This collection looks at how M Day has affected some of the non-flashy mutants - people who could fly or had gills or had green skin or could play basketball really well due to their mutation. Some died after they lost their mutations, some were devastated by the loss, and some were actually happy that they had a chance for a "normal life" now. And Sally Floyd, jaded newspaper reporter, is ready to tell their stories.

She's up against Congressman Sykes, who tries to disguise his hatred for mutants under "concern" for the safety of Americans. There's a good undercurrent here about whether feeling safe is worth giving up your civil rights (or making others give up their civil rights), which was definitely a sign of the times (the Patriot Act, for example). And there's a serial killer who is going around killing former mutants. And Sally herself is slowly self-destructing after the death of her only child, Minnie.

I thought that this story was really well done. I liked the character of Sally - she's brash and says what she's thinking, even though it tends to get her in trouble quite frequently. And she's one of the few people who are willing to defend mutants and ex-mutants, especially since Sykes is tapping into a well of anti-mutant emotion. And there's a good cross section of characters here whom she interviews. Overall, it's a much more well-rounded picture of what M Day would have meant to the "average" mutant in the Marvel Universe. ( )