Follow

    The New Mutants #64

    The New Mutants » The New Mutants #64 - Instant Replay! released by Marvel on June 1988.

    Short summary describing this issue.

    Instant Replay! last edited by pikahyper on 09/24/19 07:22AM View full history

    The New Mutants attend Cypher’s funeral, leading to emotional revelations for every surviving member, including Warlock.

    Wolfsbane was fighting a smile-faced Right soldier. Cypher called to warn her that "he's got a gun!'. The Ani-Mator took aim, Cypher leapt to push Wolfsbane out of the way, but this time she kicked him away. Cypher landed on the floor, while Wolfsbane used the Right soldier's weapons to shoot the Ani-Mator before she destroyed the smile-faced armour. Having defeated both enemies she transformed back into a girl and leapt down to hug Cypher. Tears of joy streamed down her face, but as he promised never to do it again, Cypher faded away and Wolfsbane was left alone in the Danger Room.

    Sunspot appeared in the dark room and asked her how long she'd been fighting these illusions. Angry at first, both of them flared up their powers before Wolfsbane broke down into tears. She confessed she had found seventeen ways to save Cypher, but was still distraught that she failed to save the real Cypher when it counted most.

    Meanwhile upstairs in the rec room, Magik sat watching as many reruns of the X-Men dying in Dallas. Tearful and struggling to understand why her brother had to die, Magik transformed into Darkchilde and leapt at the television with her Soulsword. Cannonball happened to be passing by when he heard her and flew into the room to hold her back. He begged her to transform back into Magik & leave the Soulsword in Limbo. However, she was angry that she had teleported her brother to Dallas and been powerless to help him when he needed it most. In a fit of frustration she teleported herself and the video tapes to Limbo.

    Downstairs in the kitchen Mirage & Warlock were watching Zombie movies. Mirage tried her best to explain that Cypher couldn't come back to life like the zombies. However, her power manifested Warlock's greatest hope; Cypher resurrected as a green-skinned zombie. When Warlock went to hug the illusion Cypher transformed into a giant Magus scaring him into a quivering puddle. Mirage hugged Warlock and apologised for what her powers did. She did her best to explain that dead people don't come back to life except in movies, but she gave Warlock an idea.

    The next day the New Mutants gathered outside ready for the viewing of Cypher's body. Warlock assumed a human form, and Magik teleported back to the estate just in time to join the others. She confided in Cannonball that she had discovered who was responsible for her brother's death. Magneto was still angry with the New Mutants. He explained that he had told Cypher's parents that he was shot in a hunting accident. He added that there would be an enquiry into the shooting, meaning that each of them would be questioned by police. Magneto assured them that their telepathic contacts from the Hellfire Club to add strength and credence to what the New Mutants claimed, in case any police officers were suspicious.

    When they arrived to view the body, Magneto greeted Mr & Mrs Ramsey. Cypher's mother broke down into tears while Magneto considered what a waste of life humanity had in store for mutant kind. The New Mutants gathered around the casket. Warlock didn't recognise Cypher, and tried to touch the body. Sunspot pulled him back, but Wolfsbane fled the building in fits of tears. The others ran after her, causing Cypher's relatives to disapprove of their behaviour. They found Wolfsbane crying against an old gnarled tree. She wailed about how it was her fault, and that she didn't even notice when Cypher had died. Warlock was shocked when Wolfsbane cried about how Cypher would be buried. At his lack of understanding of human burial practices, he shrivelled up on the front lawn leaving Magik and Cannonball to try and pull him back together again.

    That night, Warlock sneaked out of the mansion through the front door's key-hole. He flew himself back to he funeral home. Inside, he tried to wake Cypher. When Cypher was unresponsive, he pulled him up out of the casket to show him that he could move. However, Cypher's body was still rigid like a statue. Warlock had the idea to share some of his own lifeglow with Cypher, just as Cypher had previously done for him (see New Mutants Special #1). Warlock then decided the best thing to do was show Cypher many of the people & things he loved the most, to try and bring his friend back to life.

    Warlock flew Cypher's lifeless body to the local motel where Mr & Mrs Ramsey were staying. Inside Mrs Ramsey was in floods of tears. She looked up to see the ghostly image of her son's lifeless body watching her from the window with a huge grinning smile above him. Since she didn't know her son was a mutant, or that Warlock was really an alien, she screamed causing Warlock to flee. Mr Ramsey ran into the room to comfort his wife & reasuure her that Cypher wasn't a ghost.

    Warlock then took Cypher back to the mansion. Hovering outside Wolfsbane's room, he tapped on the window. She didn't see Warlock, but instantly rushed to the window to hug Cypher. When he didn't return her hugs, she realised that something was wrong. She screamed in horror. Warlock covered her mouth and begged her not to react like Cypher's mother had. The other New Mutants rushed into the room and were appalled at what they saw. Warlock told them he was trying to return Cypher's lifeglow. Sunspot told Wolfsbane that, in his own unique way, Warlock was trying to do what she had been doing in the Danger Room earlier. With tears still pouring down her face, Wolfsbane explained to Warlock how humans couldn't come back from the dead. She begged him to let go of Cypher. Warlock cradled Wolfsbane on the floor as they mourned Cypher together.

    Soon, Cannonball reminded them that they had to return Cypher's body. He had been left lying on the floor where Warlock had left him. Wolfsbane dried her tears, and Warlock was ready to let go. They all teleported to the funeral home, but the police appeared at the door. The New Mutants fell behind the casket to hide, but there wasn't time to replace Cypher's body. The manager of the funeral home switched the lights on, and was astounded to see Cypher's body in the coffin. He apologised to the police saying that it must have been the stress of a child's death that caused him to see an empty casket earlier. When they left, Mirage's illusion of Cypher's body vanished from the coffin. The New Mutants crawled out from under the casket, and they placed Cypher's body back in the coffin. Wolfsbane gave him one tearful kiss goodbye, and they teleported home.

    The next day, the team went to visit Cypher's grave. Warlock & Wolfsbane huddled together for strength as they bade him a final farewell.

    In the evening, Magik gathered them all around the television in the rec room. There she replayed the tapes of the X-Men in Dallas. There she paused the image on Forge, and claimed that it was his fault that her brother died. Her eyes turned red as she vowed vengeance upon Forge.

    sizepositionchange
    sizepositionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    bordersheaderpositiontable
    positionchange

    Creators

    none of this issue.

    Teams

    none of this issue.

    Locations

    none of this issue.

    Concepts

    none of this issue.

    Objects

    none of this issue.

    Story Arcs

    none of this issue.

    User reviews Add new review

    5 (0)
    4 (1)
    3 (0)
    2 (0)
    1 (0)
    4.5 stars

    Average score of 1 user reviews

    dmstarz's 250 favourite marvel comic covers no118 0

    We all know that in comic books, no one stays dead.  So when one hero seemingly does manage to skip off this mortal coil, it's quite a remarkable moment.  As far as I know, Doug Ramsey is still dead (though there was some weird thing called 'Douglock' at one point that may or may not have been him).  This cover captures the difficulty in a grieving soul accepting the death of a loved one.  Look at the faces of both Warlock and Doug - Warlock believes he is doing something good and honourable try...

    1 out of 1 found this review helpful.
    See all user reviews

    This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Comic Vine users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.