Story by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Art by Leandro Fernandez
The New Mutants – under the new leadership of Dani Moonstar – are now the X-Men’s clean-up crew, charged with closing all of the loose ends left behind by the core team’s many and varied conflicts. Their first mission: find Nate Grey – X-Man.
Issue 26’s first few pages introduce us to Donny, a young former-mutant who lost his powers on M-Day. Donny’s story is surprisingly compelling for the half-issue that’s spent on it, and Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning use it as an intriguing and elegant introduction to Sugar Man’s true objective. Donny’s arc in this issue is purposely predictable: you can see exactly where he’s headed, but nothing can be done about it, which makes you really feel for this kid who just wants his powers back.
On the other side of the coin, it’s nice to see the New Mutants out without a chaperone, following a purpose all their own. The “clean up team” angle is a nice tack to take with them, and this book feels a bit less like an X-book and more like a detective story. While I understand that no mutant-related story arc can go much more than an issue without fisticuffs, it’s nice to see the team work outside of a combat situation once in a while.
Abnett & Lanning’s concentration on dialogue in this issue really works to flesh out not only the team’s new objective, but lends weight to what could have been a forgettable side-character in Donny. Sugar Man has always been a bit on the absurd side, but he’s given an almost likable manipulative streak here that adds significant depth to his malevolence.
I hope to see more of the New Mutants as they are portrayed here: detectives hunting down the leavings of the X-Men’s poor planning.
