50. New Mutants vol 1 #18 to 20 ... Marvel ...

The big 5-0 ... deserves something meaningful and for me, it is the New Mutants. This is the first series that I collected almost regularly from #17 to about the #60s ... after that it became spotty because of 2 things: Bret Blevins on art and the meandering storyline ... but that's another story for another day

For these 3 issues, I got them off a mate who decided to sell and I was so glad because I had 17 and then 21 and 23 onwards. This is back in the old old old days before internet orders for back issues. So getting back issues are never easy and a hunt to be treasured. Sometimes, I think that adds to the charm of comic collecting, eh? Kind of like stamp and coin collecting

Okay. The cast consists of Cannonball, Sunspot, Magma, Magik, Rahne and Dani Moonstar (Psyche or some such lame ass name that she uses). This arc focuses on Dani. In the past few issues, there is a hint that she is fearing a mystical bear that supposedly made her an orphan coming back after her. Her teammates thought it is a groundless fear but then Dani started programming the Danger Room with bear scenarios. As her power is Psyche and will not really kill a demonic bear, she decided to practise with real arrows

Anyway the bear turns out to be real and not in her imagination and it comes from some nasty badlands in an alternate earth where its power is strong and it is trying to break through to our world. So it comes after Dani and injures her badly. However, it could not finish its job in one go and comes back for round 2 only to find the Mutants around. They were stunned the first time and almost got their asses handed to them. However, marshalling all their limited resources together, they decided to go after the bear next and prayed that it was enough

Highlights from these issues? The Bad Ass Artwork

Bill Sienkiewicz showed everyone that comic art can be real art. Check out the 3 covers. They have the same techniques on background but different styles on foreground. 18 is almost real. 19 is cartoony and 20 is a mix between real (Magik) and cartoony exaggeration (Magma). And as for the interiors? It's a lot of shadows, blobs and splashes of inks everywhere. I also loved the way he uses a chart to show the bear's influence on the grounds spreading. Good work!

Ratings: 10/10