The following originally ran in the Weekly Planet 10/10/18.
Even in comics, everyone grows up. Dick Grayson became Nightwing. Most of the Runaways are in their 20s now. Kitty Pryde was once the youngest, most inexperienced mutant but for the last couple years she’s been leading the X-Men. The same passage of time extends the length of the X-gene, all the way down to the New Mutants.
Long the students at Xavier’s Alleged School For Mutant Youngsters (Where A Questionable Amount of Actual Learning is Supposed To Take Place), the New Mutants have been a springboard for characters that we’d come to know and love. From the omnipresent (Deadpool & Cable) to the beloved (Domino & Cannonball) to the cult favorites (Strong Guy & Wolfsbane) these mini mutants have just as passionate a fanbase as their adult contemporaries. Though the title was gone for many years, the cries of joy were no fewer when it returned with NEW MUTANTS: DEAD SOULS.
Focusing on sordid supernatural sequences, DEAD SOULS is a true tale of terror. How could it not be with Magik (everyone’s favorite grew-up-too-fast-in-a-hell-dimension member of the Rasputin clan) at the head of the team? She’s the magic sword-wielding face at the front of the book. Following behind her is her team: Strong Guy, the biggest man with the worst punchlines; Richtor, the world-shaking mate of Shatterstar; Scottish wolfwoman Wolfsbane; & everyone’s favorite ticking time bomb, Boom Boom.
Shaping their adventure is writer Matthew Rosenberg (Astonishing X-Men, Multiple Man). He’ll also be writing on Uncanny X-Men when that book returns next month, in case you doubt his mutant bonafides. He’s the latest darling of the X-Line and NEW MUTANTS: DEAD SOULS is the perfect demonstration of exactly why. He has perfectly captured the voices of these characters, constantly putting them into new and specific situations designed to test their specific
shortcomings. Each issue of DEAD SOULS just gets better, building to a stunning ending that I pray you have not had spoiled for you.
On art is Adam Gorham (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jughead: The Hunger). Gorham absolutely destroys on this book. Each of these wildly different characters moves in such a unique way. There are sequences in DEAD SOULS that boggle the mind as to how they were designed, but Gorham makes it look easy. The same creeping sensibilities he brought to the sewer creatures of TMNT and the outsized suburban horror in Riverdale, he brings to NEW MUTANTS: DEAD SOULS better than ever.
All six issues of this killer book have finally been collected for you to plow through some spooky evening. NEW MUTANTS: DEAD SOULS is an absolute necessity for horror fans, New Mutants stans, Boom Boom believers, and everyone in between.
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