I remember when I first saw the X-Men movie and was as captivated as everyone else by the classroom scenes at the school, and I wondered "Why aren't they doing this in the comics?" Morrison has added that dimension to the comics to some degree with New X-Men, but the scholastic side of things isn't really his focus. Enter New Mutants #2, and it becomes clear that this potentially rich area of story is about to be mined by DeFilippis and Weir, reviving some deeply interesting and (in the 90s) deeply misused characters to star as well as creating their own. This second issue takes readers on a tour of the school through the eyes of the two characters we met in the previous issue, and while it may not hit the nostalgia notes for the New Mutants fans, it's certainly an interesting new take on the school with a lot of potential.
If only the artwork were as strong as the writing. Grant and Stull have a style that makes the characters look inhuman, which is the exact opposite of what would seem indicated by the writing. The glossy-eyed look of Dani or the almost frighteningly beatific appearance of Professor Xavier is almost comical, and it takes away from the strong work being done on the characters in the script. The artwork is not terrible by any means, but it looks rushed, sketchy and stylized in all the wrong ways, with some additional problems in the sparse backgrounds of this issue.
Leaving aside unsatisfying visuals, however, this second issue has a lot to offer. The mentor and former student relationship between Xavier and Dani is note-perfect, and I greatly enjoyed the scenes these two shared together. Even more interesting was the way that Sofia acclimated so quickly to the school, and while her personality seemed a little changed from the first issue in order to fit this part of the plot, we know so little about her that it wasn't terribly jarring. At any rate, it's clear that DeFilippis and Weir are already building relationships and building their cast, and I like these characters so far.
Much as Morrison has done, DeFilippis and Weir examine some of the neat and fun uses of mutant power for things other than fighting. Telekinetic Jenga was a cute little bit, and the notion of a flight class taught by Northstar another nifty idea. There's just a general sense that they get exactly what most of us saw in the X-Men movie, how much potential there is in a story about a school for mutants, and anyone who enjoyed Sidekicks (by J. Torres) should definitely check out New Mutants for a similar type of story, albeit one with a different focus and more of a history behind it.
My worry after reading New Mutants #1 was that the slow pacing that comes from editorial on Tsunami was going to damage the book, and that even if it didn't the lackluster artwork would. I'm still a little worried about the latter, but this second issue is much more focused and faster-paced, and I'm as drawn into the book now as I had hoped to be originally.
