Let's kick off with the relaunched New Mutants series.  Last month's debut wasn't too impressive, but the second issue is a vast improvement.

This issue brings us to the X-Men's school, where Sofia starts to fit in with the kids, Dani gets recruited back into the X-Men's support staff, and another cast member is introduced as an existing pupil.  The main problem with issue #1 was that it had an impossibly one-dimensional character, Sofia's father, right at the centre of the plot.  And because Sofia was treated so abysmally throughout the story, she ended up seeming impossibly saintly.

With him out of the way, the characters come across much better.  Sofia's still showing some saintly tendencies, to be honest.  She seems pretty much flawless so far, unless you count losing her temper under impossible provocation at the end of issue #1, and I don't.  But since she's not under that sort of stress this issue, she comes across more plausibly.  The character still needs to be a little more rounded, but at least she's not Cinderella any more.

Laurie, the new character, has a simple but effective set-up.  She's got uncontrollable pheromone powers which mean that her own emotions are reflected in everyone around her.  Consequently, she's terrified of contact with other people because she doesn't want to interfere with them.  The obvious idea here is for Sofia to be set up as the friend who'll draw Laurie out, which could work quite well as long as Sofia doesn't end up as a sage voice of wisdom beyond her years.  And that's still a definite possibility.

Dani's awkwardness at dealing with Xavier as an equal rather than a teacher is nicely established, and the story also sets up the workings of the school fairly effectively.  It's not deep stuff, but it's a world more plausible than the first issue, and it definitely puts things on the right track - especially with Dani, who's easily the most developed character here.

Keron Grant's art still hasn't won me over, however.  It certainly has its strong points - he's pretty good at body language, for instance.  But the backgrounds aren't particularly inspired, and the whole thing feels a bit muted and awkward.  The big reveal of Xavier's school doesn't look right at all - somewhere along the line, the building seems to have shrunk, and the grounds have been reduced to a larger-than-average lawn.

Heading in the right direction, anyhow.

Rating: B+

back | continue