Long, long, ago, in a mall newsstand kiosk far, far away, I bought my first X-Men comic book: X-Men Annual #9, and knew, even at the tender age of eleven, that I had found something beyond special, more incredible and remarkable than any other text from the same time period.  The annual was part two of a two part story with the New Mutants and the Uncanny X-Men fighting to save Storm from the clutches of the Asgardian trickster and all around bad dude, Loki, son of Odin, half brother to Thor.  But it was incomplete, the second part to a two part storyline.  Back then I didn't care, couldn't tell, was basically clueless, and although I have always loved X-Men Annual #9, it was a work I reached in media res, without any previous exposure to the New Mutants or the X-Men.

Recently when I purchased Essential X-Men Vol. 6, I was granted the incredible treat of reading part one and part two of the story right in a row, in beautiful black and white, the pieces of a storyline I had almost memorized twenty four years ago started to fall into place.  This storyline is a classic and with the Essential priced at only $16.99 it is beyond a bargain, and more properly termed a steal.

I will review X-Men Annual #9 tomorrow.  In two part glory I parallel the choice of the creators I am reviewing, so today I will focus on the New Mutants Special Edition #1 storyline.

The first thing that struck me was the incredibly detailed and rigorous treatment of the subject by Arthur Adams, whose famous realism set the bar higher for what a comic book could look like.  From the two page cover art, to a detailed battle scene on pg.62, Adams does what few other artists can, forcing you to remember that comics are a valid art form for artists of any sort, and with his emphasis on storytelling I find I am drawn into every single panel.

Chris Claremont, in the middle of his massive run of consecutive X-Men issues weaves a story out of pure fantasy, using the plane of Asgard to conjure up trolls, the faerie folk, and a half-wolf prince whom Wolfsbane falls dramatically in love with.  Teleported to Asgard by the magick of the Enchantress the New Mutants escape thanks to the abilities of Illayna Rasputin, ironically the only one that cannot escape the convinces of the Enchantress's prison.  Scattered over time and space, yet all within the confines of the mythic realm, each New Mutant faces a particular trial that forces them to learn about there strengths, weaknesses, and the limits of their abilities.  Most notably this is the story line where Mirage finds her winged stead, and becomes a member of Odin's Valkyrie, even though she doesn't know what that means, or the changes it will precipitate in the future.  I am not a Warlock fan, but it is clear his "self this" and "self that" linguistics inspired George Lucas when he created Jar-Jar Binks.  (This is a dubious distinction to be sure.)

Overall the story is well paced, and the sixty four pages melt away as more is revealed about the Mutants greatest weaknesses.  They do not save Storm, nor do they rescue Illayna, but they get in enough trouble that I cheered to find out the X-Men were on their way to save the kids and bring everyone back home.  This is where I walked into the story line, at the beginning Annual #9, but now I could see the work Claremont did planting his seeds that grew into the next part of the story.

So go out and buy X-Men Essentials Vol. 6, you will not be dissapointed and it is the only way to keep me from ruinig everything on my next post tomorrow.