The Underground Mutant Theatre has an audience, a fighting pit and plenty of people willing to pay to see somebody get hurt. The performers are the ones who don't necessarily ge…

The Underground Mutant Theatre has an audience, a fighting pit and plenty of people willing to pay to see somebody get hurt. The performers are the ones who don't necessarily get a choice. That's the situation the New Mutants walk into in issues #29–31. Sunspot and Magma have been kidnapped, and getting them out becomes much more complicated than breaking a lock. The people running the place know exactly how to use a hero's conscience against them. The Gladiators are an awkward group to call a team. Some are seasoned arena fighters. Some are captives. Others are being manipulated without understanding how much control they've lost. Putting every person who steps into that ring on the same villain roster would miss what the story is doing. Axe, Ivich, Max Rocker, Ray and Lexi give the arena its fighting cast. Dazzler knows this world and the people in it, which makes her useful to the rescue and vulnerable to the place itself. Roberto and Amara are children being made to provide the entertainment. Behind the management's threats sits a psychic predator who can make the distinction between an ally and an attacker collapse in seconds. Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz give this little corner of Los Angeles an ugly intimacy. There are no armies here to keep the danger at a distance. Friends can watch each other fight without knowing who's in control, and spectators can enjoy the show because somebody else is paying for it with their body. The most disturbing thing about the Theatre is how much effort goes into making that arrangement look like a performance everybody agreed to.