Comics: New Mutants #72

NEW MUTANTS #72
February 1989
"Demon Reign"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

The New Mutants side of X-Terminators #4 is shown here, with us following Magik as she flees through the demonized Manhattan and the rest of the Mutants help dissolve the portal to Limbo above the city. I'm almost always a fan of comics that show other sides of the same story (like the improv form Tracers...and no one reading this review gets that reference...) so I got some enjoyment out of that. But on the whole, I feel that this issue is really just average. The characters are all acting like themselves, the plot is fine, and I get a geek thrill out of seeing the seeds of X-Force planted here with Boom Boom and Rictor going on their first mission with Cannonball and Sunspot. Nerd grin! Also Blevins' art wins me over as always. It's so youthful and kinetic, I really enjoy it. Where'd he go after New Mutants was up?

I don't really like most of the bits with Magik, like her getting a demonic makeover, and I also just generally don't care for magic based stories. So, "Inferno" is going to be rad, I can tell. I just think that magic based stories have no real rules that the reader knows. Like as a reader I can put a terrorist story or a bank robbery or anything that actually happens in real life in context. Magic based stories feel like you're playing a game with someone who keeps making up rules. Of course this defeats that, sure why not. There's no realism to back it up and it all just feels kinda fake. That's what most any battle between Magik and N'Astirh feels like. Also I have to wonder what modern coloring would do to this book. Reading these old comics I'm realizing how spoiled I am. Nowadays N'astirh would probably have texturized skin and scales, with gradients of disturbing brown. In 1989 he's just one big color block of brown. I'd love to see this stuff touched up now.

So another okay issue. Characters I'm biased towards liking and snappy art barely outweigh the fact that I'm getting tired of all this demonic mumbo-jumbo.

MY SCORE: 7.9/10