Welcome Home (Again)
Considering how difficult to track down a copy of Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (or any of them), this collection is a very welcome addition to the long-neglected back-issue trade paperback collection. I'm quite glad Marvel has gotten its act together (at least in the TPB department - their writing staves on the other hand...) and made a big push the last couple of years to reprint and recollect so many of the old crossovers and series from the pre-crash days. It would have been nice to have Karma's earlier appearances collected here as well, but as far as The New Mutants are concerned, this is the place to begin. The similarities to Giant-size X-Men 1 are intentional, considering it is still Chris Claremont writing the stories, but that's okay - it is a new time, with new attitudes (some slightly dated), and new conflicts (with old enemies). Before Cable, before X-Force, New Mutants were the first spin-off of the X-Men Universe - and it's pretty good storytelling (admittedly a bit dated in places, but still good overall) and even better characters (though the dialogue of Axe in the last issue here is embarrassing at best). I look forward to getting volume 2! Thank you Marvel for bringing back the past glory days in full color (unlike the Essentials) and in far more reasonably priced packages (unlike the early Masterworks money grabs).