New X-Men

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New X-Men
(l-r) Elixir, Hellion, Dust, Gentle, Rockslide, Prodigy, Anole, Surge, Pixie, Mercury, X-23 The New X-Men in X-Men: Messiah Complex. Art by Humberto Ramos.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Number of issues	46 (List of story arcs)
Main character(s)	Disbanded Previous: Surge Hellion Dust Elixir Mercury Rockslide X-23 Prodigy Anole Pixie Gentle Xavier Institute students
Creative team as of June 2007
Writer(s)	Craig Kyle Christopher Yost
Artist(s)	Randy Green Michael Ryan Paco Medina Mark Brooks Skottie Young Humberto Ramos
Colorist(s)	Jean Francois Beaulieu
Creator(s)	Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir Michael Ryan

New X-Men was a superhero comic book series published from by Marvel Comics within the X-Men franchise. After the end of Grant Morrison's run on X-Men (vol. 2) titled New X-Men, the title was used for a new series, New X-Men: Academy X, serving as a continuation of the second volume of New Mutants. The title was later shortened to simply New X-Men.

New X-Men: Academy X, relaunched from New Mutants volume 2, was launched during the X-Men ReLoad event. It resumes directly where the most recent New Mutants series ended, with the same writers, artists and cast of characters. The Academy X subtitle was dropped from the title when the new creative team of Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost took over the series with issue #20.

Whereas the other X-Men comics mostly deal with established adult mutants, this comic concentrates on the lives of young students residing at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning as they learn to control their powers and, as of late, to survive the backlash against mutants that befell them as part of House of M.

After the 2007 crossover Messiah CompleX, the New X-Men title was canceled. It was replaced by Young X-Men in April 2008, a series written by Marc Guggenheim and featuring a small squad of the X-Men students, some from Kyle and Yost's run and some new faces.

Founding

New Mutants/New X-Men began where Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men ended. The school was rebuilt and Emma Frost and Cyclops were named the headmasters of the school. They organized the students fifteen-year-olds and older into several squads who trained together.

Featured are two teams, the New Mutants, whose members tend to be more clean-cut, and the Hellions, whose members are generally more belligerent. The rivalry—not only academically, but certainly also in private matters—plays a significant role in the series.

The cast of this series are described in the following paragraphs.

Squads

New Mutants squad

The New Mutants squad's tutor is Dani Moonstar. It is co-led by Wind Dancer and Prodigy.

• Wind Dancer, a.k.a. Sofia Mantega. A girl from Venezuela who controls winds and could hear others' voices carried by the wind from far away. Wind Dancer lost her powers as a result of M-Day and was thought to go back to Venezuela, but it was later revealed she stayed in New York and has since joined the New Warriors.
• Prodigy, a.k.a. David Alleyne, could absorb any non-superhuman talents from nearby people. Although depowered now, he has regained the knowledge talents originally acquired before M-Day. (Depowered)
• Icarus, a.k.a. Jay Guthrie, can fly, sing mesmerizingly and heal himself rapidly. Jay's wings were amputated in issue 20 and was killed in issue 26 of the series by Reverend Stryker.
• Wallflower, a.k.a. Laurie Collins, exudes pheromones which alter the feelings of other people. Killed in issue 25 by the Purifiers.
• Elixir, a.k.a. Josh Foley, is an Omega-class biological manipulator who ironically was a rabid mutant-hater before he found out he was one himself.
• Surge, a.k.a. Noriko Ashida, is a Japanese girl who constantly absorbs static electricity and can discharge it as electric blasts or bursts of superhuman speed.

Hellions squad

The Hellions squad's tutor is Emma Frost. It is led by Hellion.

• Hellion, a.k.a. Julian Keller, is telekinetic.
• Dust, a.k.a. Sooraya Qadir, is a shy girl from Afghanistan who can turn herself into a living whirlwind of dust. She regularly dresses in a niqab. Has presently joined the Young X-Men team.
• Mercury, a.k.a. Cessily Kincaid, a shapeshifter whose body is composed of non-toxic liquid mercury.
• Rockslide, a.k.a. Santo Vaccaro, able to manifest a physical body made up of solid rock from the immediate environment and launch limbs at great velocity. Has presently joined the Young X-Men team.
• Tag, a.k.a. Brian Cruz, could psionically "tag" a person so that bystanders are compelled to run away from the person. Was killed on the bus ambushed by the Purifiers along with several other depowered mutants.
• Wither, a.k.a. Kevin Ford, can destroy organic matter on touch. He accidentally killed his father when his powers manifested.

Other squads

There are also other teams advised by different X-Men. For a complete list of students prior to Decimation see Xavier Institute student body.

• The Alpha Squadron squad leader was Karma (Xi'an "Shan" Coy Manh), but were formerly taught by Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier). The squad itself consists of:
  • Anole, a.k.a. Victor Borkowski (leader). Has presently joined the Young X-Men team.
  • Rubbermaid, a.k.a. Andrea Margulies (depowered and killed)
  • Indra, a.k.a. Paras Gavaskar. It was discovered that he was the youngest mutant alive, not including Franklin Richards, the Stepford Cuckoos, and Tito Bohusk.
  • Kidogo, a.k.a. Lazaro Kotikash (depowered)
  • Loa, a.k.a. Alani Ryan
  • Network, a.k.a. Sarah Vale (depowered and killed)

• The Corsairs squad leader was Cyclops (Scott Summers). The squad consists of:
  • The Stepford Cuckoos, a.k.a. Celeste, Mindee, and Phoebe Cuckoo (co-leaders)
  • Specter, a.k.a. Dallas Gibson (depowered)
  • Dryad, a.k.a. Callie Betto (depowered and killed)
  • Quill, a.k.a. Max Jordan (killed)

• The Paragons squad leader was Magma (Amara Aquilla), but were formerly taught by Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair). The squad consists of:
  • Match, a.k.a. Ben Hammil (leader)
  • Trance, a.k.a Hope Abbott
  • Wolf Cub, a.k.a. Nicholas "Nick" Gleason
  • Pixie, a.k.a. Megan Gwynn
  • DJ, a.k.a. Mark Sheppard (depowered and killed)
  • Preview, a.k.a. Jessica Vale (depowered)

Gambit's own squad was introduced in Uncanny X-Men; it consists of Bling, Flubber (depowered), Rain Boy (depowered) and Onyxx. Rogue's squad, shown in Uncanny X-Men is never named. Storm's squad, mentioned in New X-Men, has one survivor, Gentle.

Two other squads were mentioned- the Excelsiors and the Exemplars- but never named its advisors or members. It is unknown which squads Armor, the deceased Wing, Blindfold, and other miscellaneous students introduced were in.

X-Men trainees

In the aftermath of Decimation, the mutant student body in the academy dropped from 182 to 27. At least 45 depowered students were killed. And out of the remaining students, Emma Frost picks a select group to train as "New X-Men":

As time progressed, several members were added and/or earned the right to be in the team.

The rest of the students are instructed to remain in school grounds, some providing assistance to the current X-men teams and trainees.

Three New Students were introduced in Young X-Men and remained with the X-Men joining the student body providing assistance to the current X-men teams and trainees.

• Ink
• Graymalkin
• Cipher

Some M-day survivors and depowered students were either killed off during villainous attacks by Stryker and his men, other enemies, or left the mansion.

Most of the students listed above were confirmed in New X-Men #21 and in X-Men: The 198 Files. Indra and Quill were confirmed in Decimation - The Day After, while Bling was confirmed in X-Men vol. 2 #177.[1]. Tito Bohusk, one of the children of former Xavier students Beak and Angel, has also retained his mutant powers, which was shown in New Warriors #7.

Storylines

Young X-Men

The new series premieres on the upcoming "Divided We Stand" X-men storyline debuting on April 2008. Young X-Men will be written by Marc Guggenheim and pencilled by Yanick Paquette. The new line-up is seemingly made up of Rockslide, Dust, Blindfold, Wolfcub and three new characters, Ink, Graymalkin and in the second issue Cipher. Recruited by Cyclops, their first mission is to hunt down and destroy the newest incarnation of the Brotherhood. ^[1]

It is also known that four of the original New Mutants--Danielle Moonstar, Magma, Cannonball and Sunspot will be involved with the first story arc as well.

Secret Invasion

In a recent interview, writer Mike Carey revealed that his upcoming "Secret Invasion: X-Men" limited series will feature Cyclops assembling an army consisting of all the surviving past and present members of the various X-Teams to combat the Skrull army in San Francisco. During the interview, the former members of the New X-Men were one of the groups explicitly stated by Carey to be taking part in the battle and recent issues of X-titles have alluded to the presence of former New X-Men and students still residing with the X-Men in San Francisco.

Contributors

Collections

Trade Paperbacks

Hard Covers

External links

• New X-Men on Marvel.com

References