New Mutants in the House of Mystery

The original splash page that I was working from required a bit of tweaking before I could add in the New Mutants.  Here's a look at the behind the scenes progress:

Robin and The New Mutants

 

I remember being excited about the arrival of the New Mutants.  As crazy as it sounds now, a spinoff ongoing comic from The Uncanny X-Men was a new thing, and I could get on the ground floor.  Well, not exactly the ground floor.  I remember being frustrated that their debut was made in a graphic novel, only available in comic shops.  It would be years before I got my hands on that first chapter.

Sunspot and Fire in "The Wraith of the Rainforest!"

 

I though it was time for the return of one of STF's pairs of super-siblings.  This is the fourth appearance of this particular brother-sister team. They faced a T-Rex in STF #3287, they returned to Brazil in STF #2673 and they first appeared together in STF #2484...

The Ray and Sunspot

I have to agree with an observation made in the comments to a previous cover by Blog Patron Bob Greenwade - these two really do look like they go together.  Depicted as pitch black figures that nevertheless give off glowing energy when they are powered up, they each provide a dynamic visual to go along with their heroic exploits.  I can imagine a story in which they would seek one another out due to their similarities in appearance and abilities.

Fire and Sunspot in: "A T-Rex in Rio!"

 

I finally got around to checking out The New Mutants last night, and to my surprise, I kind of enjoyed it!  This movie had become notorious for all of the various delays and reshoots, and I went in with very low expectations.  Yes, the story was derivative and not particularly well written (this hospital only has a single employee?), but I thought the characters were all well cast and their powers were realized effectively.  There were even some pretty impressive special effects with the Demon Bear and Lockheed. I wouldn't have minded seeing this team continue.

Fire and Sunspot had an interrupted reunion in STF #2673, and  were first revealed to be siblings in STF #2484...

New Mutants Vs. Doom Patrol

 

Well, after numerous delays,  New Mutants has finally been released to theaters.  It has only been getting middling reviews, but I like the characters so I am sure that I will check it out as a home rental at some point.  It looks to be a pretty low budget affair, with minimal use of powers and filmed on a single location.  Then again, Lockheed looked really cool on the commercial, and I am interested in how the Demon Bear is handled.  Has anyone gotten a chance to check it out?

Fire and Sunspot

Sunspot is one of the coolest looking mutants.  His design when powered up is simple yet very effective - a solid black center with no highlights surrounded by an aura of crackling energy.  You can really get a sense of his power just by looking at him.

Fire and Sunspot were first revealed to be siblings in STF #2484...

Fire and The New Mutants

Word on the New Mutants movie is that it is that it has been plagued with difficulties since the beginning.  Delays, reshoots, budget issues and indecision over the tone of the film have all seemingly taken their toll.  I remember seeing some kind of teaser a good while ago, and to be frank, if it wasn't labeled as a New Mutants movie, I would not have known that's what it was supposed to be.  Now the rumor is that it will either go straight to a streaming service or not be released at all.  It's too bad, I loved the series in its first few years and would love to see a faithful adaptation one day.

Supergirl and The New Mutants

I was a big fan of New Mutants during its first few years.  First of all, it was just cool to have a spin-off book from Uncanny X-Men... which seems like a crazy thing to say today given the gigantic amount of X-related comic books out there!  At the time though, it was a very new thing and a cool way to expand the world set forth in the original title.  Wolfsbane was having teenage werewolf angst decades before those Twilight kids became all the rage!  Those early Supergirl stories also focused just as much on teen drama as they did with superheroic activity.  The tales would often be more about getting asked to the dance than defeating the villain of the month.  Still, I always checked them out, if only to enjoy the great artwork. Jim Mooney could draw some pretty girls
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