New Mutants #21
As Warpath and his students confront a problem on the moon, the rest of the team makes a terrible discovery in New Mutants #21, by writer Vita Ayala, artist Rod Reis, and letterers Travis Lanham and Joe Caramagna. Ayala juggles a lot of plots in the air in this issue, and it works way better than it has any right to.
On the moon, Warpath and his students clean the Summers' House dome of space parasites when one of the students discovers a rampaging Brood warrior. In the Arbor Magna, Rahne confronts Rain Boy, Anole, Cosmar, and No-Girl in Scout's body about why they're there. They give her their reasoning, and Tempus tells them that they'll resurrect Scout regardless. Mirage and Karma talk about what's been happening lately with Rahne as Warpath, and his students battle the Brood. Gabby gets resurrected and goes after Rahne, and everyone learns what happened to both Gabby and Rahne because of the Shadow King. On the moon, Warpath loses it and destroys the rest of the Brood all on his own, just as Broo shows up to warn them about what happened. In the Akademos Sextant, Mirage and Karma go to Magik with their concerns for Rahne, with Magik is ready to take down Shadow King when Rahne shows up to let them know what Shadow King is. However, he might be prepared for them.
Sometimes, when a comic tries to overstuff itself with plots, it can be fraught with peril. Ayala is able to sidestep this expertly. Each plot gets just the right amount of pages to make them work. Most of the book is reserved for the main of most of their run. The Shadow King's influence over the New Mutants and their students has gotten more and more apparent and not in a good way. It's all out in the open now, and Ayala has expertly set up a confrontation.
The section with Warpath and his students is the meat of the chapter's action and shows just how good of a teacher he is, as his students are working together perfectly. Mutant technology is a big part of the Krakoan status quo, mutants using their powers in unison to do things they couldn't do on their own. Warpath has taught them to work well together, but students need their teacher, and he cuts loose in this issue, easily ripping through the Brood. Ayala opens another subplot, as Broo has seemingly lost control of some of the Brood. Ayala has shown that they are an expert in juggling multiple characters and plots with this issue while also setting things up for the future. They also introduce a new element to the resurrection protocol vis-a-vis clones, and it will be interesting to see how the whole thing pans out in the future.
Reis is back on art, and this is the best his art has been in a long time. It feels like he took the time to refresh his creative batteries, and it's paid off very well for the book. His figure work is more concrete than usual, and everything looks amazing. The action scene looks great, the more emotional aspects of the book look great, and the last page is just amazing.
New Mutants #21 is just another example of how good Ayala has made this book during their run. Each plot gets the room it needs to breathe, and each one is interesting. There's a sense of momentum to the whole thing that really makes the whole thing work very well. Reis is back on pencils, and it's the best his art has been in a long time. All in all, New Mutants #21 is another fantastic issue.
