New X-Men
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New X-Men is a superhero comic book published by Marvel Comics, a spinoff of the hugely popular X-Men franchise.
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Volume One
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New X-Men, formerly known as X-Men volume 2, changed its name when writer Grant Morrison stepped in with issue #114. Morrison's run really lived up to the "new" in the name, adding many fresh and original ideas to his X-Men run, and placing the team of Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Beast, Emma Frost and Xorn into the role of teachers. Morrison's run ended at issue 154, after which Chuck Austen took over for two issues. As of issue 157, the "New" adjective was dropped from the title for the "X-Men Reload" event, reverting back to X-Men volume 2.
Morrison's 40 issues on New X-Men were met with mixed reviews. Many long time, continuity-concerned X-Men fans regarded Morrison's initial issues as nothing more than hype to pick up sagging sales. Others (mostly new readers) saw Morrison as a breath of fresh air in the very convoluted world of "X-Books". Some of his most notable changes were the "secondary mutation" of Beast to resemble a feline rather than his usual ape like appearance, and the reintroduction of Emma Frost as a member of the team. However, fans would get the biggest shock in issue 115 when the island of Genosha (and its most notable inhabitant Magneto) was completely destroyed, setting a tone that would dominate the rest of Morrison's tenure on the book.
New X-Men Volume 1: Storylines
- 1. "E is for Extinction" Issues: 114-116
- First appearance of the supervillian Cassandra Nova, Issue: 114
- 2. "Imperial" Issues: 118-126
- 3. "New Worlds" Issues: 127-133
- 4. "Riot At Xavier's" Issues: 134-138
- 5. "Murder at the Mansion" Issues: 139-141
- 6. "Assault on Weapon Plus" Issues: 142-145
- 7. "Planet X" Issues: 146-150
- 8. "Here Comes Tomorrow" Issues: 151-154
Other details
- The New X-Men logo, which is the same when viewed upside down, is an ambigram.
Volume Two: "New X-Men: Academy X"
New X-Men (also New X-Men: Academy X), formerly known as New Mutants volume 2, was launched during the "X-Men Reload" event. It resumes directly where the most recent New Mutants series ending, with the same writers, artists and cast of characters.
Whereas the other X-Men comics mostly deal with established adult mutants, this comic concentrates on the lives of a group of younger mutants (age range: 15 to 17) who live at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning to learn coping with their strange new powers. They are organized in several teams who share their everyday life.
Featured are two teams, the New Mutants, whose members tend to be more clean-cut, and the Hellions, whose members are generally more belligerent. The rivalry - not only academically, but certainly also in private matters - plays an important role in the series. The tone set by NXM:AX bears a certain resemblance to Harry Potter.
The cast of this series are described in the following paragraphs.
Team New Mutants
This team's tutor is Dani Moonstar. It is co-led by Wind Dancer and Prodigy.
- Wind Dancer, aka Sofia Mantega. A girl from Venezuela who controls winds.
- Prodigy, aka David Alleyne, can mimic the talents from persons nearby.
- Icarus, aka Jay Guthrie, can fly, sing mesmerizingly and heal himself rapidly
- Wallflower, aka Laurie Collins, exudes pheromones which alter the feelings of other people.
- Elixir, aka Josh Foley, is a healer who ironically was a rabid mutant-hater before he found out he was one himself.
- Surge, aka Noriko Ashida, is a Japanese girl who has electric powers.
Team Hellions
This team's tutor is Emma Frost. It is led by Hellion.
- Hellion, aka Julian Keller, is telekinetic.
- Dust, aka Sooraya Qadir, is a shy Afghani girl who can turn herself into dust. She regularly dresses in a burka.
- Mercury, aka Cessily Kincaid, can turn herself into a mercurial substance which bears a certain resemblance to "T-1000" from the film Terminator 2.
- Rockslide, aka Santo Vaccaro, consists of solid rock.
- Tag, aka Brian Cruz, can "tag" a person so that bystanders are compulsed to run away from him/ her.
- Wither, aka Kevin Ford, can destroy organic matter on touch. He accidentally killed his father when his powers manifested.
There are also other teams, the Alpha Squadron (tutored by Northstar), the Corsairs (Cyclops), the Excelsiors (Iceman), the Exemplars (Beast) and the Paragons (Wolfsbane), but up to now, they have been featured only as cameos.