New Mutants Epic Collection: The Demon Bear Saga [New Printing 2]

Volume Two of the New Mutants Epic Collections is a book of introductions. There are the new characters, all of whom will become important players in the wider X-universe - alien refugee Warlock, intergalactic rock star Lila Cheney, the White Queen's Hellions, and Charles Xavier's troubled son Legion. And then, of course, there is the arrival of Bill Sienkiewicz as the book's artist, a far more transformative moment. Chris Claremont's writing is as strong as ever, capturing the travails and insecurities of teenage life with the added complication of mutant powers, but it's Sienkiewicz's stylised, jagged, abstracted artwork that really stands the title apart from it's parent book, the X-Men. Figures morph and stretch, shadows creep and emotions become manifest under his facile brush. Warlock, in particular, with his constantly twisting physiology and hatchwork of details, would not have been the hit he was under any other artist. And Bill's painted covers are divine, as well. As well as the new characters mentioned above, the book plants much of its attention on Illyana (with her troubling and growing mastery of demonic magic), Cannonball (with his doubts and good-natured straightforwardness), Wolfsbane (with her religion-borne anxieties and struggles for maturity), and Danielle Moonstar, who faces the entity that killed her parents in the book's title story. Extras include covers to the X-Men Archives reprints, character designs by Sienkiewicz and Bob McLeod, a house ad, the frontispiece art, cover and afterword from the original Demon Bear Saga trade, an unused cover painting, and a Marvel Age interview with Sienkiewicz. It's a wonderful collection of artistically daring work that deserves a new audience.

A classic collection of New Mutants material. This edition is above average due to the introduction of Bill Sienkiewicz as artists. His style was very off-beat for a mainstream comic at the time. Some people I know were turned off by it, but I don't remember being that upset. It simply took an adjustment and, quite frankly, really enhanced many of the storylines - the titular Demon Bear story in particular. The only downside is that this was an era of crossover issues, particularly among the X titles, so often an event will happen to the New Mutants in another title and it's just mentioned in one of the issues. So, it can be a bit disjointed. But overall, I enjoyed it immensely.

Même si la série mensuelle mérite d'être lue depuis le début, c'est vraiment avec l'arrivée de Bill SIenkiewicz que New Mutants a pris en hold-up les lecteurs de Marvel Comics dans les 80's. Une claque visuelle et narrative jamais vue auparavant et mille fois plus immersive que le très moyeu petit film d'horreur qui est sortit il y a quelques mois dans des salles désertes

This collection is a must for anyone interested in New Mutants and X-Men in general!! Not only do you get the famous Demon Bear Saga, but you also get the origins of several priceless characters!! Sienkiewicz’s art stands out as some of the most unique and transcendent, I have ever encountered after traversing through every decade of comic art from loads of titles!! Only down sides of this book is the exclusion of the issue where Doug discovers he is a mutant, as it is mentioned it’s revealed in X-Men (even though the epic collection before this, made a point to include a tie in X-Men issue)! Also the first story and ending story of this collection are definitely the weak points in many regards, but do expand on some characters in interesting ways too! Everything from slight cameos and set ups to the stellar stories that make up most of this collection, really make this an unforgettable read all around!!

I used to own the original issues I don't know what happened to them so fining this was a pleasant surprise I enjoyed reliving the same enjoyment I got reading the issues as a kid.