Set Description:
I started collecting comics at the start of 1986. New Mutants #36 was the first actual comic book from this series I ever owned. This series holds a special place in my memories of youth. It was because of THIS series that I became the comic book junkie I am today.
I collected along with my father who, sadly is no longer alive. Continuing this hobby in the CGC era is as much in memory of him as for the love of the hobby itself.
As a result, when I decided to start collecting CGC comics, New Mutants was naturally my first choice to put a set together of.
I am working on detailed descriptions for every single issue!! They have silly wordplay about the covers as well as other info (when published; what makes them a key issue; story, art and cover people...etc.). I am working on putting story summaries and personal comments on all of them. I am m currently up through #25 and Annual #1 in this regard.
Instead of putting back cover scans in the second image spot on each of these, I am in the process of putting scans of the first page of the issue or 1st appearances/key moments from the issue! I am up to #34 in this regard. Cool, huh?
Please feel free to check them out for yourself, either individually or in sequence. I hope this helps to generate even more interest in these characters so they will continue to matter in the grand scheme of comics and other media.
I am also in the process of upgrading as many of these as I can to either signed copies or higher grades. I have done this with 74 issues so far.
Tnerb and I are both on the cusp of completing our sets! I am finally down to just the Annual #4 to be done, thanks to Wardevil0! One of these days we will find Tnerb a 9.8 copy of #58, and Annual #4 for both of us.
At the very least, you need to check out my copy of #1. There arent too many Gem Mint 10s out there prior to 1984. It is one of them!!
Also, check out #47 and #58! They both have a fantastic story attached to them!!!
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| The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
| Slot: |
Marvel Graphic Novel 4 |
| Item: |
Marvel Graphic Novel 4 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1187211001
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Owner Comments
Published:1982
KEY ISSUE: Origin & 1st appearance of the New Mutants.
Chris Claremont story
Bob McLeod cover and art
There are now 27 of these in 9.8! This is 1 of only 5 SS 9.8 copies! It's signed by both Claremont and McLeod with a Cannonball sketch by Bob!
Since this is signed on the back, the second image is of the back cover instead of a first page scan.
Story Title: RENEWAL
SUMMARY:
In Scotland, Moira MacTaggert meets a wolf that transforms into Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane) on the run from a mob. In Brazil, Roberto Da Costa (Sunspot) changes into an extremely strong (& black) mutant form for the 1st time at a soccer match. In Kentucky, Sam Guthrie (Cannonball) takes off & shoots forward at extreme velocity when he blasts out of a mine as it caves in. In Colorado, Danielle Moonstar (Psyche) is told by her grandfather to go get training from Charles Xavier (Professor X). Angrily, she reveals her ability to take someone's greatest fears & project them visually as spirit forms.
Donald Pierce witnesses these events & decides to kill them all out of hatred & a desire to take over the Hellfire Club from Sebastian Shaw. He kills Dani's grandfather. She vows vengeance.
At the School for Gifted Youngsters, Rahne watches Professor X examine Xi'an Coy Mahn (Karma). When Shan shows how she can possess people by taking over Moira, Rahne freaks & partially transforms. The Professor cools things down. Shan tells some of her past & of her untrustworthy uncle, Nguyen Ngoc Coy.
The X-men are supposedly dead at the hands of the Brood. Charles has become leery of teaching more students just to see them die as well. Moira speaks with him & he agrees to help train the youths. Professor X then receives a message that Dani's grandfather wants him to train her as well.
Charles, Shan & Rahne arrive in Colorado to find that Dani's grandfather is dead. They're attacked by both Dani & by 3 of Pierce's goons. Dani soon realizes her mistake & the assassins are defeated. Charles finds out about Pierce through mental interrogation & Dani joins the team to get revenge on Pierce.
In Brazil, Moira, Shan & Dani are arrested by the Police, who think they abducted Roberto's girlfriend, Juliana & tried to abduct Roberto. Shan & Dani escape but Moira is taken into custody. Later, Shan & Dani follow Roberto when he goes after Juliana. The 3 of them battle with 4 of Pierce's goons & beat them, but not before one of them kills Juliana. Roberto joins up for revenge against Pierce.
In Kentucky, Charles & Rahne look for Sam, who instead finds them by blasting into their jeep. Rahne goes wolfie & hides while Sam pulls an unconscious Charles from the jeep. Pierce has hired Sam to help him. Sam doesn't like it, but needs money for his family. Wolfsbane follows Sam & Pierce's men to their compound. She discovers that Pierce has nullified Charles' mental powers with a machine that is both drawing information from his brain and slowly killing him.
Roberto, Shan & Dani arrive to help & Sam discovers them. Psyche scares him off with a spirit form. The group breaks in. Wolfsbane is severely injured by Pierce. Psyche is KO'd when Pierce throws Dani's psionic attack back at her. He's part bionic!
Sunspot bursts in & then gets blasted by Cannonball, causing him to turn back to normal. Karma tries to possess Pierce, but only gets zapped. When Pierce tells Cannonball to kill all the kids, Sam refuses & Pierce points a gun at him.
While the others were distracting Pierce, Professor X gets the injured Wolfsbane to turn the machine off. Professor X then enters a mental power struggle with Pierce & takes control of him.
Karma takes control of Pierce from Charles & they hand him over to the Hellfire Club. As the group leaves, Sam asks what he should do now & Roberto tells him to go follow his boss.
Later, back at the school, everyone dons their new uniforms. Sam shows up & Roberto is skeptical about letting him join the group, but Rahne forgives Sam & Roberto agrees.
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
This was my 1st comic book series to collect & read, so it was my introduction to many other Marvel characters & series.
I didn't actually read THIS issue until I had already read the first 4 issues of the regular series.
It was cool to see how the kids found out about their powers. Sam was my favorite character by this point. It was neat to see him go from Pierce's lackey to the hero he would later become.
I had heard mention of Juliana from Bobby in the regular series & here I got to see the events happen that Bobby spoke of.
I thought it was funny how these kids had grouped together because of anger, revenge & even hatred, but were now a team of heroes. Good things CAN come from the worst circumstances.
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 1 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 1 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0901152082
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Owner Comments
The top pic is of me and my new big brother, Tnerb holding this awesome beauty at the Baltimore ComicCon in September 2013!
Published:3/83
KEY ISSUE: Origin of Karma. 2nd appearance of the New Mutants.
Chris Claremont story, Bob Mcleod cover
Bob McLeod and Mike Gustovich art
OUT OF 743 GRADED ISSUES, THIS IS 1 OF ONLY 2 TO REACH 10 GEM MINT! THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS!
This, believe it or not, was the very first CGC graded comic I ever purchased!! WHAT A START!!
STORY TITLE: Initiation!
SUMMARY:
One of the New Mutant's teachers, Stevie Hunter, gives Shan a shampoo & haircut. Dani accidentally taps Shan's mind & projects spirit forms of Shan's parents being murdered & her own torture. Shan explodes in anger, attacks Dani & Stevie before Roberto slaps her hard & she breaks down in tears.
Dani leaves & wanders around the mansion feeling miserable. Then Professor X mentally calls all the students to the Danger Room for their 1st training session.
In London, Moira & Illyana Rasputin (Magik) meet with Gabrielle Haller who asks Moira to help her son, a mutant with telepathic & telekinetic abilities. When Moira suggests Charles to do it, Gabrielle refuses, claiming that Charles is her son's father!
Back at the Danger Room, the professor explains the Danger Room's ability to train the mutants without killing them. He then tasks each of them to simply cross the room. Easier said than done!
Cannonball goes 1st & after blasting face first into a wall & being sucked into a vent that sends him back to the beginning, he fails.
Wolfsbane is next. In wolf form, she tries to sense for danger but falls into a pit, grabs a ledge, then is flipped by the ledge back to the start. Failure!
Sunspot makes it part way when a robot-like being grabs him. Roberto transforms & punches it in an attempt to destroy it, but his arm just sinks in & gets stuck. He struggles with it until his energy saps out & he turns back to normal. You lose!!
The others are ordered to ambush Karma. Cannonball blasts at her, but she possesses him & makes him fly into Sunspot. Karma doesn't see Wolfsbane sneak up on her until it's too late & Rahne takes her down. Game over!
When Dani's turn comes, she freaks & runs out. On the school grounds she tells Rahne of the Bear image she pulled from her father before her parent's disappearance & death. Rahne tries to ease her fears & then leaves to town with the others and Stevie, letting Dani have some time alone. The kids, however, are being followed by agents of the National Security Council headed by Henry Peter Gyrich, who is watching them for currently unknown reasons.
Dani finally gets up the nerve to challenge the Danger Room. She sets the controls herself, enters & is confronted by robots, who she cannot battle mentally since they are not living beings. She relies instead on her physical abilities & makes it through the exit just as a stunblast hits her, knocking her out!
An unseen person in the booth disengages the safety protocols & changes the program. When Dani comes to, she is in a swamp about to be mauled by a massive predatory beast.....!
TO BE CONTINUED IN #2...
Personal Comments:
This was not the 1st issue of New Mutants I ever got. #36 was, which was the newest issue at the time. I decided to wait until I started to get the 1st issues to start my thorough reading. Shortly after that I found out that Marvel Graphic Novel #4 was the actual 1st appearance of the team, so I got it later.
I thought it was interesting how the team was sort of a new, younger version of the X-Men, since Prof X thought the X-Men were all dead. Were the X-Men really dead? I had to ask someone who knew the Uncanny X-Men series to find out. Apparently they were NOT dead. I felt this might cause some interesting results later.
I liked all the characters & how they interacted with each other. For some reason, Sam Guthrie was my favorite. Not sure if it was his accent and how it was written, or if it was his power & whether or not it could improve later on. Rahne was the shy, conservative one. Roberto was the easily angered hothead. Dani was the brooding, independent type. Shan was dangerous, but damaged goods.
Finding out about Xavier's son made for interesting possibilities as well. I didn't know who Illyana Rasputin was yet so I wasn't sure how she was going to fit into this series.
Seeing the Mutants in the Danger Room showed how far they still had to go before being a formidable team.
The 2 mysteries in the issue were intriguing. Who was the National Security Council & what did they want with the kids? Who was in the Danger Room control room & zapped Dani?
I couldn't wait to read the next one!
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 2 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 2 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1194977003
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Owner Comments
Here comes a black eye mister! Oh, never mind, you already have two!
Published: 4/83
Chris Claremont story,Bob McLeod cover
Bob McLeod and Mike Gustovich art
I cracked this baby open and had Bob McLeod sign it at the 2013 Megacon!
Story Title: SENTINELS
SUMMARY:
Dani escapes from a swamp monster in the Danger Room only to run into a Brood queen and fall a great distance through jungle trees and crash to the ground unconscious.
The other New Mutants members are in town at the mall and strike up conversation with some other young people from a local high school.
They are under surveillance, however, by Henry Peter Gyrich of the National Security Council and Sebastian Shaw, head of the Hellfire Club. Henry is worried that these mutants and others who are popping up everywhere will pose a threat to the well being of the world. Shaw pretends to be on Henry's side but has his own secret agenda of furthering mutant domination and eventually coaxing Xavier's students to join his Hellfire Club.
Back at the mall, Stevie is secretly dragged to an empty storage room by Michael Rossi of Air Force Intelligence, who claims that she is in need of his help.
Meanwhile, some of Henry's agents approach the New Mutants in the mall and tell them to come with them. In order to keep innocent bystanders from being hurt, they comply and follow them into the parking garage. Stevie and Michael show up and all heck breaks loose as the mutants fight the NSC agents and subdue them. Michael is about to take the agents to Xavier's school for questioning when a Group of Sentinels shows up with apparent orders to capture the New Mutants.
Michael is knocked out by some gas from one unit, then Cannonball blasts it right out of the garage. Roberto jumps from the garage to get into the sun and falls 3 stories to land on a car roof. He is unharmed. He then picks up a sentinel by the foot and accidentally hurls it right into the mall. Luckily, no one is hurt and he rips it's head off.
Another unit freezes Cannonball solid, and Karma possesses him to activate his powers and blast him free to shoot into the sky, taking the sentinel with him.
Meanwhile, Karma is vulnerable to attack from the last unit, so the others distract it just long enough for Cannonball to blast downward from the sky with the other unit in tow, destroying both units and ending the fight.
Karma mentally forces one of the NSC agents to confess to the police and everyone heads back to the school. They find Dani out cold in the Danger Room and when she relates what happened, Stevie begins to suspect Charles of Brood possession. She is right, as Charles does indeed have a Brood queen slowly growing inside him...
Continued in New Mutants #3...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
I found this issue very interesting. I had heard of the Sentinels but this was my 1st real view of them in a series I was reading. They really didn't stand much of a chance against the New Mutants, but I could see how they would probably improve in their capabilities and possibly become far more dangerous later on.
This issue was also my first exposure to the Hellfire Club, at least in mention anyway. Shaw was still a mystery for the most part.
Seeing Karma possess one of her own team mates was a little disturbing to me at the time. I could see why she had been used by her uncle in the past to do some pretty nasty things to people. Luckily in this case she was actually helping Sam.
Sam was still my favorite character, so it was cool to see him take out BOTH of the last 2 Sentinels!
I became very worried about Professor X being possessed by a Brood Queen. I didn't know all the details of the Brood but I had seen the movie "Alien" by this time and didn't see how this could possibly be any better in its final results.
By the time I finished reading this issue, I had come to realize that much of the universe of this series was taken from the Uncanny X-Men series. This series is what caused me to start collecting and reading THAT series.
Oh, please let Professor X come through okay, I thought to myself…
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 3 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 3 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1194977009
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Owner Comments
I don't want to walk in HER shadow!
Published: 5/83
KEY ISSUE: Ties in with Uncanny X-men #167.
Chris Claremont story,Bob McLeod cover
Bob McLeod and Mike Gustovich art
Ok, the page scan isn't actually of the first page, it's the second page but that's because IT has the story title and cool full page image on it. Much better.
This is one of those rare News-Stand editions that are much harder to find in 9.8's.I cracked it open and had Bob McLeod sign it at the 2013 Megacon!!
STORY TITLE: NIGHTMARE
SUMMARY:
Dani has a nightmare with images of her fellow teammates dead, and of the bear that killed her parents. When she tells the others, they all think it was just a bad dream, but then Dani finds blood from the "dream" bear on her knife and she goes to tell the Professor.
She overhears Charles on the phone with Moira on Muir Isle, voicing concerns over Dani's sanity. Moira, however, says he must be mistaken and begins wondering what's up with Charles. She's still not sure what to do with her knowledge of Charles' supposed son. Her boyfriend, Sean goes out to the shore and talks with Illyana Rasputin (Magik). He tries to ease her mind on the current situation with the X-Men, but she's thinking of the past, and Limbo, and Belasco, the creature that controlled it and her, causing the death of some of the mutants.
Dani voices her concerns about the professor and the recent events and visions to Shan while the Professor and Cannonball are in the Danger Room testing Sam's so-far-impossible ability to turn in mid-flight. Still no-go on that one.
Later, while freshening up, Sam is taken over by Karma, who leaves a message for him to meet her. He's pissed, but when he gets to the boathouse, the other mutants are there as well, also summoned by Karma at the behest of Dani.
Dani tells them about the knife and what she heard of the Professor's doubt's about her sanity. When they try to leave the boathouse, the landscape outside has turned alien in nature.
Scared, they flee into the underground tunnels only to be confronted by the Brood Queen. Karma and Psyche attack without effect but Wolfsbane bites it and Cannonball blasts it away from them. It vanishes and the tunnel has changed. they continue on, but Dani gets captured by the creature.
She comes to in a room somewhere in the school, and the Queen reveals to her that it has been amplifying her abilities and using them to create all the weird images and creatures.
The others show up and battle the Queen. Dani tells Sam to knock her out and everything will go away. Reluctantly Sam does, and it works.
Later, Roberto comforts Dani, letting her know they will stick together no matter what. With what the Queen knew of their abilities, they begin to wonder if Charles is somehow involved.
They all go inside to watch a show on TV...
You can read the continuation in Uncanny X-Men #167 in my X-Men set. Then move on to New Mutants issue #4...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
Wow, things really started to pick up with this issue! I remember wondering if the Brood Queen was really just something with Dani or whether there really WAS one growing inside Prof X. The Queen's revelation of what it was doing with her abilities dispelled Dani as the problem.
Again, Shan possesses teammates in this issue. Still bothersome to me but again it was to try & help the others. I just hoped this didn't bode ill for the rest of the team later.
Seeing the Professor trying to set things up against Dani troubled me as I remember. What were the kids possibly gonna be able to do to solve this problem?
Obviously, this Brood Queen possession issue was not over yet, and I remember dreading to read any further for fear of what would happen to Charles.
This story was continued in Uncanny X-Men #167, so as a result, I had to get a copy of THAT issue in order to keep reading the story in sequence, which made it the first issue of that series I ever owned and started me down the path of collecting those as well.
It's a slippery slope, that just keeps on gettin' more slippery as the years go by. :)
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 4 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 4 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0209805001
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Owner Comments
The roof! The roof! The roof is on fiyar!
Published: 6/83
KEY ISSUE: Ties in with Uncanny X-men #167. (sort of)
Chris Claremont story,Bob McLeod cover
Sal Buscema and Bob McLeod art
I chose to do the page scan of the part where Cannonball manages to make his first "mid-flight course correction". Or in Sam's words, " Turn while Ah'm blastin' ".
Story Title: WHO'S SCARING STEVIE?
SUMMARY:
Stevie Hunter is stressed out. She's been getting repeated phone calls from a stalker. Shan tries to convince her to go to the police, but Stevie doesn't think they will take it seriously. While talking, they run into Peter Bristow, one of Stevie's other students at the High School. Stevie sends Shan back to Xavier's school.
The group are playing catch in the snow with a frisbee when Professor X summons them to his study. They run into Lilandra who ushers them on.
In the study, Charles gives them a choice of whether to stay on at the school or not. Due to recent events, he understands that they may not fully trust him anymore, but they decide to stay and tough it out.
Shan reveals Stevie's situation with the phone calls and the others agree to help her and come up with a plan. After they leave, Charles and Lilandra have a talk about Dani's rebellious attitude towards Charles, who only hopes she will come to respect him.
Roberto puts a trace on Stevie's house phone and when the stalker calls, they get his location. It turns out to be a phone booth. Rahne shifts into wolf form and gets the perpetrator's scent. They follow the trail to the High School, where a school dance is taking place.
Rahne is able to sense the culprit and he is revealed to be none other than Peter Bristow! Peter makes a run for it and flees in his car with the others in hot pursuit. Cannonball blasts after him but has to save a mother and child from being run over, and finally makes his first turn in mid-flight to avoid crashing into a building.
Peter loses control and crashes into a factory. The others arrive and while searching for Peter, the factory begins to burn, with explosives inside. They find Peter, Shan takes control of him, and everybody makes a mad dash for the exit, being held open by Sunspot. Success!
Later, Psyche uses her powers on Peter and they discover the abuse he has suffered at the hands of his parents and the twisted perception of love that he has because of it. He breaks down and then later the police come and take him away.
Charles congratulates the mutants for what they did to help Peter and then tells them that they will have an analysis of their actions during the night ready for class tomorrow to study where they went right and/or wrong. Stevie thanks them, too.
At this point, go & read Marvel Team-Up Annual #6 in my set category of THAT series. THEN move on to New Mutants issue #5...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
All Right! The X-Men are back and the whole Brood Queen mess has been resolved at least on the surface. I was interested to see where the series would go from here & hoping that everyone on the team would stay together. Thankfully, they all did. Whew!
I will always remember this particular issue because of the first sign of Cannonball's abilities starting to improve.
This issue had an obvious message about child abuse and it's damaging effects. I personally had wonderful parents who never did any such thing, but I knew that some kids were not as lucky.
This issue acted as a stand-alone story between major storyline events, with just a couple of character developments. I wondered what the writers could have in store for us rabid readers!
Bring it on!
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 5 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 5 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1187232003
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Owner Comments
Welcome to the all new samurai styling salon! Need a trim??
Published: 7/83
KEY ISSUE: Viper & Silver Samurai appearance.
Chris Claremont story
Sal Buscema & Bob McLeod art
Armando Gil cover
I cracked this issue open and had Bob McLeod sign it at the 2013 Megacon! COOL!
Story Title: HEROES
SUMMARY:
Professror X tries to walk in his study and crumples to the floor in pain. Lilandra comes to him and he discovers he can't hear the New Mutants thoughts. She tells him to rest for a while and then he should be ok.
Meanwhile, the New Mutants, along with Stevie, are having a blast at the fair where they run into Wolf, Cowboy and R.U. Reddy, three members of Team America, the world-class motorcycle racing and stunt experts. Roberto gets autographs from each of them except for Wolf, who grumpily declines.
Stevie and the others go to grab seats for the stunt show while someone watches Team America from the shadows.
The show goes wonderfully until a group of armed men attack the riders, throwing them off their bikes and causing the crowd to flee in panic. Team America and the New Mutants battle with the soldiers, taking them down one by one.
Then Viper and Harada (the Silver Samurai) appear and discuss how they only meant to try and bring out Team America's "Guardian Angel" known only as the Dark Rider, not the young mutants.
Silver Samurai enters the fray and begins to take down the mutants, then the Dark Rider appears and Harada slices down the riders bike and he crashes. But when Harada removes the Dark Riders mask, it turns out to be DANI ! He then teleports her away, leaving all the others injured and shaken.
Dani comes to in a strange facility and is attacked by giant rolling spikes. She tries to use an available motorcycle, but barely escapes with her life after getting it crushed. Harada appears and takes her to Viper, who questions her about being the Dark Rider. Dani doesn't remember anything about it and gets mad and uses her power on Viper. Viper freaks for a moment, then smacks Dani down and threatens her.
Back at the school, Charles cannot mentally locate Danielle, but apparently discovers how she came to be in the Dark Rider's getup. In Washington, Viper and Silver Samurai pay Honcho (another member of Team America) a visit and tell him to gather together the other members and break into a fortress in Mexico to steal something or Dani will die.
All of Team America, along with Wrench and Giorgianna meet and discuss what to do. Then Professor X and the New Mutants show up and Charles tells the Team that they are able to project all of each of their talents together in possession of an unknowing individual to create the Dark Rider. Dani is simply their most recent victim. He tells them that he will train them to use their powers properly before someone else gets hurt.
Roberto and Wolf exchange harsh words and the mutants go outside to relieve the tension. Then Roberto and the Professor have a mental disagreement on the Professor's aiding Team America before helping Dani and the mutants decide to go after Dani themselves.
Continued in #6...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
When I read this issue, I had no previous knowledge of Team America, so I was a little lost at first with the Dark Rider business. But I took it in stride, though Dani being shown as the Dark Rider was perplexing at best.
I had also never heard of Viper or Silver Samurai. Every time I came across a new character in this series, I thought they were new & unique to it. In almost every case, however, I came to find out that they were, in fact, already established Marvel characters.
I collected all of the Team America issues because of this issue, and in turn, started collecting all of Ghost Rider because of his appearance in Team America.
It was like dominos. Read a series, meet a new character, like that character, collect that series, repeat ad nauseam...
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 6 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 6 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1187232006
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Owner Comments
How dare you cut her hair that short, you wicked samurai barber?!!!
Published: 8/83
KEY ISSUE: Viper & Silver Samurai appearance.
Chris Claremont story, Bob McLeod cover
Sal Buscema, Armando Gil &?
John Tartaglione art
Story Title: ROAD WARRIOR'S!
SUMMARY:
The New Mutants crash into Nguyen Goc Coy's(Shan's uncle) penthouse apartment & subdue him for information on Viper's whereabouts in order to save Dani. He agrees to tell them only if Shan will work for him for an entire year. With no other choice, Shan agrees.
All of Team America comes back together & are informed by Professor X of the seriousness of their mission. Work together as a team or Dani is as good as dead!
The Professor & Lilandra sit in the Blackbird while Prof tries to keep tabs on both groups. Team America is trying to steal the crystal Viper wants & the New Mutants are trying to rescue Dani. It's very tiring for him.
In Big Sur, California, Viper & Harada discuss both the fate of Dani & Harada's revenge on Marika (his sister) who is betrothed to Wolverine.
Team America reaches the fort at Black Mesa thanks to R U Reddy & Wolf, who the Prof puts to sleep to rest while Wrench & Honcho try to infiltrate the fort. They get their hands on the crystal but as they try to get out, the fortress blows up & the Prof & Lilandra are attacked psychically by some unknown mutant.
Meanwhile, the New Mutants begin their attack on Viper's compound. Dani manages to escape her cell & finds Rahne sliced down one side courtesy of Harada who now turns his attention to Dani!
Team America manages to get away from the fortress in one piece & are pursued by guards. Wolf manages to transform into the Black Rider & stop them.
Sam & Roberto stop Harada from killing Dani. Harada then transports to Viper, who is in psychic struggle with Karma. Harada knocks out Viper to release her from Karma's control & disappears with her.
Team America gets back to Professor X & helps him & Lilandra recover from the psychic assault from the unknown mutant.
The other mutants reach Dani & Rahne & after a joyful reunion, Karma is psychically attacked by the unknown mutant.
Then, on a nearby yacht, Harada pushes a button & blows up the compound where the New Mutants are!
The Prof senses surprise, terror, pain & then nothing from the mutants & hurries to get to them!
Continued in #7…
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
Seeing Shan's slimy, criminal Uncle made me furious when she agreed to help him for a year for the info they needed. Hopefully, something would keep her from having to fulfill that promise, I thought.
Charles was juggling his mental link with 2 teams in different locations. That was amazing to me.
Team America started showing the results of the Prof's training. The ability to change themselves into the Black Rider was neat.
Who was mentally attacking Charles & Karma? I was sure it would come out later.
Man, I couldn't wait to read the next one after Harada blew up the compound! I wondered if I was about to witness a death of one or more of the kids. Just don't let it be the end of Sam….
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 7 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 7 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1187232004
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Owner Comments
Just cause you cut YOUR hair with an axe doesn't mean the rest of us have to!!
Published: 9/83
Chris Claremont story,Bob McLeod cover
Sal Buscema and Bob McLeod art
Story Title: FLYING DOWN TO RIO!
SUMMARY:
Thanks to their powers, All the New Mutants managed to survive the explosion except for Karma, who cannot be found, in spite of Prof X, the X-Men & the New Mutants efforts.
Roberto's mother, Nina, arrives & after an argument with Prof X, Roberto declares he's quitting. The Prof is sure Shan is still alive but wants the young mutants out of harm's way. The other New Mutants have a heart to heart with Roberto & he changes his mind.
While everyone else searches for Shan, the New Mutants go with Roberto to his mansion home in Rio with Nina. They spend a dinner with his mom & dad (Emmanuel) who proceed to embarrass Roberto by arguing over Nina's forthcoming trip to the Amazon, where she plans to do what she can to help preserve the area. Emmanuel plans on taking advantage of the area to increase his monetary profits.
The next morning, Nina & the kids go into town during Carnival & go shopping for costumes to wear at the Governor's ball later. While trying on costumes, Nina is kidnapped by Hellfire Club goons & the mutants are left to deal with Axe, a large, strong black mutant with, you guessed it, an axe.
Axe slows the kids down enough to escape with more goons. Rahne mindcalls Dani to let the others know she is on the trail of the villains in wolf form.
Later that evening, Rahne leads the others to where the goons are keeping Nina with the animal mind link she shares with Dani while in wolf form. Rahne finds out the baddies are waiting until their employer arrives to do anything. The mutants come up with a rescue plan.
Rahne howls loudly to put the already-on-edge Hellfire goons into a jittery mood. Axe berates them for being wimps & tells them to go check the "haunted" house if they can do it.
While the goons search the dark house, Psyche confronts them with each of their fears & she & Rahne take them out!
Sunspot, in a rage over the treatment of his mother, storms into the room with Axe & Nina. He smashes the floor, knocking Axe off his feet & Cannonball shoots forward, grabbing Nina & heading straight out of the house.
Roberto takes on Axe directly & is so pissed that he knocks the big man for a loop! Take that Axe!!
A few days later, the mutants leave on a plane with Nina to the Amazon & we discover that Emmanuel was behind the abduction of his own wife, along with Sebastian Shaw, to keep her from interfering with his plans in the Amazon! He doesn't plan on letting the others reach their destination...
Continued in #8...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
OK, so the kids are all alive, except for Shan, who they can't find. I wondered if this was some sort of trick to get her out of serving her Uncle.... or if something more ominous lay in wait. Was she really dead? Would they ever find her body or would it never be explained?
Meeting Roberto's parents was interesting, but his dad seemed the heartless type. Kind of a jerk really. But finding out that he was willing to put his own wife & son at risk for his own selfish goals was infuriating. Sebastian Shaw continued to be a hidden danger, now trying to get Bobby's Father to join the Hellfire Club.
The Axe character was sort of an anti-climactic villain. All it took was pissing Bobby off enough & BOOM... out like a light.
I was quite curious of what awaited the kids in the Amazon...
Incidentally, this was the last issue to refer to Dani as "Psyche". She is simply referred to as Dani or Danielle until issue #22.
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 8 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 8 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1187232005
|
Owner Comments
I hope you DON'T get the point Sam!!!
Published: 10/83
Chris Claremont story, Bob McLeod cover
Sal Buscema & Bob McLeod art
Technically, this is the first appearance of Amara Aquilla, who becomes Magma in issue 10!
Story Title: The Road To... Rome?
Story Summary:
The New Mutants are in the Amazon jungle, along with Nina, Roberto's mom. The kids are exercising their powers with a game of hide & seek. After that, Sam practices his maneuvers through the trees (He's gotten much better!).
The kids contact Prof X & give him their status & training results.Their is still no sign of Shan & the Prof tells them to stay where they are right now while he deals with Team America & some other issues. The kids think Prof X isn't telling them everything about Shan but let it go for now.
Dani tries to swim across a river & Sam has to rescue her from piranha by blasting across the river, scaring the crew on the boat that's transporting them. They crash into the shore on the other side & find themselves in a battle with some female Amazonian warriors.
Sam captures one of the women & takes her back to the boat. After an argument among the crew, they move off. Bobby & Nina can't make sense of the captured girl. She carries 3 different types of weapons from 3 cultures, none apparently native to herself, but she says nothing to them.
In Rio De Janiero, Emmanuel & Sebastian Shaw speak of the Hellfire club's failure to stop Nina & the kids. Emmanuel speaks of the treasures waiting to exploit in the Amazon & how he will stop at nothing to acquire them, even if it means the life of his wife & son!
In the Amazon, the group nears their destination, Maderia, and a supposed lost city of gold. Rahne finds one of the crew, Castro, trying to torture info out of the captured warrior girl & stops him by changing form & scaring him off.
Rahne releases the girls bonds & learns her name is Amara. When Rahne goes to tell the captain about Castro, she finds the captain dead & she is knocked out by Castro in a surprise attack!
She & the other mutants & Nina & Amara wake to find the boat deserted & on a course to a waterfall!! The boat crashes & Sam has to rescue most everyone from the raging waters.
Rahne pulls Amara from the water to find that she can speak English & was in disguise. She's actually white-skinned & blonde-haired! Sam takes them to where he's put the others & tells Bobby that Nina can't be found.
Bobby freaks, but then the group is confronted by Roman soldiers who declare them slaves of Imperial Rome!......
Continued in #9...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
This issue both excited me & confused me at the same time.
Sam zooming through the trees was cool, but the thought of lovely Danielle being gnawed on by dozens of piranha was terrifying.
I wasn't all to surprised to see Amazon warriors, until the captured one turned out to be anything but an Amazon woman.
I grew more furious at Bobby's father, who was sinking farther into madness as far as I was concerned.
The kids are sabotaged, nearly killed & Nina goes missing again! Poor Bobby.
Then suddenly, Roman soldiers??? What the heck? Where was all this going?
Ever been thrown into a situation where nothing seems to make sense? It's easy to act without thinking, but harder to wait things through to their end to see where it leads. Life is like that sometimes...
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 9 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 9 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1194977005
|
Owner Comments
Colliseum craziness!!!!
Published: 11/83
Chris Claremont story, Bob McLeod cover
Sal Buscema & Tom Mandrake art
I had Bob McLeod sign this at the 2013 Megacon and I made it so he would sign right along Cannonball's trail. SO COOL!!
Story Title: Arena
Story Summary:
The New Mutants, weary from their struggle in the river, are escorted to the hidden city of Nova Roma by the Roman soldiers and put in a cell along with Amara, who tells them she is the daughter of a Senator of the city. Dani innadvertently shows Amara's thoughts and they learn of her fear of the Black priestess who would throw her into a fiery pit if found.
The Master of the city's guard, Marcus Domitius Gallio, wants the city to become an Imperial State, but Amara's father doesn't want it to happen. Amara's father, Lucius, makes Marcus abide by their law and put the girls up for slavery and the boys up for the gladiatorial arena.
Marcus wanted to use the mutants power to accomplish his goals but must now abide by the law.
The kids try to break out of the cell but poisoned arrows shoot out of the walls and knock them out. The mutants are all drugged to weaken their powers and make them pliable. Amara is smart enough to avoid the poisoned food so she doesn't succumb to it.
The priestess, Selene, who is also Marcus' wife, shows him a captured Castro who makes a deal with him to provide weapons to further his ambitions.
That night, Amara tries to wake up the other girls to run for it but they are too drugged. She gets woozy for some reason and is discovered by the priestess, who recognizes her.
The next day, crowds gather in the arena, the boys are drugged to make them aggressive and the girls, also drugged, are brought in to cheer them on.
After a fantastic showing by Sam and Roberto, taking down multiple fighters and two huge war machines, the two go at each other in their drugged state. The drugged Rahne transforms and jumps into the fray to help Sam, accidentally activating her mindlink with Dani, waking her from her drugged state.
Dani, who has never been able to bring forth a specific image from someone's mind, exerts all her ability and manages to do exactly that, bringing forth an image of Professor X, which halts the boys fighting.
When the crowds witness the mutants powers, they think them to be demons and begin to descend upon them, but Marcus suddenly declares them to be fulfillments of ancient prophecies and children of the immortal gods.
Continued in #10...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
The kids are thrown into all the political turmoil of a hidden Roman/Amazonian city called Nova Roma. Different. I wasn't completely sure what to make of all this.
I hated seeing Sam & Bobby fighting each other, even if it WAS because they were being drugged.
Even as a kid, I have had times in my life when, just as things were looking their darkest, there was a sudden relief from my troubles, just like the end of this issue.
I wondered what Marcus was playing at with his move at the end & what would become of Amara's father & his attempts to stop Marcus.
Was all this leading up to something big?.....
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 10 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 10 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1194977006
|
Owner Comments
When in Rome......
Published: 12/83
KEY ISSUE: First appearance of Magma.
Chris Claremont story, Bob McLeod cover
Sal Buscema & Tom Mandrake art
Instead of the first page I decided to display the LAST page of the issue, which is the FIRST view ever given of Amara as MAGMA!! AWESOME!
I had this issue signed by Bob McLeod at the 2013 Megacon!!
Story Title: Betrayal!
Story Summary:
The kids are being worshipped in the city as gods. Marcus is now highly thought of for bringing them there and hopes to become Emperor next. Lucius, Amara's father, is upset about the whole thing and Roberto is still worried about his mother, Nina, of whom there is still no sign.
At a private feast for the mutants, Marcus tells them he is the good guy and Lucius is out to become Emperor. Most of the kids are not as stupid as he thinks, but play along for the time being. Rahne however thinks Amara to be a liar, probably cause of her feelings for Sam, who has appeared to believe Amara up to now.
Marcus says that Amara's current absence shows her untrustworthiness. He leaves the kids for the night. Roberto thinks back on the people he's lost recently: Julianna, Shan and Nina. He then spots a woman being taken somewhere who looks like his mom from a distance.
When he runs down to try and see if it is her, he is stopped by soldiers who claim she is someone who would do them harm. Roberto rightly decides to let it go for now.
That night, Dani tries to get away to see what's really going on in the city. She fools a couple of guards with illusions of their heart's desires, but is captured by some unseen person.
Later that same night, Roberto and Rahne are attacked by Castro who, when captured, tells them he was sent by Lucius to kill them (a lie, of course).
Dani awakes to find herself half-drugged and in a cavern with Amara & another girl. They are told they will be sacrificed to the fiery pit for Selene, the black priestess. Selene appears & takes control of the other girl & forces her to fling herself into the pit! Who's next?
Meanwhile, Sam & Roberto attack Lucius' estate with other soldiers to arrest Lucius. Sam convinces Roberto to "capture" Lucius instead of letting the soldiers kill him, because he just doesn't trust Marcus. Roberto agrees & they pull it off, much to Marcus' regret.
Roberto hasn't revealed that he can speak Latin, and after hearing a conversation between Marcus & Lucius in the language, he is convinced they've made a mistake.
Back in the cave, Selene sets the drugged, controlled Amara on the edge of the pit & tells of how she killed Amara's mother & plans to do the same to her father after her. Dani breaks free of the guards with her power & rushes at Selene.
Selene now sees Dani as one like her, a mutant, and begins to take control of her when Amara manages to break free of Selene's control and throws herself at her.
Selene backhands Amara straight into the pit!! An earthquake occurs across all of Nova Roma and down in the cave, Amara suddenly shoots up from the pit, revealed as a mutant and declaring vengeance on the priestess!!
MAGMA IS BORN!!
Continued in #11...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
OH WOW! This was my first experience of the birth of an original Marvel character! I knew this was the case because of the story. This was no rehashing of some figure that had been around for years.
The last page of this issue (see image #2) will forever be burned into my memory! What a fantastic image!! Magma looked unbelievably powerful & beautiful at the same time!
Man, oh man, I could not get to the next issue fast enuff...
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 11 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 11 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0218820006
|
Owner Comments
Now that's what I call some serious pyrotechnics!!
Published: 1/84
Chris Claremont story
Sal Buscema & Tom Mandrake art
Signed by Sal Buscema & Walt & Louise Simonson!!
Story Title: Magma
Story Summary:
Magma proceeds to attack Selene and the priestess reveals even more of her power by animating the surrounding pillars of rock & smashing Magma back into the lava.
Selene begins to age from the battle & reveals that she must kill innocents to retain her youth & powers & has done so for thousands of years. She then pushes all her other servants into the fire pit to renew her powers. She then tells of her plan to possess not only the New Mutants & Nova Roma but also the whole world!!
Dani manages to resist Selene's control, much to Selene's surprise, and then Magma flies out of the lava & attacks Selene again. Dani tries to climb up out of the way from the lava & flames, but falls onto a ledge.
Confronted by Magma, Dani shows Amara's fear of accidentally killing Dani with fire and Dani tells her she must be like her, a mutant, and everything will be all right.
While Amara is distracted by Dani, Selene attacks from behind & drains Amara of her life essence, reverting Amara to normal but zombie-like.
Back in the city of Nova Roma, with Lucius captured, the other mutants pretend to play along with Marcus. Then Roberto, spotting the same woman from earlier (see last issue) he thought to be his mother, sneaks off to find her.
He finds the woman and Castro, explaining how he is working for Emmanuel, Roberto's father to help secure mining rights by working with Marcus. Roberto knocks Castro for a loop and rescues his mother. She tells of her rescue by Amazon warriors & the existence of a cult with Selene as the leader.
Roberto realizes Dani must have been taken by this cult & they go off to find her. Roberto is furious with his father.
Elsewhere, Sam & Rahne are with Marcus and are disgusted with the way Lucius is being treated. Rahne is even doubting Marcus' motives now. Suddenly, Magma bursts through the floor & shocks everyone, especially her father, but she is too weak to do much. Marcus declares her a demon & the soldiers attack but are thwarted by Sam & Roberto & Nina, with a mob of Incans.
The mutants take down the soldiers & Lucius kills Marcus. Amara tells of how she regained her strength from drawing energy from the earth & they all go to find Dani & Selene.
Selene tries to trap them within rock pillars, but they break free. Bobby's tapped out now. Sam blasts through more rock with Amara & Bobby in tow, and they come upon Selene with a restrained Dani behind her.
The kids attack to no avail, then Bobby tries to sneak up on her. Selene's focus is so strong on Bobby, Dani manages to surprise her with a vision of her death. Bobby stabs her in the heart with a knife, but apparently she has no heart! She begins to drain Bobby's life force.
Sam busts a hole in the wall, bringing in sunlight. Bobby's surge of power stuns Selene with too much power at once. Magma opens a hole in the floor with Lava in it. Bobby throws the stunned Selene into the hole & smashes it closed.
Sam isn't happy at all with Bobby killing Selene, but Bobby doesn't really care and besides, doesn't think she is really dead for good.
Magma wonders if her powers will make her like the New Mutants or like Selene...
Continued in #12...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
This thing was packed with action from beginning to end!! Magma's initial battle with Selene, Bobby finding out about his father's plans, the mutants taking down Marcus & his soldiers & then the climactic battle of everyone against Selene........ Whew!
I felt drained after all this. Would Magma become a New Mutant now, I wondered? I really hoped so. She was awesome!!
At least Bobby was reunited with his mom! :)
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 12 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 12 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0218813001
|
Owner Comments
C'mon Magma, say it don't spray it!!
Published: 2/84
Chris Claremont story
Sal Buscema and Tom Mandrake art
Tom Mandrake cover
Signed by Sal Buscema and Louise Simonson!!
Story Title: Sunstroke
Story Summary:
In Rio De Janiero, Roberto confronts his father, Emmanuel in his high rise office. Bobby threatens him if he doesn't stay away from the land of Madiera and his mom, Nina. Emmanuel basically disowns him. Bobby storms out of the building and Emmanuel calls Sebastian Shaw & agrees to join the Hellfire Club.
At the beach in Ipanema, Dani & Amara are soaking up the Brazilian sun. Amara thinks about her conversation with her father about going with the New Mutants in order to have Professor X train her to control her abilities.
Some guy walks up & forces Amara to kiss him. She flips out & accidentally brings forth a mini volcano right on the beach & causes a riot.
Rahne is in a church, praying to God. She contemplates her love for Sam, and how Sam & Dani seem to be showing more attention to Amara lately than herself. Sam bursts in & tells her of the trouble with Amara. They run off to help.
Meanwhile Amara has been separated from Dani in the confusion & finds herself out in the middle of a busy road with cars zooming all around her. She is still new to the outside world and wilts into near hysteria.
A policeman tries to help her but Amara misconstrues his intentions & gets even more scared, causing another mini volcano to erupt in the road. The others all arrive, but she is gone already.
The heat begins to cause Amara to hallucinate. She sees herself becoming a god of fire & vengeance & destroying all that she purveys, but realizing that this would kill many innocents, she subdues & faints. Some vagrant kids find her.
The mutants are able to track down Amara, Bursting into the room and scaring the kids at first. After things calm down, they realize Amara is burning up & if they don't help her, she may cause a large enough earthquake to level the whole city.
Roberto & Sam retrieve an ice truck & bring it to Amara & manage to cool her temperature down enough to bring her back to some semblance of coherency.
Amara realizes now that she MUST receive training from Prof X no matter what...
Continued in #13...
PERSONAL COMMENTS:
I was both thrilled & trepidatious about Bobby telling his father to back off from him & his mom. This could get real ugly.
This issue was mainly taken up with showing both how powerful Amara was, and how much she needed to learn control of her abilities.
Rahne's feelings of love towards Sam & jealousy over Amara could maybe cause problems within the group later, I thought. Hopefully not.
A volcano on the beach?.... cool!!
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 13 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 13 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1194971006
|
Owner Comments
Kitty's always either yelling or crying on covers.
Published: 3/84
Sal Buscema and Tom Mandrake art
I had this gorgeous copy signed by Chris Claremont at Megacon 2013 and it stands as the only SS 9.8 copy as of this posting!
Story Title: School Daysze
SUMMARY:
Amara is introduced to Prof X, who decides to keep a very close psychically linked eye on her due to her very dangerous powers and fragile emotions.
During an evening dinner party, Sam (showing off) accidentally gets soda all over Amara's dress from her dead mother & she wigs out, causing a magma fissure to erupt and setting a tree on fire which Bobby throws into a lake to put out.
Meanwhile, Henry Peter Gyrich & Sebastian Shaw test out a new model Sentinel, paid for by Shaw and designed by Gyrich's Project Wideawake. During the test, someone hacks into the system & causes the Sentinel to go wild! Gyrich has no choice but to self destruct the unit. Gyrich vows vengeance on the hackers.
Kitty Pryde, along with her partner Doug Ramsey, were behind the hacking. Kitty wants to know more about Shaw but can't tell Doug everything because she knows Shaw is a mutant himself. Kitty leaves the Ramsey estate through the woods & comes upon Amara. She offers help to the Nova Roman but Amara's mental state has her on edge & she snaps at Kitty, who tramps off again.
Kitty comes upon the other New Mutants who tell her that they can take care of their own & make reference to her having previously referred to them as "X-Babies". Kitty meets with the professor, who reminds her of her obligations to the X-Men & to do her best to work with the New Mutants & leave the feud behind.
Prof X mentally goes over all the recent events of his students. Kitty's displacement, Amara's sadness, the possible after effects of the drug that was injected into Roberto & Rahne (read Marvel Team-Up Annual #6 in my set), his missing of Lilandra. Then he's hit with another, more intense, mental scanning wave, which have been plaguing him of late. Who's doing it, he still hasn't found out yet but he has too many other obligations to focus all his resources on it right now.
The kids go through a computer lesson, some more successfully than others & then have a dance class with Ms. Hunter. Rahne unconsciously transforms during a dance move & is warned by the others to be more careful in public.
The Prof tries to have a danger room session with Amara, but she balks at the Prof being in her mind to monitor her. He had previously promised to do no such thing & Amara sees this as a lie. She runs back to her room & ignores the Prof's mental callings..
Later that night, she oversees the Prof in an intimate holographic conversation with Lilandra, and after a touching conversation with the Prof herself, decides finally to stay for good & let the Prof do whatever he needs to in order to train her.
Continued in #14...
Personal Comments:
Amara has to learn control of her powers. She's very emotional & the slightest thing is causing her to erupt, literally!!
The Sentinels look like they could become very big threats soon. Luckily, Kitty & Doug took care of this test.
This issue is actually the first appearance of Doug Ramsey who I didn't know at the time would go on to become Cypher.
Who is scanning Prof X? It's gotta be bad, whoever is behind it.
I've known people who were thrust into more responsible positions at an early age. They also felt like those of equal or even older age in "lesser" groups were beneath them. It never sat right with me in real life, so I can definitely identify with Kitty's struggles. Hopefully she can work things out with the others.
Yes! Amara is gonna let the Prof help her.....
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| Slot: |
New Mutants 14 |
| Item: |
New Mutants 14 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1015891002
|
Owner Comments
LOOK!! It's a Two-eyed-no-horned-nonflying-purple-people-eater!!!!!
Published: 4/84
Sal Buscema and Tom Mandrake art
Story Title: Do you believe in... Magik?
Summary:
Illyana Rasputin contemplates her past. Her 7 years spent in Limbo under the demon Belasco. Her escape & return to earth, where only a year had passed. The medallion she holds with 3 of the 5 bloodstones necessary to allow Belasco and the Dark Ones to enter earth & decimate it. She knows he will come for it & her eventually. She doesn't really feel comfortable talking about it with anyone except for Kitty Pryde, her friend & room mate.
Snow begins to fall & the New Mutants, out early from class, play around in it. They decide to throw a party for the Prof, who is missing Lilandra terribly. They include Illyana in the effort. A demon named S'ym is keeping an eye on Illyana from the shadows.
At dance class, they get Stevie Hunter to help out as well. Doug Ramsey shows up looking for Kitty Pryde, who is on a mission with the X-Men, then leaves. The group goes to the mall & loads up on supplies for the party.
Back at the mansion, the Professor is confronted by S'ym. Xavier tries a mental stun blast to no effect & gets knocked out for his troubles!
The others arrive back & Illyana goes to search for the Prof while they get things ready for the party. She is attacked by S'ym & in her fear & panic, she teleports the others through Limbo & into the room. This is from her mutant powers. She does not want anyone to know about her sorcerous powers yet.
Sam blasts him. No good. Bobby hauls off with his best punch. No good. Even Rahne gives it a shot. Uh uh. Dani then reveals a spirit form of whatever S'ym might be afraid of. Turns out to be Belasco & a possible future version of Illyana as the Darkchild.
S'ym runs in terror & Magma brings up a fissure & buries him in molten lava. Apparently to no effect either.
Stevie tries to drag Illyana to safety & reach the X-Men for help, but her bad knee gives out & S'ym catches up to them.
Now Illyana awakes & decides she has no choice but to use her sorcery to overcome S'ym. Initially, nothing works, but she is drawing him in through his anger until he thinks he will win. Then she brings out her Soulsword, which she has nearly killed him with before, and lays it to his throat.
She gives him the choice to live & serve her instead of Belasco. He agrees & she makes him leave until she needs him. She then uses a subtle spell to wipe Stevie's memories of her use of sorcery.
Later, the X-Men arrive back from their mission just in time for the party, where Illyana dances with the Prof, who finds that his legs have apparently fully recovered!
Doug Ramsey shows up & reveals to Kitty that he has been accepted to the Massachusetts Acadamy. Not good. It's run by the Hellfire Club, but Kitty doesn't know how she is gonna tell him without revealing that they are all mutants.
Continued in Uncanny X-Men #180 in my X-Men set...
Then back here for #15...
Personal Notes:
I had been wondering how Illyana Rasputin was gonna fit into this series. I didn't really know much about her at this point other than that she was Colossus' sister.
I was always very interested in occult themes & magic. This issue started to show me how these ideas would possibly fit into a Mutant storyline. I was enthralled.
Demons, sorcery & an awesome spiritual sword! I would never have guessed this out of Illyana.
This could get REALY interesting...
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