Merge:New X-Men

New X-Men refers to two superhero comic books published by Marvel Comics within the hugely popular X-Men franchise. The first was New X-Men, a title that was in use during Grant Morrison's tenure on X-Men. This article wil concentrate on the second series New X-Men, originally titled New X-Men: Academy X and a continuation of New Mutants.

New X-Men (also New X-Men: Academy X), relaunched from New Mutants volume 2, was launched during the "X-Men Reloaded" event. It resumes directly where the most recent New Mutants series ended, with the same writers, artists, and cast of characters. The Academy X subtitle was dropped from the title when the new creative team of Craig Kyle and Chris Yost took over the series as of Issue #20.

Whereas the other X-Men comics mostly deal with established adult mutants, this comic concentrates on the lives of young students residing at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning as they learn to control their powers and, as of late, to survive the backlash against mutants that befell them as part of House of M.

Founding
New Mutants/New X-Men began where Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men ended. The school was rebuilt and Emma Frost and Cyclops were named the headteachers of the school. They organized the students fifteen-years-old and older into several squads who trained together.

Featured are two teams, the New Mutants, whose members tend to be more clean-cut, and the Hellions, whose members are generally more belligerent. The rivalry&mdash;not only academically, but certainly also in private matters&mdash;plays a significant role in the series.

The cast of this series are described in the following paragraphs.

New Mutants squad
The New Mutants squad's tutor is Dani Moonstar. It is co-led by Wind Dancer and Prodigy.


 * Wind Dancer, a.k.a. Sofia Mantega. A girl from Venezuela who controls winds. (Depowered)
 * Prodigy, a.k.a. David Alleyne, could absorb any non-superhuman talents from nearby people. (Depowered)
 * Icarus, a.k.a. Jay Guthrie, can fly, sing mesmerizingly and heal himself rapidly. (Deceased)
 * Wallflower, a.k.a. Laurie Collins, exudes pheromones which alter the feelings of other people. (Deceased)
 * Elixir, a.k.a. Josh Foley, is a healer who ironically was a rabid mutant-hater before he found out he was one himself. (Catatonic)
 * Surge, a.k.a. Noriko Ashida, is a Japanese girl who has electric and speed powers.

Hellions squad
The Hellions squad's tutor is Emma Frost. It is led by Hellion.


 * Hellion, a.k.a. Julian Keller, is telekinetic.
 * Dust, a.k.a. Sooraya Qadir, is a shy girl from Afghanistan who can turn herself into a living whirlwind of dust. She regularly dresses in a burka.
 * Mercury, a.k.a. Cessily Kincaid, consists of a mercurial substance which bears a certain resemblance to "T-1000" from the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
 * Rockslide, a.k.a. Santo Vaccaro, consists of solid rock and can shoot his appendages at targets.
 * Tag, a.k.a. Brian Cruz, could "tag" a person so that bystanders are compelled to run away from the person. (Deceased)
 * Wither, a.k.a. Kevin Ford, can destroy organic matter on touch. He accidentally killed his father when his powers manifested. (Ran away)

Other squads
There are also other teams advised by different X-Men. For a complete list of students prior to Decimation see Xavier Institute student body.
 * Alpha Squadron, tutored by Karma (formerly by Northstar). Consists of:
 * Anole (leader), Rubbermaid, Indra, Kidogo, Loa, and Network.
 * The Corsairs advised by Cyclops consists of:
 * Stepford Cuckoos (co-leaders), Specter, Dryad and Quill. Quill was killed in Rev. Stryker's attack on the school.
 * The Paragons, tutored by Magma (formerly tutored by Wolfsbane), consists of :
 * Match (leader), Trance, Wolf Cub, Pixie, D.J., and Preview.
 * Gambit's squad, introduced in X-Men, consists of:
 * Bling, Flubber, Onyxx, and Rain Boy
 * Rogue's squad, shown in Uncanny X-Men was never named.
 * Storm's squad that was mentioned in New X-Men has one survivor, the student called Nezhno.
 * The Excelsiors, Iceman's squad, and the Exemplars, whose mentor is Beast, have only been mentioned, never having appeared.

Decimation
In New X-Men #20 the cast begins to deal with the after effects of House of M, in which the student body was almost entirely depowered, going from 182 students to "about" 27. (The real number, however, is 29: Quentin Quire is technically still in existence at the Institute and X-23 joined the school soon afterwards.) Wind Dancer, Prodigy, Aero, Preview, Network, Tag and even teacher Dani Moonstar were amongst the mutants at the Xavier Institute who lost their powers.

Emma Frost, fearing their safety, ordered all non-mutants to leave the school, Dani among them. As the depowered students and staff were being bussed away, the mutant-hating Reverend William Stryker began to set into motion his plans to destroy mutants while at their weakest, and began to concentrate on systematically killing the students, killing several former students by bombing the buses. Stryker's actions continued to haunt the Institute until he was killed in issue #27.

M-Day survivors
It has been stated that the mutant student body in the academy dropped from 182 to 27 (though that number is technically inaccurate; 29 remain). The following are the students that have been confirmed to have retained their powers.

New Mutants (4)
 * Joshua "Jay" Guthrie (Icarus) [deceased]
 * Laurie Collins (Wallflower) [deceased]
 * Joshua "Josh" Foley (Elixir) [catatonic]
 * Noriko "Nori" Ashida (Surge)

Hellions (5)
 * Julian Keller (Hellion)
 * Sooraya Qadir (Dust)
 * Cessily Kincaid (Mercury)
 * Santo Vaccarro (Rockslide)
 * Kevin Ford (Wither) [away]

Corsairs (4)
 * Celeste Cuckoo (The Three-In-One)
 * Mindee Cuckoo (The Three-In-One)
 * Phoebe Cuckoo (The Three-In-One)
 * Maxwell Jordan (Quill) [deceased]

Alpha Squadron (3)
 * Victor Borkowski (Anole)
 * Paras Gavaskar (Indra)
 * Alani Ryan (Loa)

Paragons (4)
 * Ben Hammil (Match)
 * Nicholas Gleason (Wolf Cub)
 * Megan Gywnn (Pixie)
 * Hope Abbott (Trance)

Gambit's Squad (2)
 * Roxanne "Roxy" Washington (Bling)
 * Sidney Green (Onyxx)

Storm's Squad (1)
 * Nezhno

Other Students (4)
 * Blindfold
 * Cassandra Xavier/Ernest (Ernst)
 * Hisako Ichiki
 * Martha Johansson

Note: Although Quentin Quire is no longer a student at the Xavier Institute (as he has evolved to a higher state of being), he retained his powers and is being held in a containment unit at the school.

Most of the students listed above were confirmed in New X-Men #21 and in X-Men: The 198 Files. Indra and Quill were confirmed in Decimation - The Day After, while Bling was confirmed in X-Men vol 02 #177.. Wallflower was killed by Reverend Stryker in New X-Men #26. Quill was killed by one of Stryker's henchmen in New X-Men #27. Icarus was shot by Stryker and died a few issues later.

X-Men trainees
In the aftermath of Decimation, Emma Frost created a team of X-Men trainees. The team consists of:
 * Surge [leader]
 * Dust
 * Hellion
 * Rockslide
 * Mercury
 * X-23 (Nimrod called her 'Talon') [add-on]
 * Elixir [kicked off the team for a violent outburst, currently catonic]
 * David Alleyne [not official, depowered, but has been aiding the New X-men and watching over Elixer]

The other students still reside at the Institute, and do indeed train, but are not part of this select group.