Review: ‘New Mutants’ #14 Charts A Dangerous New Path

Of all the relaunched Dawn of X books, New Mutants struggled the most to find its identity. However with the Reign of X and a new creative team, not only has the book found a purpose, it’s found the most terrifying path possible.

It’s a new dawn for the series and gives readers a lot of hope for what’s to come. This new path is charted by Vita Ayala, Rod Reis, Travis Lanham and Tom Muller.

The youth of Krakoa are not okay. It’s up to Dani Moonstar and the New Mutants to take them under their wing and lead them into a more productive path forward. Unfortunately, they might be too late as a familiar sinister presence has gotten to some of them first!

Ayala is a breath of fresh air for this title. It frankly has felt aimless since the first arc, and now under their pen, it’s got not only a direction and purpose, but a foundation for future stories. Many fans have wanted a story that is rooted in Krakoan culture, and they seem determined to write it here. Their take on the villain, while brief, is also horrifying, and that made for a great read. The story may still have some growing pains in the character voices but I have no doubt that Ayala will build this into an incredibly strong run.

It was a joy to see Reis back on the title. He has a fantastic grasp of the characters, infusing everyone on the page, not just the leads, with tons of personality. His Warlock alone is worth picking the book up, giving us the best take on the character in maybe thirty years. His action scenes are dynamic, and his horror is chilling. It’s a beautiful issue, and absolutely worth checking out.

Best of all, the team has given us more about what it’s like to live on Krakoa as a young mutant than anyone else has so far in just one issue. This isn’t the Crucible or the Resurrection Protocols. This issue gives us the mundane day to day lives of Krakoan mutants (which naturally isn’t mundane). It gives us insight into how things are being done, and how the actions of the various series are affecting the whole island. It’s about time we get stories like this.

As a whole, I can’t recommend this issue enough. On the promise of this issue alone, I’d say any fan should get ready for a great new run.

New Mutants #14 is available now from Marvel Comics.