New Mutants #17
Mirage and Karma storm Roma’s castle in New Mutants #17, by writer Vita Ayala, artist Rod Reis, and letterer Travis Lanham. A lot is going on in this issue beyond that, though, and it makes for a slow but interesting read.
A lot is going on in this book. It starts with Shadow King talking to Wolfsbane about her problems and how by helping others, she can help herself. From there, it touches on Karma and Mirage’s mission for Merlin as they sneak into Roma’s castle, and from there, it goes to Cosmar, Rain Boy, and Anole, trying to figure out how to transfer their consciousness to other bodies. The story splits between them, with Mirage and Karma encountering Roma in a rather unexpected encounter that grants them precisely what they need and Anole trying to get Gabby to get a cadaver for them to use to test out their theories. It all ends with the realization that Karma’s brother Tran may still be hanging around in her head even so many years after she killed him.
Ayala lays a lot of plot in this issue, with some interesting results. One of the most interesting is when Mirage and Karma find the mutant they’re looking for, and he doesn’t want to go back to Krakoa. Josh is perfectly happy in Otherworld, and that’s pretty much the first time a mutant has ever not gone back to Krakoa, and it paints the island as maybe not so perfect. There’s kind of been an undercurrent that maybe Krakoa isn’t all it’s cracked up to be from the way Shadow King is able to manipulate things to how Anole responds to Gabby being able to pass for human and be beautiful, the paradise of Krakoa doesn’t hold all the answers for everyone.
It’s an interesting way to go, and it will be interesting to see if Ayala keeps it up. Krakoa has a lot of flaws, and seeing them illustrated in this way really gets readers thinking about if this whole thing is right for everyone. Mutants are just people, and putting them together like this is stirring things up. Mutants like Anole, Rain Boy, and Cosmar are rubbing elbows with the pretty mutants, and it’s affecting them. People like Shadow King are running around preying on those weaker than them. The end reveal that Tran Coy Manh might still be alive in his sister’s mind is interesting, but the subtext of Ayala’s run is much more exciting and worth coming back for.
Reis’s art is hit or miss. His work is very stylized, and if the reader likes it, then it works, but if they don’t, there’s a lot of places where it could be better. Much like his last few issues, there are places where it looks better than others.
New Mutants #17 has some intriguing things going on under the surface that make it better than it would be. The story going through the book is fascinating because of what it says about mutants and what’s happening to them on Krakoa. However, the book’s other plots are alright at best. Reis’s art is highly subjective, with some good parts and some parts that might not appeal to everyone. New Mutants works more because of what’s under the surface than what’s on it.
