The New Mutants took off after their first appearance in The New Mutants graphic novel and got their own ongoing. The original New Mutants comic soon proved very different from Uncanny X-Men, presenting a mutant team that faced foes and situations that their adult counterparts didn't.

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For a time, the New Mutants morphed into X-Force before becoming taking on their old name again. The New Mutants returned in full force during the X-Men's Krakoa era. They always stood out from their parent team, and it wasn't long before they accomplished feats the X-Men had yet to pull off.

10 The New Mutants' Comics Work Much Better With Experimental Art

The Demon Bear attacks the New Mutants.

One highlight of the original New Mutants book was when artist Bill Sienkiewicz took over as artist. Sienkiewicz's art style made New Mutants stand. It worked with the different type of stories told in the book and made a significant impression on readers. Even decades later, the experimental art style remained fans' favorite look for the team.

Fast forward to the Krakoa era and the New Mutants relaunch got Rod Reis, an artist cut from the Sienkiewicz mold, on art. The New Mutants and their stories worked better with unique art styles than the X-Men, where fans weren't afraid to revolt when art deviated from the usual style.

9 They Take Care Of The Threats That The X-Men Miss

The cover for New Mutants 24 by Martin Simmonds depicts the team playing real-life Chutes and Ladders.

The X-Men are all about saving the world, tackling the big, obvious threats to mutants and humanity. It's allowed for exciting stories that have pulled fans in for decades. The New Mutants face different conflicts. While they face world-ending foes themselves, they handle the situations the X-Men often miss.

The New Mutants jump from battling against mysterious new alien invasions to demonic invasions that no one saw coming to the disembodied consciousness of a team member's brother spreading hate. They aren't the minor league team, they're the ones who deal with the weird and the wild, something the X-Men have grown out of.

8 The New Mutants Didn't Mind Acknowledging That Their Previous Methods Were Useless

The various members of X-Force prepare to battle and have their weapons drawn.

X-Men fans often pointed to the New Mutants morphing into X-Force as the moment the team grew up. After years of banging their heads against the unbreakable edifice of humanity's hatred of mutants, the team followed Cable and took the fight directly to the enemy. They wouldn't wait for threats to come knocking on their door. They would stop them before they emerged.

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The New Mutants were smart enough to realize that while Xavier's dream was great, it had some huge blind spots. They changed their methods and adapted as a team, learning skills only Wolverine had displayed until then. Years later, the X-Men would become more like X-Force, proving the New Mutants' choice to adapt had been a solid decision.

7 Warlock Shows How Open The Team Is To Others

Warlock from the New Mutants reaches toward the reader.

The X-Men talk a big game about acceptance, but other than cases like Changeling, a mutate human who copies the powers of the original X-Men, anyone who isn't a mutant usually gets stuck looking in from the outside. Warlock's experiences with the New Mutants reveal how much more accepting they are.

Warlock was a member of the techno-organic race called the Technarch, the son of their leader, the Magus. The Technarch wanted to attack and assimilate the Earth, but Warlock helped fight against them. He became a member of the New Mutants in a way no non-mutant had been a member of the X-Men. They accepted Warlock just like anyone else and he became an important part of the New Mutants family.

6 The New Mutants Accepted Mutants Who Weren't Always The Most Photogenic

Younger mutants seek out the Shadow King.

A look at the X-Men reveals a group that can become pretty obsessed with looks. Other than Nightcrawler, who's pretty dashing actually, the X-Men usually comprise pretty, useful mutants. The New Mutants have always been different. Wolfsbane's powers transform her into a werewolf.

Magik was basically part demon when she returned from Limbo. Sunfire and Magma transform into inhuman energy beings. Karma's tumultuous life saw her lose a leg and have it replaced with cybernetics. Warlock was a scary looking techno-organic alien. The New Mutants accepted every kind of mutant, no matter how their powers worked, what they looked like, or what had happened to them.

5 The New Mutants Are Actually Diverse

Marvel's New Mutants with Magik front and center.

The X-Men established a reputation as the civil rights allegory team, but the original X-Men were all white. Even as time went on, the X-Men remained mostly white and straight, which sometimes made the team's central metaphor a little hard to believe. The New Mutants embraced diversity in their membership from the beginning.

The New Mutants put their money where their mouth was when it came to their civil rights bona fides. The team was much more friendly to people of color and queer individuals. They established a truly diverse group, something the X-Men often struggled to be.

4 They Made Teen Teams Famous In The Marvel Universe

The New Mutants teleport onto someone else's spaceship.

Over at DC, teen teams were a large part of their stories since the '50s. The original X-Men were also a teen team, but they never felt like one, and they weren't nearly as popular as DC teen teams either. It wasn't until the New Mutants' popularity increased that teen teams became a big deal in the Marvel Universe.

The New Mutants are much more influential than they get credit for. Teams like the New Warriors, the latter day Champions, the Young Avengers, Generation X, and every other group of Marvel teen heroes owe their existence to the New Mutants.

3 They're A Loving Family In A Way The X-Men Aren't

The cover for New Mutants #30 depicts the team ready for battle.

The original roster of the New Mutants remains a perfect example of superhero friendship. One can argue both teams are families, but one family is objectively better than the other. The X-Men love each other, but there are cliques and grudges in the group that make them contentious at the best of times. The New Mutants are the opposite.

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The New Mutants are the kind of family everyone wants. They squabble, but they love each other and would rather be all together than sequestered in groups. They work their problems out before they explode into violence and if someone was a New Mutant once, they'll always be one.

2 Doug Ramsey's Abilities Makes Him A Unique Mutant Genius

Doug Ramsey, aka Cypher, relaxing on Krakoa

Doug Ramsey's powers to understand any kind of speech opened him up to mockery, but he's proven to be the X-Men's most unique genius. Several smart mutants exist in the X-Men's orbit, but Ramsey's ability to understand and interpret speech has led to him achieving things that no other mutant has.

For example, Doug is amazing with computers because he knows every programming language. He can communicate with anyone anywhere. He becomes instrumental to Krakoa creation, figuring out a way for mutants to work with the island, something that had been very difficult before.

1 The New Mutants Are Much Better At Dealing With Magical Threats

Magik from the New Mutants admires her sword.

Ever since their struggle against the Demon Bear, the New Mutants proved they're much better at dealing with mystical threats than the X-Men. This only became more clear when Magik joined the team. The Limbo trained sorceress mutant earned a reputation as the team's scariest member and an expert at dealing with magical threats.

Even when Magik is a member of the X-Men, the New Mutants remain better equipped and possess more experience in that area. The team has solved mystical problems the X-Men haven't, allowing the younger mutants to tackle magical enemies in creative ways that wouldn't occur to the senior team.

NEXT: 10 Ways The X-Men Changed Marvel Comics