Palate Cleaner
As good as the last issue was is how bad this issue is. Issue #91 left off saying we were headed to Madripoor. Issue #92 is still in the states with a different writer and drawer. Three gut checks. Not cool. I can, however, see why this issue had to be this way. The Madripoor story takes place in more than one issue and there was an annual that had to come out. So, putting in this filler story made way for the annual to come out before the Madripoor story, thus not having to split up that tale with a completely different one.
The story is flawless filler. We don't have to worry about things happening in the present because Rahne tells a story from her past. The story she tells is nothing earth shattering. Skrulls that had lost the ability to shift their shapes had set up a circus in hopes of capturing people and selling them as intergalactic slaves. This doesn't work for two reasons: 1) The Skrulls are all stuck as circus folk, an enemy too ridiculous to fathom. 2) Intergalactic slave trade run by a clown is not scary at all. Yes, both reasons are basically the same, but I felt that repetition was appropriate. A mouse Skrull was related to an elephant Skrull! Ludicrosity! Regardless, the reader needn't remember a single thing from this issue. That's why it's filler.
One thing did strike my fancy (which it garnered more than one and a half stars). I liked the dialogue at the end between Rahne and Cable about how there may never be a situation in which the New Mutants won't have to be on their guard, regardless of the circumstances. Bleak, yes, but a good description of Cable's mindset.
Overall, this issue cleansed the palate. The reader can now go read the annual and the Madripoor story with newfound gusto.