New Mutants in consecutive weeks in a desperate scramble to get the book over and done with in time for Reload.

One result of this is bizarrely inconsistent art.  Though most of the storyline was drawn by Carlo Barberi, Khary Randolph is brought in for the second time in the arc - this time, to draw the big finish.  They're hugely different artists, with Randolph tending towards broad strokes and cartoonishly exaggerated characters.  I rather like his work, which fits surprisingly well with the cast (save for the guest starring Beast, whose character design is so odd to start with that it just won't stand up to too much distortion).  But if they ever do a trade paperback of this arc, it's going to look really, really weird.

This has been an odd arc.  After the first six issues consisted of introductory issues for each character, the title of "The Ties That Bind" suggest that one of the main aims was to establish the sense of family which was lacking until now.  That's somewhat been achieved, but perhaps because of the rewrites, there's also a sense that the book is working through a flurry of unrelated plots as it deals with its over-large cast. 

Josh and Rahne dominate this issue, with Rahne acting conflicted over the return of her powers and Josh turning golden after his life is saved (which we're invited to assume is his own self-image).  Both of these are reasonably decent character arcs, albeit that Wolfsbane still seems a little too far from previous versions for this to feel entirely natural as a continuation.

But it also means that the introduction of Noriko has been largely shunted to the side, leaving her to hang around the edges of the story and sulk while the main plot ploughs on without her.  Sofia seems to be relegated to a conscience role rather than having a plot of her own, and there's a sense of split focus as the book can't entirely make up its mind whether it's about the current students or the original New Mutants.

For all that, the book does feel like it's finally hitting its stride - albeit just in time to be axed and relaunched as a second incarnation of  New X-Men.  But after the false start it's had over the last year, that may not be such a bad idea.

Rating: B+

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