New Mutants #52: Didn't This Book Used To Be Set In A School, Or Something?

The New Mutants are back at Westchester. They left during the Mutant Massacre to rescue Karma but then things have happened, and they've fought Magus, been to Limbo, met Robert the Bruce, seen two different futures, and encountered Professor X and the Starjammers. Although they've often only scraped through these adventures, this clearly puts them at a power level and competency that questions the premise.

So. Back at Westchester, and they are in the Danger Room with an extended sequence versus the Marauders. They lose badly, which conveniently nerfs them back to an appropriate power level for the format of the series: a bunch of students who get into japes despite the wishes of their teachers and escape by the skin of their teeth.

That's half the plot, anyway. The rest is Magik and Magneto. The comparison between the two is made a little blunter than usual: Magik has her demons to deal with (they're rebelling against her, and she dare not use the full extent of her power to put them down), and so does Magneto, as he points out. Except that his are metaphorical, and hers are literal. You see what he did there! Subtle.

So, that's about it. Nerfing and some characterisation. Will it work, though? The New Mutants have and done so much in the last few issues that going back to the school feels so... small. Coming back to my Buffy analogy, it feels like that scene of "The Body" where we're just following Dawn at school and she has no idea what's happening. After what has happened, you can't go back. You just can't. And there is still that outstanding question of Karma's brother and sister (Magneto assures her that he's doing what he can - presumably through the Hellfire Club).

In a reply to a letter, an announcement is made that Louise Simonson will be taking over New Mutants from #55 for a brief period while Chris Claremont takes a break to write a novel, "Firstflight" (Ace). I know the publication history: Claremont'll never come back, and eventually Rob Liefeld will start doing the art, and turn the series into X-Force. You can see the germ of it here.