Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod’s The New Mutants introduces five young mutants who are only just learning to use their powers. Professor Xavier, along with Moira MacTaggert, work to identify these children and offer them a place where they can learn to use their powers. Rahne Sinclair (later called “Wolfsbane”) find MacTaggert after fleeing persecution from Reverend Craig. Xi’an Coy (who will later go by “Karma”) already works to master her psychic power with Xavier. Marsh Roberto da Costa’s powers activate when a racist attacks him at a soccer game (he later goes by “Sunspot” in the ongoing series). Danielle Moonstar (later using the alias “Psyche” and then “Mirage”) swears revenge when the Hellfire Club kills her grandfather, Black Eagle. Samuel Guthrie (alias “Cannonball”) ends up working for the Hellfire Club in order to provide for his family after his father dies of black lung from working in the Kentucky coal mines. They must learn to work together to defend themselves against Donald Pierce, who seeks control of the Hellfire Club and to use the mutants as weapons or, if he cannot control them, to eliminate the threat they may pose.

The story picks up after the events of X-Men no. 161, in which the Brood kidnapped the X-Men, with Xavier reticent to take in new students and put more young mutants at risk for his dream of peaceful coexistence. After seeing the characters work together, he realizes that he must be willing to risk everything for their benefit and for the good they can do. When he makes his decision, McLeod depicts Xavier looking at photographs of the two previous X-Men teams – one with Angel, Iceman, Beast, Marvel Girl, and Cyclops; the other with Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Kitty Pryde – thereby setting this team up as the inheritor of the original X-Men mission prior to the more space operatic themes.

As the fourth Marvel Graphic Novel, this breaks with the preceding three – The Death of Captain Marvel was relatively self-contained; Elric: The Dreaming City adapted Michael Moorcock’s novella by the same name; and Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar launched a series that Marvel published under its Epic Comics imprint – by serving as a double-sized introduction to a long-running (over 100 issues) series with close connections to other Marvel books. While Claremont also wrote the next Marvel Graphic Novel, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, its canonical status was only decided in 2003. Fans of the New Mutants series will find the basic introductions here, though the Marvel Graphic Novel format means the story is relatively self-contained. ( )

The debut story of a new group of mutants that Professor Xavier is recruiting and training - 14-year-olds who are just beginning to learn of their powers, but have no training or control. This fine graphic novel begins the comic book series. ( )