Hellions #2: Social Anxieties

This team shouldn’t work. This book, to be perfectly honest, should not work. The majority of the characters in this series are unlikable at their best selves and truly deplorable more often than not. But here comes Zeb Wells, dumping emotional depth into one of the most horrific stereotypes in Marvel history, Scalphunter. That feat in and of itself would have been enough for me to endorse the book but somehow Wells manages to carry that same energy through the entire book, touching deep corners of such throwaway characters as Wild Child, Nanny and Orphan.

And as remarkable as Wells’ writing shines throughout this issue, it is matched equally by the ferocity of Segovia’s artwork. Curiel keeps the colors dominantly dark over the frenetic pencils and inks making this moments across this book jump off the page at the reader. There is an edge here that feels incredibly sharp and fitting in this new era for mutants.

The subplot running here as to the viability of using the resurrection protocols on the rest of the Marauders is certainly a plot thread to stick a pin in. Given what we know of the future thanks to Powers of X, it would appear the chimera program may in fact be starting to manifest in these pages. Overall, Hellions is currently my favorite running X-book… at least until X-Factor launches!