Working Out Those Problems (Hellions #1 Review

HELLIONS #1

Writer: Zeb Wells

Artist: Stephen Segovia

Colorist: David Curiel

Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

Design: Tom Muller

Cover Art: Stephen Segovia

Production: Nick Russel

Assistant Editor: Annalise Bissa

Editor: Jordan D. White

Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Rating: 8/10 Super Big Epaulettes

The Dawn of X continues! Wait. Is it even the dawn anymore? The Day of X continues to shine brightly as another X-title joins the family. This week, Hellions makes its debut with its wild ensemble of former baddies plus Havok, who is there because while he may not be a bad guy, he’s a bad boy. With such a large chunk of the team featuring mutants I never heard of, I was initially not too sure about picking this one up. But then I realized, I do love some stories about villains trying to be good, Havok and Psylocke are there, a Summers boy and Mr. Sinister can only spell trouble, and, its Zeb freakin Wells writing this thing. So yes, I decided to pick it up and see what was in store. I don’t want to tell you there are spoilers in here but that might hurt you and I can’t be a productive member of mutant society if I keep spoiling things for everyone.

Back in the early days of Krakoa’s inception (*way back in House of X and Powers of X*) The Quiet Council that was formed had to come up with ways to punish mutants who were breaking some of those early laws that were churned out. What was the punishment? You throw them in a pit! This issue's meeting has the Quiet Council deciding if the pit needs to come into play as a group of mutants stands before them. This group features Nanny, Orphan-Maker, Wild Child, Empath, Scalphunter, and Havok, who all were montaged through introductions in leading up to this moment. Each 1-2 pages featured for these characters was a great way to get the general idea of what they were about for me. They had my curiosity, now they got my attention.

With such a despicable group of rule-breakers before the council, it seems like a done deal that harsh punishment is underway. That is until Mr. Sinister talked everyone into the idea of letting these troubled souls work out there issues through violence and other means of aggression. Basically what they were already doing before Krakoa, just now directed where they are needed to be. Seems like a good idea and everyone gets something out of it. Also, there wouldn’t have been enough room in the pit with how big of an asshole Sabertooth is to fit. The team’s first mission is to head over to one of Sinister’s old cloning sites and destroy it. Get in. Get out. By the way, this Katan---ergh, I mean Psylocke. She’s with me.

Hellions #1 was an interesting start that continued to flesh out the ever-developing nation of Krakoa and how it operates, with both mutant heroes we’ve known struggling to adapt to what they’ve become (*Havok had a pretty big mean streak all the way back in Axis up until X-Men Blue*), as well as the villains who have to meet in the middle. At least for this team. Compared to Well’s work on Ant-Man, the tone for this read is definitely a bit darker and more serious albeit Mr. Sinister and his silly behavior among the council. Segovia’s art does well to capture the dangers of each one of these characters through fights against X-Men members, frightening others, and even just going from good Summers to bad Summers that burns your face in a flash. Curiel on colors was an excellent part of this series as the colors stand out in every panel and they continue to give Krakoa that signature look that the rest of the X-titles has, making it feel so real.

With issue two of Hellions reintroducing a long-missing character from the X-Men comics for the Hellions to go up against, this issue has me looking forward to seeing how the group will stop whatever threats they face while also trying to resolve whatever amalgamation of traumas or circumstances that made them go bad. Be sure to be on your best behavior around this series and give it a read when you can!