New Mutants #21

New Mutants #21

Marvel Comics 2019

Written by Vita Ayala

Illustrated by Rod Reis

Lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham & Joe Caramagna

MAYHEM ON THE MOON!

There’s something creeping in the shadows of the Summer House…and the NEW MUTANTS are about to come face-to-face with it. And back on Earth, the team is turning against itself as they gear up for their biggest battle yet.

The New Mutants were my introduction to Marvel. I had sought out a book similar to New Teen Titans and The Legion of Super-Heroes and this was the only title they had at that time. Since then they’ve been my favourite Marvel characters and I have loved and followed them in different incarnations since. Now that we’re seeing this run being so successful and my beloved heroes mentoring the newer generations things have been going a mile a minute for quite some time. With the return of old enemies showing up here it doesn’t look like there will be any slowing down for a while to come yet. While I appreciate that they are mentoring the kids I really wish we’d see some straight up New Mutants lineup stories, and yes I’m including Boom Boom, Rusty and Skids in that as well, heck even Bird Boy’s return would be a welcome addition now that resurrection means they can now literally fight to the death.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does this magnificent job in making the characters feel more like people we know or can relate to while maintaining the essence of who they are. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we see the cracks in Krakoan life splinter like old concrete.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continuing to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificently rendered. What I love about this and that the cast is this large is how we see the layers open up avenues to be explored and whether they work with the main arc or dance around it they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the book. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

I love that these interiors give me this huge Sienkiewicz feel. The work is reminiscent yes but it’s also very much this creative team's work and to be able to do that is amazing in my eyes. The linework is sensational and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detailed work that we see throughout the book is extraordinary. I would like to see more backgrounds being utilised, I know Krakoa can be limiting at times but I wanna see the space as either open or closing in on them, I want to feel where they are. Still the composition within the panels does bring about some nice depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a spectacular eye for how colour works. Seriously, how we see the colour applied and how they can affect the mood, tone and feel is magnificent.

​

I am a huge fan that the team still works under that whole philosophy of we keep this in house and we do for each other no matter what it is that needs doing. I think Vita has captured my favourite characters beautifully and they really know how to craft some of today’s most amazing stories. This is so intelligently written with some extraordinary characterisation that’s brought to life in these breathtaking interiors. I love that this is a part of the X world but stands on its own two feet separate from them as well. Honestly that’s exactly how this team should be.