New X-Men #5
New X-Men (Academy X) #5 is the dramatic heart of the 'Choosing Sides' opening arc, the issue where the series' central moral tension — whether mutant students are bound by human law — crystallizes most forcefully. The issue stages a deliberate confrontation between the school's faculty and an FBI agent demanding custody of Wither (Kevin Ford), whose involuntary death-touch killed his own father, forcing readers to sit with questions that had no clean answers: Do mutants get fair trials? Does solidarity trump legal accountability? The fallout from Dani Moonstar's eventual decision to cooperate with the authorities directly triggers Wither's squad swap to the Hellions, making this issue the narrative hinge on which one of the series' most consequential character arcs turns. It also contains Hellion's cafeteria speech — consciously echoing Magneto's rhetoric — which crystallizes the generational ideological fault line that would define the Academy X cast for years to come.
In "Choosing Sides Part 5: Above the Law," the leaders of Xavier's School face a moral crisis when they must decide whether to turn Kevin over to the FBI for his father’s murder, ultimately choosing to uphold the law—even if it means betraying a mutant student. Meanwhile, Hellion and his team refuse to stand by, setting out on a bold mission to rescue Kevin before it's too late. Written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with art by Michael Ryan and inks by Rick Ketcham and Avalon, this pivotal issue explores the tension between justice and loyalty, all under Andy Park’s striking cover.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 13 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw / ungraded ▾ $2–$25 7 listings
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The series was launched in July 2004 as part of the 'X-Men Reload' publishing initiative, growing directly out of the prior New Mutants (vol. 2) series that writing partners Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir had been steering since 2003. Issue #5 was scripted by DeFilippis and Weir, with interior pencils handled by Michael Ryan (replacing series opener Randy Green) and inks from Rick Ketcham and Avalon Studios, colors by Pete Pantazis, and lettering by Dave Sharpe; the cover was by Andy Park. Editor Mike Marts oversaw the series under Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, guiding the title through its early squad-rivalry premise while keeping it aligned with the broader X-Men line's post-Morrison transition toward a more grounded school setting.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Part 5 of the 6-part 'Choosing Sides' arc, cover-dated November 2004 and released in September 2004.
- Written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir; penciled by Michael Ryan; inked by Rick Ketcham/Avalon Studios; colored by Pete Pantazis; cover by Andy Park.
- The central conflict: FBI Special Agent Justin Pierce — introduced in New Mutants (vol. 2) #13 and revealed to be Donald Pierce's nephew — arrives at the Xavier Institute seeking the arrest of Wither (Kevin Ford) for the accidental death of his father, whose organic matter Wither disintegrated upon his initial power manifestation.
- Dani Moonstar ultimately decides to cooperate with the FBI and advises Kevin to turn himself in, destroying his trust in her; this betrayal directly leads to Wither switching from the New Mutants squad to the Hellions by arc's end.
- Hellion (Julian Keller) delivers an impassioned cafeteria speech defending Wither by recounting the uncontrolled first power manifestations of his classmates — including Surge's homelessness, Match torching a park, and Specter's grandfather's heart attack — a speech in-story compared by Wind Dancer to speeches made by Magneto.
- The issue features full appearances by both the New Mutants squad (Wither, Elixir, Prodigy, Surge, Wallflower, Wind Dancer) and the Hellions squad (Hellion, Mercury, Rockslide, Dust, Icarus, Tag), along with faculty members Cyclops, Emma Frost, Dani Moonstar, Wolfsbane, and Karma.
- Cameo appearances include Anole, Pixie, Dryad, Match, and Specter — characters who would gain increasing prominence as the series progressed.
- The 'Choosing Sides' arc, including this issue, was later collected in the New X-Men: Academy X Vol. 1: Choosing Sides trade paperback (December 2004) and reprinted in Marvel Select Flip Magazine #5 (December 2005), and again in the New X-Men: Academy X — The Complete Collection (2018).
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in New X-Men: Academy X #1 (2004), Marvel Select Flip Magazine #5 (2005), New X-Men: Academy X - The Complete Collection #[nn] (2018)
Key issues in New X-Men
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.