Remember these names:
Tempus, Triage, Hijack, Benjamin Deeds and Goldballs…yes Goldballs.
The newest mutants of the X-verse starred in Uncanny X-Men #35 this week. It was an emotional and powerful story of fame, youth and finding your role in a world that loves you…until they fear and hate you. Brian Michael Bendis and artist Valerio Schiti delivered an unexpected tale featuring the rookies that perfectly captures the core of what being an X-Man is.
It may be one of the final times we see them in action.
The new students created by Bendis are not listed in the All-New, All-Different Marvel X-books. Will these kids vanish into the back burner or the void of forgotten mutants?
Let’s face it. There’s Rogue, Gambit, Psylocke. And then there’s Joseph, Marrow and Maggot. Some new characters become fan-favorites while some fade away so far it could take an Omega level telepath to bring back the memories of them.
When a new writer takes over the X-Men flagship, we can expect a new generation of mutants. Sometimes just when we’re starting to love them, a new creative team takes over, some mutants rise like Archangel, some vanish like Nightcrawler but bamfing into nowhere.
We’re even guilty of leaving the New Xavier School kids off our list of missing characters from this Fall’s big relaunch.
Remember the Five Lights? Oya, Transonic, Primal, Velocidad were the first new mutants born after Hope Summers, the mutant messiah saved the race from near extinction. I loved the Generation Hope book but it didn’t last. Hope continued on with a few adventures with her dad Cable. Oya join the Jean Grey School and became a supporting cast member of Wolverine and the X-Men.
But there’s always hope!
Jason Aaron brought back Quentin Quire from the Grant Morrison New X-Men era making him a central figure to his X-run. The surviving Stepford Cuckoos joined the current New Xavier School kids. Even Glob Herman and Ernst made comebacks.
New Mutants Cannonball and Sunspot joined the Avengers and Roberto will be leading the “all-new” New Avengers this Fall.
But back to the new kids…
While I loved the drama of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Magneto aka the “Revolution” team…I fell in love with all the new mutants who were caught up in the X-Men vs. SHIELD war while discovering who they are and what they’re capable of as mutant heroes and as good human beings.
Eva Bell/Tempus starred in a gripping two-part story in the X-Annuals and ended up the hero who rewrote history and even met Professor X in the past during The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier arc.
While the new kids were caught up in the big battles, Bendis used them more effectively in one issue stories that were very personal such as the coming out of Benjamin Deeds or this week’s tale of Fabio Medina aka Goldballs learning the painful lessons of a social media darling then pariah.
I hope Eva, Christopher, David, Benjamin and Fabio don’t fade away. A future X-writer will be nostalgic for the Bendis run and bring them back like Jason Aaron did with the Morrison run characters.
Ultimately you, the X-Fans, have the ultimate power in what you buy and X-pressing your love for your favorite mutants, even obscure ones with unusual powers and code-names but for some reason make a connection with us.
By Editor