"Child's Play" is a 1994

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crossover storyline featuring the

New Warriors The New Warriors are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics) ...

X-Force X-Force is a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #100 (April 1991 ...

, and the Upstarts. It is also the first time

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

reunites with the New Mutants since she left the team in ''New Mutants'' #54 (1987).

Summary

The Upstarts continue their series of games to prove their power and worth to one another. This time, they devise "the Younghunt", a mission to capture all of the surviving members of the

New Mutants The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, generally in association with the X-Men. Originally depicted as the teenaged junior class at the Xavier Institute, sub ...

(some of whom are now members of

) and the Hellions. This competition also brings the Upstarts into conflict with the New Warriors, as Firestar is a former Hellion. The Upstarts acquire most of their targets, who are pitted against X-Force and the New Warriors during the crossover's climax. However, Paige Guthrie, who secretly followed X-Force on the rescue mission, is able to convince the Gamesmaster to play another game—instead of killing mutants, the Upstarts should compete with the mutant leaders of the world to find and train young mutants like herself. The Gamesmaster is intrigued by the proposition and cancels the competition. This crossover marks a watershed moment for several characters. Danielle Moonstar, still affiliated with the

Mutant Liberation Front The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army The A.I. Army is a fictional organization appearing i ...

, unmasks herself to her former teammates during this event, and reveals that she is, in fact, Moonstar and not an imposter. She maintains her cover and does not reveal she is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. to her teammates at this juncture, but this marks the first hint that she does not buy into the MLF's agenda. The

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

of the origin of Nova Roma is very much a part of the storyline. Accordingly, during this story,

Magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

divorces herself from the Amara Aquilla persona and decides to uncover her origins as Alison Crestmere. In the process, she demands Empath keep his distance.

Younghunt results

Tie-in issues

*''X-Force'' (vol. 1) #32 (Move 1) *''The New Warriors'' #45 (Move 2) *''X-Force'' (vol. 1) #33 (Move 3) *''The New Warriors'' #46 (Move 4)

External links

* {{Fabian Nicieza 1994 comics debuts 1994 comics endings Comics by Fabian Nicieza X-Men storylines