New Mutants #3 // Review
Armor and Glob decide to find all the mutants who haven’t come to Krakoa in New Mutants #3, by writer Ed Brisson, artist Flaviano, colorist Carlos Lopez, and letterer Travis Lanham. While the main team is out in space, Ed Brisson shifts the focus over to Armor and Glob for a story that seems a little low stakes… until things get real.
Armor and Glob are enjoying the island of Krakoa and all the new opportunities it has given, but Armor can’t help but think about all the mutants who aren’t there. She goes to Sage, and together, they run down some of the missing mutants, before coming to Beak, his girlfriend Angel Salvadore, and their children. She goes and talks to Glob, and they decide to go and find them, and Armor realizes why Beak hasn’t come to Krakoa. She makes her way to the Akademos, where the various groups of young mutants live to see Sunspot about getting some Krakoan drugs, but only finds Boom Boom there. She’s been left behind by her friends and desires adventure, but Armor and Glob are only going to Nebraska. Boom Boom volunteers to get the Krakoan drugs for Armor, and two days later, Armor and Glob prepare to leave the island. They are joined by Manon and Maxime and make their way to a farm in Nebraska. They find Beak and Angel there. They have a nice reunion before Armor tells Beak he knows why they’ve stayed at the farm- Beak’s father is sick. Armor gives him the Krakoan drug, and it cures the degenerative mental disease Beak’s father has contracted. Unfortunately, the happiness over his recovery is marred as a group comes and takes the children hostage demanding Krakoan drugs and armed with anti-mutant weaponry.
Putting the focus of this issue on Armor and Glob is a great move. Brisson showed a lot of love for Glob and Armor during his time writing Old Man Logan, and they have always been two underrated characters. Armor is the prime mover of the whole plot- after years of having to hide, it feels good for her to see mutants have a place where they don’t have to pretend to be something they are not… but because everyone isn’t there, it’s not as great as it could be for her. She wants all mutants to experience Krakoa, to experience true freedom. It’s a noble goal.
Seeing Beak and Angel again is also pretty nice, but Brisson makes no mention of how they lost their powers after M-Day, which is a bit strange when Armor is talking about them to Sage. This isn’t a mistake he would usually make. Boom Boom has a manic energy to her that is a little uncharacteristic but makes sense when one realizes that all of her friends in the world just left her behind to have an outer space adventure to retrieve her ex-boyfriend. Brisson brings in Manon and Maxime, the mysterious psychic twins from Extermination, and it will be interesting to see what role they play in things. So far, they seem like they want to cause some trouble in the name of boredom, and that could be a lot of fun. Finally, the ending takes what seems like a lovely little story and injects some drama and danger into the whole thing, setting the stage for the next issue… maybe when a certain adventure-seeking mutant shows up to save the day?
The art by Flaviano is pretty great. His linework is strong, his characters are expressive, and the pages are very detailed. Carlos Lopez’s coloring really complements the pencils. There are a lot of bright colors that make the whole thing pop and set the mood. This is a mostly lighthearted story, until the end, and the coloring fits that. It even fits the ending, as bad things can happen even in the bright light of day. The art team works together very well.
New Mutants #3, even with its cliffhanger ending, is decidedly low stakes. Brisson fleshes out Armor, giving her a quest to share the happiness and security of Krakoa with all of mutantkind. It would have been nice if he would have given Glob some more lines (because Glob is very entertaining in Brisson’s hands), but Brisson has a deep love of the character that will hopefully mean he gets used more. The addition of Manon and Maxime is also very cool, as readers of Extermination didn’t really learn much of anything about them. They’re an unknown factor, and it will be interesting to see how they react to things. It was weird that Boom Boom wasn’t included in the book before now, but Brisson definitely has plans for her. The art by Flaviano and Carlos Lopez is wonderful. This issue isn’t as much fun as the first two, but it’s still just as entertaining.
