New Mutants, Vol. 3: Fall of the New Mutants

New Mutants (2009) (Collected Editions)

by Zeb Wells, Leonard Kirk (Artist)

Coming out of Second Coming, the New Mutants who are still left are licking their wounds on a forced R&R trip.

While they try and put themselves back together, others are looking to take them apart. A strange secretive military group has an agenda involving Illyana Rasputin. And they don't want to give her a medal.

Collecting: New Mutants 15–21

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

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 2011

About the author

Zeb Wells is an American comic book writer known for his work at Marvel Comics, as well as his work on the animated TV series Robot Chicken.

Reviews

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuevo arco de Nuevos Mutantes, y antes de entrar a comentarlo, os aviso ya que con este tomo me es imposible ser objetivo. Si me paro a pensarlo fríamente, la historia de Zeb Wells puede no ser nada del otro jueves, y aunque Leonard Kirk es bastante eficiente, en el último número es como si se hubiera roto todos los dedos y hubiera empezado a dibujar con la boca o algo así. Pero...

Pero hacia finales de los 80, y en uno de los primeros grandes eventos de Marvel, los demonios se derramaron desde las páginas de las colecciones mutantes por todo el mundo. Vengadores, Cuatro Fantásticos, Excalibur, Spiderman, Daredevil...Sobre todo aquellos asentados en Nueva York veían como la ciudad se iba consumiendo en un ambiente cada vez más demoniaco, y para saber qué pasaba, tenías que acudir a las colecciones mutantes: Patrulla-X, Factor-X, los Nuevos Mutantes y la limited X-Terminadores. Allí estaba el por qué, centrado en dos historias principales: la transformación de Illyana Rasputín en la Niña Oscura, señora del Limbo y su lucha por mantener el control de su reino, y por otro, las manipulaciones de Mister Siniestro y la transformación de Madelyne Pryor en la Reina Duende . La saga se llamó Inferno... y a día de hoy sigue siendo una de mis historias favoritas.

Pues bien, durante Inferno, uno de los argumentos era que el demonio N'Astirh había secuestrado a trece bebés mutantes que había utilizado para abrir un portal místico al Limbo, y durante la historia, los Nuevos Mutantes y los X-Terminadores (algunos de cuyos miembros se pasarían a los Nuevos Mutantes tras esta saga, en concreto Ríctor y Bum-Bum), rescataron a los trece bebés, dejándolos en manos del gobierno para que los cuidara...

¡Error! En esta historia, Zeb Wells nos cuenta que aquellos trece niños cayeron en manos de alguien llamado Doctor Noc, que comenzó a investigar y descubrió que a través de los análisis y experimentos con los niños, podía volver a abrir el acceso al Limbo. Los militares decidieron mandar un equipo a una base en el Limbo, llevándose con ellos a los niños... para ser luego traicionados por su propio gobierno que los abandonó allí tras un experimento fallido. Se supone que en tiempo real han pasado cuatro años desde Inferno, pero ellos han vivido más de veinte en el Limbo, y los niños ahora son adultos y no conocen otro mundo que el infierno del Limbo. Trabajan para el Doctor Noc y los militares, y el objetivo de estos es recuperar las gemas de sangre para vengarse de todo por lo que han pasado. Así que, justo después de los acontecimientos de Advenimiento, Hada y Magik se convierten en los objetivos de estos militares, que no dudarán en utilizar a sus despiadados mutantes para cazar y torturar a los Nuevos Mutantes.

Y debo reconocer que me encantan estos ejercicios de arqueología literaria, con Wells recuperando a la Illyana Niña-Oscura que me volvió loco en los 80, a los trece niños, el Limbo... Buff... Además, por fin descubrimos por qué volvió Illyana, como regresó Legión después de estar perdido en el tiempo, y se presenta un nuevo lado de Bala de Cañón... Y tiene que ver con Inferno. Así que... mola.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This goes pretty deep into parts of X-Men that I don't know very well and it was mostly okay. The tone is darker than in previous volumes and the stakes feel higher but the mix of demons, mad science, and Cthulhu stuff never really clicked for me. Maybe part of it is because I still feel like whatever is going on with Magik is not really explained even though it is important to the story. I also felt like the character development towards Ulysses was there but the heroes of the story are still a bit flat. The ending was by far the best part where a hero who I like and doesn't always get to shine does in a big way. I feel like this series is treading water with me and hasn't really grabbed my attention since the first volume so it may be time to move on to something else soon if it doesn't improve.

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una gran bella saga.
I membri del gruppo, in mano a Wells, continuano a evolversi e a maturare. Trame a lunga gittata trovano completamento, e ci si riallaccia addirittura al motivo per cui Illyana è tornata sulla Terra al salvataggio di Karma.

Atmosfere cupe, scelte difficili, e una mastermind che per ottenere il proprio scopo manipola tutti quanti con spietata efficienza. Per l'ennesima volta, dopo chissà quanti fallimenti.

Un'ottima Illyana, ma molto buone anche le caratterizzazioni di Sam e Dani. Di sicuro una storia importantissima per il Limbo, che avrà enormi ripercussioni su questa zona del multiverso Marvel.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when a writer can bring up an old idea, no matter how old, that might have been dropped or forgotten and tie it to a current storyline. Most times its strictly nostalgia that makes me like those stories but here Zeb Wells does an amazing job of plucking something from the past and hammering you with it in the present. While stories involving Limbo usually don’t offer anything new, this was not the case here. I really enjoyed Wells’ plot and his dialogue really fits each individual character. The art by Leonard Kirk was solid. Overall, this was a fun collection that could be enjoyed by new readers and loved but old time X-Men fans!

[William Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not going to hold it against Zeb Wells that he was a writer for the godawful Adult Swim staple Robot Chicken, because It doesn't detract from the fact that he can write the hell out of a comic book. Although the start of this series was as bland as can be, this mashup between 'Inferno' and 'Fall of the Mutants' may not exactly have a huge impact on the X-verse, but it is pretty damn fun. The only drawback is the fact that the characterization is still weak. Wells just doesn't know these characters. Either that or he's afraid to dig in deep and get his hands dirty. And as I've said, the key to a great ongoing is the characterization.

Writing: B-
Art: B-

[Bia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book is perfect. It's so so refreshing to see all the new mutants together (even though Rahne's not here) and as an Illyana girlie this was really top notch. However, after Zeb Wells leaves (which coincides with Illyana also leaving the team) this gets really bad really fast. I get what they were going for with them all sharing the same apartment but I think, with that sort of story, there's a very thin line between compelling writing and Avengers Tower Clint-lives-in-the-vents fanfic. The dialogue gets old really quick too. In the first half they had a good banter going on. That issue right after they come back from limbo and Roberto keeps nagging Shan to show him her prosthetic is perfect. It encapsulates so perfectly their dynamic like I don't think there's a team that feels more like siblings than the new mutants. But the second half is really bad with the quips. Avengers Tower fanfic kinda writing. I also took issue with the new formation not because I'm some sort of purist like as controversial as that book is I really love dead souls and there's like two original new mutants in that. It's just that the writer who makes me care about Nate Grey is still to be born. Like why is he there I'm still trying to understand. Also another thing that bothered me endlessly were the romantic pairings like Dani and Sam are such a flavorless couple in my opinion. I always saw them as siblings and tinting his worry for her with romance honestly made their interactions less fun to look at. Same goes for Roberto and Amara like it's so uncompelling it's crazy. Amara is very umcompelling. In vol. 1 she was written very blandly and has not been able to shake that out since. I don't even have to talk about Dani and Nate like leave her be!!! Upsides this book was really good for Illyana and Doug fans. Even for Douglock fans like the scene of Doug's corpse killing Warlock is sooo good. He gets a lot of attention in this book but again the later half is really lacking so his newfound powers get old really soon like he rewrote a virus's genome maybe three times and also they try to make him sound very smart by using tough words but it doesn't work. The art in the last four issues was really good too

[Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Mutants: Fall of the New Mutants (reviewed as part of the New Mutants by Zeb Wells Complete Collection)
By Zeb Wells(Writer), Leonard Kirk (Penciller)
Published by Marvel, 2010

Synopsis: After a tough battle, the team recovers. But when a new enemy with ties to Limbo makes their presence known, The New Mutants have to fall to hell.

Review:
The Mutants go back to hell. Again. Our heroes have to go back to hell after the events of X-Infernus to save Pixie and to stop the mysterious Project Purgatory. The stakes are high as Project Purgatory want to use a Bloodstone to summon the old gods to destroy Limbo. There is definitely enough action to suit your needs. This is what i can consider the book end of Magik's Darkchylde stories. Zeb Wells took a plot line that was left dormant and built a long term story from it. Kirk's art fits with the tone of the story and isn't that much of a change of Neves's art in this run.

Star Rating = 4 stars out of 5
Its a fun story with some stakes. Nothing groundbreaking but that doesn't have to be for me to enjoy it.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the worst, not the best arc for New Mutants. It's kind of a wrap-up of an Magik storyline that had been started in a previous collected edition. The New Mutants are all there in fine form battling a military squadron who had been left in Limbo, along with a bunch babies from the Inferno storyline that grow up to be a bunch of twisted, sadistic assholes. Karma is sidelined pretty quickly (as is necessary, unfortunately, when writers don't want to deal with her powers, but she has a pretty neat, and important role.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still continuing my great x-read of 2017/2018 and I am WAY behind on reviews due to a move and limited down time. I will be updating everything I have read in the meantime with tiny (or nonexistent) reviews so I can catch up again...

I loved some things here - the fact that the writer brought back a dangling plotline from Inferno is a huge plus in my book - but the storyline didn't exactly win me over.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the Second Coming event yet, so I went into this book a little confused. But that's sort of par for the course as we have a bunch of US military folks who were trapped in Limbo as our primary antagonists. We get a better explanation why this version of Magik is here and we get one very weird final conflict. The ending sort of make sense with respect to the context of this particular run of the New Mutants, but I can't say I was 100% happy with it.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, that was dark. And often quite gross (Limbo stuff is creepy). But it had something most superhero comics can’t muster—a genuine sense of peril. And it had something else that most superhero comics can’t offer—a feeling of real consequence for the characters. I was really drawn in by the horrors that they had to face, and the changing relationships within the group. Great job, Mr. Wells!

And shout out to the main artist Leonard Kirk, of X-Factor fame. Never lets me down.

[RND · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this got dark. And intense. A good sense of escalation, desperation, things coming apart-- lent to the suspense. Also nice and trippy, as you had Limbo and all those time shenanigans, plus Legion's mind.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I basically wrote a review of three volumes of this series all at once. For the details, read my review of New Mutants, Volume 2: Necrosha.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wells really runs the team through the gauntlet here. The storylines really harken back to some of the best, most ambitious, and goofiest of the original series. But I really enjoyed this volume.

[Cal Brunsdon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most fun, loose, measured volume of the series of far. Enjoyed this a lot. Great characterization, especially for the villains. Some enjoyable payoffs for long-time X-fans.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely needed to reread the previous comic in this series first, but I loved exploring Illy's motives more, as well as Limbo! Also, one word: LEGION.
TW's for Limbo, torture, experimentation on babies (talked about, never seen), talk of death.

[Jeff Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pretty gritty continuation of the New Mutants' previous adventures as they try to recuperate from the ordeals they'd just experienced, and end up getting sucked into a major mess due to an ironic twist that links back to the team's earliest days, and the original Inferno crossover. I did like the new characters that were developed as antagonists, as I found them to be interesting and effective as a unit, which made it all the more disappointing that most of them ended up dead by the end of the story arc. The stronger points of this would be the characterization and relationship developments that occur throughout the course of the issues. Inferno has always been one of my least favorite events in X-Men history, though, which is probably why connecting to that didn't really thrill me all that much.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have liked most of this series, probably mostly out of nostalgia. I remember reading the original series and eventually gave up around the time that Rob Liefield came around and screwed things up. Zeb Wells has done a consistent job with building the characters and the main artist, Leonard Kirk finds a way to make them look similar to their original design and body type. Other, more recent artists try too hard to grow most of them up, but Kirk manages to make them look older in a believable way.

The story is pretty grim and violent for a Marvel comic. The writer manages to tread familiar, over-used tropes like a trip to Limbo and a group of powerful, but ultimately disposable bad guys. And still, the story manages to be a fun read.

[Trieu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another New Mutants story focused around Magik. Can we move on to someone/something else already? I was excited to see her return to the X-team, but it's kind of hard to actually enjoy when all the writers portray her as a cold sadistic bitch.

[Katja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very enjoyable, even though I had read some of the issues individually already. I don't know how I feel about Illyana not necessarily being a good guy, but I like the Limbo storyline.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really like jumping into a series part way through, but this one turned out okay. I rather enjoyed this one and will definitely go back and read the beginning of the series.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times, it's hard to follow, but this is an excellent capstone to both Wells' run on the New Mutants and to 25 years worth of stories about Illyana and Limbo.