New Mutants #5 DID NOT SUCK!
(5 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)I meant to post this last week… but was busy. If you’ve been reading New Mutants #1-4 you likely were at best disappointed and at worst livid at the average ordinary art and less than compelling inaugural adventure. Issue #5 which is really just a bridge between that arc and Necrosha which starts next issue. But It was more than that. I’ve heard a LOT of people who had dropped the book after issue 3 so I thought I’d give this some good press…
“The Calm” WARLOCK IS BACK! Everyone’s favorite alien is back on Earth, but why? Also, see the effects that UTOPIA had on Illyana and the rest of her crew and witness the most vicious fight ever to grace the pages of NEW MUTANTS. The combatants? Cannonball and Dani Moonstar.
My praise for the issue comes partially from characterization of Sam, Dani and Shan but even more so from the amazing imagery of artist Zachary Baldus whose painterly work looks like it was drawn and inked by by the love child of Bill Sienkiewicz and Paul Smith and the lovingly filled in with colored pencil by Jay Anacleto. Keep an eye out for Zachary Baldus he should be going places.
Cover art by Adam Kubert and Justin Ponsor.
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Marvel should SERIOUSLY consider giving Baldus the book on a regular basis – his realistic yet abstract style is exactly what this title needs.
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If the Necrosha issues are 1/2 as good as this they will be 5 times better than the first 4. If those first 4 stopped you from picking up #5 – then get over it and buy this issue. Zombie is the new black this fall as Doug Ramsey and the reanimated Hellions are showing up in issues 6 and 7.
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10/09/2009 at 10:32 pm
I actually really really really hated the art…..I am also NOT a fan of Bill Sienkiewicz at all and didn’t like when he was on the original run.
I would actually drop the new series if the art continues this way.
I actually haven’t read the issue as every time I pick it up I cringe and out it back down.
I am not saying the artist is “bad”….just not to my taste.
10/10/2009 at 12:47 am
I’m curious – you didn’t like Sienkiewicz, how did you feel about the other half of the hypothetical love child whose work this looks like… Paul Smith – most notable from about same era as New Mutants – penciller when Rogue joined the X-Men and for Madelyn Pryor/faux Dark Phoenix & Mastermind story arc. To me this guy is a visual melding of Sienkiewicz’s quirky abstracts and Smith simplified stylization.
If you didn’t like Sienkiewicz on the New Mutants I can see why this wouldn’t appeal to you. To me the art on the 80s Graphic Novel and the first issues of the original series were kind of like issues 1-4 of the new series… they were ordinary, average for the time, nothing extraordinary. But Sienkiewicz’s work was something I had never seen the like of. I have to admit it took me a few issues to get used too. I remember being shocked by the Demon Bear issue at first. But within a few issues I was eagerly anticipating what visual delights the next would hold for me. Maybe I was a graphic designer even then… and already appreciating it on a level I didn’t get.
10/10/2009 at 6:56 am
The art was ok. The story was good. A nice bridge into the next story arc. I thought issues 1-4 were good, but not great. I was looking forward to seeing this title again, but was a bit disappointed. Hoepfully they will get better. I read the New Mutants back in the day, but not until the series ended and I went back and bought all the back issues and loved the series through all the good and bad. It was nice to see them back in action.
10/10/2009 at 9:15 am
I wasn’t a Paul Smith fan either….I did like the artist who drew the New Mutants around the Inferno/Bird Boy era. I also loved when Art Adams drew Illyana as she is my favorite New Mutie. I loved the Asgard Art Adams issues alot.
As for Uncanny back in the day, I was a fan and still am a fan of Alan Davis, Art Adams and Silvestri. Silvestri’s run for Inferno/Outback/Fall of the Mutants is my favorite time period for art.
Why I loved having Rachel Summers on the team back Pre-201 (she is my favorite X-Man), I didn’t like how Romita drew the X-Men either during that time. The stories were good but the art is VERY VERY important to me as comics are a visual media for me.
10/10/2009 at 10:04 am
Well if you didn’t like Sienkiewicz OR Smith than this would definitely NOT appeal to you. Any other fans of theirs out there who can see their influence on Zachary Baldus?
I’m also a BIG Arthur Adams fan and loved that Asgardian New Mutants Special he did. Also LOVE Alan Davis – he can do no wrong. His recent work on Dark Reign X-Men the List was stellar as usual. I didn’t love Silvestri’s run on X-Men. And only tolerated Romita’s. As an artist myself, the art was always very important factor in what books I buy.
But as for the artist who worked on new Mutants during the creation of one of the stupidest characters ever – Bird-Brain, that was when I dropped the book. I think the artist was Brett Blevins. I found his art to be ordinary, ugly and cartoony compared to the ground-breaking art of the Sienkiewicz era. And I lost interest in the story about this point as well. I remember they found Bird-Brain on some rip-off of the Island of Dr. Moreau. Not sure how many issue it went past that, but they lost me at the Ani-mates.
10/10/2009 at 1:17 pm
I’m going to agree with Askanipsion. I liked the story arc of issues 1-4 with the upgrade of Legion’s powerset. I was really displeased with the artwork of #5. It looked very amateurish to me — but it was better than, say, Stroman’s work. Then again, what isn’t? ;o)
@fanboi: I also quit reading the first version of New Mutants around the same time you did for the same reasons. Only years later did I catch up on the issues I missed (and realized I didn’t miss much.)
10/10/2009 at 2:03 pm
I didn’t start reading the original New Mutants until issue #90-something when it tied into “X-Tinction Agenda” (one of my favorite crossovers by the way). I really fell in love with the title and ended up getting all the back issues. I really felt that everything came together when Sienkiewicz came onboard as the artist. The artwork was dark, gritty and realistic. To me, the book looked too young, sweet and cartoony until Sienkiewicz took over. Those characters really came to life with his artwork and I will always think o Sienkiewicz’s issues as my favorites. By the way, remember Sienkiewicz’s covers to the old reprint title “X-Men Classics”? Those were the best!
10/10/2009 at 2:15 pm
I like the return and upgrade of Legion, but it just didn’t feel like the opening arc of a new series. Now even as someone who loved the art I can see how it wouldn’t appeal to everyone. I’m usually more partial to traditional realism in comic art, but there is a short list of artists who have a VERY stylized look that somehow works for me.
I think even if you don’t like the style I can’t see using the word amateurish. And using Stroman in the same sentence is just cruel. I think it was very well executed – his layouts are elegant and I thought his depictions of everyone were quite clear – white haired scientist was Dr. Nemesis from the new X-Men Science gang. This WAS the artists first comic book work – supposedly Marvel was so impressed with a sketch he did of Kitty Pryde that they gave him this issue. I think he proved himself.
10/10/2009 at 5:57 pm
I may have to check this out. I dropped New Mutants several relaunches ago (I liked the more soapy aspect that features Wallflower and her little group, but the turn to Hellion and his crew just left me cold and I haven’t read it since.) but may have to pick it up on your recommendation.
And such a high recommendation – it doesn’t suck
10/10/2009 at 6:13 pm
I LOVE having the New Mutants back as a team, but what I am not liking in the book is the ignorance to the power development of the characters.
Is Sam (the X-Man that actually took a punch from Gladiator) still inept in using his power? Where did the ability of Sunspot to throw energy blasts and his ability to fly go? Wasn’t it shown that Karma did develop psychic powers other than possession?
Why can’t Marvel let them grow?
10/10/2009 at 7:10 pm
after those first 4 issues, Doesn’t Suck is high praise. Issue #5 is much better than juts doesn’t suck. It is actually pretty damn good. I was completely surprised.
10/10/2009 at 8:55 pm
@ Steve Z – FYI in recent issues of Uncanny Karma was shown to have expanded on her psychic powers
Ugg Stroman….yes he is in my top 3 WORST artists….I remember him being on X-Factor for awhile and I wanted to just trash my issues.
It is a shame Kitty is currently “dead” and Rachel is in space – I would love to see Kitty hang with Rachel & Illyana.