New Mutants Epic Collection, Vol. 2: The Demon Bear Saga

New Mutants Epic Collection

by Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz (Illustrator), Sal Buscema (Illustrator)

Don't call them X-babies anymore! Visionary artist Bill Sienkiewicz transforms the New Mutants - and the young heroes' lives will never be the same! New recruits Magma and Magik find their footing at the school - but when the team tries to rescue Kitty Pryde from Emma Frost, will they all end up members of rival mutant team the Hellions? Then, the Demon Bear that haunts Dani Moonstar bares his teeth, Sienkiewicz-style! Will the New Mutants survive the Bear's ferocious attack - and if so, can they make a new friend in the alien called Warlock? Plus, a cosmic caper introduces intergalactic rock star Lila Cheney! When Sunspot and Wolfsbane are in danger, only Cloak and Dagger can help! The mind-bending debut of Professor X's son, Legion! And the shocking return of an old friend/foe... COLLECTING: VOL. 2: NEW MUTANTS (1983) 13-31, ANNUAL 1

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

512 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2019

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

sal buscema brings his best in the earlier issues but the real highlight of this collection is bill sienkiewicz’s art in issues 18-31, which is genuinely amongst the best in superhero comics - the ‘demon bear saga’, after which this volume is named, is one of those few plot arcs that’s a perfect synergy between writer and artist. sienkievitcz’s vision of the new mutants as part horror, part YA is far more compelling than mcleod’s sparkly-clean high school drama and it’s a joy to see all his work on the characters in one place

unfortunately, chris claremont also maintains a desperately problematic view of race throughout, and his attitude to autism and mental illness is both wildy infantilising and incredibly inaccurate, the combination of which makes the issues introducing xavier’s son, david haller/legion, incredibly uncomfortable and frustrating reading

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few things better in comics then a well thought out team book. Would hold this series up with the best of the Avengers and even the best X-men. What Claremont does so well is give such clear identities to ever team member in this series that you care about every single one of them evenly. The additions of Magma, Warlock, and Magick bring a neat dynamic to the group. Then there’s the Sienkiewicz art which is in top-form in this book. The Demon Bear saga is a must-read story obviously but I really enjoyed the Warlock introduction, the Cloak and Dagger crossover, and the Hellions fight in this book as well. Overall a must read book for comic fans.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly decent but if I remember right this series goes downhill from here.

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is loaded - classic, evil Emma Frost, The Hellions, Warlock joins the team, the Demon Bear, Legion, Cloak & Dagger, Dazzler plus Bill Sienkiewicz's art. Great stuff.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claremont's 70s/80s stuff is so good. It's a lot like the New Teen Titans where I can't tell you what makes it work but it really feels like he hits his marks with the right amount of soap opera drama that doesn't even tip over into "too much" territory.

Sienkiewicz takes over the art duties in the second half of the book. With respect to Warlock and the emotional/magical lands of Limbo, the Demon Bear, and the inside of Legion's mind, it works great. For the rest, it starts to feel really wearying. It's just so active all the time and never lets up.

The biggest downer in the whole collection is that the death of the Demon Bear results in a "curse" where two civilians are turned into Native Americans. This seems to result only in (1) increased physical strength and (2) change in the color of their skin to that garish red that Marvel used (and that few, if any humans have ever had.) The characters in this book treat it like a real tragedy. The two civilians live in a recluse-like state and everyone talks about it in whispered, sad tones from time to time. Weird and gross in that it treats race as a costume and a tragedy like being turned into a monster.

If you can get past that, it's a fun time.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really nice collection of classic New Mutants comics. Although I have read a lot of comics in this series, the only one comic I had read that was featured in this collection was the Slumber Party issue. Too bad Chris Claremont didn't do more issues like this, because when they ground the characters and make them relate to other kids, it's actually more interesting than when they fight horse-gladiators in an arena. Speaking of which, this is second (and hopefully last) time Claremont has them do this and it's not really very interesting.

The standout stories (to me) in this book would be the Cloak and Dagger tie-in, any fights with the Hellions, and the introduction of Warlock. Speaking of Warlock, strangely enough he gets forgotten every few issues. Probably Claremont didn't know what to do with him most of the time.

Disappointing things in the series would be the vague astral plane fight with Legion, any time Sunspot is drugged or possessed (happens a lot), and Amara's bland and forgettable personality.

[Sans · Rating 4 out of 5]

My one main complaint is how bigoted and close-minded Rahne is. The way she treats Nightcrawler and Illyana is exactly how humans treat mutants. Hypocrisy they name is Rahne Sinclair.

Question though how is Xavier walking again??.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn these were good. Especially the Sienkiewicz issues. They don't make them like this anymore. Looking forward to volume 3.

[Alan Castree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually finished reading this a while ago, but I had to skip the last bit because it was all Secret Wars II tie-in stuff that kinda messed up the flow of the comic. This was a great read of fun characters and some of the best art I’ve seen in comic. It takes some getting used to but Bill Sienkiewicz really did bring some flair to this series and comics in general.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Tony Romine · Rating 2 out of 5]

In issue 28 opens with an abstract drawing of random things that look vaguely familiar if you study it hard enough, next to a 6 text boxes and three of the them read: It is the brain. This one belongs to a young man named David Charles Heller and it's a realm where madness reigns. Scattered throughout the twisted, war-torn mindscape that is a crazy-quilt hodgepodge blend of Paris and Beirut are David's mother, his doctor and three New Mutants.

Did you enjoy that convoluted attempt to explain the previous issue? Does the idea of 3 to 4 issue story arcs where the majority of the action are abstract psychic battles that take place in someone's head? Well guess what, you're Chris Claremont's favorite person and this 500 page collection of early New Mutant comics is exactly what you're looking for. I myself found it barely comprehensible in a lot of places. What's funny is that every issue he takes great pains to make sure to recap who each character is, like that's only important thing he needs to convey in a clear concise way and everything else you should be able to figure out along the way.

I also really hate the any sort of action or emotion is lost in Claremont's deluge of dialogue/text boxes. He writes these comics in a very archaic way (even for the mid-80s) where he doesn't trust the readers to understand what they're looking at (i.e. as a character is hit by a psychic blast, he'll say something like ' Oh no, I've been hit by one of Professor X's psychic blasts. I hope Rahne can handle this one herself because I'm down for the count. '. God forbid you get to a scene featuring a character's internal monologue, be prepared for at least 200 words over a 2 pages that are just various angles of that characters face.

What's aggravating is he has GOOD story ideas at the core of these psychic mind-trip battles, he just smothers them to death with really boring writing and abstruse, overbearing artwork. I like that he was trying something different, but my God this was slog to get through. I can't imagine buying a random issue of this series in the 1984 off the racks with the hopes of just dropping into a new series. It would be like buying 20 random pieces of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I can only recommend this to completists really, it's not something for the casual fan.

[Tom Ewing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally start a write-up of one of these collections by explaining exactly which parts get the 5-Stars but this is a special case, because this volume is simultaneously some of the most brain-melting, life-changing comics ever put out by Marvel and a complete fucking mess. There's a reason this collection - and all collections of the run - emphasise the Demon Bear Saga and I'm not reviewing, say, The Cloak And Dagger Odyssey or The Gladiators Epic. So, for the avoidance of doubt, the top-tier stuff here is:

New Mutants 18-21 - "The Demon Bear" and "Slumber Party"
The art in New Mutants 22-31 - the remaining Sienkiewicz issues
The cover of New Mutants Annual 1 - "Steal This Planet: A Rock Fable"

Every one of the 14 issues had plenty of potential to rewire readers' brains - my first ever New Mutants comic was the end of the run, Issue 31, an issue I found both completely incomprehensible and utterly compelling because the art screamed from the page at me in a way no other Marvel comic I'd read did. But at the time I read it I assumed that a lot of things in it would be clear to me if I'd just seen the previous issues, and it was years later I realised that no, this is not how Chris Claremont and the X-Books were operating at this point. Don't know who the green lady with the sword and the horse guy are? Join the club - they're plot strands from a Dazzler mini-series, in a story that's far more about Dazzler than about any of the New Mutants themselves.

That's typical of Claremont in this era - the X-Books are his fiefdom, and characters and ideas slip around between them. Sienkiewicz' first issue opens with an unbelievably hardcore sequence of a future Professor X being gunned down in his wheelchair, the force of impact blasting him right to left across a page spread. It's magnificent, and nothing else to do with anything in the book, because the plot in question - Rachel Summers' arrival in the present - jumps straight to X-Men. That's OK - lots of people were reading both - but Claremont also used his corner of the Marvel Universe to poke away at a bunch of other pet characters and plots, like the Gladiators and Cloak And Dagger, and towards the end of this volume finds his own spinning plates upset by the introduction of Secret Wars II: there's a very funny scene where Magneto drops in from the sky to basically halt the entire plot and say "sorry lads, it's crossover time", which is a nicely grumpy way of handling it but does kill the momentum of the story it interrupts.

Claremont is also continually broadening and complicating his central cast. This stretch of the comic introduces Lila Cheney (and Strong Guy!), Warlock, Cypher, and Legion, characters who mostly came into their own long after Claremont left the books. It does a bit of repair work on the extremely dodgy Charles Xavier/Gabrielle Haller relationship, with Charles at least acknowledging he badly crossed some lines. It gives that mutant/human relationship a parallel with an ongoing subplot involving Magneto being badly wounded and getting involved with Lee Forrester - I love Sienkiewicz' stubborn, gnarly, elderly-looking Magneto. So there's a ton of good, rich, stuff in these comics, but even for Claremont they're unusually loose, chaotic and unfocused.

Now, that's sort of fine, because if you're working with Bill Sienkiewicz in 1984, then giving him a lot of crazy stuff to draw whether it makes sense or not is a perfectly good strategy. And issue after issue he delivers. But the sad truth is Claremont's scripts only really rise to the collaboration at the beginning, on Demon Bear and particularly on issue #21's "Slumber Party", the introduction of Warlock and a basically perfect comic. But what makes those issues - and Sienkiewicz' work on the book in general - so special?

Sienkiewicz' is the first (perhaps only) New Mutants artist to bring out two things that are critical to the characters. First, obviously, they're kids, but they're kids who were created and being written at a time of radical ferment in youth culture with the advent of MTV, and Sienkiewicz makes New Mutants into a new wave comic - full of angular energy, weird mixes of the extremely pretty (he can draw lovely, expressive faces) and the ugly and awkward. It's a similar effect to what happened on the X-Men when Paul Smith took over and all the characters acquired staggeringly good hair - the book suddenly feels like a comic for and about the 80s. (Compare Bob McLeod's initial version of Lila Cheney with how she looks when Sienkiewicz draws her a few issues later, the difference between some squares' idea of a rock star and, well, a rock star).

The signature character for this side of Sienkiewicz' work on the book is Cannonball, who gets a ton of screen time and who the artist clearly loves drawing - not only is his flat-top a gift for such an angular penciller, Sam's the perfect combination of an awkward, undeniably young man but with a power set which lets Sienkiewicz break up and punkify any page, scoring it with those angry scars of red and orange from Sam's straight-line blasts.

And that's the other thing Sienkiewicz' gets about the New Mutants. Most of them are freaks and he draws the freaky hell out of that. Illyana's armour gets blurry and chromey; Sunspot's solar form a splatter of ink; Magma a swirl of uncontainable colours; Rahne's transitional form starts looking like a fur explosion; and obviously Warlock lets him draw whatever he wants whenever he wants. (Sienkiewicz is the definitive Warlock artist, though there's less of him in this than I remembered, sadly). He also famously likes to draw characters as shapes first, and nobody draws bulk like he does - to astonishing effect in the Demon Bear story itself and to less happy results when he realises (splendidly, but grossly) Claremont's eyebrow-raising reworking of Karma.

Those developments - bringing out both the teenageness and the strangeness of the New Mutants - give the book an identity of its own for the first time. There are frustrations and missed opportunities - the Legion story should be fantastic but ends up feeling rushed, like neither creator had time to really tell the story they wanted. Claremont is at his most prolix, which can wreck the effect of some beautifully weird pages. And the non-Sienkiewicz issues here are a reminder of how easily the book can fall back on default rival-schools teen comic tropes. But this stuff, messy though it is, is remembered as the book's peak for a reason.

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Exceptional X-Men coming this year, taking up the mantle of the new young mutant team, and having pulled and read Generation X Vol. 1 from the backlog and with the X-Men '97 animated series bug still in effect, I pulled this one out of the backlog too.

This is my 2nd proper read of an X-Men related title from Claremont, not counting Wolverine Vol. 1, and it's fascinating seeing the change from X-Men Vol. 5 Second Genesis with issues 10 years earlier. The stories flow more smoothly, feel less silly and more grounded emotionally.

I really enjoyed the more standard layouts from Buscema with great art from him. I also really enjoyed when Sienkiewicz takes over with far more dynamic layouts and a very different style. This change really brings a emotional weight to the first story, the main feature of this volume, the Demon Bear Saga.

I did find the last third of the book a bit of a slog at times, the stories were interesting but Claremont became very verbose with dialogue and thought bubbles, too much monologuing; this was not in a way that always added to the story.

Having enjoyed this volume so much I'm now tempted to go back to the first volume, despite hearing it's slow, to get more of Illyana's story and the story beats that climaxed with this volume. I'm also interested in seeing the fallout of that climax and the whole Dani-Valkyrie things I've seen bits of elsewhere.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more the series went on for Chris Claremont, the better it got, with familiarity breeding connection and interest. Amazingly, he can make you invest in a character straight from the off,such is his skill at writing internal monologues. The recasting of Magneto, for example, is both unexpected and fascinating. I found myself really rooting for his reformation.

Character-wise we have the lot. All of the core team, augmented by the additions of Magma, Cypher and Warlock. For me, though, it is Rahne and Ilyanna that are the heart of the team; possibly Danielle too. Impressive that in the 80s women were given such strong roles in the Marvel Universe and were written so much better than the males; also that one connects so well with them that they are familiar more by their forenames than their hero nomenclature.

In this collection we have the Demon Bear (obviously), New Rome, Warlock’s arrival, Secret Wars II, the Hellions, the Gladiators, Lila Cheney, Dazzler, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde. What’s not to love? Essential for X Men fans.

[Dallas Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is a must for anyone interested in New Mutants and X-Men in general!! Not only do you get the famous Demon Bear Saga, but you also get the origins of several priceless characters!! Sienkiewicz’s art stands out as some of the most unique and transcendent, I have ever encountered after traversing through every decade of comic art from loads of titles!!

Only down sides of this book is the exclusion of the issue where Doug discovers he is a mutant, as it is mentioned it’s revealed in X-Men (even though the epic collection before this, made a point to include a tie in X-Men issue)! Also the first story and ending story of this collection are definitely the weak points in many regards, but do expand on some characters in interesting ways too!

Everything from slight cameos and set ups to the stellar stories that make up most of this collection, really make this an unforgettable read all around!!

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up...
This truly is an epic collection. Starting with the Demon Bear, moving through Legion and finishing with a blast from the past and the Gladiator games (which throws Dazzler into the mix too), this collection is all over the place. I'm not a fan of Sienkiewicz' artwork, so that definitely draws the rating down some, but the characters show a lot of growth and development in these arcs. I've always been a fan of Illyana, and she begins to shine in these issues. Sam and Bobby are the key players, and Kitty does a lot of growing up in this time frame (but mostly by way of the Uncanny and her solo story with Wolverine... but the growth carries into these books too).
This run also ties into The Secret Wars II, with books 29 and 30.
All said, a great read, but would love to have seen a different artist draw them.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

After catching up on the first volume Epic collection for New Mutants, I was really priming myself for this volume that I bought on my birthday. The stories within are loosely the basis for the New Mutants movie that came out in 2020 if you dated enter a movie theater during a widespread global pandemic. This also features the debut of Bill Seinkiewicz's wild and raw art style to the New Mutants book started with the Demon Bear saga. I didn't realize it until I was reading it, but it also contained the origin story of David Haller (Legion). Lots of great art and story in this volume. I was sad when it ended and sad again to realize the next sequential Epic collection had not yet been published.

[Trevor · Rating 2 out of 5]

These issues of New Mutants, penciled by Bill Sienkiewicz, are frequently recommended as the best of the title. So I was surprised by how much I disliked them.

Sienkiewicz's art is undeniably good but it's also very abstract and leads to surreal storylines (usually involving exploring psychic mindscapes). I like my comic art and writing to be more traditional. This volume also has a lot of elements that made me uncomfortable: a white couple magically transformed into Native Americans, a super-powerful mutant child who is autistic and has multiple personalities, another character who is forced by an evil entity to eat to the point of obesity ‐ none of these things aged well.

Overall, I somewhat get why a lot of people love this volume but I strongly prefer the previous one.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic collection of New Mutants material. This edition is above average due to the introduction of Bill Sienkiewicz as artists. His style was very off-beat for a mainstream comic at the time. Some people I know were turned off by it, but I don't remember being that upset. It simply took an adjustment and, quite frankly, really enhanced many of the storylines - the titular Demon Bear story in particular. The only downside is that this was an era of crossover issues, particularly among the X titles, so often an event will happen to the New Mutants in another title and it's just mentioned in one of the issues. So, it can be a bit disjointed. But overall, I enjoyed it immensely.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ren of New Mutants has bothered me for years. As a kid I stopped reading the series around here. Bill Sienkiewicz's art was just too weird for my 11 year old brain and even when I tried to return to this series several times as an adult I had to put it down each time. For whatever reason this time I found my way in and flew through this collection. Bill Sienkiewicz is an abstract artist in a genre that is almost exclusively the domain of realists and his work is far more out there than Frank Miller or others in his camp. For whatever reason, it really works with Claremont's purple prose and I'm truly glad I gave it one more try. Now I get it!

[Mark Rubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Sienkiewcz’s artwork. It’s weird and messy and trippy but it’s so cool and fun to look at. It really works for most of the stories here, which are also weird and messy and trippy. Particularly the demon bear and the Legion arc.

Unfortunately this is held back by just being kind of confusing? Characters pop in and out of nowhere. I understand there’s issues not in this collection but like Dazzler and Rachel Summers are there all of a sudden and we don’t hear from Wolfsbane and Mirage after a while.

The last arc with the Gladiators was also kind of a mess. But this is a lot of fun overall.

[Vaughn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My opinion seems to differ from a lot of the comments on here. I really enjoyed the first few issues, especially the focus on Magma and Magik. I also really liked the introduction of the Hellions.

For me, this book went downhill once Bill Sienkiewicz started doing the art. I didn't like his artwork at all. While the stories were okay, specifically the Demon Bear Saga, the introduction of Warlock and the Legion arc, the art completely ruined it for me. I understand that for most people, Sienkiewicz is one of the highlights of this run, but it is definitely not for me.

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading just for Sienkiewicz's groundbreaking artwork, which brings a modern art sensibility to comics for the first time. But Claremont's writing is very inconsistent - he spends too much time on some ideas, then seems to tire of others before fully developing them, establishing an infuriating habit of dropping plot threads that will continue throughout the rest of his run on the X-Men family of books.

[zach harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories within this collection. The art work and panels are presented creatively, with many impressive supernatural and mindscapes scenes within. I find that Claremont is good at creating an in-depth and engaging story world, whether it's introducing new characters and settings or using established ones.

If you are a fan of the Xmen or are looking to become a comic book fan, you should check out this series.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siencewicz's (spelling?) art really ratchets this up a level, and its impressive what a change in tone a strong and stylistic artist can make to a series. Claremont was, at this point, still a fount of new and weird ideas. It has all Claremont's usual weaknesses and frustrations, but it's still a lot of fun.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very much enjoying the slightly dark direction that New Mutants is headed in this volume. They have the potential to tackle some big issues and really step away from the “heroes vs villains” line of standard Marvel up to this point. The artwork really fits well with the tone of the stories too.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Sienkiewicz's art in this series, and would have given more stars just for that, but:
= Buscema's art in the first part is a total buzz-kill
= Claremont's writing is overblown, overwrought, and opaque.

[Doug Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book, though I preferred the first volume I think. The demon bear story was pretty cool, but I just think I preferred the earlier stories to what came later. The stories got darker to reflect the darker art and while it is done really well, it was sometimes a bit harder to follow.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read by Adam

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stars for Claremont’s stories, five stars for Sienkiewicz’s art