New Mutants #22 Review

Writers: Vita Ayala / Artist: Rod Reis / Marvel Comics New Mutants has been a really great book for so many reasons. My favorite is the dichotomy of what goes on between the panels. On one side, the youth of Krakoa are being trained to defend their mutant island nation and mature into the heroes they’re destined to be. On the flipside, the mutants tasked with educating the budding heroes have to be ready to respond to Krokoan, Earthly (and worse) threats, on top of teaching the youngins. In New Mutants #22, the Shadow King meddling has finally come to a head. After killing clone Gabby, the New Mutants team pays Farouk a visit in his cave in the Wild Hunt to talk. I’m sure you can guess how well that convo went in the end. But before that end came, I really enjoyed the back and forth between Dani Moonstar, Shadow King, and them, because both sides had such excellent points. Vita Ayala set the stage for the perfect fundamental discussion about the ideals our favorite mutants have established. Will the notion of immortality soften the mutants and make them ripe for the sentinel Nimrod Brood human Arakki picking? Will the safety of a sovereign nation create a false sense of untouchability? Or will all this island life ruin their pursuit of peace and happiness because they’ve become the strongest sacrificial lambs of all time? I don’t know how it’ll all end, but there’s one thing Shadow King said that I can only agree with, “The humans will never leave us in peace.”

I’ve got to…