New Mutants #39 - Body horror that even Claremont would be proud of

[icon_uk]

Another good issue of this title IMHO, as the team finds out who is behind the problems on the island called "Paradise".



Now one thing that came out of Doug's death back in New Mutants Vol1 #60, was a VERY swift does of justice to his murderer, thanks to a demonically inclined sorceress with anger management issues and an ongoing civil war in Limbo to manage



(Never a fan of Brett Blevin's art) Now at this point in time, S'ym and the other demons in Magik's Limbo had been infected by Warlock's dad, Magus, with the technorganic virus. They were trying to supplant Illyana as ruler and she was trying not to give them any more raw material, but her anger at what the Ani-Mator had done, and the way he talked about Doug meant she didn't care any more, and she sent him there to suffer.

And aside from one brief glimpse of a technorganic Ani-Mator in Limbo a few issues later, that was the last we ever saw of him, though it seems safe to assume that he eventually met his end in the Inferno crossover, and his demise seems to have stuck.

So who could be behind the New Mutants most recent troubles, notably the virus they have all contracted (apart from Warlock)? arriving at the Ani-Mator's long abandoned lab, they discover that the virus has a particularly nasty purpose, it dismantles whoever contracts it at the cellular level, and to Doug's horror he has a feeling that it does more than that, it's designed to rebuild them into something else, something new.

Having had to use his powers to fight off multiple, maddened humanimal beasties getting to the lab Sunspot collapses first, and Magma instantly rushes to his side (I love Dani's description of their relationship)


Okay, now that's a special kind of sick....



Yup, body horror just the way Poppa Claremont used to write....

I won't spoil what emerges from the surroundings, or what it then does to the team, but it's rather gross and pretty darned freaky, which is just what this story needs.

And it IS nice to see that a villain who died (sort of) is actually being allowed to remain dead (sort of).

Comments

[auggie18]

...God damn, I like Nate and Dani together. I know it makes almost no sense, but still. (I'm also aware of the fact that the body horror was the reason behind the post and not the hand holding, but still. Holding hands? Cute!)


Also, that's some pretty bad art at the top, there.

[curlyjo1]

"...God damn, I like Nate and Dani together. "

Just not quite THAT together.

[nezchan]

The fused hands could be the start of a groundbreaking body horror/buddy movie. Think of the horrific/comedic potential!

[shadowpsykie]

heh that would be kinda funny

[nezchan]

Quick, get Mel Gibson and David Cronenberg on the phone!

[icon_uk]

What bugs me is that I HAVE seen something like that before.

The finale of 1989 movie "Society" perhaps?

The Cenobite Twins from Hellraiser Bloodline?

But there's something else... that's going to annoye me for a while.

[shadowpsykie]

Stuck Together? :D

wait the cenobite twins were a bodyhorror/buddy duo? 0_o

[icon_uk]

There are two different sets of Cenobite Twins

I meant this pair

Probably not safe to work due to gore.

[shadowpsykie]

.... okay first thing.. totally thought they were gonna kiss....

secondly i get that it joined them... but how did the space between thier heads get all... twisty...

thirdly, your fascination with Hellraise and your love of lithe carefree acrobats has always been a very intruiging dichotomy of yours... what isyour fascination with them? (hellraiser, i KNOW your fascination with the lithe acrobats:)

[icon_uk]

1) Ewww! (Though that might have been tempted to make that something about them, as it would make more sense with other Cenobites. My problem with them being Cenobited at all is that Cenobites should be about obsession, ordinary people shouldn't be able to be made into Cenobites, it takes a strong obsessive streak to open the Lament Configuration. These two are just to ordinary joes doing their job, they'd be victims, not recruits. If there had been a hint that they were...unusually attracted to each other, sort of displaced narcissistic obsession, then they'd have been prime Cenobite material, they LOVE that kinky shit)

2) Probably better not to ask, i imagine it involve more drilly things... o_O

3) I am large, I contain multitudes! :) Being an inveterate puzzle addict myself, I like the underlying concept of a puzzle box that requires obsession to open that opens the gates to hell. There's an elegance to the idea that appeals to me.

[shadowpsykie]

thier biggest fear WAS being separated... so it feasable...

it just looked very weird... the process was kinda scarier than the outcome...

i admit, it found the whole obsession thing intruiging, including the lament configuration not being confined toa puzzle box but to any obsession such as the dance you showed us last time, and the architect.

Hellraiser, along with Nightmare on elmstreet and the exoricist were amongst the only horror movies that legitimately scared the crap outta me! Excorcist, being raised catholic i believe in the devil so that was just... *shudder* Nightmare on elm street it was really the psychology of it, die in your dreams, your body thinks it's real, you die in real life... Hellraiser kinda combined the two, the horror of the unknown and Hell... lol

[icon_uk]

The Cenobites wouldn't indulge someone's fear, they don't care about fear, only pain and pleasure and the blurry bit each becomes the other.

The Exorcist I never watched until a few years ago, and it didn't really wow me.

Nightmare on Elm Street I DID like as it introduced a completely new monster concept to the genre, one who could only kill you in the only place you might have felt truly safe, your own dreams.

[nezchan]

The funniest part is that since stuff like Shaun of the Dead and Fido opened the door for horror/comedy crossovers, it's entirely possible something like a Lethal Weapon/Videodrome mashup could actually work given the right director. It's a funny old world, eh?

[greenmask]

There was an episode of Monsters that featured a pair of non-identical cojoined twins? Strong farcical element there.

[lascoden]

I've only seen Warlock in Annihilation:Conquest and the Second Coming tie-ins, but he looks a bit different here. He was more...circuity, had more gold. Is it just artistic differences, or did something happen?

[icon_uk]

Artistic differences. Warlock is ususally shown as being black with yellow and white highlights/patterns across is body. Some artists emphasis different styles or colours. I think Fernandez tends to think of him as being more solid and defined when not actively shaeshifting, than many who draw him as more formless when at rest.

Here he is in his first appearance, by Bill Sienkiewicz



These are Art Adams



And this is Alan Davis

[lascoden]

Thank you. I don't know why but that was really bugging me. He definitely looks more like a classic robot there, as opposed to that Davis panel where he sort of looks like he is made of sand or iron dust.

[featheredserpent]

Thank you for not posting the Liefeld depiction,

[icon_uk]

Rest assured you NEVER need to thank me for NOT posting Liefeld.

[cleome45]

"Thank You For Not Liefelding" should be somebody's avatar/icon.

[darkknightjrk]

You would think that for a character like that, with sometimes such distorted and insane anatomy, Liefeld would make a decent Warlock.

[icon_uk]

His Warlock actually wasn't THAT bad (I was more saving us from his, AFAIK,one attempt at drawing Doug, which looked like he had the worlds worst wedgie)... but you can only effectively draw distorted if you can draw it UNdistorted in the first place.

Consider Les Dawson, whose musical routines of playing the piano incredibly badly, depended on him being a superb pianist to begin with since only then could he know which notes would distort the tune and leave it recognisable.

[citygod]

For using Les Dawson as a metaphor for Rob Liefeld, you win the internet.

[icon_uk]

I should stress, ONLY for the purposes of contrast! My love and admiration for Les Dawson knows no bounds.

[greenmask]

Back in x-treme I was introduced to magma and sunspot being mind controlled into a kiss, which was narratively defined as contrary to their true emotions.

Comics! Y u confuse!

[md84]

Magma's date with Mephisto probably didn't help matters either.

[shadowpsykie]

i LOVED them dating! i hope there is a second date.

Amara: I'll see you guys later. I'm going out with Mephie tonite!
Dani: ... calling him Mephie does NOT take away from the fact that he is THE DEVIL!
Amara: he's really not that bad! he's a pretty nice guy.... he does get a little wierd anytime he see's red-heads, or spider-man..

[icon_uk]

They've always been the two NM's with the most in common, both from rich, powerful, entitled families, used to the finer things in life and instant respect because of that. I can see them being a couple fairly easily, so I'd say the X-treme bit being more out of kilter than this. (Back in the old NM's there was even a visit to an alt-future where Amara and Roberto were the King and Queen of the Hellfire Club, ruling a mutant dominated America.)

[greenmask]

I see what you mean, but that still doesn't sound like "in love" to me, y'know? I'm a Disney Romantic, my love stories need a bit of on-page yearning glitz. That sounds more like a political union between equals, which obviously can involve love but I ain't seen it and I'm disposed not to because I've been told it doesn't exist.

*shakes fist at writer turnpike*

[icon_uk]

True the alt-future seemed more of an alliance than a romance.

I agree Berto and Amara aren't the first couple I'd have thought of in the NM, but it seems less of a contrivance than Sam and Dani getting together did.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

...and still no mention of Rahne in the series why?

[silicondream]

You know if it's a DnA story if the smart guy says "We're still collating."

[icon_uk]

You can tell it's a story with Doug and 'Lock when "We're still collating" could mean something QUITE different...

[shadowpsykie]

i HAVE noticed how often they have... erm... merged... and how often times they are, well doug is, half naked togetehr....

[valismedsen]

the animator virus resembles MrSinister`s virus seen on Legacy. Has any hint of the Animator working with Sinister ever been made? The Animator did work with Hodge and the Right, isn`t?

[icon_uk]

Not that I know of, the Ani-Mator was a strictly one story deal, and he only worked for the Right. Nothing to say that Sinister might not have nicked some research after Ani-Mator's death.

[angelophile]

It's like Megatron and Ratchet all over again.