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New Mutants Epic Collection
New Mutants Epic Collection, Vol. 7: Cable
Watch out, New Mutants - here comes the man called Cable! With the rest of the team in Asgard, Rusty and Skids are arrested by Freedom Force. The terrorist Mutant Liberation Front demands their release, but a mysterious metal-armed, gun-toting warrior with a glowing eye is targeting the MLF for reasons of his own! The New Mutants make the dangerous passage back to Earth, but soon cross paths with Cable - and their lives will never be the same again! The forceful reinvention of the New Mutants begins here, as Professor X's former students join Cable to take on threats including Sabretooth, Skrulls and the shadowy Stryfe! Plus, the New Mutants battle Atlanteans, face their futures and tune in to TV-land! COLLECTING: VOL. 7: NEW MUTANTS (1983) 86-94, NEW MUTANTS ANNUAL (1984) 5-6, NEW MUTANTS SUMMER SPECIAL (1990) 1, MATERIAL FROM X-FACTOR ANNUAL (1986) 5, X-MEN ANNUAL (1970) 14
496 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2020
19 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Louise Simonson
964 books101 followersLouise Simonson (born Mary Louise Alexander and formerly credited as Louise Jones, when married to artist Jeff Jones) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman, and Steel. She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Weezie".
Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson
Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 3, 2023
I love Cable and the New Mutants, but I cannot recommend this book, these stories by Louise Simonson were pretty poor and Rob Liefeld's art ranged from mediocre to ridiculously bad, some cool designs on the characters, but that's about it.
December 15, 2020
This book is a very interesting historical artifact, even though the individual stories are garbage and the overall quality is terrible. Rob Liefeld makes his smashing introduction: He's about to turn the New Mutants into X-Force. He's full of that early-90s energy where the plot and characters are made up on the spot, the art is full of amateurish mistakes, but the concepts are spot on and the panel layouts aren't half bad. Liefeld's grasp of anatomy may be terrible, but a new team leader who encourages the kids to take big risks and focus on their superhero careers is just what the book needed after their slow, boring meander through turgid stories about aliens, Asgard, and the Ani-Mator. Louise Simonson's dialogue may be cringeworthy, with last-minute explanations for plot holes and bizarre motivations thrown into Claremont-size word balloons, but she manages to keep an aura of mystery around Cable even as he poses for roughly 4 splash pages per issue. The bad guys are paper thin with about half a personality trait each, the costumes are new levels of hideous, but at least Rob has enough moral compass to keep 14-year-old Rahne away from the micro-miniskirts the rest of the team is rocking.
The inclusion of contemporary work by other artists hammers home why Liefeld got the TV commercials. Days of Future Present is a big unreadable mess that requires a heavy knowledge of X-Men and Fantastic Four minutiae for a payoff just as unsatisfying as Rob's "everything explodes and the villain teleports away" gig. The New Mutants Summer Special is 80 pages of Ann Nocenti at her worst, lacking any subtlety or characterization as she delivers an underwhelming nod to Marshall McLuhan. And keep in mind that at this point, Chris Claremont is doing his meandering X-Men Disassembled, so Cable is the most effective team leader for all of 1989.
Should you read this book? No. Should you listen to a podcast about why this book matters? Yes.
The inclusion of contemporary work by other artists hammers home why Liefeld got the TV commercials. Days of Future Present is a big unreadable mess that requires a heavy knowledge of X-Men and Fantastic Four minutiae for a payoff just as unsatisfying as Rob's "everything explodes and the villain teleports away" gig. The New Mutants Summer Special is 80 pages of Ann Nocenti at her worst, lacking any subtlety or characterization as she delivers an underwhelming nod to Marshall McLuhan. And keep in mind that at this point, Chris Claremont is doing his meandering X-Men Disassembled, so Cable is the most effective team leader for all of 1989.
Should you read this book? No. Should you listen to a podcast about why this book matters? Yes.
October 27, 2020
a rocky ending to a series that really lost its steam as it went.
February 13, 2023
Leifeld brings more than his reputation suggets
This collection is half annuals - and the annuals are extremely tangential - but not bad. Bret Blevins and Nocenti do an homage to Chomsky and McLuhan, of all things.
This collection is half annuals - and the annuals are extremely tangential - but not bad. Bret Blevins and Nocenti do an homage to Chomsky and McLuhan, of all things.
April 14, 2021
Liefeld art is like a highlights magazine for adults! Every picture you can find something wrong! Highly recommended!
July 14, 2024
Rob Liefeld has a justified reputation for being The X-Men Artist of the early 90s, and also for being ignorant of human anatomy and lazy about background images. There are scores of webpages devoted to people who love and hate his art. Peter David even wrote many a screed about what it was like to work with him in the 90s. And this is Very 90s. There are pages of his character sketches in this volume that could be easily mistaken for the DeviantArt sketches of freshmen year art students who went on to have successful careers in telemarketing, insurance sales, or designing Angelfire websites. There are some wonderful trainwreck pages where, because Rob Liefeld never bothered to learn things like perspective or, again, human anatomy, Cable has a teensy tiny head, shoulders four feet wide, and hips that could have birthed a Frost Giant. But, for the most, part you can really ignore the much over-discussed poor depiction of feet, and enjoy the bulk of this story for what it is.
Louise Simonson introduces Cable, and has him quickly become the new professor of The New Mutants. It turns out he's heaps better than either Professor X or Magneto were. Sure, he looks like a military meathead, as drawn by Liefeld, but he is depicted here as caring about the students and wanting them to become their best selves at their own pace. There's no discussions of punishments or demerits, no yelling when they disobey orders, and when Cable does test them psychologically, he then discusses what he was doing with them, and breaks down how he thinks it could help them. I love that Simonson chose this direction for the characters.
Unfortunately, probably because she has mainly written comics that were geared toward younger readers, her dialogue often explains things that one can see or infer by the art. It often feels awkward and unnecessary, but I also have to acknowledge that the writers coming after her are going to be far worse.
The Simonson story, minus the Days of Future Past storyline, and the Summer Special by Ann Nocenti is solid comic booking. Not my favorite, and not enough to make my Headcanon, but an interesting evolution of the New Mutant team, and every character she wrote in this book became better because of how she wrote them. I'm going to review X-Men: Days of Future Present separately, but I should note that the Ann Nocenti special issue is Terrible. It's a middle school level critique of pollution and media and a whole lot of other things that deserve a more mature and measured critique than what's offered here. Yes, even in a comic about teenager superheroes, the bar for social discourse should be higher than it is in here.
Still, for a late 80s/early 90s X-book, this is pretty decent, and if you're a fan of Cable, this should be a fun read for you.
Louise Simonson introduces Cable, and has him quickly become the new professor of The New Mutants. It turns out he's heaps better than either Professor X or Magneto were. Sure, he looks like a military meathead, as drawn by Liefeld, but he is depicted here as caring about the students and wanting them to become their best selves at their own pace. There's no discussions of punishments or demerits, no yelling when they disobey orders, and when Cable does test them psychologically, he then discusses what he was doing with them, and breaks down how he thinks it could help them. I love that Simonson chose this direction for the characters.
Unfortunately, probably because she has mainly written comics that were geared toward younger readers, her dialogue often explains things that one can see or infer by the art. It often feels awkward and unnecessary, but I also have to acknowledge that the writers coming after her are going to be far worse.
The Simonson story, minus the Days of Future Past storyline, and the Summer Special by Ann Nocenti is solid comic booking. Not my favorite, and not enough to make my Headcanon, but an interesting evolution of the New Mutant team, and every character she wrote in this book became better because of how she wrote them. I'm going to review X-Men: Days of Future Present separately, but I should note that the Ann Nocenti special issue is Terrible. It's a middle school level critique of pollution and media and a whole lot of other things that deserve a more mature and measured critique than what's offered here. Yes, even in a comic about teenager superheroes, the bar for social discourse should be higher than it is in here.
Still, for a late 80s/early 90s X-book, this is pretty decent, and if you're a fan of Cable, this should be a fun read for you.
March 10, 2024
Y aquí, en una serie más o menos de segunda fila de la Marvel de finales de los 80/principios de los 90, comenzó a forjarse una revolución que estaba destinada a cambiar la historia del cómic. Y era una revolución con nombre propio: Rob Liefeld, y sobre todo, un personaje. Cable.
El Nuevos Mutantes 86 supone, además del asentamiento de Rob Liefeld como dibujante regular de la serie (y según cuenta él, en los guiones también, desplazando a Louise Simonson... y me lo creo, Louis Simonson es mucho mejor guionista de lo que se deja ver en estos números), la presentación de Cable, un personaje malencarado, de carácter militarista y que usa armas gigantescas, y que va a marcar los personajes de toda una época. De hecho, el propio dibujo de Rob Liefeld, con todos sus defectos (que los tiene a raudales), parece convertirse en la piedra de base de una época, en la que serían Liefeld, Jim Lee y Todd McFarlane quienes marcarían cómo se debía dibujar, dibujos que perdían fuerza narrativa para convertirse en ilustraciones y poses, y en el caso de Liefeld, en grandes músculos, muchos dientes y pies muy pequeños.
En estos números vamos a asistir al regreso de los Nuevos Mutantes de Asgard (salvo Espejismo, que se quedará allí una temporadita), y a la presentación de un nuevo grupo de villanos, el Frente de Liberación Mutante, liderado por un villano acorazado llamado Dyscordia, y que va a comenzar a golpear diversos puntos de investigación... para luego proceder a secuestrar a Rusty Collins y Desliza, que se encontraban prisioneros de la Fuerza de la Libertad. Cable, en su persecución del FLM se enfrentará a la Fuerza de la Libertad, y en ese encuentro, los Nuevos Mutantes se verán arrastrados también al encuentro, encontrándonos con que este desconocido, se convierte en el nuevo guía y tutor de Los Nuevos Mutantes, junto a lo que se va a asentar en los sótanos de la Escuela para Jóvenes Talentos del Profesor Xavier, lo que llevará también a un encuentro a cuatro bandas entre ellos, Calibán, Dientes de Sable y los morlocks de Máscara, que se había convertido en el nuevo líder (ya había aparecido en las páginas de Patrulla-X teniéndoselas que ver con Forja, Banshee y Jean Grey, llegaremos a ello). Y con esto, Nuevos Mutantes enfila su última etapa antes de su transformación en X-Force, que llegaría tras Proyecto Exterminio... a la que llegaremos, que se ha convertido en la nueva piedra de toque de esta etapa.
El Nuevos Mutantes 86 supone, además del asentamiento de Rob Liefeld como dibujante regular de la serie (y según cuenta él, en los guiones también, desplazando a Louise Simonson... y me lo creo, Louis Simonson es mucho mejor guionista de lo que se deja ver en estos números), la presentación de Cable, un personaje malencarado, de carácter militarista y que usa armas gigantescas, y que va a marcar los personajes de toda una época. De hecho, el propio dibujo de Rob Liefeld, con todos sus defectos (que los tiene a raudales), parece convertirse en la piedra de base de una época, en la que serían Liefeld, Jim Lee y Todd McFarlane quienes marcarían cómo se debía dibujar, dibujos que perdían fuerza narrativa para convertirse en ilustraciones y poses, y en el caso de Liefeld, en grandes músculos, muchos dientes y pies muy pequeños.
En estos números vamos a asistir al regreso de los Nuevos Mutantes de Asgard (salvo Espejismo, que se quedará allí una temporadita), y a la presentación de un nuevo grupo de villanos, el Frente de Liberación Mutante, liderado por un villano acorazado llamado Dyscordia, y que va a comenzar a golpear diversos puntos de investigación... para luego proceder a secuestrar a Rusty Collins y Desliza, que se encontraban prisioneros de la Fuerza de la Libertad. Cable, en su persecución del FLM se enfrentará a la Fuerza de la Libertad, y en ese encuentro, los Nuevos Mutantes se verán arrastrados también al encuentro, encontrándonos con que este desconocido, se convierte en el nuevo guía y tutor de Los Nuevos Mutantes, junto a lo que se va a asentar en los sótanos de la Escuela para Jóvenes Talentos del Profesor Xavier, lo que llevará también a un encuentro a cuatro bandas entre ellos, Calibán, Dientes de Sable y los morlocks de Máscara, que se había convertido en el nuevo líder (ya había aparecido en las páginas de Patrulla-X teniéndoselas que ver con Forja, Banshee y Jean Grey, llegaremos a ello). Y con esto, Nuevos Mutantes enfila su última etapa antes de su transformación en X-Force, que llegaría tras Proyecto Exterminio... a la que llegaremos, que se ha convertido en la nueva piedra de toque de esta etapa.
January 19, 2024
Decenni fa, quando queste storie furono pubblicate, mi parvero subito quello che erano: un tentativo di rinnovare il gruppo e di lanciare un n uovo personaggio, Cable, ambiguo e misterioso. Sembrava, e sembra anche ora rileggendo queste storie, che tutti lo conoscessero da tempo. I tizi della Freedom Force di Mystique, in particolare Crimson Commando; Wolverine, che Cable chiama col nome proprio, Logan; Moira MacTagger.
Nel frattempo il gruppo si sfaldava e riformava: Dani rimaneva in Asgard, Rusty e Skids dal cast di X-Factor s'impegolavano con Cable e poi con i New Mutants e con loro seguivano Rictor (anche lui pare aveva conosciuto Cable) e Boom Boom.
Soprattutto arrivavano dei nuovi avversari, il Mutant Liberation Front.
Avversari scialbi nel complesso, per storie che all'epoca parvero molto dinamiche ma che già ad una seconda lettura apparivano scarse per i disegni come per la trama.
Certo, all'epoca ai più giovani Liefeld sembrava innovativo e le sue prime prove su Marvel Comics Presents lasciavano ben sperare, ma era l'effetto delle chine di Al Williamson. Infatti anche in alcune delle storie di questo volume, inchiostrate da Wiacek, Liefeld fa una bella figura. Ma quando la qualità dell'inchiostratore non è alta, tutti i suoi difetti vengolo alla luce.
Poi ci sono un paio di annual, dimenticabili, e lo speciale estivo della Ann Nocenti con una filippica moralista assurda contro la TV ed i suoi effetti, la storia più brutta di sempre con protagonisti i New Mutants.
Nel complesso c'era qualche idea buona, ma poco approfondita. I personaggi venivano tutti caratterialmente appiattiti, diventando in fretta degli anonimi numeri dietro all'imposizione di Cable come nuovo leader e mentore.
Decretando così il passaggio dei mentori mutanti dal pacifista Xavier, convinto della possibilità di coesistenza, al più reattivo Magneto, convinto che i mutanti dovessero affermare i loro diritti, fino a Cable, che lotta per la sopravvivenza.
Dal punto di vista dei disegni, se è vero che Blevins non mi è mai piaciuto, resta un bravo disegnatore rispetto a Liefeld, che è l'unico disegnatore che io conosca ad aver peggiorato dall'esordio invece di migliorare.
1 stella e mezza al volumone.
Nel frattempo il gruppo si sfaldava e riformava: Dani rimaneva in Asgard, Rusty e Skids dal cast di X-Factor s'impegolavano con Cable e poi con i New Mutants e con loro seguivano Rictor (anche lui pare aveva conosciuto Cable) e Boom Boom.
Soprattutto arrivavano dei nuovi avversari, il Mutant Liberation Front.
Avversari scialbi nel complesso, per storie che all'epoca parvero molto dinamiche ma che già ad una seconda lettura apparivano scarse per i disegni come per la trama.
Certo, all'epoca ai più giovani Liefeld sembrava innovativo e le sue prime prove su Marvel Comics Presents lasciavano ben sperare, ma era l'effetto delle chine di Al Williamson. Infatti anche in alcune delle storie di questo volume, inchiostrate da Wiacek, Liefeld fa una bella figura. Ma quando la qualità dell'inchiostratore non è alta, tutti i suoi difetti vengolo alla luce.
Poi ci sono un paio di annual, dimenticabili, e lo speciale estivo della Ann Nocenti con una filippica moralista assurda contro la TV ed i suoi effetti, la storia più brutta di sempre con protagonisti i New Mutants.
Nel complesso c'era qualche idea buona, ma poco approfondita. I personaggi venivano tutti caratterialmente appiattiti, diventando in fretta degli anonimi numeri dietro all'imposizione di Cable come nuovo leader e mentore.
Decretando così il passaggio dei mentori mutanti dal pacifista Xavier, convinto della possibilità di coesistenza, al più reattivo Magneto, convinto che i mutanti dovessero affermare i loro diritti, fino a Cable, che lotta per la sopravvivenza.
Dal punto di vista dei disegni, se è vero che Blevins non mi è mai piaciuto, resta un bravo disegnatore rispetto a Liefeld, che è l'unico disegnatore che io conosca ad aver peggiorato dall'esordio invece di migliorare.
1 stella e mezza al volumone.
November 30, 2020
aka "The Death of My Childhood." The New Mutants were my entre into the world of comic books. Though I love Sunspot and Cannonball now, they were not my favorite characters then. I loved Mirage, Karma, and Cypher. This run of New Mutants got rid of all of them and turned the book into everything I hated about comics in the 1990's.
July 31, 2021
This was so depressing. Aside from some truly hilarious panels that were funny to screenshot and show friends, there wasn’t much fun here. It’s like a perfect capsule of how things can go so so wrong very quickly in a series.
January 30, 2024
Well, like someone here said, it's a historical piece.
Days of Future Present did make me want to go back and forth in the future to find out more things. So it made for an intriguing read.
I won't judge the art.
The writing and characters are pretty poor, but what the hell.
Days of Future Present did make me want to go back and forth in the future to find out more things. So it made for an intriguing read.
I won't judge the art.
The writing and characters are pretty poor, but what the hell.
February 17, 2021
I love New Mutants and X-Force. This historical run is essential to fans alike. But the story of Days of Future Present is kind of pale. MLF is quite the hightlight for me.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews