1984: New Mutants Year One Part VII: We Didn't Start The Fire (Amara's always burning!)*

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

In the seventh and final part of our lookback at the New Mutants' early days, the teens finally wrap up their South American holiday and return home with their newest member Amara, who coughs up a volcano whenever she gets upset... Which she does. A lot.

The New Mutants took their merry time getting home. They spent their entire 12th issue wrapping up the extensive Rio de Janeiro/Nova Roma storyline. For one thing, we learn that Roberto's mother decided to stay behind in the Amazon while Amara was told by her father to go back with the American mutants to learn how to control her powers. Which might not be the worst idea...

"You're talking nonsense, child"

Tell that to the fresh lava plume in your living room, senator. Amara packed her bags and said goodbye to Nova Roma, venturing out into the real world for the first time. Switching from ancient Rome to modern day Rio de Janeiro takes some getting used to. Luckily, the New Mutants spent another two weeks (!) vacationing in the city. During that time, Sunspot decided to pay his father a little visit, after all it was Emmanual DaCosta's greed that had almost gotten them killed.

"Find some other land to exploit. If you make a move into that hidden valley, I'll know."

After a heart breaking falling out, Roberto left the man who he once called father. Disheartened and emotional, the elder DaCosta made a decision and called a certain New York gentleman's club.

"Regarding your invitation to join
the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, Sebastian... I accept."

And with that subtle scene, Claremont set up another storyline for his second year on the title. Having Emmanuel as a prominent member of one of the X-Men's most implacable foes could lead to all kinds of interesting conflicts. Speaking of hellfire, things were about to heat up in Rio as well. Amara, still not quite used to this new world, was being harrassed on the beach...

"I am no strumpet, dog! Unhand me, or...
Blessed Minerva, NO!"

Afraid of her powers and scared she might actually hurt her new friends, Amara ran off. The New Mutants did their best to chase her, but the upset Amara kept triggering tiny tremors that unleased sufficient sulphur into the atmosphere to confuse Wolfsbane's senses. After several hours of walking around in the scorching sunshine, Amara began to suffer from heatstroke and started to hallucinate. In her fever dreams, she unwillingly created a gigantic volcano that engulfed all of Rio in molten rock.

Eventually, the New Mutants tracked Amara down (which wasn't that hard, they simply followed her trail of destruction to one of the favellas where a poor family had taken the delirious girl in. Dani Moonstar quickly and correctly diagnosed her condition. Curing it was another challenge altogether.

"We'll have to cool her down right here and now!
Sam, 'Berto, find me all the ice you can carry!"

The two boys fly off together and spot an ice delivery truck nearby. They also notice that in the heart of Rio harbor a volcano is starting to form. With time of the utmost essence, Sunspot picked up the truck and Sam, in a supreme effort, flew both his teammate and their cargo back to the favella. Thanks to the ice, Amara rapidly recovered...

"I see now I cannot do so by myself. Like it or not, I need your professor Xavier"

We all need professor Xavier, Amara... That's why issue 13, appropriately titled "School Daysze", reunited the mutants with their mentor. A man sworn to protect these minors with his life, yet who didn't think twice to let them roam around Rio de Janeiro for two weeks unsupervised. Now, technically speaking, we're already on the New Mutants' second year in the business. Yours truly still felt it necessary to include it in the review because it very neatly bookends the New Mutants' earliest days at the school.

Remember how back in Marvel Graphic Novel I#4, the proto team went to Rio de Janeiro to recruit Roberto Da Costa? A year later, again in Rio, they gained a new member in Amara. In the New Mutants' debut issue, they had their proper introduction to the school and first go in the Danger Room. History is about to repeat itself for Amara. 

"Professor, are none of my thoughts to be secret or sacred?"

A valid and fair question, Amara... Imagine how freaked out you'd be if you arrived at a boarding school on a different continent only to find your room was an exact replicate of your actual bedroom back home. Then, the headmaster reveals he's a telepath and that he plucked the necessary information from your mind "to make you feel more at home". It's amazing Amara wasn't so shocked she produced a lethal lava spout right then and there. But, Charles being Charles, he assured his newest student he'd never enter her mind without permission (even though he already did when he played interior decorator). Amara believed her honored teacher, though when she caused a brief tremor in a moment of panic a little while later, Xavier did this...

"I'd best maintain a constant, light rapport with her. That way, I can monitor her emotional state and prevent any accidental tectonic catastrophies."

Well, so much for telepaths respecting a person's privacy. You might say the professor isn't actively sifting through her mind, but this "constant, light rapport" is like wire tapping a person's telephone line or checking her social media output every second of the day. And worst of all, he doesn't even tell her this.

In yet another attempt to make Amara feel more welcome, the New Mutants decide to have a get-to-know-you barbecue. During the preparations, Claremont took a little time to flesh out the New Mutants' personalities and finally touched on something that should have been addressed months earlier... Whenever you bring a bunch of teens together, hormones start to flare up and romance and longing come into play. Amara's arrival turned quite a few heads. Cannonball was immediately taken with her, which didn't sit well with Wolfsbane who harbored a secret crush on Sam.

Meanwhile, Roberto acted like the ever so smooth ladies' man, making sure Amara didn't feel out of place when she came downstairs for dinner, wearing her fanciest gown, while the others were dressed casually. Of course, DaCosta's act of kindness sparked another teenage rivalry.

"That riff's working on Amara, she's actually smiling. I wish he'd use it once on me."

Amara briefly met Stevie Hunter, who by then had been officially signed on as a teacher at the school. Just as she was starting to relax, Cannonball came flying in, carrying a box of sodas for the party. When he spotted Amara, the lovestruck teen decided to impress his crush with some fancy mid-air manoeuvring. And, well, you can guess what happened next...

"Amara, ah'm real sorry."

You'd better yell that apology Sam, because dear ol' Amara ran off again. Thoroughly embarrassed by the incident, her powers acted up and she accidentally caused a small chasm to form before running towards the woods behind the school to have a proper cry. It's easy to dismiss her as a big ol' crybaby (and to be fair, she's fairly emotional) but considering her background as a Nova Roman senator's only child, she was raised with outdated ideas on the extreme importance of acting and appearing dignified and graceful. Getting covered in stick grape soda, while wearing your finest clothes at a celebration thrown in your honor... Oy, the humanity. And, oy again... how Amara wishes she was actually part of humanity.

"If he fails... I cannot allow myself to live."

Those are some pretty dark thoughts for a teenager, though it's not uncommon for any teen to feel so thoroughly miserable to briefly entertain the notion of ending it all. And that's even without uncontrollable mutant powers. While Amara remained by herself in the woods, Claremont decided to fully benefit from having the New Mutants at the school again by checking in on another young mutant: Kitty Pryde. She'd been visiting with her friend Doug Ramsey, in his first appearance. She and Doug immediately hit it off when they met at Stevie Hunter's dance studio and found out they had a lot in common.

Computers, for instance... Kitty roped Doug along into hacking into the Hellfire Club's systems only to end up in the database of the government run Project: Wideawake. Their poking around activated a Sentinel that attacked Shaw before Henry Peter Gyrich triggered its self destruct sequence. All in all, Kitty was pretty pleased with herself.

"Can they trace us, Doug?"

Ironically, in 1984 you enjoyed far greater online anonymity than nowadays. If Kitty and Doug tried a stunt like that today, the authorities would be kicking down the door to Doug's room to arrest them well before they even got past the first firewall. Also, note how 30+ years ago, Sal Buscema basically figured a computer was like an electric typewriter with a screen? (which, to be fair, they basically were). All that hacking had caused Kitty to completely forget the time. Realizing she was late for a training session with the X-Men, she rushed home and phased her way to the woods to save time. Guess who she bumped into...

"It always happens this way, whenever I try to talk to someone my own age I screw it up."

Shades of Liz Lemon aside, Kitty Pryde was about to prove her own point again when she continued her trek towards the mansion and ran into the New Mutants who were looking for Amara as well. Claremont established there was no love lost between Shadowcat and the "X-Babies" as she called them when Xavier announced he was demoting her to join the New Mutants, which led to the now classic "Professor Xavier is a jerk!" quote, which became more and more true with every new misdeed and crime that Charles had committed over the years. 

"I can take a hint."
"... Do better than that. Take a hike."

Ouch, talk about a burn. Add to that Xavier's crimson red, furious psi-call and Kitty was in deep trouble. Charles chastized the youngest X-Man for slacking off, missing a scheduled training exercise with the X-Men and continuing to refer to the New Mutants as "X-Babies" when two of them were actually older than her. He then refocussed his attention to Amara, who had sobbed herself to sleep. He directed the New Mutants to find their teammate and bring her home. The next day, she was to have her first real go in the Danger Room, complete with X-costume and a brand new codename!

"Since your talent involves the manipulation of lava and tectonic forces,
  "Magma" seemed most appropriate."

Good to see you got a bit more inventive with those codenames after sticking your first batch of students with clunkers like "Beast" and "Iceman", Charlie. And while Magma is a fine sounding name, how exactly will it protect Amara's identity if her face is still there for anyone to see and recognize?

At any rate, Magma freaked out when Xavier proposed she burned through the block of steel lowered into place by Stevie Hunter. Already spooked about having to use her powers, she completely lost it when Charles announced he'd be in her mind to make sure nothing went wrong. Feeling he had violated his earlier promise, Amara became furious and ran off... Boy, imagine how she'd respond if she found out Xavier had been eavesdropping on her all along? 

Later that night, when she calmed down a little, Amara came out of her room and went down to the professor's study to make amends. When she neared his quarters, she noticed a remarkable white blue light emanating from his office. Charles was catching up with his ladylove, Lilandra Neramani who had only recently left Earth with the Starjammers in Uncanny X-Men I#174. 

Amara couldn't help but listen in...

"I'll be waiting. Farewell, my love.
Fare thee well, my heart."

Sharing such a personal experience caused Charles and Amara to open up to one another. If nothing else, this brief scene showed just how much Xavier himself had grown over the past year as the New Mutants' teacher (even if he sent them away for about 6 months of it). Charles had become far more open and personable, no longer the strict, almost uncaring taskmaster of old who brooked no opposition and handed out demerits like they were going out of style. 

"Have you ever failed with a student?"
"Oh, yes! But that will never stop me trying!"

... Run, Amara, run right now! Go on girl, you're so good at it! All kidding aside, Xavier had learned to relate to the newest generation of mutants, which was a theme that would continue well into the second year of New Mutants.

The team would gain two more, rather unusual, members in Warlock and Magik. They'd also have the first encounter with their somewhat evil counterparts the Hellions. All that, plus the demon S'ym came a-callin', while Xavier and the X-Men went missing during the first Secret Wars. Not to mention the techno-organic threat of Warlock's dad and the arrival of artist Bill Sienkiewicz looming on the horizon. 

The teen team was headed for great things in the mid 80s, but none of it would have gotten off the ground if Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod and Sal Buscema hadn't laid the foundation in those initial 12 or 13 issues. Xavier's freshmen added even more class to the X-Universe.

*with sincere apologies to Billy Joel.

Posted in: 1980s Comics