In 1982, Marvel published a graphic novel called The New Mutants that went where no X-Men story had gone before: into the minds of troubled teens. Created by legends Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod, The New Mutants marked a vastly important chapter in X-Men history as not only the first of many spin-off series, but the first to seriously delve into the anxieties of teenage mutants. Claremont and McLeod's work on The New Mutants opened new doors of possibilities into how the premise of X-Men could be used to discuss social issues faced by teens of marginalized backgrounds.
This focus on teenage anxiety was unprecedented at the time, as Claremont's previous X-Men work was mostly centered on the heroes as fully formed adults. The New Mutants instead chronicled the growing pains of being both a teen and a mutant in an increasingly hostile society. The original lineup consisted of a diverse group of characters, in keeping with Claremont's efforts to make the X-Men more inclusive, that provided the reader with different understandings of how trauma and rage can manifest into superpowers. Instead of deriding the characters' strong, adolescent emotions, The New Mutants embraced and incorporated them into the existing X-Men mythos.
When tragedy struck multiple members of the New Mutants, it set them on a course of vengeance against the hateful Donald Pierce, who kidnapped Professor X and sought to destroy mutantkind. Through learning to work together and under the guidance of Professor X, the young mutants find community in each other as well as a greater purpose in helping the world.
The backgrounds of the New Mutants highlight X-Men's history of confronting social inequalities.
Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair) is a lower class girl from the Scottish Highlands with the ability to turn into a wolf. Initially hunted by local townsfolk accusing her of demonic possession, Rahne is brought to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters by Moira MacTaggert. Meanwhile, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunspot (Roberto Da Costa) develops his powers on the soccer field after a white opponent knocks him over and calls him a "halfbreed" because he is biracial and black. In his rage, Roberto's mutation emerges, giving him the power to channel energy from the sun, causing everyone, including his own father, to flee the pitch in fear. Only his girlfriend, Juliana, remains, declaring that she would never leave him.
In a small town in Kentucky, Cannonball (Sam Guthrie) forcefully launches himself to safety when a mine collapses around him. Moments before, Sam was angrily grieving his father, bitter that his death forced him to give up his dreams of going to college. The rest of the team is rounded out by Karma (Shan/Xi'an Coy Manh), a Vietnamese refugee with the ability to possess other people with her mind, and Mirage (Dani Moonstar), a Northern Cheyenne girl who can project horrifying visions of people's worst fears into their heads and communicate with animals.
The New Mutants brought in one of Marvel's most successful storytelling styles to show a different side of the X-Men.
The New Mutants mixed X-Men's social and political sensibilities with a storytelling mode that Marvel had already found major success in: the coming of age story. Pioneered by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in The Amazing Spider-Man, coming of age stories had proven to be a hit with the massive success of Spider-Man two decades earlier. Superheroes became much more relatable to readers when they were shown to be struggling with the same types of problems all teenagers face.
Claremont and McLeod's graphic novel brought the superhero coming of age story to new heights by presenting a darker, more emotional side to the heroes' lives. Instead of only worrying about everyday problems like keeping a steady job and romantic partner, the New Mutants worried about whether or not society was going to accept them for who they were as both mutants and marginalized people (poor, Black, refugee, Native American, etc.). As opposed to having an existential crisis about one's future, the New Mutants had an existential crisis about whether or not they even had a future.
The New Mutants marks a shift in X-Men storytelling because it signals an awareness on behalf of creators of the all-too-real problems that readers may be facing in their lives outside of comic books. By having such a diverse team and grounding the origin stories of the characters within their particular cultural and social contexts, Claremont and McLeod acknowledge that not every reader comes from a background like Peter Parker. Yes, it is no fun to be a weak, bookish nerd targeted by bullies, but it is even worse to be called "an animal masquerading as a human being" during a soccer game because one is Black and biracial. The New Mutants was made for readers who felt like society saw them exactly like society saw the mutants themselves: "monster[s]," in the words of Roberto.
The New Mutants graphic novel radically changed the relationship between reader and character that had never been seen before in an X-Men story. Instead of the heroes being (largely) adults with effortless control over their powers and a deep sense of confidence and duty, these new heroes were teens uncertain about their own futures and with nowhere else to go.
Perhaps the greatest legacy of The New Mutants is that it showed that the rage manifested from one's unequal circumstances could be the genesis of one's own heroism. Being angry, traumatized, and lost did not disqualify a character from becoming a hero that readers could look up to. The sense of rage and fear that gave them their powers in the first place could be harnessed to create a better world, and a safer place for all people. And because of that, the ethos of the X-Men has never been more relevant.