The New Mutants #25
New Mutants #25 holds the distinction of being the first appearance — however brief — of David Haller, the mutant known as Legion, who would become one of Marvel's most complex and narratively consequential characters. His introduction as a one-page dossier in Moira MacTaggert's notes quietly paid off a dangling plot thread seeded in the very first issue of the series: the revelation that Professor Xavier had an unknown son. Legion's dissociative identity disorder, with each personality controlling a different power set, made him a genuinely novel figure in superhero comics, and his eventual role in triggering the 'Age of Apocalypse' crossover cemented his importance to the X-Men mythos. The issue also sits at the heart of Bill Sienkiewicz's celebrated run, widely regarded as a turning point in mainstream comics art.
In "The Only Thing to Fear . . .", Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz deliver a haunting, character-driven chapter as Professor X guides Cloak and Dagger through a pivotal moment, leading to a daring journey into Limbo. With Magik’s power and Rogue’s unique ability, the team attempts to reclaim lost strength, setting the stage for a renewed battle against darkness—both outside and within. The issue’s striking art by Bill Sienkiewicz, both in story and on the cover, captures the eerie, emotional weight of the moment.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was written by Chris Claremont and fully illustrated — pencils, inks, and cover — by Bill Sienkiewicz, who had joined the series in August 1984 and was in the midst of a 13-issue run that fundamentally reshaped the book's visual identity. Ann Nocenti edited the title under Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. The Legion cameo was deliberately structured as a back-matter teaser — a one-page pin-up with accompanying text framed as MacTaggert's private notes — designed to preview the three-issue 'Legion' arc beginning in the very next issue, resolving a subplot Claremont had planted back in New Mutants #1. The main story, titled 'The Only Thing to Fear...,' was itself the concluding chapter of a four-part Cloak and Dagger crossover, making issue #25 a transitional bridge between two distinct story arcs.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First (cameo) appearance of David Charles Haller, a.k.a. Legion — son of Professor Charles Xavier and Israeli diplomat Gabrielle Haller — presented as a one-page pin-up and text excerpt from Moira MacTaggert's notes.
- Written by Chris Claremont; art, inks, and cover all by Bill Sienkiewicz; edited by Ann Nocenti; Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter.
- The main story is titled 'The Only Thing to Fear...' (a nod to the FDR quotation) and concludes the four-part Cloak and Dagger crossover arc, in which Magik and Rogue successfully restore Cloak and Dagger's powers from Sunspot and Wolfsbane.
- The Legion cameo deliberately picks up the subplot of Xavier's secret son first introduced in New Mutants #1, serving as a one-issue prologue to the full 'Legion' arc in issues #26–28.
- Legion is identified in the MacTaggert dossier as suffering from dissociative identity disorder, with each alter manifesting a different psionic power — a concept rooted in the Biblical phrase 'My name is Legion, for we are many' (Mark 5:9).
- The issue also features a separate Sienkiewicz pin-up of Lila Cheney, the rock-musician mutant introduced earlier in the series.
- Published with a cover date of March 1985; this is the last issue of the series to carry the 60-cent cover price — the next issue raised the price.
- Legion's full, in-story debut comes in New Mutants #26 (April 1985), making #25 strictly a cameo; the character later drove the 'Legion Quest' crossover that spawned the entire Age of Apocalypse event, and received his own FX live-action television series (2017–2019) portrayed by Dan Stevens.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Titans #82 (1985), I Nuovi Mutanti #20 (1990), X-Men Archives #1 (1995), New Mutants Classic #4 (2009), Cloak and Dagger: Shadows and Light #[nn] (2017), Marvel Icons : New Mutants #[nn] (2018), Cloak and Dagger Omnibus #1 (2019), New Mutants Epic Collection #2 (2019), New Mutants Omnibus #1 (2020), New Mutants Classic #3
Key issues in The New Mutants
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