New Mutants #38:
Summary: This issue opens with Cypher waking up from a nightmare with a scream, which wakes all of the other New Mutants up(well, except for Nate, who was staring at the refrigerator...). Cypher tells the team that he had been thinking about Paradise Island and his death at the hands of the Ani-Mator(ugh...) and that he needed to go there to get closure. With that, the team hops a Blackbird and head to the island, where they find nothing, although Warlock's systems start to pick up conflicting reports about life signs on the island... After some searching, the team runs into Birdbrain(UGH!), who flies(heh-heh) into a rage and attacks them. Nate and Warlock manage to halt Birdbrain's rampage, and after a quick scan, Warlock realizes that the multiple life signs he had been picking up was a highly contagious virus... And by coming into contact with Birdbrain, all of the New Mutants had been exposed to it. Moonstar decides to take the team back to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia) to try to find a cure, but Warlock tells the team that he wouldn't allow them to leave the island since they would be carriers of this virus(!), meaning the team was trapped there.
Thoughts: Okay, first a confession... When I first saw what this comic was about(the Ani-Mator, that dumb-ass island, Cypher), I was expecting to hate it... A lot! I was already preparing myself for the worst, but you know what? That was totally unnecessary! I should never have doubted Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's abilities... Stupid X... Anyway, this issue was good. Really good! First off, the Ani-Mator wasn't there, and that right there helped my enjoyment of this issue a load. Seriously, the Ani-Mator makes the Penguin look like a bad-ass... Really. The twist with the virus was also really good, as was Warlock's reaction to it(although you have to wonder if Warlock was also infected or if he was truly immune, as he claimed). Add Nate and Moonstar possibly being interested in each other romantically, and this was a very enjoyable read that should only get better next issue.
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
Oh course she's attracted to him! He's Nate Grey!!
Lol.....lol. Boy! Looks like your dream regarding Nate and Dani is coming true X! It's ya boy RadT with another post on the X-man (and JT) blog and you already know I gotta post a comment or two!
ReplyDeletePreviously, I said down the line possibly, but NOW!....totally didn't see that one coming. This makes things quite interesting with Nate soon to be dating a leader of an X-team! Look like that loser Gutherie is about to be dumped! Lol. This could lead to all sort of love triangles. I mean we have a Gutherie, Hope, and soon to be...Threnody with Nate's baby reaction down the line. Count on that! Beside the Nate/Dani reveal, there is other things I found in this comic that I want to highlight, but have to do so a little later. Just wanted to congratulate you, X75, on getting it right on. Seems I was way off....or am I? Regardless, I'm very excited with this turn of events. Like I said earlier, Nate has been in interracial relationships before and Moonstar is HOT! So that's that :p
HA!! Once Doug said that it appeared Moonstar had feelings for Nate I HAD to laugh, because right away I thought back to our conversation about that very subject! Like you said, it opens up a mess of triangles, with Dani/Nate/Sam, as well as Nate/Dani/Cypher, since he stated that HE also had feelings for Dani in this one! I definitely didn't expect a Dani/Nate relationship to start up so soon, but you know I'm all for it!
ReplyDeleteWell here is the thing.....I didn't really see this Dani/Nate thing coming, but I SHOULD have. For one, Nate and Dani both have something in common. Like Nate, who has lost just about all his powers, Dani has lost all hers. Therefore, Dani understands Nate's situation and can sympathize seeing herself in Nate. Two, DnA said they were gonna give Nate x-royalty treatment, so what better way than to have Nate Grey date the leader of the X-men junior squad! That just made Nate somewhat more significant to most readers of the New Mutant comic book. Not only that, its a strong possibility now that he infact may become a leader as well one of these days. Did that not happen with Dani herself?....did she not become the leader of New Mutants when originally she was dating/expressed feelings for Canonball, the previous leader? Note: According to DnA on a website I read, Canonball is still a member of New Mutants. He's only with Wolverine for therapeutic recuperational reasons; so this new found attraction will have reprecussions when he returns. Also, Dani is revealed to continue as leader of New Mutants for quite sometime and rightly so because she is kind of like a Captain America type character for the mutant race...you know, not the most powerful (in her case, not powerful at all), but still holding it down the job. Also, I believe Lanning stated that Nate would be gradually restoring his power, little by little getting stronger in his abilities. Now that is obvious since referenced after Dani shot that arrow at Nate's heart interrupting Nate and Hope's conversation, almost like a CUPID scenerio. Hmm, makes me wonder: how long was Moonstar ease dropping on Nate and Hope's conversation....she probably shot that arrow on purpose, to break the two up from flirting since its a strong possibility that she had feeling for Nate then...that's totally jealousy from Nate's native female CUPID! Lol. Besides, I thought I heard somewhere that Hope and Moonstar at one time didn't see eye to eye, but maybe I just read that somewhere and there is no merit. Now...I this issue of NM, it was revealed Dani had feelings for Nate, but it appears that Nate has the same level for Dani (whispering argument scene, the concern and pampering of Dani when injured..Nate really didn't check on anybody else). It was funny, for even Amara thought that something was up between those two.
ReplyDeleteAlso within this comic it appears Nate is aware that he's gotten stronger with his TK, but doesn't realize how extensive his power of TK has become. He stated that he can only lift telekinetically what he is physically able to lift. Well if that's the case, there must be a weight room in the apartment and Nate spends alot of time there or at the gym because we now see that Nate can fly, therefore telekinetically lifting his own body weight. Hence, Nate is able to bodyslam somebody his equal weight. Guess he's trying to put on muscle mass like his half-brother counterpart, Cable, since his powerset is limited. I like that idea...get swole Nate, warrior on! Lol. Also that BIRD was a pretty big bird! Looks like it weighed alot more than Nate himself, which means when forced to react (like the arrow Dani shot at Nate's heart) he's able to perform bigger feats with his TK...like hold a 9-foot humanoid bird monster in suspended animation! Love how far Nate's come with TK and hope he continues to be pushed as he steady heals from his nerve injuries and releases even more of his awesome powerset. It appears quite obviously thats DnA's direction with Nate limited power situation. It was stated on the website that Nate had to be depowered to be installed in a team setting in order that reader connect with him and to further build his character. They ideally wanted more from Nate than just sending him out on missions leveling contenders with a massive TK blast amounting to pretty much what his character was in the past. They want the fans of the NM comic book to connect with Nate while his power set gradually returns to him. Therefore, this is why we see the Nate Grey we see in New Mutants #38. It only gets better for Nate for this point forward....he may be significant in the next issue against Warlock, since he wasn't actually slashed and cut by that freakish infected bird like the rest of the team. Instead, it was Nate who halted the bird monstrosity!
ReplyDeleteHey X, I somehow missed the Valentine issue of New Mutants #37! I know that Mephisto was Mr. SweetHeart and all, but did Nate do anything of significance in that issue? Also, regarding the comments about Mephisto being nice when we all know he's evil....my comment is simple. Mephisto is awesome at being a Devil, but just because one is evil doesn't mean that one can never be or do good. It's all about choice. I feel Mephisto chose to be nice without an evil intent, something that was outside the norm. He deliberately chose to be an angel of light, despite the fact he is in truth evil as all get out. It would be no different that normally eating meat, but today for some reason going vegan. Definitely vegan is not my norm, but could I do a day of it if circumstances allowed for it. Sure I could, though I don't prefer.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think about the fact that Moonstar would know better than anybody else what Nate was going through with his recent loss of powers... Good catch, RadT! Yeah, you'd think she should be able to help him get through what he's currently going through, plus a relationship between Dani and Nate would take any possible relationship between Nate and Hope out of the picture.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you can def see that NAte is indeed getting a little bit stronger lately. Just look back at those issues when he lost his powers and how he was pushing himself like crazy and could barely do anything, to now where he was shown as being instrumental in trapping Birdbrain here. That's something there's no way he'd have been able to do like 5 issues ago. And yup, that's why I didn't complain when DnA did de-power Nate here... First, at least they intended to use Nate! Secondly, they simply couldn't bring him in fully powered, squashing every single threat the New Mutants were facing, because then you simply wouldn't need the rest of the team. Now we get a Nate who understands the value of working with a team, so even if he gets like 75% of his powers back, he'll be more apt to work WITH his teammates as opposed to ignoring them and doing everything himself. DnA rule!
I think Sunspot and Nate had a conversation in issue #37, but I think that was the extent of Nate's role there(I'd have to double-check though). I hear you on Mephisto, but I can't shake the feeling that he does have something more sinister in his mind for Magma and the New Mutants... Maybe not, but I def wouldn't be shocked.
Not only would Nate be more apt to working with a team X75!....DnA have created an ingenuis twist persuading him to stay......Danielle Moonstar! In the past during Nate's solo adventures, how long did he stay with his love interests? Take Maddie for instance....Nate literally searched the globe trying to find her and reestablish that relationship. What about Threnody? Nate basically MARRIED her.....he settled down for months, if not a few years, in a loft and did everything a married couple would do. Go out on the town dancing and clubbing, went shopping, watching movies, and even having babies. Once he found out she was still alive after her apparent death, he was willing to stick with her "IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD, IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH" as it were. So much so even if it meant his physical health because Thren revealed she was leeching off both his psionic and failsafe death energy (basically she was the one responsible for speeding up the impending death his great psionics was creating: pre-shaman tattoo). Once that was revealed, what was Nate's reaction?....."So be it as long as I'm with you I don't care what's at stake!" That's loyalty and Nate has a stupendous amount of it! So DnA are most definitely FANS of X-man because his very life essence is carried over in fine detail within New Mutants! I'm totally awe-struck by what they are doing and how they are seriously developing Nate Grey's character while utilizing his very (LIMBO as you put it) history at that! DnA are just simply....AWESOME! SERIOUSLY!
ReplyDeleteNote: the reason I feel Nate may be instrumental in helping his team next issue is due to the fact that the New Mutants have a virus. In the X-man annual, Nate performed an isolation removal of a virus that Sugarman created from an OCEAN with his awesome TK. Thank goodness this time its not an ocean and the virus isn't as big! But I do believe since he has experience with this sort of thing that if he pushes himself, he should be able to save his team and...ahghmm..."GIRLFRIEND," which I must state once again is the leader of X-men Junior Squad aka the New Mutants!
That... is an AWESOME point, RadT! If Nate DOES hook up with Dani, that right there would be his reason to not only stay on whatever team Dani is on, but probably learn all sorts of the teamwork skills Dani has acquired through the years. Like you pointed out, Nate gets VERY obsessive with his girlfriends(maybe that was his immaturity at the time, but still), so I could easily see him basically sticking by Dani's side no matter what... The more I think about it the more I love the potential hook-up between those two because there's so much Nate could learn from Dani.
ReplyDeleteAnd that last note was another great point. At first I kind of dismissed it because Nate's powerset just doesn't seem up to it, but like you astutely pointed out, if Nate DOES have some feelings for Dani, he may very well push his TK to its limits and beyond, and possibly regain a few more of his lost powers... Man, now I'm looking forward to issue #39 even MORE!
Oh, Nate definitely has feelings for Dani. That's undeniable! How do I know? Due to the fact of how Nate showed affection in the panel you scanned which was identical to the affection showed to Maddie in X-man #25 before Jean Grey appeared as well as the scene Nate and Threnody shared when flying over NYC when new to the area and before settling down in the loft (who did the loft originally belong to?...never could figure it out). Another panel showed Nate exclusively cooing Dani out of concern for her injuries similar to that of Maddie and Thren. Those past images are imbedded in my mind and I know when I see it. That there...on those panels are unmistakeably identical. And their set up is perfect, they live in an apartment similar to the loft Nate and Thren lived in.
ReplyDeleteThe greatest strength Nate has is LOVE. It was love that caused Nate to react and protect his girl from harm. What's extremely interesting is that it was based on reactive impulse and all true Nate fans know that's all he ever did during his solo, especially when it involved his main squeeze. See...I told you DnA were gonna merge young Nate with Shaman Nate in regards his persona.
Speaking of his Shaman persona, it appears that Nate in that scene acted as a protector willing to sacrifice himself for his "tribe". Nate saw, not just Dani, but his team getting slaughtered infront of his eyes, so he overexerted himself beyond what he stated he was capable of to ensure no further harm would befall them. So it appears that the New Mutants IS his new TRIBE he will protect...at all cost.
You know what I think is really cool is the fact that, according to DnA, Nate is recovering his power, however, Danielle will remain powerless and lead. With that being the case, would it not seem logical that Nate will be more protective of Dani because she would seem more vulnerable that any of his previous girlfriends who had mutant power of some kind....even though Dani could probably whoop many who have powers. I mean she's not the leader for nothing, right! Who knows, later she may get her powers restored, but I kind of like the fact she doesn't have them nor does she really need them...especially if Nate recovers a great deal of his own. Heck, Nate may be instrumental in helping her recover her powers...who knows.
ReplyDeleteAnother point is that, like you said earlier X, Nate feels indebted to his tribe, the New Mutants, especially Dani & "Cypher" who aided greatly in finding Nate in Sugarman's hideout. Wonder how that love triangle will resolve itself. Ha!
One last thing. Just a side thought really...one that has always crossed my mind. Shaman Nate loved his tribe (earth 616) so much that he sacrificed his very life existence to ensure both human and mutant would survive, right! In doing so, he merged his genetic/psionic DNA bio signature with the Harvester over the entire earth 616 globe, correct? Therefore, that being the case: Is Nate Grey, then, responsible for the appearance/arrival of the Mutant Messiah? Hope Summers is not a genetic relative of the Summers or Grey family bloodline, however, I read somewhere that Hope possesses the Phoenix Genome identical to the late Jean Grey Summers. How is that possible?!...she's not a Grey. Now Blaquesmith did state that Nate Grey was an error in the time continuum and Nate sacrifice happened years before the Mutant Messiah's birth, so....could not a great concentration of Nate's psionic gene signature envelope and implant itself into a single vessel which happens to be Hope Summers (similar to that of Neo in the Matrix movies)?! Possibility?....Therein lies the Nate Grey catch phrase,"You are MY HOPE!". Just a theory...at best.
If I remember my Nate history correctly(and it's been like 6 years since I read Nate's series from 1-75), I thought the loft was somebody's home who went on vacation... Or maybe it was just unused real estate... I can't remember which...
ReplyDelete"See...I told you DnA were gonna merge young Nate with Shaman Nate in regards his persona." I still love that idea and am so glad that DnA are going that route. There were pros and cons to both of Nate's personas, and my greatest pet peeve with Nate's shaman persona was that he had become a TOTALLY different character from the Nate in the first 60-something issues in his series. I love the idea of taking the best parts of both Nates and bringing them together into one single character.
The fact that Nate may go out of his way to protect Dani is interesting... With how independent Dani is, plus the fact that she can obviously take care of herself, that may go a long way in pissing her off. That could be a really interesting facet of their relationship... Nate wanting to protect Dani(since he always seems to lose the ones he loves), while Dani tries to prove to Nate that she doesn't need a protector. It's funny, because since Doug basically has no powers to speak of, he'd be the opposite type of boyfriend to Dani, one who COULDN'T protect her... So she'll either get an overprotective bf or one who can't protect her at all.
The "MY HOPE" line made me laugh so hard... That would be awesome if Nate KNEW that he had created Hope somehow and was basically telling everybody RIGHT THERE and nobody had picked up on it!
But it does seem logical does it not? Shaman Nate knew he would not be able to fulfill his Shamanic assignment to protect tribe 616 if he had to sacrifice his life for it. Therefore, he chose Mike Dorie to take up the mantle. However, if Dorie failed somehow, he had a backup plan to ensure earth 616 would be protected which happens to be Messiah Hope Summers. Hope would then be Nate's insurance policy in fulfilling his Shaman role as Savior and Protector of the Human Mutant Tribe even if he somehow (like being dead or depowered) could not being the shaman savior he originally was. At least such a theory his fitting and has great potential and merit!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, that's a really good theory, RadT! I bet what you just typed out is going to be WAAAAAAAAY better than whatever Marvel does come up with for why Hope is the supposed mutant messiah and all.
ReplyDeleteI loved this issue. I loved the old-school "New Mutants," and Doug's death had a huge impact on me as a 12-year-old. To see them return to Paradise Island, to see Bird-Brain, etc.: it was awesome. I loved the Dani/Nate moments. I'm a huge Cannonball fan, but those two don't have anywhere near the chemistry Dani/Nate do. Interesting times. It's like the old days.
ReplyDeleteHA! I had a very contrasting view of the whole Paradise Island/Ani-Mator thing, JW... I was probably in my early 20's when I got my hands on the full New Mutants run(when I was 12 the New Mutants had already graduated to X-Force). At that age the whole concept just seemed... Lame, I guess. But then, and I hate to say it, I really didn't enjoy a lot of the later issues of New Mutants... I was way more in to the work Claremont had done(which is weird since I'm not the biggest fan of his Uncanny X-Men run like most X-fans), and thought the quality REALLY fell off when Simonson and Liefeld took over. Simonson had some good things in there(adding Boom-Boom and Rictor for one), but that series seemed so listless towards the end. Knowing what I do now about comics, I'm sure it was all Rob Liefeld's fault though. :P
ReplyDeleteJust come across this blog as a big Nate fan from back in the day! I came up with a theory after the Dark X-Men storyline that the whole de-powering thing was going to turn out to be a gambit on Nate's part, including removing his own memory of the plan, as I thought the way he lost to Osborne didn't seem to make a huge amount of sense to me, but I just put that down to me being a Nate fanboy annoyed that he couldn't beat Norman Osborne in a mental duel. Until this issue, where Nate stands staring at the calendar and can't explain why he was looking at it made me wonder if there really is something he found out but got blocked from his memory. (My theory was that he saw a future where hope copied his powers and lost control catastrophically, similar to what Nate was afraid he might do in his old series. *shrugs* )
ReplyDeleteAwesome, always glad to hear from another huge fan of Nate, Crystarr! He's been my favorite character for years now(as the name of this blog would attest!), and he's one of those characters that I could(and do!) spend hours talking about!
ReplyDeleteNate staring at the calendar HAD to have some sort of great significance you'd think... I mean maybe he DID manage to hide/block his own powers and then kept that information from everybody, including himself. After being captured by Osborn and then Sugar Man, it could be that Nate felt the need to make the world think he didn't have his alpha-level power-set anymore. That way he'd be able to operate in secret... I mean maybe when Nate's body goes to sleep, his mind is still out there doing the stuff he used to do as a shaman. Or, like you said, he MAY have realized that a mutant like Hope would go WAY out of control if she managed to leech his powers, and he wanted to make sure that wasn't a possibility for as long as Hope is alive... The idea of Nate hiding his powers from everybody, Nate included is an interesting one, and something I can honestly say I didn't give any thought to before now...