New Mutants #16
The teens of Krakoa, and Shadow King and Monarch, give the New Mutants a hard time in New Mutants #16, by writer Vita Ayala, artist Rod Reis, and letterer Travis Lanham. A lot of things happen in this issue, but there's so much that it's kind of hard to care about all of it.
Three young mutants sneak into Otherworld for a scavenger hunt, but only two make it out, with one being offered help by Monarch, the insane Jamie Braddock. Back on Krakoa, Anole, Scout, No-Girl, and Rain Boy find Cosmar and reassure her when Shadow King shows up and uses his powers in conjunction with No-Girl's to switch everyone's minds and bodies so Cosmar can experience what it's like to be normal. There are consequences from the action, which Shadow King downplays, a move that angers Scout and makes leave the group. Magik punishes the students who thought it was funny to bully Scout when the two mutants who escaped Otherworld come to the New Mutants for help, and Mirage and Karma decide to go to Otherworld to investigate. Wolfsbane goes to the Boneyard to ask X-Factor about her child's resurrection, and they give her news- his back-up can't be found, him being half-god is making the whole process more difficult, and he has to be out there somewhere. Instead of giving her hope, it just drives her further into despair, despair compounded by Mirage and Karma being gone when they were supposed to accompany her to Arbor Magna. In Otherworld, Mirage and Karma begin their search for the lost young mutant but are captured by the Fae.
From a strictly character standpoint, this is a very good issue. Ayala hits all the right emotional notes with the characters- Scout's resolve and distrust of Shadow King, Wolfsbane's despair, Magik's glee at punishing the bullies, Mirage's role as the one who helps everyone, and more. These are the parts of the book where Ayala really shines. They get the characters and how to use them in the story, but the story is the problem.
There are just way too many plotlines going on in this issue, and it's kind of hard to care about any of that. The part with the Shadow King is interesting, and a whole story arc could be built just on the New Mutants saving Krakoa's youth from his influence, but Ayala adds in the whole Otherworld thing, and it just sort of feels like it's too much. Otherworld is not nearly as interesting as the X writers like to think it is, and it's hard to see how this part is going to pay off at all unless it's somehow related to the Shadow King storyline. In fact, there's something that's very ADHD about the plot lines of this comic- it keeps bouncing around kind of aimlessly in places.
Reis's art is… well, if one is not a fan of it already, nothing in this issue is going to make a fan of them. It's definitely better than the last issue, but it still has a lot of the same problems. The detail is better in most places, and there are some cool set pieces, but his character models are still not great.
New Mutants #16 does a great job with the characters, but the plots are all over the place. Perhaps Ayala is trying to say something about the ADHD generation with the way plots keep jumping around seemingly at random. Ayala's plots have a lot of potential, but there's just too much stuffed into this issue, and the story feels like it's lost its focus. Reis's art can be good, but it's definitely an acquired taste. New Mutants has a lot of promise, and this issue is okay. There's just way too much going on.