Key Issues - The New Mutants Volume 1

Cover by Bob McLeod

Cover, John Byrne

My entry into comic books was through the X-Men, primarily through X-Force.  Those characters will always hold a special place in my heart.  I felt a kinship with Sam Guthrie aka Canonball in that we were both from Kentucky.  Though I must admit Sam is from a little deeper in the hollow than I was.  It was nice to see a Kentucky boy who appeared to be destined for much greater things.  This is where Sam and his fellow students got their start.  While compiling this list I was amazed at how many new characters Claremont created in just a few years.  Without further ado, here's the list for key issues of The New Mutants Volume 1:

The New Mutants #1:  Origin of Karma
The New Mutants #8:  1st appearance of Amara Aquilla
The New Mutants #9:  1st appearance of Selene
The New Mutants #10:  Amara Aquilla becomes Magma after Selene pushes her into a volcano.
The New Mutants #13:  1st appearance of Doug Ramsay (Cypher)
The New Mutants #16:  1st appearance of The Hellions, 1st appearance of James Proudstar as Thunderbird (later Warpath)

Cover, Rob Liefeld

The New Mutants #18:  1st appearance of Warlock
The New Mutants #21:  Origin of Warlock
The New Mutants #25:  1st appearance of Legion (cameo)
The New Mutants #26:  1st appearance of Legion (full)
The New Mutants #29:  1st appearance of Guido (Strong Guy)
The New Mutants #35:  Magneto becomes headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
The New Mutants #38:  Frog Thor visits Dani Moonstar
The New Mutants #60:  Death of Cypher
The New Mutants #75:  Magneto battles Sebastian Shaw. John Byrne pencils. Bob McLeod inks.
The New Mutants #86:  1st appearance of Cable (cameo)
The New Mutants #87:  1st appearance of Cable (full)
The New Mutants #95:  Death of Warlock
The New Mutants #98:  1st appearance of Deadpool, 1st appearance of Gideon, 1st appearance of Copycat (posing as Domino)
The New Mutants #100:  1st appearance of X-Force
The New Mutants Annual #1:  1st appearance of Lila Cheney
The New Mutants Annual #2:  1st US appearance of Psylocke
The New Mutants Annual #6:  1st appearance of Shatterstar
The New Mutants Special Edition:  1st appearance of Brightwind (Dani Moonstar's horse from Asgard)

Though not technically from volume 1, Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants kicked off the entire series.  Here you'll find 1st appearances for Canonball, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, and Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane).

Key Issues - Cable Volume 1

Cable is one of my all time favorite characters in comics.  Although the X-Men already had Wolverine and Gambit as resident bad asses, they still bought into Xavier's methodology for the most part.  It was interesting to see a hero who believed in the dream but disagreed with Xavier on how to get there.  I'm hoping that because she was raised by Cable, we'll see Hope begin to show lots of Cable's character traits.  I think we're already seeing some of that with Gillen's Generation Hope.  Lots of these issues can be picked up from the $1 bin at your local comic shop.
 

Cable #1:  1st Sinsear, 1st Clan Chosen
Cable #3:  1st Weasel (Jack Hammer).  Both Marvel's Wiki and Wikipedia list his 1st appearance as Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1 however it was August 1993 while Cable #3 was July 1993.
Cable #6 - 8:  "Fathers and Sons" arc.  Cable finally revealed to be Nathan Christopher Summers
Cable #15: 1st Marrow
Cable #24:  Death of Grizzly
Cable #34:  Cable fights an Onslaught controlled Hulk
Cable #40:  1st Abyss (Nightcrawler's half-brother)
Cable #43:  1st work by Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) at Marvel.  He did the dialogue on this issue.
Cable #48:  1st Irene Merryweather
Cable #59:  1st Jack Truman (S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 18 who later becomes Deathlok)
Cable #64:  Cable origin retold
Cable #87:  Death of Pyro
Cable #88:  1st Dark Mother (Fiona Knoblach)

Cable #97:  Begin Tischman/Kordey run
Cable #100:  Cable frees himself of the techno-organic virus

Cable: Blood and Metal #1 - 2:  These are key issues for Cable's history leading the Six Pack.  If the X-Cutioner's Song crossover were released today these probably would have been considered a limited series prelude.

Crossover Issues:
Phalanx Covenant:  Cable #16
X-Men Legion Quest:  Cable #20
Onslaught:  Cable #34 - 36
X-Men Zero Tolerance:  Cable #45 - 47
Apocalypse The Twelve:  Cable #75 - 76
X-Men Ages of Apocalypse:  Cable #77
X-Men Dreams End:  Cable #87