New Mutants Forever #4 - Ancient and Modern Awesome

When it comes to any media, there are certain traditions and patterns that are older and more cliched than jokes about Tom Cruise's chances of ever winning an Oscar. Whether it's comics, movies, or TV there are some formulas that just work. Usually the key ingredients to those formulas involve but aren't restricted to Nazis, hot blondes, and old world pagan cultures that weren't as uptight about the occasional orgy. They won't craft these elaborate literary masterpieces that would cause Shakespeare to rise from the grave and challenge the writer to a duel, but they are entertaining and they do tell a decent story. Chris Claremont is known for using certain cliches from time to time. His Forever series has been somewhat of a celebration of these cliches. New Mutants Forever is one such celebration that involves the equivalent of a solid DJ, better drinks, and more uncut cocaine.

Since this mini began is has told a rather condensed tale about the New Mutant series that picked up from the work Claremont did with this series in 1987, a time when many readers were still a glob of mindless sperm cells swimming around in their father's hairy sack. Like his other Forever series, this one continues like he never left. At his age he's getting paid to pretend his living in the past. For many people in that age bracket, it's a pretty sweet deal. And Claremont has taken full advantage of it, showing that he's kicking senility's ass and still churning out plenty of awesome. The first three issues of New Mutants Forever set up a strong plot involving the Red Skull, Amara Aquilla's homeland of Nova Roma, and Doug Ramsey being turned into one of the Red Skull's minions. He hasn't been able to involve the full range of New Mutant characters like Wolfsbane, Magneto, or the rest of the Hellfire Club. But it's still been a damn good story. It involves Nazis, Ancient Rome, mind control, and beautiful women. It's that same formula I mentioned earlier and so far Claremont has made it work.

New Mutants Forever #4 tries to milk that formula the same way video game makers incessantly suckle at the teat of World War II. In the last issue Selene was leading the New Mutants in an effort to investigate what was happening on Nova Roma. They walked straight into a mix of orgies and shit storms, basically a weekend at Rick James's house. They met the mind-controlled Dough Ramsey and Amara. Doug had gotten the Barry Bonds treatment from the Red Skull and seemingly killed Warlock, forcing Selene and the others to retreat. While Doug should have been feeling good about himself for doing his master's bidding, he felt like shit and started having regrets. Then Warlock showed up and made it clear that he didn't take kindly to being beat up. So now Doug has to fight off mind-control and a pissed off friend. It blurs the line between multi-tasking and schizophrenia.

Cypher fights Warlock with the full assumption that the Red Skull is watching his every move. And he's right. The Red Skull is watching and fantasizing about making Amara his love slave. He's essentially a Nazi version of Kanye West and creepy it may be, who can blame him for wanting a hot blonde as a queen? It doesn't help that Amara's starting to fight old Red's control as well. For any Nazi, losing control over a beautiful women like tantamount to calling Hitler a sissy.

Cypher fights the control off better and does get the upper hand on Warlock. And Warlock is smart enough to pick up that he's fighting his friend here. This puts him in a classic "does not compute" position that Windows Vista users should be very familiar with. He starts figuring out what Doug is doing and is on the verge of blurting it out like that guy at a wedding who blurts out the last four guys the bride went down on at her baccalaureate party. Then Amara shows up and torches Warlock. She takes some heat of her own in the process, but comic readers in this day and age should be desensitized to pretty blonds getting beat up. This is the post Jerry Springer era after all. Warlock ends up leaving the fight to most likely reboot so for the moment Cypher's cover isn't blown. Plus, he gets to carry an unconscious blond so that's a nice bonus.

Warlock flees and reappears with Magik and Cannonball to regroup. They're met by Selene, the usually sadistic Black Queen who so far has proven to be several levels below the Red Skull. In the last issue she was soundly humiliated by getting poisoned with the Red Skull's version of Michael Jackson's Jesus Juice. She bounced back and is out for revenge. So she leads Warlock, Magik, and Cannonball to an underground lair where the Nova Romans have formed their equivalent of the French Resistance. They also get a history lesson of how Selene used to rule Nova Roma and her influence carries as much weight as her bra (if she wore one). She helped fight off past invaders before, sending them all running back in a mix of horror and sexual arousal. There's something about having to surrender to a woman with a full boner that makes defeat all the more humiliating.

Once Selene rallies the troops, they strike back at the Red Skull. What comes next is a decent battle scene, but it's not quite as epic as it should be. It's no Saving Private Ryan, but it does leave a ton of Nazi storm troopers in a mangled mess so if you hate Nazis or just watch too much Fox News this should put a smile on your face. It also has the New Mutants showing some balls against the Red Skull, who has had the upper hand for pretty much this whole mini. Now that they have an army behind them, the New Mutants are understandably more confident.

This still doesn't do Cypher much good, who is trying to break free of the Red Skull's influence. It's only now starting to dawn on him that looking as red as Ricky Martins ass after a meth bender and as deformed as Joan Rivers's pre-Botox face has it's downside. It's bound to make family pictures and prom photos very awkward. The Red Skull is watching this struggle the whole time and he delights in it the same way Freddy Kruger delights in a vulnerable teenagers with parent issues and poor grades.

Cypher's outburst doesn't go unnoticed and not just with the Red Skull either. Warlock reveals that he's been keeping an eye on Cypher like a kid with binoculars outside a college sorority house. Now given that Cypher helped beat Warlock to a digital pulp earlier you would think a rematch would be in order. But the scene that unfolds here is a little bit of a mystery.

Warlock reaches out to Cypher and offers help, but he doesn't really say it. He just approaches Cypher, he starts talking, and then they talk about fighting back. It's a confusing scene and one of the first that Claremont seems to have underdeveloped. Warlock doesn't even say anything yet Cypher just laments how he's become a freak and wants to fight back. It feels like some of the conversation got cut out. It's like a momentary blackout when you're trying to talk to a hot girl at a club and you're so buzzed you forget the conversation and keep talking like it never stopped. Usually, that sort of thing turns a girl off quicker than a discussion of the latest treatments for herpes. In this issue it's just confusing.

However they magically conjured a plan, Cypher and Warlock put it into action. Warlock mysteriously vanishes from the panels and Cypher goes into his John Rambo mode. He fights his way into the Red Skull's throne room and unloads on him like a PETA supporter at a Ted Nugent concert. The fight scene that follows is pretty awesome. Cypher shows some cajones, but as he says himself this is a guy that went toe-to-toe with Captain America. He's a teenager who endured a botched makeover and a mind raping, not a super soldier and it shows.

The Red Skull goes for the haymaker by trying to inject Cypher with the same non-FDA approved drug that turned him into little miss red sunshine to begin with. That's when Cypher channels his inner Captain America and turns the tide. While the Red Skull may be a hell of a fighter, the man is old enough to be Eleanore Roosevelt's personal gigolo. Cypher has youth on his side and that seems to give him the edge.

Then something unexpected and twisted happens. Chris Claremont may be using a lot of old cliches here, but the man is a legendary X-men writer for a reason. He knows how to blow a reader's brains away in no fewer than twenty different ways. Just as Cypher has the Red Skull down for the count, Magma steps in and takes him out with a good old fashioned Benedict Arnold.

And to add insult to injury, a shadowy hand takes the needle the Red Skull was going to use against him and injects Cypher with another dose. Even with the Red Skull in the same room, that's over the top. And the man that shadowy hand belongs to isn't Amara or the Red Skull. It's the man who was supposed to be their ally and who helped Cypher get into the Red Skull's domain in the first place, Tiberius Rex. So now he has a hulked out version of Cypher on the Red Skull's steroids and a hot mind-controlled blond by his side. He is essentially living the American and Roman dream (minus the orgy), setting the stage for a very different battle in the final issue.

Going back to those old formulas I mentioned, Chris Claremont topped this issue off with a good old fashioned twist. Put together in a story containing Nazis, hot blonds, exotic cultures with looser attitudes towards sex, and crazy genetic experiments and you've got all the necessary ingredients for pure awesome! And Claremont, like a skilled chef, put them together in all the right ways. The story is like the cake and the execution is like the frosting. If you have diabetes, reading this may send you into a coma although for awesome comics it's more than worth it.

Now I've given high marks to every issue of New Mutants Forever thus far and there's plenty here that warrants a similar high score. However, this issue did have a few major missteps. The scene with Cypher meeting up with Warlock again was jumbled and confusing. It didn't make sense especially with Warlock not even taking part in the fight against the Red Skull. It seemed too rushed. Another misstep were the inner monologues. While Chris Claremont is known for showing a lot of thought bubbles, this time he used them too much to just have the characters explain what they're doing. I don't mind thought bubbles describing the feelings and emotions of a character, but when someone starts narrating their actions that's usually a symptom of psychosis or a symptom someone is trying to act out Family Guy in real life.

These shortcomings are not easily brushed aside so I must taper the score. However, the twist at the end with Amara and Tiberius did keep it from going too low. There's still plenty of reason to pick up the final issue if for nothing else to enjoy one last dose of Al Rio's excellent artwork in this series. So for New Mutants Forever #4 I give it a 4 out of 5. There's no reason why Chris Claremont can't take all these cliched elements and bring them together in one last final show of awesome. With X-men Forever getting the axe soon and this being a mini, the old X-men legend this caliber of awesome will be fleeting. So like a good line of cocaine, enjoy it while it lasts! Nuff said.

New Mutants Forever #2 - Brazilian Carnival and Nazis

I know this book came out last week, but cut me a break. It was hard to find. New Mutants Forever is one of those titles that nobody is giving any attention or going out of their way to promote. In essence, it is the Stephen Baldwin of comic books. Chris Claremont is an X-men writing legend and he's been trying to expand that legend with X-men Forever and this mini, New Mutants Forever. While X-men Forever has the problem of trying to do to much and doing it poorly, New Mutants Forever tries to do just enough and does it right (so far anyways). The first issue was a real treat, bringing the old school New Mutants back into the fold with the Hellfire Club, including Magneto and Emma Frost, and throwing in a twist at the end that was the equivalent of a jackhammer to the eye socket. Amara and Doug, Magma and Cypher for all you codename minded people, were abducted by forces from Amara's home city of Nova Roma and the asshole behind it was none other than the Red Skull. Yeah, that Red Skull. It's a Forever title damn it! It can get away with prying other characters from other Marvel titles!

The next issue has to measure up to a bar that was set pretty damn high. Few probably came into New Mutants Forever expecting a twist like that. With the second issue, it's impossible to pull a twist like that again without revealing the Red Skull is working for fucking Cobra Commander or something. Since that's not Chris Claremont's style, that's not to be expected. However, it does amp up the expectations of this book and this series as a whole. Usually Chris Claremont measures up, especially when it comes to the X-men. But if there's one thing X-men Forever has proven, it's that he is capable of tarnishing his own legacy.

The second issue starts off with some nice eye-candy. In the previous issue, not all the New Mutants participated in the battle against the Red Skull. Roberto and Warlock were not there for the fight. They were down in Roberto's home country of Brazil enjoying the sexy and obscenely suggestive Carnival that is so well known to those who watch Brazilian porn. So the guy blew off the New Mutants for a chance at attending a party of dancing, partying, and shaved pussy. Most honest guys would admit they would have done the same.

While the glorious celebration of debauchery is going on, Roberto's mother is in a bit of trouble. She's being chased by some very non-Brazilian looking thugs and you know they're not Brazilian because they're not all that sexy. Even for a woman who looks old enough to be knitting sweaters in her spare time, Roberto's mom sure can kick ass. Warlock, who is in the disguise of a guy who looks like a cross between Fabio and a gay porn star, traces the signal to find out where she is.

It is probably the only time Warlock can pull off one of this bizarre body/machine contortions and not draw any attention. During Carnival in Brazil where Lady Gaga could probably casually walk down the street and act like she's under-dressed, a stunt like this turns about as much heads as a C-SPAN marathon. With Warlock's help, Roberto arrives to save his mother but not before she gets shot. That's how you know these guys are Nazi thugs. They always do something that earns them no sympathy for when they have to get their asses kicked. Sunspot and Warlock deliver, helping make up for the lack of action they saw in the first issue and beat down on the Nazi's in a style all Call of Duty fans would appreciate.

Once the Nazi's are taken care of, they get Sunspot's mother some needed medical treatment. Since Sunspot's family is rich and all, even by non-Brazilian standards, she gets the kind of care only Dick Cheney would enjoy in a lopsided health care system. She gets a clean bill of health, much to Sunspot's relief. While she's recovering, she makes the connections between this event and what happened in the previous issue.

The last issue introduced an unfolding mystery on Nova Roma, Amara's home city. Amara's father tried to seek help from the New Mutants (which ended up getting completely fucked up, but I already went over that in a previous review) while the DaCosta family tried to get support from the Brazilian government. The bad guys working against them did not like that so like all Nazis, their solution is to exterminate it. That's how she ended up getting chased and shot. So now the burden is on Sunspot and the New Mutants to take care of the rest. It's either that or go to the government. When given the choice between a bunch of super-powered teenagers and the government, it's a pretty clear choice. At least the super-powered teenagers are only emotionally unstable and not completely unstable on top of being grossly incompetent.

The story then finally picks up with Amara and Doug, who were last seen as captives of the Red Skull. This is still the case and the Red Skull is smart enough to give them power suppressing collars as well. They quickly find out that they're not alone in their imprisonment either. A very strapping young man named Tiberius Sum is in the cell with them and he quickly captures Amara's fancy, much to Doug's chagrin. He claims to be another one of the Red Skull's captives, but the man's name is Tiberius. That's the same name of a perverted old Roman Emperor who used to have pre-pubescent boys nibble on his body so he could get his rock off. Not a good name to take, even by liberal Roman standards. But that doesn't stop Amara from trusting him, or wanting to jump is bone either.

Never one to let his prisoners get comfortable, the Red Skull makes his appearance to Doug and Amara. Rather than do the standard evil boasting that often involves blatantly revealing his plan, the Red Skull skips right to his epic douche-baggery. He starts by using the collars to shock Amara and Tiberius (the non perverted version) and then grabs Doug by the neck. He doesn't drop any hints to what he's doing or why he's doing it. He basically comes off as a guy just looking to be an overall asshole. That's not to say he doesn't do a good job of it though. With Doug in his hands, he injects him with a needle that does not seem to contain pure Brazilian cocaine. Instead, it puts Doug through a gruesome transformation, one that turns him into a mini-Red Skull. So in essence Red Skull is making all those around him look just like him. It's a very Nazi thing to do even if it is fucked up.

Al Rio's art really shines here. He goes from something that's very grotesque to some nice scenery to so that readers have a moment to swallow their bile. The story pans out over Nova Roma, which looks like something straight out of the History Channel minus the Peter King narration and shitty sound effects. This is where the events of the first two issues come together. Selene, Sam, and Illyana decided to make their trip to Nova Roma at the end of the first issue while Sunspot and Warlock decided to do the same in this issue. They just happen to appear right next to each other in the same damn alley of the city. Yeah, it's pretty contrived, but it's a comic book. This shit happens no matter who is writing it. At least it brings the team together in a way that feels semi-fluid. Stranger coincidences have happened I guess.

They don't have to go too far to get to the action though. Within a few panels of meeting one another, they find what they're looking for. It's another surprise, but not one nearly as mind-blowing as the end of the previous issue. Just as Selene is about to lead an assault on the palace of Nova Roma, they're confronted by Amara, Doug, and Tiberius. Except they're not exactly happy to see them. They've been indoctrinated as the Nazis would call it. Doug is now his in his new Red Skull look, Tiberius is sporting a swastikas on his toga, and Amara is in a new sexy Nazi get-up that proves once and for all that even assholes like the Red Skull can have some damn sexy fashion sense. It sets the stage for a clash between the New Mutants and their brain washed friends. It's about as exciting as it sounds, even if it seems cliched. Compared to the first issue, it evokes more of a shrug than a gasp. It's still pretty awesome though and gives just enough reason to check out the next issue (if you can find it).

So again, the Forever titles show that it is possible for nostalgia to still be pretty awesome. While New Mutants Forever isn't getting the same attention X-men Forever is, one could make the argument that this is the better book. The art is solid, the story is better structured, and the twists and turns have really set this book apart from other New Mutant stories. Chris Claremont once again shows that when it comes to Marvel's marry band of mutants, he's always going to be one of the best. He still uses some techniques that went out of style before Kurt Cobain overdosed in 1994 like excessive thought bubbles and wordy narration, but it's not overdone here and feels like a real New Mutants story that fits just as well in 2010 as it would have in 1988.

There were some surprises, but nothing compared to the surprises of the first issue. In addition, this issue did nothing to answer any questions or even so much as hint at the answers. The Red Skull's plan is still completely unknown. There wasn't even a hint of what he was after. Everything he did just seemed to have no reason behind it other than being the arrogant jerk he's always been. That's probably the book's greatest shortcoming. The characterization and story of the New Mutants is great, but the story about the challenges they're facing is underdeveloped. There are still three issues to flesh this out, but a few hints sure would have helped.

There's still a lot to enjoy with this book. That's why I give New Mutants Forever #2 a 4.5 out of 5. Chris Claremont still has it! He's outlasted Michael Jackson and Nirvana with his comic book brilliance. Here's to hoping he'll outlast the likes of Lady Gaga and Kanye West as well! Nuff said.

New Mutants Forever #1 - Surprising Awesome

Here we go again. Another Forever title has hit the racks. After the end of X-Factor Forever (a book that so perfected the concept that I'm still picking piece of my mind up off the floor), there was a powerful void left on the racks. X-men Forever is still going on, but the title remains hit-or-miss and still suffers from some atrocious characterization and questionable plots that make about as much sense as Steve Jobs applying for food stamps. So never one to leave a decent concept to mediocrity, Marvel has gone back to the source. That's right, they've given Chris Claremont another X-title to leave his unique Forever stamp on. This time it's the New Mutants, another title he stopped working on in the late 80s. Now he's doubling down, looking to fill the void left by Louise Simonson.

Now no one could be blamed for looking at this title with a healthy bit of skepticism. Chris Claremont's writing has been wildly inconsistent since his glory days. X-men Forever has the dubious honor of vindicating the editors in 1991 for letting him go because if he had stayed on, some very messed up twists could have befell the X-men (killing Wolverine is at the top of that list. Then he comes out with a book like X-women, which took an entertaining story with European style art and made it sexy. It was by far one of the best X-men one-shots in a very long time. So which is it going to be for New Mutants Forever? Well the first issue of this 5-part mini has plenty of surprises and I'm not talking about the kind that will make you regret putting tabasco sauce on your tacos.

The first issue opens up right at the end of New Mutants #57, a book that came out during the Reagan Bush era. It's a little confusing because on the first page you see Magneto as the White King of the Hellfire Club along with Emma Frost, Selene, and Sebastian Shaw. Now if you've only read the recent comics lately this may seem like one of those cray What If stories, but you'd be wrong and possibly high. This is actually in continuity with respect to the New Mutants as they were back in the late 80s. The team that consisted of Cannonball, Mirage, Magma, Cypher, Sunspot, Magik, Warlock, and Wolfsbane had just finished a bout with Emma Frost's Hellions. In wake of this fight they came under new leadership in Magneto, who had just accepted a part in the Inner Circle. There's a full fledged recap of all these events at the end of the book so it is possible for the reader to catch up, but they really don't have to in order to follow what's going on. It's just going to be jarring for some who don't understand the history of the New Mutants comic (which is more sizable than most X-fans would care to admit).

Now aside from Selene and Emma looking ridiculously hot for a formal meeting, the topic of discussion is serious. Now that Magneto is the White King he's looking to put a stop to the petty squabbling that has made the Hellfire Club the Dick Cheny of the mutant world. It may seem somewhat out of character to hear Magneto talk about reconciliation, but he backs his plan up by reminding everybody that he's a holocaust survivor and he's not about to experience that shit again. That doesn't bother the rest of the Inner Circle, provided they can make money off it, still come off as winners, and ensure the women keep dressing in exceedingly hot clothes.

The New Mutants are certainly part of this plan. They remain under Magneto's thumb and since he's with the Hellfire Club, this is where they have to operate from. Now staying in a fancy mansion with an army of butlers and women dressed in shit Victoria's Secret finds too hot seems plenty appealing for some, but for others like Amara Aquiall, Selene's grand-daughter (which I guess makes her a GGILF), is about as comfortable as Glenn Beck in bathroom stall next to Hugo Chavez.

They debate briefly on whether it's a good idea to trust Magneto, which is usually a debate that's painfully one-sided. But there's not too much talking to be done. Right outside Hellfire Manor in Central Park, an all out war breaks out between some masked soldiers and some Men In Black knock-offs. If it seems a little random, don't worry. That just means your brain isn't fried yet from ink fumes. Claremont is already playing a dangerous game here if he's looking to avoid the mistakes of X-men Forever, but there's still plenty of room to put purpose behind the madness. Plus, it makes for a kick-ass fight scene that gets the New Mutants into the action and even gives them new uniforms in the process. Because let's face it, you can't kick ass in comics without looking good.

The New Mutants show their worth and take down the attackers. This is where some of that purpose I mentioned earlier shows. Among those hurt in the fight is Amara's father. He's alive, but looking like he blacked out from a cocaine binge and wound up at ground zero for the world's worst bar fight. In addition Mirage, who some may recall has some stint as Valkyrie with Hela, has some unpleasant visions that are asking her to claim souls the same way that little voice asks the sober guys at a party to feel up the drunk girls passed out in a bedroom. She's able to resist the temptation (unlike far too many victims of an ill-planned kegger) and follows the others as Magneto and Selene show up to collect the wounded.

The New Mutants are understandably confused and Amara understandably pissed. This attack begins the underlying mystery of the comic, which at the moment is a simple whodunit ordeal. Amara's father survives, but somebody is clearly fucking with them so Amara enlists Doug's hacking skills to do a little investigating. All the while Sam is flexing his thought bubbles, which seem a little redundant because he's just narrating in some parts. But that's to be expected from a Chris Claremont comic. Since it doesn't cover entire corners of the page, it doesn't count as excessive this time.

But the New Mutants don't get to channel their inner Scooby Doo for very long. Just as Amara and Doug are getting busy in a totally non-sexual way, yet another attack by a bunch of guys with guns takes place unexpectedly. Are you starting to sense a pattern? If not, your short-term memory may be in serious need of surgical repairs. But you don't need a terrible amount of brain capacity to enjoy what happens here. This fight is a lot more action packed than the one before. The guys with the guns are much better armed, taking out Hellfire's dumb-looking masked guards with ease and even giving Magneto, Shaw, Emma, and Selene a run for their money. In terms of faceless thugs, these guys are the premium brand in the world of comic villains.

They don't just hit the Inner Circle either. They take on the New Mutants simultaneously and take them on quite well. This time they're the ones taken by surprise and they get taken down a peg the same way Donald Rumsfeld gets taken down a peg when he negates the little things in his job (that is to say claiming victory when the bad guys still have plenty of fight left). Most of the New Mutants are just bitch slapped around a bit. Cypher and Magma are the targets. They get the Princess Zelda treatment in that they're captured, abducted, and flown away in a helicopter before the others can even try to save them.

Once the dust from the fight clears, the Inner Circle and the New Mutants are pissed. Selene is especially upset. Even though she's got about as good a relationship with Amara as the United States does with North Korea, she operates under the Mr. Burns style outrage in that nobody steals from her whether it be her Sunday newspaper or her granddaughter that's she's done more than enough to torment. So while Magneto and the rest of the Inner Circle twiddle their thumbs, Selene takes the New Mutants to Limbo (courtesy of Magik) where she does her own special brand of interrogation. And by interrogation, I mean she sucks he fucking live energy out of one of the attackers and not in the sexy True Blood way. It still works though. Selene figures out who is behind this and who she has to torment next.

While Selene's getting her answers, Amara and Doug are getting answers of their own. When they wake up, they're in Nova Roma or at least a very perverse mock-up of it. Because for some reason there are Nazi banners all over the place like the whole area got design ideas from watching too many History Channel documentaries. It's here where those seemingly contrived attacks from earlier in the book cease to be contrived. At the very end, the face of the figure behind these attacks is revealed and in one page the entire first issue of New Mutants Forever goes from being an uncertainty to a new standard in awesome. Who is his you ask and how does he make this comic awesome? It's because he's the Red fucking Skull damn it! If this isn't enough to blow the mind of your casual comic reader, get a new fucking mind because the one you have now isn't working!

This final reveal takes New Mutants Forever from being just another X-men offshoot into a genuinely awesome title with plenty of potential. Chris Claremont doesn't just avoid the pitfalls of X-men Forever. He flies over them in a rocket and sets off an A-bomb (A standing for awesome in this case). Even if you don't know jack shit about the New Mutants, the story here is compelling and told well enough for anybody to just leap in and indulge. It's like ice cream. You don't need to know much about it. You just need to know it tastes great.

And for those of you who do know a thing or two about New Mutants, but need a refresher course on events to this point the end of the first issue offers a good seven-page recap of all the New Mutant series to this point. There are even some nice shots of the old art with detailed explanations that anybody can follow. It won't make you an expert in New Mutant comics, but it will help the rest of this book make more sense. What's truly remarkable though is that you really don't have to read this part to truly enjoy how awesome this issue is. The recap is like a bonus, that extra line of blow that you didn't know you had. It's a great addition to a great comic.

New Mutants Forever #1 is Chris Claremont at his best. He showed he could still hack it with X-women and with this title, he's set up a very intriguing mini with all sorts of potential that simply cannot fit into one comic. He's 1/5 of the way towards matching the awesome of Louise Simonson's X-Factor Forever. The story is great, the writing is great, the art by Al Rio is like dark chocolate mousse for the eyes. This along with the bonus at the end makes this first issue well-deserving of a perfect 5 out of 5. Claremont has done it! He's shown once again why he is one of the best X-writers of all time and he's got four full issues to further reinforce his point. Nuff said.