New Mutants #5
The New Mutants get caught between two warring factions in the Shi’Ar Empire in New Mutants #5, by writer Jonathan Hickman, artist Rod Reis, and letterer Travis Lanham. Hickman throws some imperial intrigue into this issue and shows how well the team works together.
On Chandrilar, the Shi’Ar throneworld, Gladiator is told the New Mutants have picked up Deathbird. Oracle, one of his advisors and an Imperial Guard super-commando, gives all the information about the New Mutants, Deathbrid, and their ship to a group of Death Commandos and orders them to terminate them all. Aboard the ship, Chamber and Mondo, former Generation X teammates on their first mission with the New Mutants discuss their impressions of the team while on the bridge, Sunspot decides to flirt with Deathbird. As the ship goes through a Stargate, they are confronted by an Imperial dreadnought that tells them to surrender and prepare to be boarded. Doug Ramsay interprets their comm transmissions and discovers their true intentions. Magik organizes the team for the attack, and they split up. Mondo and Chamber have drinks instead of helping, but it doesn’t really matter- Magik takes out her boarding team, while Karma, Moonstar, and Wolfsbane do the same to theirs. However, the Death Commandos have one last trick up their sleeve… an explosive one.
Hickman brings the central team in this issue and starts the issue off with Sunspot recapping the happenings of the previous chapter. The Hickman written Sunspot is one of the most entertaining characters in comics right now. He’s funny and seems dumb in a way, but it’s easy to see that there’s more to him than his vapid rich guy persona. These little recaps set the tone for the book. They’re funny and irreverent, but that doesn’t hurt the rest of the book, especially the more serious moments. The tone they set pure entertainment. This is a delightful book, full of little things meant to keep readers glued to it.
Take, for example, Mondo and Chamber. They were never members of the old team of New Mutants, but Generation X, the team that was basically the spiritual descendant of the New Mutants. This is their first mission with them and… they don’t really fit in. Not only that, but they don’t even help the team when the fight happens because they just wanted to go on a space adventure, and this isn’t what they pictured when they signed up. The New Mutants have been together for so long, they’re a well-oiled machine. Hickman shows readers that with how great they work together during the fight sequence. Plus, Karma making Shell beat himself while yelling, “Punch yourself,” repeatedly is comedy gold; she even makes him say nice things about her before making him knock himself out. Contrast that with Mondo and Chamber’s attitudes towards the team, and there’s an interesting dynamic to explore.
Rod Reis’s art is gorgeous. There’s really no better way to put it. His figure work is strong and has a nice cartoonish element to it. He’s able to capture so much emotion with character work as well, and it really helps so much of the book land. Without his art, some of the jokes wouldn’t land nearly as well.
New Mutants #5 continues the main team’s adventure in space, throwing a spanner in the works as they are caught between sides in a secret battle for the future of the Shi’Ar Empire. Hickman makes sure to throw in some great humor on top of this intrigue as well as some exciting action. Top it all off with a nice cliffhanger, and readers get a satisfyingly fun, good time. Rod Reis’s art does a wonderful job of bringing it all to life. This story would still be good without his art, but it wouldn’t be this good. New Mutants remains the most fun Dawn Of X book.
Grade: A
