New Mutants 70 - Inferno Prologue

The New Mutants try to escape Spyder and rescue Gosamyr's parents.

New Mutants #70

Writer: Louise Simonson

Penciler: Terry Shoemaker
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Magneto fights two battles in New York, one against a fire escape that has come to light and another as the leaders of the Hellfire Club start manoeuvring against each other. Meanwhile the New Mutants have been captured and imprisoned by Spyder, only escaping when Gosamyr sacrifices her power to influence those around her. Rushing to rescue Lila and Gosamyr's parents they find the latter have been used by Spyder as silk worms at the cost of a shortened hibernation that brings them to life as solar system destroying monsters. Only a sacrifice can save the day.

This story arc is finally over and it says a lot that the subplots about the takeover of Limbo, strange happenings in New York City and machinations in the Hellfire Club are far more interesting than the main material in this issue. There's an attempt to redeem Gosamyr by having her seemingly lose her powers when she undergoes a change known as "minor death" to flee her bonds and release the New Mutants from an electric cage but though she's explicitly acknowledged as acting in a less selfish way and developing it does little to endear the character. Nor does the horrific fate of her parents who have been forced out of their cocoons thousands of years early and so emerge as ferocious giant monsters instead of peaceful beings. However it's hard to believe that two creatures their size can eat their way through to the core of a planet and destroy it so when Lila Cheney uses her powers to teleport them and herself into the planet's sun her sacrifice doesn't seem particularly spectacular.

Instead it's just a relief to be at the end of this wretched story. It could easily have been cut to two issues or even better ignored completely. Gosamyr looks set to stick around for now which is a pain but excitement looms as the New Mutants teleport into Limbo to discover S'ym has conquered it.