New Mutants: Dead Souls

New Mutants: Dead Souls #1-6

by Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Gorham

They aren't the X-Men-in-training anymore!

The New Mutants are launching themselves headfirst into some of the creepiest corners of the Marvel Universe, going on the missions no one else will. But does the team know what they are really hunting for? The enigmatic Majik leads her team of Wolfsbane, Rictor, Boom-Boom and Strong guy into battle with paranormal threats that might just tear them apart! When the New Mutants investigate an Arctic research base where everyone has died under mysterious circumstances, their hunt for answers is interrupted by something hunting them! A scared boy in the woods meets a familiar face from the New Mutants' past--and it doesn't go well! And can the team stop a plane from crashing into a mountain...when all the passengers are trying to stop them?

COLLECTING: NEW MUTANTS: DEAD SOULS #1-6

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes

136 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2018

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.

I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."

Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...

Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather weird stand-alone story sees the now corporation owner, Karma set up a Magik led X-men team to investigate instances of magic, but as the story unfolds, it's revealed something completely different is really happening. A bit of a weird sometimes directionless story, but a great chance to catch up with Strong Guy, Rahne, Boom Boom and other 'third generation' mutants. 4 out of 12.

2019 read

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the old New Mutants back again because there’s a creepy self-titled movie coming out - eventually. Here, instead of working for the greater good, they’re employed by the Hitachi Corporation This is a comic book, so “corporation” = evil. More on that later. .



So the New Mutants are:



Rictor, Boom Boom, Magik, Wolfsbane and Strong Guy.

Magik is the laconic team leader that nobody really likes.



She has magical teleportation powers…



…that are sometimes accurate.

Plus, she hates kids, which is a bonus.



Because the operative terms are “scary” and “creepy”, we get zombies…





…big-assed Norse monsters…



…a trip to Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum…



…and kittens.



Rosenberg has the obligatory team conflict part down okay…



…and the Merry Marching Marvel patter thing going for him…



…but what this story lacks is the semblance of an original coherent plot to hang the creepy episodes on.



Evil corporation in Marvel comics doing predictably evil stuff. *sigh*

Bottom Line : Rosenberg works the Marvel formula fairly well, but it’s still a pale imitation to his betters. For those of you who like your team or mutant or mutant team titles overcooked, I’d say give it a try – it’s amusing in places, plus I like the new, improved creepy-assed version of Magik, but the story fizzles towards the end of the book. His run on The Punisher was a little better, but that's probably because he only had to deal with a lone character and not a team.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dead Souls is an update on the New Mutants, with the team focused on paranormal threats, it was released when the trailer of the new movie came out, with the intent of attracting new readers to the franchise, and it reads quite well, Magik carried the whole book.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This unusual New Mutants revival takes on the late-era Simonson team, rather than the early-era Claremont team that's been popular in the past, and to shake things up even more, it brings in Guido, who had some cataclysmic interactions with Rahne in the final days of PAD's X-Factor.

Overall, it's the characters who make the comic. It's great to see Illyana and Boom-Boom in action again, and Karma is interesting in a leadership role, and Rahne and Guido get some good subplots, and Rictor is there as well. The actual plots are much less intriguing: they're an entirely forgettable series of missions that only gain any depth in the last issues of the main arc, where we start to understand what's going on.

But then the original arc gets really murky in its final issues, and then the Warlock-based subplot suddenly explodes out of nowhere (after five issues of slow walking) and then the whole comic stops without resolution. It's a horrible anti-climax, especially since this is a miniseries with no obvious place for this story to continue.

If these characters all show in Uncanny X-Men with no explanation of what happened here, this whole series will have been totally pointless.

[Emily Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

[rubs my face all over this]

[Laissez Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actively annoyed at the nonending end to this. The dialogue throughout is fantastic tho and individual issues are strong.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5
Licht & Schatten dicht beieinander

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este número incluye unas aventuras del equipo de New Mutants, bastante cortas pues acá acaba la serie. Karma que ahora está a cargo de la empresa Hatchi contrata a Magik, Rahne, Ritko, Boom Boom y Strong Guy para hacer algunos "trabajos". Lamentablemente parece que hay alguien más detrás, una presencia extraña y mágica que los llevará al gran colapso. Interesante esta interacción entre este nuevo grupo y siempre es chévere ver a Magik en acción.
Este número que termina aquí continúa en Uncanny X-Men 12.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Não sei, gente, mas eu tenho uma séria desconfiança que o melhor trabalho que Matthew Rosenberg faz é encher linguiça. Porque os seus X-Men, os Fabulosos, são assim, o Justiceiro dele é assim. Estes Novos Mutantes: Almas Mortas é assim. Nesse encadernado a equipe dos Novos Mutantes está servindo a uma empresa, a da mutante Karma, a resolver problemas sobrenaturais. O problema para nós brasileiros é entender de onde vem essa ameaça, já que três dos integrantes da equipe (Lupina, Fortão e Rictor) fizeram parte do X-Factor, que não teve suas ultimas edições publicadas no Brasil. Assim, o leitor brasileiro não sabe que Fortão foi regente do inferno e que o filho da Lupina comum deus asgardiano tentou matá-lo para tomar seu lugar. Mas ok, deixando isso de lado, nem a história e nem os desenhos empolgam. São bem qualquer coisa e, no mais, não representam o que são os Novos Mutantes em essência: jovens fugindo na calada da noite para fazer alguma coisa que os adultos não querem que façam e acabam salvando o dia. Então, se a sua intenção era matar a saudade da equipe, não vá nesse encadernado.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good for my first New Mutants comic.

Yep. I never read New Mutants except for a few issues in a crossover. SO figured why not try this bad boy out since it just came out and I like Matthew Rosenberg's work. So picked it up and...it's fun! The characters all work well together, all have good chemistry, and work well when talking and working together. The story itself is usually self contained in a issue or two, and then there's also a backstory at the end of each issue which comes into full effect by the end.

Good: The art is pretty solid for most part. The action scenes are good. I also thought the dialogue was well done and fun between the crew. Each character has time to shine and you really get that they work together well.

Bad: The art sometimes can be little odd. Like, faces look distorted. I also thought the plot itself was okay, and the ending leaves it on a cliffhanger but we don't get answers.

Overall this was good. A fun read for sure but I feel if this was 12 or 18 issues we'd have a lot more time to connect to everyone and the plot. A 3 out of 5.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is officially one of the worst runs I have ever read. The art, the characterization, the plot, the pacing, the dialogue? All terrible. I’m just glad it’s over with.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. The extra .25 is for Magik. This was solid. Cool art, fun banter between the characters and some cool fights. The main story was ok. I did however like the background story a little more with what was going on with Warlock. At least I know what happened to these New Mutants when I read about them in Rosenbergs Uncanny X-men.

[el · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow I loved this and I loved the art and the character designs

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of the art but I love the way Rosenberg writes Illyana and the team really grew on me - and the ending was definitely a surprise.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this a lot more than I expected the art was great story was great i cant wait to see what they do with this story.

[Pie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhhh this was kind of a mixed bag.
Good stuff:
–Fun characters and a good team dynamic.
–Illyana Rasputin doing badass magic.
–Rictor and Boom Boom's very sarcastic friendship.
–Shatterstar, genetically engineered alien gladiator created for killing, making pancakes for his boyfriend while wearing nothing except an apron.
–Superheroes eating brunch together.
–Relatively fun team missions.
–Doctor Strange's magic snakes sarcastically asking Rictor if his boyfriend bought him the sweater he's wearing and Rictor just going "yes, actually."
–David Alleyne cameos.
–Rictor calling Billy Kaplan a twink, which made me laugh so hard I had to stop reading for a moment.
The not-so-great:
–Rictor was very whitewashed in the art :/
–The stressful fake-out death of a character that lasted slightly too long.
–I feel like it relied a bit too much on me having read all the previous comics the characters were in so I could understand their backstories and relationships to each other.
–I do NOT understand what was going on with Warlock in this.
–And the worst offender: whatever the fuck the story line with Karma's evil ghost brother was and the absolutely AWFUL resolution of that.
My rating would probably be higher if the final issue hadn't been so bad since I was enjoying it until then but then everything crashed and burned so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Myles Likes Tacos and Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice off-continuity story, the art is great and this team combination (Boom Boom, Rahne, Guido, Magik, Rictor) is unique and has such good chemistry.

However as a trade, the issues didn't feel connected if that makes sense. Don't want to spoil much as it is actually enjoyable if you don't know some key scenes (issue 4), but they all felt like one shots and didn't flow well. ie) Issue 1, 3 and 6 don't feel like they part of the same arc

Must read though, if you are a New Mutants hardcore fan like me. And I'm biased towards any Boom Boom stories and Rosenberg writes a great Boom Boom.

[MannyLikesPie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meet the writer yesterday, very nice and he signed a lot of his work for my friend and I

[Austin Gorton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to see these characters again. Intriguing premise and enjoyable art. Bit of an oddly abrupt ending.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...

So, take a comic and fill it with many of my favorite underused characters from x-history - Boom Boom! Rictor (and Shatterstar)! Strong Guy! Karma! Wolfsbane!... It reads like a favorite characters list.... And throw them in the middle of a story that is half predictable garbage, half overwritten mess and...

Okay. Sigh. I wanted to like this so much. I was so excited to dig in to it. And then it opens with a bad zombie story and it just gets worse from there.

Characters ignore years of characterization (Karma and Magik in particular seem nothing like themselves but Rictor to a point, too, and Strong Guy's last appearance (as stupid as that resolution was) is more or less ignored and... Well, the whole thing might as well be its own alternate universe.

And even then, it isn't entertaining. It just falls flat on pretty much every level. One of the biggest disappointments of the recent x-books for me. It gains a star for Boom Boom because it should probably be a one star book...

[Alex Sarll]

Unlike a lot of recent X-Men comics, which give the impression of existing just because Marvel feel it would be odd if they didn't publish some X-Men comics, without much sense of function or intent beyond that, this is definitely trying to do something. I just wish I could work out what. It starts out heavy on snark which, particularly given the cast includes alumni of Peter David's X-Factor such as Rictor and Guido, hints that book's vibe is the guide. Except the team are investigating supernatural incidents around the world, and also it's something to do with a morally dubious corporation (as if there's any other kind) run by old team-mate Karma. And gradually that supernatural angle takes over, and it descends more into a horror book (presumably intended to coincide with the similarly toned film, before that disappeared into post-production hell). Which suits the art style, and Magik's washed-out, faintly sinister and more modern new look, and reminds me of my strongest memory of this team, the sheer desolation of the Beyonder making it as if they'd never existed at all in Secret Wars II. But never quite the sort of internal, psychological horror which would explain why the collection as well as all the individual issues are titled for Joy Division songs. And then it concludes on a massive cliffhanger which feels like the lead-in to something major, but who knows what, because there's sure as blazes no indication here. Maybe it would make more sense if I had stronger recollections of these characters' pasts – on which the whole book leans pretty heavily, and without much in the way of handholding – but from looking at other reviews, I'm not convinced of that. OK, it doesn't feel like an utter waste of time in the way reading X-Men Blue or X-Men Gold or X-Men Burnt Fucking Sienna, Why Not? did, but nor does it fill one with any confidence that Marvel know what they're doing with their mutants.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working for the Hitachi Corporation, the New Mutants (Magik, Wolfsbane, Strong Guy, Rictor and Boom-Boom) are sent to investigate supernatural occurrences worldwide. However, distrust is rife within the team, not least because Magik refuses to tell her teammates what their true mission is and there are secrets which not even she is yet aware of.

I've always liked the New Mutants, probably due to having been a child in the 80s just like they were, and I love the idea of them being the X-team sent to investigate supernatural goings on, what with Magik being the team leader and them also having a literal werewolf.
Rosenberg gives them a really engaging team dynamic too, with plenty of tension and distrust among them which slowly gives way to a stronger bond.

Magik is absolutely the most interesting element on offer here, as she tries to be a leader whilst also remaining aloof and detached. The scenes where she has to deal with the death of a teammate were some truly great character moments which perfectly carry forward into the story after that point. She's a great mix of naïve and world-weary, which could also be used to describe almost all of this particular team.

Plus, if you need more of a hook; zombies, frost giants, Mindless Ones and demons.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I shouldn't like this so much because it commits the biggest graphic novel sin. It's the middle of a story, and any interested reader will have to do some digging to understand where these characters were last left off. So half of these characters came from different books, but most of them know each other well from New Mutants and X-Factor. But a lot of stuff happened to different characters in different books. Figuring it all out is kind of a mess. On the plus side, this is just followed up in Uncanny X-Men right after the (spoiler) cliffhanger ending.

But what works is that Rosenberg does such a good job writing all these characters. Most of the recent authors can't get the different personalities right, but these guys are spot on. I really hope that Marvel can bring Rosenberg back into the X-titles when Hickman starts to run out of steam.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not actually sure what the heck is going on here. The end of this miniseries ends with a cliffhanger that would have incredible consequences, if it's allowed to stand. Or maybe it's leading into a new event? Or maybe this was actually an ongoing that was suddenly cancelled? All of this is aside from the fact that the whole isn't terribly good. It's a bunch of random crap thrown at the wall to see what sticks, and it doesn't really make much sense. New readers will be totally confused because you'd need a deep dive in canon to get what's going on here, and those of us who have been around for awhile aren't likely to enjoy some of the plot twists.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some narrative bumps where I felt like I missed something (in the first issue but also when Majik mentions other places they had been like Paris), but the story and the characters grew on me. The idea that they are all outcasts and monsters (above and beyond being mutants) was a cool theme (even though it was a bit heavy handed). Strong Guy and Wolfsbane's reconciliation in the Sanctum Santorum felt appropriately won, and not just a hand-waved "power of friendship" kind of thing. Majik's reaction to Rictor's death and her ultimate realization was nicely played, tugging on heartstrings and all.

[Adan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was awesome! But why didn’t it have a proper ending? It ends on a ridiculous cliffhanger, and I totally want to know what happens next! This is weird team full of older X-Factor, X-Force, and New Mutants members tackling supernatural events around the world. I really wish this was a series that had continued past these initial six issues. My favorite part was probably those damn snarky snakes in Strange’s house tearing Rictor a new one for his fashion sense: “You look like what happens when a Gap and a Whole Foods have sex.” Fucking savage.

[GeekConUnLibro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seis historias sueltas que al final se ve qué tienen cierta justificación, las tres primeras son más o menos independientes y hay una "aparición" del Doctor Extraño. El toque ochentero-noventero se agradece con algunos diálogos sarcásticos, algo gamberros.
Lo peor, que la historia no termina.
Buena edición en cuanto a apariencia con gráficos en relieve en portada y portadas alternativas. Si existen y no son muchas, hubiera estado bien añadir las grapas que continúen la historia, para cerrar el arco que se abre justo al final, aunque si es un evento no serían pocas grapas.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think Matthew Rosenberg is really underrated but this was utter rubbish. This era of X-Men is unbelievably forgettable and this book illustrates why. Here, a team forms for no reason with motivations, that even when explained, make no sense. The team that is gathered here is random and only tangentially New Mutants. Through six issues Magik is shown to be an idiot, her team unlikable, and the antagonist even worse. The story was very bad but the art was worse. This was hard to get through. Overall, only for completists.

[nimrodiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I read any of the new mutants comics. This is a story arc i was not familiar with. It collects the New Mutants: Dead Souls #1-6 but felt like it started mid story. I had a hard time with it as a stand alone story. I wonder if these issues crossed over with some other Marvel plots when they were first published. An interesting little graphic novel if you are a fan of the X-MEN and the New Mutants.

[Matti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een effectieve, misschien wat warrige inleiding tot de New Mutants die tegelijkertijd met de film had moeten verschijnen (mocht die film niet eeuwig uitgesteld worden). Magik is een geweldig personage en krijgt ook genoeg zwaarte in deze verzameling. De titels gebaseerd op liedjes van Joy Division verdienen sowieso een extra ster.