New X-Men: Academy X, Vol. 1: Choosing Sides

New X-Men: Academy X (Collected Editions)

by Nunzio DeFilippis (Writer), Christina Weir, Randy Green (Artist)

The children at the X-Mansion thought they had it tough when Professor X was running things - but now that Cyclops and Emma Frost have taken over the reins of the school, they're wishing for the simpler times of yesterday.

As a new semester begins at the Xavier Institute, the X-Men-in-training are just getting comfortable with one another as the devastating news hits: the teachers plan to separate them into different squads. What happens when best friends are torn from one another in the name of school policy? And what do the New X-Men do about it?

Collecting: New X-Men: Academy X 1-6

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Young Adult

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2004

About the author

Nunzio DeFilippis is married to Christina Weir; together they have written a large number of graphic novels. They have written superhero comics but also created original comics and graphic novels of many genres, from YA fantasy to sports to horror to crime drama.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

More teenage drama than X-Men. The 3rd generation of New Mutants after the original New Mutants and Generation X begin training at Xavier's School for Higher Learning. This is clearly aimed at younger audiences. It feels even more soap opera-y than the regular X-Men.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good!

It focuses on this group of mutants and I love how the author introduces tehse characters and then the Hellions and the new mutants and placing them in competitions and the rivalry and the leader dilemma and vs and all that and the drama it all brings and I love it, in particular how they explore Prodidy and Hellion and the tension between them and when one of their own Kevin aka Wither is arrested by FBI, what drama that all brings and who will fight whom and the tension and face off there.

Its one of the better X books I have read and I love the dynamics and the character explorations like whatever is going on with Surge and Dust and then the stuff with Kevin is great and the underlying tensions between Rahne and Josh/Healer and all that and the way they use Cyclops is awesome. The art was standout for me and it compliments the writing really well. A must read series.

[anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teenagers being teenagers.

However, I am growing to like Emma Frost, something that I didn't think would ever happen.

[a · Rating 4 out of 5]

These comics are so addicting! Love the whole idea behind these volumes and even though there's a bit of juvenile drama in them, it's doesn't bother me at all. Oh comics, where have you been all my life... <3

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of a mixed bag. I don't know which writer handles what duties, but it's clear that one handles the plotting and one handles the dialogue. I think the plotting itself was very strong - the arc flow was good, the characters and conflicts were interesting, and there were some creative demonstrations of powers.

On the other hand, the dialogue was awkward and stunted, and it seems to me that the script was not quite clear. I say this because there were a lot of sequential inconsistencies. What I mean by that is that sometimes the art and the script would not line up, as if the script writer didn't properly tell the artist what to do, or perhaps the artist just didn't properly follow instructions. There were also a lot of instances where a character would just flat out say something unnatural that the reader could easily tell from context, which reminded me a lot of silver and golden age comics, and not in a good way. A bunch of times a character would say something like "Hey, don't worry, I got you because I can manipulate wind below you" or "I will get there quick because I can drain electricity to run quick." Of course I am paraphrasing, but you get the idea. There was even one time where a character called another character by the wrong name, which could be a mistake of the writer, the letterer, or the artist.

Speaking of art, it was very inconsistent. It got quite messy in some of the middle issues, to the point where characters' eyes were droopy or misaligned and linework as a whole was quite amateurish. The first and final couple of issues were pretty decent in the art department though.

Despite all the problems, I thought there were some nice character moments and dynamics, and the arc itself had a good flow of situations and conflicts to resolve. I look forward to seeing more of these characters since they are generally characterized well outside of some odd dialogue. 2.5/5 rounded up to 3. This could've easily been bad, but had just enough charm to pull through.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too Dawson's Creek, and that could get really old really fast. For now, though, I'll enjoy these character-based stories and look forward to how they'll grow.

[TR Naus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cyclops and Emma Frost take over as headmasters of the Xavier Institute and start making changes. The students are formed into squads that are mentored by a member of the staff. Dani continues to guide the New Mutants (Prodigy, Surge, Wallflower, Elixir, and Wind Dance), but they quickly run into trouble with their new rivals, Emma Frost's Hellions, during their first "field day" competition.

With Emma's help, however, Dani finds Wither (Kevin Ford) and brings him back to school. He is soon arrested for his father's accidental death, leaving the New Mutants, the Hellions, and the Xavier Institute searching for a way to help him.

Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir continue to showcase their ability to highlight teenage struggles with identity, alienation, and roles. While I appreciate the node to New Mutants' history, I found the "New Mutants versus Hellions" a little forced and out of the blue, but I did enjoy how Kevin's arrest unfolded. It was interesting that law enforcement was sympathetic to his situation (his powers accidentally killed his father) which set up a story with no clear villain. Instead, the students must decide what it means to help a friend -- break the law to help Kevin escape custody or trust a system that doesn't trust their kind. They are very aware that their decision will have an impact on the school and the community.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is X-Men's attempt to do Harry Potter. The students are all separated into training squads. The main characters are in Dani's New Mutants while their rivals are Emma Frost's Hellions squad. It works pretty well but I liked it's predecessor, New Mutants: Back To School - The Complete Collection, more.

[Alan Castree · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the pay off but it was a lot of work to get there. I enjoyed this for the most part but are teenagers really this bitchy or is that just how adults write them?

[syd · Rating 1 out of 5]

i HATED the way they treated the muslim character. noriko never failed to stereotype and pitch islamophobic jabs at sooraya. i assume that she will undergo extreme character development, but it seemed like such a strange characteristic to give to your main character. she has a lack of respect for anyone culture, despite being from tokyo and knowing her own culture differs from the norm in america.

i’d like to compare her stance on sooraya at different periods of the novel. when she first meets her roommate, despite being perfectly respectful and educating noriko about her culture (which is not her job to do), noriko says “you do judge me. you just said that exposing flesh is showing off. i don’t need to be lectured by someone who’s setting women back fifty years just by walking around like THAT. (referring to her burqa)”. noriko twists her words to fit a stereotyped and untrue narrative that paints sooraya as the bad guy.

later in the book she demonstrates the exact same beliefs when she comes in to find sooraya gone. she says “i’m opening the door and there could be BOYS in the hall. you might wanna throw on your burqa and COVER UP…you big freak.” despite starting off her statement with the pretence of understanding, she takes any and every opportunity to call sooraya names and diminish her for taking pride in her culture and having the courage to stand against the crowd. noriko works only to crush her roommates spirits and beat her down, in a country that does the same on the daily. sooraya is not only a hijabi woman from afghanistan but also a mutant, both of which are major points of contention in america society in this universe. she came to xavier’s to escape this discrimination, to find a safe space where can fully express herself, noriko makes it known that she will never have this. despite also being a mutant and person of colour who immigrated to america, exactly as sooraya, she finds herself whitewashed, intolerant and a pain in the ass. i don’t know why this would be appealing in a main character.

the end of the graphic novel is where we see just the smallest bit of character growth. noriko says to sooraya, who is left to the elements without her burqa, or any of her clothes for that matter, “here’s your…here’s the burqa.” are we meant to applaud the fact that noriko can stomach the word burqa. i certainly am not. she makes no later jabs but you can tell she doesn’t understand or care to. she later tells sooraya that it was jay’s idea to bring the clothing and he thought it would be better to have a girl bring it. clearly jay is capable of compassion, why isn’t noriko? this is supposed to be a turning point, and a sweet moment between the two but it’s not. noriko still clearly has the same mindset and has been forced into a kind act, she is a racist sack of shit human that should not be a main character in anything. i understand she might eventually change her ways but does she deserve our forgiveness at all? not in my eyes. this is not someone who should be tasked with the fate of humanity, that should be protecting other humans from danger. this is not a person that should be called an x-man. period.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you're a kid or a teenager, and an adult makes a decision you don't agree with, you think they're stupid and you hate them. Luckily for the teens in this comic, the adults ARE idiots. It's not much of a surprise that the generation of teachers at Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters are mentally unhinged veterans with no business being around children, nevermind teaching them.

The writers are still finding their feet with the new generation of characters, but they also don't seem to know how to write Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolsbane, or Dani Moonstar, all of whom snap at each other every time there is the slightest disagreement.

I recall the series getting better as it progressed, and am really hoping that isn't a false memory.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another Mutant Academy story. It kind of feels like yet another reboot. And Emma Frost is at her typical irritating level as is Scott Summers. And Really Dani and Rahne are no better. But the latest crop of kids are interesting - especially since I know we see more of Prodigy and Dust and some of the others later. So definitely not high art in the fact the art is kind of inconsistent. But pretty good 3.5 of 5.

[Madeline Rossell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler alert:

I'd just like to give a trigger warning that this series contains both predatory teachers and makes a lot of jokes at the expense of a burqa wearing character. So far isn't off to a strong start.

[Myrmidon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nonostante il nome "New X-Men" possa richiamare la lunga run di Grant Morrison sulla celebre testata mutante, questa serie è piuttosto la continuazione di "New Mutants": dopo aver ricostruito lo Xavier Institute (che ormai viene raso al suolo con la stessa frequenza con cui Jean Grey tira le cuoia), Ciclope e Emma Frost, ora presidi, riaprono le porte della scuola ai futuri studenti.
Sì, perché ufficialmente quella sarebbe una scuola: come affermato dal buon Morph in Exiles, ogni tanto la gente si dimentica che tecnicamente da lì esci con un diploma. Mi domando il perché!
Comunque, in questa serie ritroviamo diversi personaggi, tendenzialmente minori, già visti in precedenti testate, come ad esempio Surge, Hellion e Mercury da New Mutants vol. 2 oppure, da New X-Men di Morrison, la musulmana Dust (che ancora viene detto, sbagliando, indossare un "burqa").
Oltre alle normali attività studentesche, gli alunni vengono smistati in gruppi, ciascuno assistito da un tutor esperto, i quali competeranno tra loro in un misto tra attività didattiche e addestramenti per tutta la durata del semestre.
La serie, tra i parecchi personaggi, si concentra soprattutto su due di questi team: i New Mutants, gruppo dei protagonisti, tutorato da Dani Moonstar (già membro dei New Mutants originali, come tanti nello staff), e gli Hellions (tradizionalmente tradotto "Satiri"), la cui tutor è Emma Frost.
Tra i due team si sviluppa una rivalità non esattamente amichevole, soprattutto perché Hellion è un borioso provocatore di prima categoria, roba che persino la Montessori gli spezzerebbe le gambe dopo uno o due minuti massimo, ma è altresì il protetto della Frost (che, ricordiamolo, è preside insieme a Scott Summers).
Gli attriti tra i due team, già nei primi giorni, raggiungeranno il culmine quando Julian convincerà i Satiri a tentare di liberare Wither, uno studente che è stato preso in custodia dai federali perché, con i suoi poteri, ha involontariamente ucciso il padre tempo prima. I New Mutants cercheranno di fermarli, per evitare che il tentativo di evasione possa compromettere la posizione di Wither e dell'istituto stesso, che vuole far accertare in giudizio l'innocenza del ragazzo, incapace infatti di controllare la sua mutazione.

Come lettura, è sicuramente piacevole, e la serie ha avuto il pregio di continuare la avventure di personaggi che con il tempo sarebbero divenuti relativamente importanti, soprattutto dalla seconda metà della serie in poi, quando il testimone passerà da DeFilippis a Kyle e Yost.
Ma la run del primo ha una atmosfera e dei toni molto diversi dalla quella dei secondi, ed è più sul "teen drama" scolastico in salsa mutante: per questo a molti potrebbe non piacere (o proprio far venire l'orticaria), ma onestamente, come già detto, nel complesso non mi è dispiaciuta.
La consiglierei, se siete interessati a questi personaggi.

[Nicholas (was Allison) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.25 Stars
Notes: I rather enjoyed reading this story, however from the sheer complexity of it, I was glad that I had previously already read through another long X-Men comic, before I went through reading this one. This is also with a lot of dialogue included that is further continuously spaced out in between multiple pages, so I tried to pay attention as much as I could. It certainly was a worthwhile story with new characters being added in, and I will not be mentioning much with spoilers, though there is an inside look in a version of Charles Xavier’s school that was drawn out to literally no end, which was just so very interesting for me to see in detail. There are a lot of fast-paced scenes here, so I read this at a time more when I was focused, which helped me understand what was occurring more. Noriko was probably my favorite new character, because she appeared to already have a knowledge of her abilities and how to use them before appearing with several other students, as someone who had done a lot of research before into comic storylines similar to what this comic literally actually is.

I’ll add in trigger warnings for some emotional and physically violent scenes, as well as some lengthy debates between characters. Other than that, reading this was mostly enjoyable, and the rest of the good characters that appeared in the story seemed to me like they were always there for a reason, so I liked that other uncommon ones were there as well. I typically am very much so of a character-driven reader, so I essentially read this in around an hour since I always appreciate that amount of creative effort of adding new potential X-Men into a story. I’ll see if I can find the other issues sometime soon, though, it might be a while before I can. I would recommend this to those willing to put an emotional distance between other more-known X-Men and new characters that are very entertaining to read about, as the one previously known the most that shows up the most in here is Scott Summers. I didn’t mind that, though I’ll also add in that the art style is more modern and recent, which just made my reading this easier to go through.

[Mickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, we really just doing Harry Potter this time, huh?

One of these days, there will be a head of Xavier's Institute that will actually want to build a school that helps mutants understand and learn about their powers (which is what everybody keeps saying the school is for) without drafting them into a paramilitary organization (which is what everybody keeps insisting the school is not). It might be nice to have some mutant lawyers or like chemists or whatever in addition to the troopers.

Unsurprisingly, Scott Summers is not the guy to change all this, given the fact that Professor X put him in charge of such a paramilitary outfit when he was like 15. So, yeah, probably some trauma there.

So, Scott immediately splits all the kids up into squads to give them extra combat training and, unsurprisingly, all of the squads hate each other and become instant cliques. The book focuses on two of these squads (12 kids), Dani Proudstar's New Mutants and Emma Frost's Hellions.

The teens are fun, frankly I prefer an X book that is teen-centric, and they generally all get their moments and are pretty clearly characterized from the jump. Their interpersonal stuff gives plenty of reason to keep reading. Sure, they get all Sharks and Jets with each other when they're competing in Scott's weird military games, but that doesn't mean they aren't willing to also all secretly pine for each other.

Ultimately, everyone gets faced with a giant moral dilemma which wraps up maybe just a little too neatly (don't they always?) and we all go home happy.

[Lillian Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three different artists worked on these 6 issues. None were too bad but I liked Ryan best of the 3 (#5 & 6).

Basically teenage school drama with enough outside friction to keep it entertaining.

Characters: Scott and Emma, obviously. Bobby makes an appearance in an early issue (but he's not angry/dickish Bobby that we've got in the actual X-men run. He's fun Bobby.) Dani Moonstar and Rahne are both teachers.
Of the kids: There's Prodigy, Elixir, & Rockslide (sob) all of whom I know from the recent House of X run. Dust & Jay Guthrie (Icarus) I know from previous (2000 - 2003) X comics. I recognised other names but didn't really know the characters. Surge is annoying AF and a racist bitch. And Justin (Hellion) is either a bully or a psycho with a Napoleon complex. I can't decide which, but I do think Emma has a screw loose calling them Hellions. That's just asking for trouble.
And why was Glob in the assembly scene? He was one of the gang of murders (so not the Glob I've come to live in recent years) when QQ and his delinquent followers went on a Kick fuelled rampage. The others were in prison, why is Glob at the school?

[JCRD]

Éste es uno de mis tipos preferidos de serie superheroica: chavales haciendo sus cosas, y las cosas de superhéroe ya tal. Aquí el principal drama es quién se queda en qué equipo y las fricciones entre los Nuevos Mutantes y los Infernales. Todos los personajes tienen personalidades y rasgos distintivos, con Noriko, Sooraya, David y Cessily siendo mis favoritos. La amistad y convivencia de Noriko y Sooraya puede ser oro si saben aprovecharla.

Y aunque hay un importante baile de dibujantes creo que el resultado es más cohesivo. No hay tanta diferencia entre unos números y otros y, todo hay que decirlo, estos dibujantes me gustan bastante más que los del volumen anterior.

También, importante decirlo: si el MCU quisiera, esto podría ser su Harry Potter. Una serie en Disney Plus con los futuros candidatos a ser X-Men o miembros de la Hermandad ambientada en la Escuela Xavier es algo que se vende solo.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017...
(I'm a little out of continuity order here due to a mix-up so I am reading this series up to House of M and then I will be back in place...)

I love coming of age stories. I love Mutant comics. So this series is pretty much written for me.

The problem is, Marvel is always making these series about the younger generations of X-Men. And I always get to know and love the characters. And then when the series ends, those characters more or less disappear off the face of the earth. I know that is going to happen to these characters, too, just as it did with my beloved New Mutants and Generation X... So knowing that going in, I feel like I am holding myself back from falling in love with these characters.

Oh well. I really dig Surge. (and I still love having Moonstar back/around...) (review of volumes one and two.)

[Rangga Sukmawijaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ini salah satu serial X-Men paling jelek yang saya baca. Satu-satunya penyelamat hanyalah ilustrasinya yang lumayan. Cerita superhero X-Men berubah jadi cerita perselisihan antara guru dengan guru dan murid dengan murid. Ini mengingatkan saya pada serial-serial sekolah remaja. Tokoh yang diperkenalkan terlalu banyak sehingga membingungkan pembaca. Dua belas remaja mutan yang membuat murid lain di Institut Xavier tidak signifikan. Tidak ada penjahat super yang menjadi lawan berarti. Pertarungan yang terjadi di dalam buku ini seperti menonton Harry dan Draco berkelahi.

[Judith Groen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I have read a lot of Avengers teenage stuff and always loved that too... So this was a no brainer.. I really like the characters and the teams they make. There were not really characters I disliked, but some were more likeable than others. I loved Prodigy, Josh and Kevin. I so hope they keep being a part of the X-Men universe later.
The art was okay, it did the job. But is was nothing amazing or special.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a great run that continues threads from the same writers' New Mutants & Grant Morrison's New X-Men. Glad to see Dust get further development. That said, it's profoundly stupid that the main conflict of this volume is Scott Summers, Dani, & the new New Mutants eager to handover their teammate Wither to the FBI. We've a long way to go till we get to the more militant Cyclops of Kieron Gillen & Brian Bendis. At least Emma Frost & the Hellions push back against Scott's nonsense

[Alex Cahill]

This was fun to get back into the teen X-Man stories.

New school year, new status quo. The introduction of teams made sense in the story, and also set up a great dynamic for the rest of this series and brought back in the superhero elements.

I'm glad the team divisions didn't work out as expected, it made me stop underestimating this series.

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t dislike the book, but it’s hard to conjure any strong feelings at all about it. The story plays it so safe, you’d think they went to an actual normal school.
The characters all have some thing going on that could make them interesting, but nothing happens to them. Like, one of the plot points is that someone cheated at basketball.
Also, Rayne dates a student and it’s gross.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

These "academy" novels always feature teen heroes and with teen heroes comes teen angst, teen love and all that other stuff. I already have a 15-year-old at home so I don't really need anymore teen drama.

It wasn't horrible, but at the ripe old age of 50, it's just not my thing.

[Erik V · Rating 3 out of 5]

X-men good but they not my favorite x-men

[Olivia Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man. this was 2004 huh.

[matilda grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. very comic beginner friendly, fun and light-hearted - the quality of the art changed a bit throughout the volume but I’m hoping the comic is just finding its feet and I’m keen for volume 2!

[Tor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read!

[Odo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5+