Unexpectedly Awesome
Back in the day, this was one of the first X-Men annuals that I actually read. So imagine my surprise when in fact it wasn't so much the X-Men as it was the New Mutants that made the annual! But it made sense too -- the junior team's most recent annual had touched upon the same issues, with the same villain: Mojo.
At the time, I really had little experience with him and the New Mutants both; I hadn't really read much of their series. But if only the whole series could have been as strong as this annual! It's up to the New Mutants to save the age-regressed X-Men, and they do it more than effectively. They're the students, they're not equipped to be the world-class heroes like the X-Men, and so they aren't perfect at what they do. But they're good at it, and they're more than able to do their part. It's a potent and poignant story on how everyone can do their part. Even if the big-time heroes ultimately save the day, they wouldn't have been able without the lesser-known.
What's especially great is that every single one of the characters shines brilliantly. Even without inventing some contrived circumstances for all of them to use their powers outright, the character of each one comes out and features strongly. It really shows the excellence of Claremont's ability, at least when he puts forth the effort. The story flows well and has a satisfying self-contained quality that would work well for anyone just starting with the X-Men's saga -- that's something that the later annuals failed to do, tying the stories too tightly into the rest of the X-titles' convoluted plot web.
Art is brilliant -- no pun intended, since it's Arthur Adams. While it might sound like sacrilege, not everything he does is gold and not everything he illustrates suits the subjects. But Mojo is perfect for his style, and the X-Men of this period are perfect for him, as well as the New Mutants. Even some of their more outlandish graduation costumes have a semblance of respectability thanks to his masterful depiction.
Longshot is introduced to the group, and he works very well as an addition to the X-Men's already diverse number. Even though he's something of a feature, there's not much room for him to do all that much here except look cute, which he accomplishes very well thanks to solid writing and art. Psylocke, too, is fairly new to the band of mutants, but as with the earlier New Mutants annual, she features fairly prominently due to her closeness to the villain's theme.
It's a shame that Mojo and Spiral, as well as all their attached elements, gradually seemed to get brushed under the carpet. They were always the more interesting and completely different, unique parts of the X-Men's adjacent universe. This is one of the strongest appearances of all of them that could be, and it works so well. The New Mutants get their moment in the spotlight, showing the strength of every character, and the X-Men still get to save the day in their own way. Mojo shows his formidable cruelty as a worthy villain, and the resolution satisfies immensely.
In a way, this annual signifies a beginning and an end of eras, and for that it's bittersweet. However, standing alone it's a spectacular and well-done work that made the annuals worth waiting for every year. It's a bit of a shame that their quality overall deteriorated soon after, especially with issues like this to compare to -- this annual is a shining example of excellence that was rarely achieved in all the history of the X-Men's universe.