Issue(s): New Mutants #23, New Mutants #24, New Mutants #25
Published Date: Jan-Mar 85
Title: "Shadowman" / "The hollow heart" / "The only thing to fear..."
Credits:
Chris Claremont - Writer
Bill Sienkiewicz - Penciler
Bill Sienkiewicz - Inker
Peter Sanderson - Assistant Editor
Ann Nocenti - Editor

Review/plot:
We've been seeing for a while now that Sunspot and Rhane have not fully recovered from their experience with the mobsters who injected the same drugs into them that created Cloak & Dagger. These issues deal with that. As first demonstrated in issue #22, Sunspot's normal black form has become somewhat amorphous and he winds up draining Colossus' strength and then absorbing him.

Meanwhile, while Rhane Sinclair has always been able to turn into a werewolf, she's now seemingly able to change her human shape as well, becoming an idealized version of herself.

While Xavier and Moira MacTaggert medically examine Sunspot, Cannonball and Dani Moonstar do the detective work that traces Sunspot and Wolfsbane's behavior back to Cloak & Dagger, whose powers have left them and gone to the New Mutants instead.

While this is an interesting arc, it may be about an issue too long. Much of #24 and #25 is spent with everyone standing around talking about the problem, except for a failed attempt by Magik to fix things in Limbo, which results in a further armor-ing of her body and a headsmack from Xavier.

Things are eventually resolved when Cloak & Dagger are convinced to take their powers back, which is achieved through a combination of Magik's sorcery and Rogue's powers.

In the "It's a small world" category, it turns out that the priest that's been taking care of Karma's younger siblings, Father Michel Bowen, is Dagger's uncle. He's not to be confused with Father Delgado, the priest that gives Cloak & Dagger sanctuary.

While trying to convince Tyrone to not be afraid of his powers as Cloak, Xavier reveals the circumstances of when his own powers first manifested. It involved him inadvertently invading Cain Marko (aka the Juggernaut)'s mind, cementing the hatred that Cain has for his step-brother.

In subplots, we have the induction of Selene and Sunspot's father, Emmanuel Da Costa, into the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club.

Since the Inner Circle so far has only recruited super-powered folk, it's pretty clear that Da Costa has only been recruited as a way to get to his son. Sebastian Shaw barely waits for the ceremony to end before talking to Da Costa about it, but Da Costa is quick to agree that he'd like to recruit him as well.

Meanwhile, Lee Forrester brings Magneto back to his Cthulu Island in the Bermuda Triangle (note the very obvious tribute to Dave Cockrum)...

...where Magneto's reform continues as he exhibits and acknowledges his human side while Lee takes care of him.

There's also hints about the island's original inhabitants (a comment that they might not have been human) but nothing definitive.

Issue #23 was my first issue of the New Mutants, and this scene of Sam walking in on Dani while she was changing...

...and the generally strange, dark nature of the artwork, made me think that maybe this book was a little too "adult" for (9 year old) me. It didn't even sink in that Cloak & Dagger, also appearing in Power Pack the same month, were in this book, until years later. I think my next issue of New Mutants was during the Louise Simonson/Bret Blevins era, which had a decidedly different tone.

Despite the craziness, Sienkiewicz's art can be incredibly human when appropriate.

Quality Rating: B

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - Selene officially joins the Hellfire Club

Chronological Placement Considerations: In Uncanny X-Men #189, Selene is presented to Sebastian Shaw as a candidate for the Inner Circle. At the beginning of New Mutants #23, she's inducted into the Inner Circle. It seems pretty clear to me, then, that this arc must take place after Uncanny X-Men #189. I'll also note that in Uncanny #190, when Spidey is fighting the New Mutants, he has a thought about feeling his strength draining away while he's being held by Sunspot, which is consistent with the Cloak-like powers that Sunspot's been exhibiting since New Mutants #22 but not after #25. But the MCP places the X-Men and New Mutants arcs in the opposite order, so i may be missing something.

References:

• The X-Men took over Magneto's island after Uncanny X-Men #150, but they've since moved back to the Mansion.
  
• Sunspot and Wolfsbane were injected with the chemicals that made Cloak & Dagger in Marvel Team-Up annual #6.
  
• Moira MacTaggart has been studying Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander, who were turned into Indians in New Mutants #20, but she hasn't found a way to reverse the change. They don't actually appear in this arc.
  
• Cloak & Dagger's origin from Cloak & Dagger mini-series is briefly recapped here.
  
• While Colossus is trapped in the Dark Dimension inside Sunspot, he has a nightmare concerning Kitty Pryde and Zsaji from Secret Wars.
  
• Rogue and Magik note similarities between the Dark Dimension power and the creatures they fought at Forge's penthouse in Dallas in Uncanny X-Men #187-188. It turns out to be a false lead, however.
  
• Dani Moonstar had been to Limbo with Magik before, in New Mutants #17. It's a new experience for everyone else.

Cross-over: N/A

Continuity Implant? N

Reprinted In: N/A