#XSpoilers The New Mutants relaunch, I think, focuses/ capitalizes on/ intensifies/ clarifies the goals of the title in the Krakoan era: it's the book that looks at generations and relationships across generations, at friendship, mentoring, teaching.

#Xspoilers it's a book about the Kids These Days-- it's about Gen Z being abandoned by Gen X and the Boomers, and a bunch of millennials trying their best to be good guides, even though they themselves are still a bit lost, even though they need guidance too.

#Xspoilers and by the very end of the issue, we also see something that should be increasingly obvious-- the kids are not all alright, and those of older generations that do bother to pay attention to them? These are working actively to poison them.

#XSpoilers When I see the classic New Mutants line up here, I see people like me and the friends of mine who teach-- young people struggling, but struggling to help make sure the next generation at least has the tools to protect their minds and souls.

#Xspoilers when I read that letter about the Akademos habitat, I was reminded of so many problems in education today-- old ultra-rich people wielding their influence to warp education to something that *sounds* good, that sounds buzzwordy or profitable, but fails.

#XSpoilers And when I turned to that last page, I couldn't help but think of every time class ended, and I became keenly aware that my students, when they went home, were going to be exposed to Q bullshit via tiktok, anti-SJW bullshit via youtube's awful, awful algorithm.

#XSpoilers A lot of fiction about The Youths focuses on trying to sound Young, to its detriment. It really feels like New Mutants instead is keyed in to the Big Problems we're facing as individual generations, and as generations together. It feels really, really relevant.