Marvel Graphic Novel #4

History

The New Mutants were conceived under direct editorial pressure: editor-in-chief Jim Shooter wanted to revisit the Xavier School premise, and artist John Byrne had floated the idea of a separate student squad, but writer Chris Claremont and editor Louise Jones (later Simonson) resisted, privately dubbing the project 'X-Babies.' When the first issue of a planned ongoing series was nearly finished, Shooter again intervened — this time ordering it converted into a graphic novel to fill an upcoming slot in the Marvel Graphic Novel line, requiring roughly ten additional pages to be added. The production was further complicated because it coincided with co-creator Bob McLeod's wedding and honeymoon; editor Jones honored her promise that McLeod could ink his own work, so the book ultimately missed its shipping window by two weeks. McLeod later described the experience as 'one of the most frustrating of my career,' though he remained proud of co-creating the team.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First team appearance of the New Mutants: Cannonball (Sam Guthrie), Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), Sunspot (Roberto Da Costa), and Psyche/Dani Moonstar all debut here; Karma (Xi'an Coy Manh) had previously appeared in Marvel Team-Up #100 (1980).
• Written by Chris Claremont, penciled and inked by Bob McLeod (the team's co-creators); colored by Glynis Oliver and lettered by Tom Orzechowski.
• The story, titled 'Renewal,' is set immediately after Uncanny X-Men #161, in which the X-Men were presumed dead, which is the in-continuity reason Xavier recruits a new class.
• None of the New Mutants use code names anywhere in this story — the familiar aliases Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, and Psyche are formally introduced in the subsequent ongoing series.
• The villain driving the plot is Donald Pierce, a rogue Hellfire Club member and cyborg who attempts to murder the young mutants one by one and seize control of the Club from Sebastian Shaw; the story marks a key early solo outing for Pierce as an antagonist.
• Emmanuel Da Costa (Roberto's father) and Juliana Sandoval (Roberto's girlfriend, who dies in the issue) both make their first appearances here, as do Reverend Craig and Black Eagle.
• Bob McLeod proposed that the team should be majority female, a deliberate creative choice to avoid the tokenism common in comics ensemble casts of the era.
• The book was reprinted at least six times in the original format and has since been collected in New Mutants Classic Vol. 1 (2006), New Mutants Epic Collection Vol. 1: Renewal (2017), and the New Mutants Omnibus Vol. 1 (2020); the characters also appeared in the 2020 20th Century Studios film The New Mutants.

Cast · 39 characters

Full credits

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers