We are currently moving to a new store. There may be delays in processing backorders. Customers will be contacted beforehand. Apologies for any inconveniences

Cart

Cart

Your Cart is Empty

Back To Shop

Cart

Cart

Your Cart is Empty

Back To Shop

New Mutants – War Children Full Review

Artist(s): Bill Sieniewicz

Colorist(s): Chris Sotomayor

Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Genre: Action, Drama, Superhero

Published Date: September 25, 2019

Chris Claremont is the definitive figure when it comes to the X-Men franchise and there is no discussion about it. The man defined the X-Men and helped to create some of the most important characters that have become synonymous with the franchise, creating multiple memorable brands in the process and doing so in a very consistent manner.

So when I heard that Claremont was going to write another New Mutants (a spin-off from the main X-book) comic book, with the art of Bill Sienkiewicz, I just had to read it. It’s hard to dimension how big the New Mutants were when they come out in the 80s under Claremont’s writing, so this was a great celebration of the man’s career in the best possible manner: telling another great story.

Want to know more about New Mutants – War Children? Here we go!

Plot.

The plot of this story is actually quite simple: the story takes place at a time where the classic New Mutants team was young and everything begins with the mechanical being known as Warlock, who is part of the team, coping with a virus that is turning him into a sinister version of himself, the Magus. This results in the mansion blowing up and the New Mutants, along with Kitty Pryde, go out to the woods to find him, but Illyana Rasputin is controlled by Hela, the classic Thor villain, and falls to the darkest nature of her magical powers.

It takes an effort from the least likely members of the team to save Warlock and use his abilities to stop Illyana from killing the rest of her friends.

How good was it?

Comics like this make me wonder why Chris Claremont is not writing any Marvel series, let alone an X-book, on a regular basis. I think many modern comic book writers have spent so many years trying to change great characters in order to fit their narratives or just for mere shock value that they have forgotten (or perhaps never had) the capacity to tell an entertaining story with strong moral values.

Claremont is not breaking any molds with War Children #1; he is telling classic New Mutants stories like he would have done in his heyday in the 80s and it works like a charm because of several reasons.

One of the first reasons is that Claremont gives each character a very unique voice; the way Illyana talks is different to Kitty, Sam, Roberto and the rest; it’s a distinctive element that makes the narration and storytelling a lot more compelling because they feel more like people than characters, which is not surprising given how emotional invested has Claremont been with them throughout the years.

In less than 30 pages we are introduced to the context, the characters (if you don’t know them), the situation, the development, the climax and a satisfying resolution–in most modern comics, this would take about five or six issues, which is a shame, really.

It also has something that every good story should have: a theme. Warlock and Illyana’s corruption is not done by coincidence; they are done to show how important friendship is and how without those that we care about we would become isolated, cold and succumb to our worst traits. This is something that is particularly compelling when we consider that the New Mutants in this particular moment are a group of teenagers, which is a time where we are often struggling a lot to fit in on this world.

Claremont clearly shows that he knows these characters and in a few pages gives us a master class of how to tell a whole story in just one issue.

The art.

I have to say that I’m not the biggest Bill Sienkiewicz fan, but I know that he is a great artist and he does a very solid job here. He has a very unique style and it gives the story a darker, more mysterious feel to it that makes a strong contrast to our heroes’ personalities, which actually enhances the story, in my view.

If you manage to find a physical copy of this comic, I encourage you to buy it because his art really stands out on paper. It truly works with the narrative of the story and it’s just great to look at.

Overall.

I’m not fully sure if this project is just a one-off due to Marvel’s 80 years anniversary, but it’s always great to read a new Chris Claremont story and to see that he is still more than capable of entertaining. New Mutants – War Children #1 is a fun and well-written classic comic book tale; it’s not pretentious or wanting to stretch beyond what is necessary, knowing that many times less is more.

I truly recommend this comic.

SCORE: 9.2

EXCELLENT!

Wishlist 0
Continue Shopping

Cart

Cart

Your Cart is Empty

Back To Shop