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<HEAD><TITLE>Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The New Mutants </TITLE> <script language="JavaScript"></script> <META name = "author" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "description" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "subject" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "keywords" content = "comic books animated cartoons animation comics comix syndicated comic strips"> <META name = "publisher" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "format" content = "text/html"> <META name = "language" content = "EN"> </HEAD><BODY> <body onload="if (self!= top) top.location = self.location"></body> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000EE" VLINK="551A8B"> <TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=310 VALIGN="CENTER"><IMG GALLERYIMG="NO" ALIGN="LEFT" HEIGHT=322 WIDTH=300 ALT="The New Mutants' initial line-up. Artist: Bob McLeod." SRC="newmutnt.jpg"> <TD VALIGN="CENTER"> <H1>THE NEW MUTANTS</H1><FONT SIZE=4> <B>Medium:</B> Comic books <BR><B>Published by: </B>Marvel Comics <BR><B>First Appeared:</B> 1982 <BR><B>Creators:</B> Chris Claremont (writer) and Bob McLeod (artist) <FONT SIZE=3> <! BEGIN DONATION CODE> <HR><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR="993366"><CENTER> If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, <BR>Please contribute to its necessary financial support. <BR><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1237L0BCY25QA" TARGET="_blank">Amazon.com</A> or <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=don%40toonopedia.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_cod e=USD" TARGET="_blank">PayPal</A> </FONT></CENTER><HR> <! END DONATION CODE> <P><A NAME="cont"> <A HREF="xmen.htm">The X-Men,</A> <A HREF="marvel.htm">Marvel Comics'</A> most popular <A HREF="glossary.htm#superhero">superhero</A> team, started out in 1963 as a school where Professor X would teach young <A HREF="glossary.htm#mutant">mutants</A> how to deal with their special abilities, and get along peacefully in a  <P ALIGN="RIGHT"><A HREF="#cont"><FONT SIZE=2><I>continued below</A></FONT> </TABLE> <CENTER><! BEGIN ADSENSE "LEADERBOARD" CODE> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <! END ADSENSE CODE></CENTER> <P><TABLE><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP"> world mostly populated by normal humans. They started getting away from that idea, and saving the world from super villains, in the very first issue; and within a few years had almost completely forgotten their original purpose. The New Mutants, who constituted a new class at Professor X's school, brought the concept back to its roots. <P> The new class began with the professor, despondent at the presumed deaths of the original X-Men at the hands of aliens, uninterested in resuming his educational work. But in the fourth entry (1982) of Marvel's newly-launched series of <A HREF="glossary.htm#novel">graphic novels,</A> writer Chris Claremont (then the regular X-Men scripter, also known for <A HREF="ironfist.htm">Iron Fist,</A> Sovereign Seven and more) and artist Bob McLeod (who is best known in American comics for this work, but who has also drawn <A HREF="spidey.htm">Spider-Man,</A> <A HREF="superman.htm">Superman</A> and many others) described how, one by one, for various reasons, he assembled his younger class anyway. He dressed them in black and yellow costumes just like those the X-Men themselves had worn in their first few dozen issues, and The New Mutants were well established by the time the original group (inevitably) turned out to have survived after all. <P> Cannonball (<A HREF="cannon.htm">no relation</A>) was Sam Guthrie, whose super power was to manufacture energy and use it to launch himself like a rocket, wherever he wanted to go. Karma was Xi'an Coy Manh, who could control other people's minds. Psyche (later called Mirage) was Danielle Moonstar, whose power was to create realistic illusions. Sunspot was Roberto DaCosta, who had the ability to absorb sunlight and turn it into super strength. Wolfsbane was the most incongruously-named of the group — the "bane" of a thing is usually understood to mean its worst enemy, whereas Rahne Sinclair's super power was to turn into a wolf. <P> Those were the founding members. Early additions included Cypher (Doug Ramsey, who had a mutant-level ability with languages), Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde, transferred/demoted from the parent group) and Warlock (<A HREF="warlock.htm">no relation</A>), an alien with no other apparent name. <P> The New Mutants moved out into their own title with a cover date of May, 1983. Naturally, they quickly fell into the the same pattern of fighting super villains, but much of it, in their case, was subordinated to their stated role as superheroes in training. <P> The problem with being consistent about that sort of role is that training eventually ends. It took 100 issues (the last dated April, 1991), seven annuals and a couple of special editions, but theirs finally did. Afterward, a mutant from the future named Cable, likely the son and/or stepson of <A HREF="cyclops.htm">Cyclops</A> and <A HREF="marvlgrl.htm">Phoenix,</A> organized many of them into X-Force, another mutant team, this one less interested in peaceful coexistence with normal humans than in seeing that the mutants come out on top. But that didn't last, and before long, the former New Mutants had scattered throughout the Marvel <A HREF="glossary.htm#universe">Universe.</A> <P> They were back for a mini-series in 1997, which depicted them as time travelers from the previous decade. A 2003 series revived the concept of teaching a previously-untrained new mutant. Nowadays, the phrase is just a trademark, which may or may not, at any given time, be used in connection with the new mutants who are always popping up in Marvel comics. <P ALIGN = "RIGHT">— DDM <P><A HREF="index.htm">BACK</A> to <I>Don Markstein's Toonopedia</I> Home Page <BR><A HREF="today.htm">Today in Toons:</A> Every day's an anniversary! <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE BANNER CODE><CENTER> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </CENTER><! END ADSENSE CODE> <TD WIDTH=10><TD WIDTH=180 VALIGN="TOP"> <! BEGIN ADLINKS CODE><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><! END ADLINKS CODE> <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE REFERRAL CODE><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><! 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