#1) [NM #1] Would Xavier learn that he had a son with Gabrielle Haller?
Mystery: Moira MacTaggert was called to London by Gabrielle Haller. During dinner, Haller revealed her problem. She had an autistic teenage son, who also happened to be a mutant with telepathy, pyro- and telekinesis. He needed help controlling his powers, and after having tried some other resources, Haller came to the conclusion that only Moira could help. Moira was flattered, but suggested that Haller take her son to Charles Xavier instead. Haller refused, and when questioned, revealed that Xavier was the father of her child, David.
Resolution: Xavier would find out about his son several months later. In New Mutants (1st series) #26-28, David’s powers went out of control, as he had also developed a split personality and each persona had access to a different ability. Unable to help the troubled boy, Moira called in Xavier to help, but while he was informed that David was Gabrielle Haller’s son, she refused to tell him that he was the father. However, in David’s mind, Xavier discovered that David was his son after David addressed him as his father. The New Mutants were able to help David regain a bit of control, though the other personalities remained in his head and would temporarily gain dominance.
2) [NM #3] Were Dani’s nightmares of an evil bear coming for her a premonition or signs of mental instability?
Mystery: Shortly after the New Mutants were formed, Dani Moonstar’s personal problems came to the attention to the team. Dani began to have nightmares, in which a bear was coming for her. She was disturbed further when she discovered that her knife was covered in blood, even though she only stabbed the creature in her dreams. Dani, confused, began to wonder if she was using her fear-inducing powers against herself. A Brood-controlled Xavier, however, convinced Dani that she was having some sort of mental problem, leaving Dani wondering what was happening. Was a belligerent creature really coming, or was she going mad and becoming a danger to her teammates?
Resolution: In New Mutants (1st series) #18-20, Dani was convinced that the nightmares were a premonition and began to train against the coming battle. She revealed to her teammates that long ago she used to be plagued by nightmares of the bear and her parents left to find whatever the source of the problem was. They never returned, and Dani since then believed that the bear devoured them and it was all her fault. The bear finally surfaced, revealing itself to be no mere hallucination but a Demon Bear. It attacked Dani, leaving her hospitalized, and it even came after her in the hospital. The New Mutants defended her and after a fierce battle defeated the bear, which reverted back into Dani’s parents. Years ago when they went to find the source of Dani’s problems they were transformed into the Demon Bear, but Dani’s grandfather’s magic kept them from attacking Dani until his recent death.
3) [NM #6-7] Who psychically assaulted Karma and what was her fate after Viper set off her bomb?
Mystery: Dani Moonstar was captured by Viper in order to blackmail Team America into stealing a crystal for her. Team America, partly responsible for Dani’s kidnapping, agreed, while the rest of the New Mutants tried to free Dani on their own. Both teams succeeded independently, but when Xavier contacted Karma telepathically things went awry. She saw Xavier’s astral image slowly fade away only to be replaced by someone else, who claimed that Karma now belonged to him. Karma cried out and collapsed, but the New Mutants could not help her as the cliff-side that the building was located on, blew up thanks to the Viper. The New Mutants fell into the sea, and while everyone else reached the shore, Karma was missing.
Resolution: Many months later, the New Mutants would finally discover what had happened to their friend. It turned out that Karma was possessed by the being known as the Shadow King. The Shadow King was bodiless thanks to an encounter with Charles Xavier and now lived as a psychic entity on the astral plane, from where he could possess others. He turned Karma into his primary host, and when the New Mutants discovered her in New Mutants (1st series) #29-34, they almost barely recognized her, as she was now obese. The glutton Shadow King had stuffed his face full now that he had a physical body once more. Fortunately, the New Mutants could free Karma of his influence.
4) [NM #17] Were the New Mutants destined to join the Hellions in the future?
Mystery: When Doug Ramsey and Kitty Pryde were held captive by the White Queen at her Massachusetts Academy, Magik gathered the remaining New Mutants and they attacked the school in order to free their friends. The New Mutants, however, were easily defeated by the White Queen’s own group of students known as the Hellions. Fortunately, Magik was able to teleport herself and Dani Moonstar to safety in Limbo. When Magik tried teleporting them back to the Massachusetts Academy they wound up one year in the future, where the captured New Mutants were now wearing Hellions costumes and got along pretty well with their new teammates. Illyana and Dani teleported back to the present, but kept this knowledge secret.
Resolution: This dangler would be resolved, in a sense, after the Secret Wars II. The New Mutants were killed and resurrected by the Beyonder, leaving them in a depressed and stoic state. While Moonstar and Warlock snapped out of it on their own, the other New Mutants were transferred to the Massachusetts Academy in New Mutants (1st series) #38-40, as Magneto felt the White Queen could help his students them more than he was able to. At their new school, the New Mutants officially became part of the Hellions. However, it seemed that this merging of teams was not a follow up to the future that Illyana and Dani saw. The team line-up that joined the Hellions was a bit different than the one the girls saw in the future. Still, this is the only resolution this dangler will ever have, because most of the Hellions were killed in Uncanny X-Men #281 and the New Mutants are much older now than they were when Illyana saw them in the future.
5) [NM #21] Where did Magik disappear to during the battle against Warlock, and where did her alien armor come from?
Mystery: When the alien being known was Warlock first came to Earth, he crashlanded at the Xavier Institute. There, the female members of the New Mutants were having a slumber party with some girls from the local town. Magik went to go investigate after hearing Lockheed in a scuffle and found herself in a fight against the confused Warlock. Magik was infected with the Transmode virus when Warlock touched her. Scared, she teleported herself and Lockheed away. After the battle and miscommunications ended, Magik finally returned in some alien armor with a ray gun, ready for battle. Where she had been or where she appropriated such gear was unknown, though it was clear that she had an amazing story to tell.
Resolution: The explanation can be found in New Mutants (1st series) #63, where Magik, in a dream oddly, tells Kitty Pryde about this adventure. Magik teleported to Limbo where she used her Soulsword on her infected arm, either to cure it or to cut it off. She passed out and accidentally teleported herself to another dimension. When she woke up, her arm was fine, but she was confronted by some Brood infected clones of the X-Men. Magik escaped and found a spaceship where she found the dead body of some alien woman. She took her energy weapon and put on her armor. With these assets, Illyana was able to defeat the Brood and save the X-Men clones from becoming full fledged Brood, before teleporting home.
6) [NM #32] Is there more to the story of Ashake?
Mystery: While hunting down the Shadow King-possessed Karma, the New Mutants went to Madripoor. There, most of the team were defeated and possessed by Karma, while Magik and Dani Moonstar teleported away. Dani insisted that they head to Cairo next as they knew that the Shadow King had a base there. Magik reluctantly complied and they wound up in Cairo - 500 years in the past. Spent by the long journey, Magik needed to rest before she could teleport them back, however, they were attacked by guards in the compound they were in. Luckily, they were saved by a sorceress named Ashake, who was actually an ancestor of the X-Man, Storm. Ashake told Magik that she also walked the shadow path and that they were kindred souls. After resting with Ashake, the two girls were teleported by her to the future, with no further developments with this seemingly random ancestor of Storm's.
Resolution: As revealed in the Mystic Arcana: Magik one-shot, this odd and random encounter with Ashake had more to it. While Dani slept, Ashake put a spell on her to make sure that she got the proper rest but also to ensure that she could speak with Magik in privacy. From her, Illyana learned of the corrupted sorcerer Heka-Nut, who was responsible for pulling the two girls this far down the timestream. Ashake had tried to intervene and pulled them to her instead. Suddenly, Heka-Nut's minions captured the two women, and took them to Heka-Nut, who forced them to retrieve a magical item for them - the Sword of Bone. The two women eventually defeated Heka-Nut, and the next morning when Dani woke up she was no wiser as to what had happened as Magik and Ashake had agreed to keep the adventure to themselves. Ashake then sent the New Mutants back to the present.
7) [NM #44] Was Wolfsbane’s mother really a prostitute?
Mystery: Wolfsbane had gone to visit Moira MacTaggert on Muir Isle, but found a threat there as Legion had resurfaced and was on a rampage. The New Mutants battled him in a bar and though he was defeated, there was one man who was not happy. Reverend Craig, who had raised her, approached Wolfsbane, calling her a child of sin and made claims that he wasn’t surprised to see her in such a foul part of town considering who her mother was. Wolfsbane angrily tried to defend her mother, but her wolf form made Craig despise her even more and any sort of civil discussion came to an end.
Resolution: After some vague hints in Excalibur (1st series) #93, this mystery would finally come to its surprising end in New Mutants (2nd series) #11. After returning to the Xavier Institute to teach, Wolfsbane recounted her origins and revealed that Reverend Craig was actually her father. He had lost his compassion and strayed from a sinless path, instead sleeping with prostitutes, one of whom was Wolfsbane’s mother. Her mother died during labor, so Reverend Craig kept the child as some sort of twisted punishment. Rahne was to constantly remind him of his own faults, but he ended up blaming the young girl for it often calling her a child of sin, making her carry her mother’s legacy shamefully.
8) [NM Ann. #2] Would Psylocke’s restored eyes cause problems with Mojo?
Mystery: The villainous Mojo and his aid, Spiral, kidnapped Psylocke, whose eyes had been stabbed out by the Slaymaster during an earlier battle. After giving her new bionic eyes, they brainwashed her and twisted her into performing on their latest television show, the “Wildways“. Later, the villains also captured the New Mutants, Leong and Nga Coy, and the Bratpack and used their technology and powers to transform them all into adults of themselves, once again brainwashed and loyal to Mojo. Cypher and Warlock were the only ones who remained free, but with the aid of Captain Britain they defeated Mojo and Spiral and freed everyone else, including Psylocke. Back to her normal self, Psylocke discovered that she still retained the bionic eye implants. At first, she wanted to destroy them knowing that they would cause trouble, but didn’t as she feared becoming blind again.
Resolution: After this incident Psylocke joined the X-Men, keeping her bionic eyes secret from her teammates. The implants would indeed cause trouble, as they were not only bionic eyes, but cameras as well, recording everything that Betsy saw and transmitting it to the Mojoverse. Mojo used the adventures of the X-Men to create a hit television show in the Mojoverse. It was so successful that he tried to enslave the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men Annual (1st series) #10, so that they would perform in his movies. Later on, after the X-Men sacrificed their lives to defeat the Adversary, only to be secretly resurrected by Roma, the recording and transmitting function of the bionic eyes was disrupted. [Uncanny X-Men Annual #12]
9) [NM Ann. #2] Was Cypher infected with the Transmode Virus?
Mystery: Realizing that he was the last hope for the New Mutants, Psylocke and Captain Britain, Cypher decided to take matters into his own hands in defeating Mojo and Spiral. As Spiral was manipulating Psylocke into controlling everybody else, Cypher came up with a plan to enter Psylocke’s mind and end Spiral’s hold on her. Warlock told Cypher that if they merged they could easily enter Psylocke’s mind and fix whatever was wrong. However, Warlock warned Cypher that there was a chance he could be infected with the Transmode Virus, with the probability of infection increasing the longer they were merged. Cypher agreed to merge anyway and saved the day, but it took him far longer than he originally thought. There was a chance that he had contracted the Virus, especially as this was not the only time that he would merge with his teammate.
Resolution: In New Mutants (1st series) #53, Cypher began to have nightmares in which he was fully transformed by the Transmode Virus and became the new Warlock, whereas Warlock turned into the new Magus and tried to kill him. Cypher woke up and realized it was just a dream, but unknown to him it wasn’t. Deep inside him a tiny part of him was infected by the Transmode Virus and was techno-organic. However, Cypher was never fully transformed into a techno-organic entity, as he was killed shortly thereafter in New Mutants (1st series) #60.
10) [NM #46] What happened to the missing siblings of Karma, Leong and Nga?
Mystery: During the Mutant Massacre crossover, Karma became worried about her younger siblings’ safety and this increased when she called them at her apartment and they did not pick up the phone. Magik teleported Karma and herself to the apartment, only to find the place empty. Upon turning on the lights, the apartment exploded. Thanks to Magik’s teleportation powers, both women survived but the team was left wondering if the Marauders, who were responsible for killing the Morlocks, were the kidnappers.
Resolution: Karma would soon after leave the New Mutants to find her missing siblings, even seeking aid from her evil uncle, General Ngoc Coy, though that was short-lived due to his duplicitous ways. Eventually, Karma’s search would pay off in X-Force (1st series) #62 and Beast #1-3. Even though it is unknown how, Leong and Nga ended up in the care of Shinobi Shaw of the Hellfire Club, who experimented on the children to find a way to remove the X-Gene. Later, he sold the kids to Spiral and Viper, the latter seeking revenge against General Coy for enslaving her before. Spiral used her technology to genetically alter the children into adults and brain-washed them. Karma, Beast and Cannonball tracked them down and freed the children after defeating the two villains. Unfortunately, there was little the Beast could do to reverse the genetic modifications. Still, by X-Force (1st series) #75, Karma was able to find a doctor who could reverse the genetic altering and the children were returned to normal, as could be seen in New Mutants (2nd series) #4.
11) [NM #50] What happened to Magus after he was reverted to infancy?
Mystery: While the X-Men were dealing with the Mutant Massacre, the New Mutants encountered Warlock’s father, Magus. The team teleported away to Limbo, but Magus followed them and began to spread his techno virus there and allied with disgruntled residents of Limbo. The team escaped, though were temporarily separated from each other. Eventually they regrouped and found themselves in outer space, together with Professor Xavier and the Starjammers. In their assault against Magus, a sly plan by Warlock and Cypher allowed Cypher to re-write the “code“ that controlled the structure of the Technarchy, effectively reducing Magus to infancy.
Resolution: Magus would resurface years later in Warlock #7-9. Warlock and his new friends discovered that Bastion merged with techno-organic matter thanks to the nefarious Project Mainspring, becoming a being named Template. Template’s actions led to the creation of a Phalanx Tower on Earth, which would send out a signal to space for the Technarchy to come. This call was answered by Magus, who was now an adult Technarch again. Magus battled Warlock and his friends, but this time Warlock’s friend Hope, who could manipulate the Transmode form, used her powers to change Magus’ DNA similar to Warlock’s DNA, which had mingled with that of Doug Ramsey’s. The Technarchy considered such hybrids abominations, and disgusted with himself, Magus fled.
12) [NM #53, NM Ann. #6] What became of Cypher’s Transmode infection?
Mystery: After merging with Warlock several times despite being warned that there would be a chance he would be infected with the Transmode Virus, Cypher began having nightmares about becoming a techno-organic being. Even though he thought they were just bad dreams, Cypher had indeed been infected with the Transmode Virus on a micro-cellular level. Although he was killed shortly thereafter, in New Mutants (1st series) #60, it seemed that there was a chance that Cypher would eventually resurrect himself as a techno-organic being, especially as the New Mutants later encountered such a future version of their deceased teammate.
Resolution: Eventually, Warlock was killed as well, and his ashes were spread on Cypher’s grave. Many months later, some of Warlock‘s remains were used to create the Phalanx, a techno-organic life-form with a collective hive-mind. One of the members of this Collective was apparently a techno-organic version of the late Cypher, as seen in Uncanny X-Men #313. Calling himself Douglock, he rebelled against the Phalanx and left them to join Excalibur. After an encounter with the Red Skull, Douglock was shaken to his senses and he realized that he was indeed Warlock resurrected by the Phalanx, though with the memories and personality traits of Cypher written over his core programming, apparently in order to gain the trust of the X-Men. Searching for his true identity, Warlock visited Douglas’ grave in Warlock #1. He examined the body of his deceased friend, but found no trace of the Transmode Virus. Apparently, the Phalanx had stolen the few techno-organic material there was, using it for their re-programming of Warlock/Douglock.
13) [NM #56] Would Magma give in to her father’s request to get married?
Mystery: During a breakfast with her fellow New Mutants, Dani Moonstar accidentally used her powers to show everyone that Magma liked Empath. Angry, Magma stormed away and also looked at a letter from her father, who urged her to get married soon as her younger cousin already had a son. He ordered her back home so they could proceed with wedding plans, thinking that she has learned enough about the modern world. In the end, however, Magma decided to join the White Queen’s Hellions at the Massachusetts’s Academy, instead of marrying some random nobleman.
Resolution: Magma would receive another letter in New Mutants (1st series) #62 telling her to return to Nova Roma. Magma went this time, but was accompanied by Empath to make sure she didn’t stay there and also to make the Hellfire Club look good in front of Magma’s father, who was a Senator of Nova Roma. Their plane crashed and while lost in the jungle the two started a relationship, and Empath even urged her to stand up against her father’s marriage wishes. In New Mutants Annual #4, Magma was kidnapped by the High Evolutionary, and her father made a deal with the White Queen. If she saved Magma, then he would allow that his daughter continued her education at the Massachusetts Academy. Unbeknownst to her father, it was actually the New Mutants who ended up rescuing Magma, but the wedding plans were cancelled anyway.
14) [NM #89] How did Cable already know Moira MacTaggert?
Mystery: Shortly after the New Mutants encountered the man known as Cable, who eventually became the group’s new mentor, Moira MacTaggert wanted Wolfsbane to leave the team and return to Muir Island with her. Rahne pleaded with her adoptive mother to let her stay, but eventually it was Cable who convinced Moira to let her stay. During their conversation it became clear that they already knew each other, as Moira commented that he looked more metal than man now, whereas Cable also noticed a change in Moira’s attitude and wardrobe (actually Moira was subtly influenced by the Shadow King at the time). The details of their shared past were not elaborated on.
Resolution: In Cable #minus 1 it was established that when Nathan traveled back in time from the Askani future to the present, he arrived in Stornoway, Scotland, where the infamous Reverend Craig found him and immediately cast him as some sort of child of the devil given his appearance and his inability to speak English. Moira, however, saved Cable from Craig and once realizing that he was a mutant, took him to her research center on Muir Isle. There she ran some tests on him, but her tests mixed badly with his powers and caused an explosion. Cable saved Moira and then used his telepathy to learn English from her. After explaining who he was, Moira told him how to get in contact with Charles Xavier.
15) [NM #90-91] Why did Rictor have a grudge against Cable?
Mystery: When the New Mutants first met Cable, Rictor was not present. As soon as he was reunited with his teammates and saw Cable among them, he confided in Warlock that while Cable didn’t remember him, he surely remembered Cable. Whatever Rictor was referring to, he clearly wasn’t happy about it. He openly disagreed with his teammates over whether they should listen to Cable or not, and even put his own life at risk when he ventured into the Morlock tunnels all by himself just to prove that they wouldn’t need Cable to protect them. Rictor almost died there, getting dragged into a conflict between Sabretooth and Caliban. Later, after Cable and the new Mutants had saved him, Rictor’s friends asked why he disliked Cable so much, but he refused to answer.
Resolution: In X-Force (1st series) #10-12 the answer was finally revealed when Rictor joined a group known as Weapon P.R.I.M.E., a joined venture of Canada’s Department K and SHIELD. They were tasked with capturing Cable, who was deemed a terrorist and a villain. Many of the group‘s members had bad past dealings with Cable. When asked by one of his teammates what his reasons for joining were, Rictor explained that Cable had killed his father several years ago. However, while Rictor had indeed seen the killer’s face, he didn’t know that it was Stryfe and not Cable who had been the murderer. The reason for Cable and Stryfe looking alike can be found below at Closed Dangler 20.
16) [NM #93] Who was Cable’s son and who killed him?
Mystery: While investigating the Mutant Liberation Front in Madripoor, the New Mutants met with the former X-Man known as Sunfire. Cable and Sunfire seemed to already know each other, as Cable knew Sunfire’s father. When Cable mentioned that the death of Sunfire’s father was a great loss for the world, Sunfire offered his condolences for the death of Cable’s son, whom the New Mutants weren’t aware even existed. Cable told the New Mutants that his son died and one day he hoped to avenge his death, much like how Sunfire avenged his father’s death.
Resolution: Not everything stated here is what it seemed. It would be revealed in Cable (1st series) #1-2 that in the Askani future, Cable had a wife, Jenskot. She had a son named Tyler, thought it wasn’t totally clear if this was Cable’s biological son or if he adopted Tyler. Additionally, the statement that Tyler had been killed was rather misleading as this was not the case. It was Jenskot who had been killed, whereas Tyler had kidnapped by the madman Stryfe, who brainwashed him to join his side. When Cable traveled to the present Tyler was still alive, and eventually he time-traveled as well. For a while he even employed Cable while using the alias of Mr. Tolliver. It wouldn’t be much later that Tyler would finally perish. Apparently, Cable was referring to the brainwashing as the “death“ of his son.
17) [NM #93-94] What was the reason for the rivalry between Wolverine and Cable?
Mystery: While in Madripoor, Cable and the New Mutants ran into Wolverine. Obviously they knew one another and immediately attacked. The New Mutants quickly stopped the two combatants, but were confused when the two men ended their grudge match as fast as it began. It turned out the two weren’t fighting for real, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have problems with one another in the past. The exact nature of their relationship was left unanswered.
Resolution: Shortly after his arrival in the present day era, Cable began to do some research on Charles Xavier, but was unaware that a man from his time, D’Von Kray, had followed him. Kray had the order to kill Cable, but before he could track him down, he was found by Wolverine, back then still working for Canada’s Department H. Kray escaped to the United States with Wolverine in pursuit. Eventually, Kray found Cable, who was taking his first real friend, Franklin Rhodes, home. In the ensuing battle, Franklin was killed, but a combined effort by Cable and Wolverine led to Kray’s death. Before Wolverine left he exchanged harsh words with Cable and it was clear neither one liked each other, vowing to continue their fight if they would ever cross each other’s path again. [ Cable/Wolverine: Guts ‘n‘ Glory]
18) [NM #98-99] What was the reason for Gideon’s interest in Sunspot?
Mystery: The mysterious man known as Gideon hired an agent named Eve to poison Emmanuel DaCosta, Sunspot’s father. Eve succeeded, and Gideon, apparently an old friend of the family, contacted Sunspot to let him know that his father was dead. With Emmanuel dead, Sunspot was now in charge of his father’s firm, and Gideon convinced Sunspot that the only way to properly manage his father’s assets would be to leave the New Mutants. Sunspot agreed, and left the team to take care of his personal duties.
Resolution: Answers would come later in X-Force (1st series) #10. In that issue, the Externals, a group of immortal mutants whom Gideon was part of, were made aware of the awakening of a new External, the X-Forcer known as Cannonball. At that point, the other Externals criticized Gideon for having made the wrong decision. It seems that the Externals had known in advance that one of the male New Mutants would soon discover his status as an External. Apparently, Gideon’s interest in Sunspot was misguided; he thought Sunspot would be the External, when in truth his prey should have been Cannonball.
19) [NM #99] Who was responsible for killing everyone at Camp Verde, and why did they do it?
Mystery: Shortly after he had quit Emma Frost’s Hellions, James Proudstar was approached by Cable, who offered him to join the New Mutants. However, James was reluctant at first, given that he wanted to return home to Camp Verde, to spend some time with his friends and family. Cable respected that decision, though when James returned to the reservation, he found that everyone had been killed during his absence. His only clue to the attack was a discarded mask from one of the Hellfire Club guards, leading him to blame Emma Frost and her organization. Swearing vengeance against Emma Frost, James joined the New Mutants under the name Warpath.
Resolution: In X-Force (1st series) #42, Warpath eventually realized that Emma had been framed, but it was only many months later, that he would finally get some semblance of peace over the massacre. In X-Force (1st series) #72-74 Warpath hunted down Michael Whitecloud, the only other known survivor of Camp Verde. James learned that Whitecloud had discovered a Project: Stepladder conducting genetic experiments at the reservation, and a strike team had been sent to kill everyone and erase all evidence that would link the Project to the reservation. Whitecloud had been on the run ever since. Whitecloud gave Warpath the location of his notes, but was killed before he could reveal the mastermind behind Stepladder. Using the information, Warpath and Siryn uncovered that Stryfe had been the secret benefactor of Project : Stepladder.
20) [NM #100] Why did Stryfe look like Cable?
Mystery: After losing some valuable members, Cable went on a recruitment drive and gathered together a new group of New Mutants, soon renaming them X-Force. Meanwhile, Stryfe and his Mutant Liberation Front resurfaced. After sending his followers out on a mission, Stryfe took off his helmet and revealed his true face - it was a quite familiar one: Cable?!
Resolution: Stryfe looking exactly like Cable often caused trouble for the New Mutant leader, as many people bore a grudge against him for actions that Stryfe was responsible for. Later on, during the X-Cutioner’s Song crossover, Stryfe posed as Cable once again when he tried to assassinate Charles Xavier. The various X-teams hunted Cable down, but during the crossover it was not only revealed that one of them was the other one’s clone, but that they were actually the baby son of Cyclops, who had been sent into the future. Initially Cable believed that he was the clone and Stryfe the original, but in Cable (2nd series) #7-8 it was revealed to be the other way around.