Love bleeds in issue #4 of Hellions, from Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia, David Curiel, and Ariana Maher.
Liz Large: Six months ago if you told me I would have intense feelings about a random assortment of d-listers and Alex Summers, of all people, I would have thought you were crazy. But it turns out that actually I’m crazy, because this might be one of my favorite issues of the new X-era. Was this issue everything you hoped for?
Austin Gorton: And if you had told me six months ago that I was going to have to mourn the loss of Madelyne Pryor all over again, I would have thought you were crazy. This issue was definitely both one of my favorites and, surprisingly, one of the saddest of the new era which, for this title, is pretty much everything I could have hoped for.
What Happened to You, Baby?
LL: When we open, Madelyne is moving along with her plan to bring Mister Sinister’s clone army to life, with a bonus infusion of demons from hell. The demons plan to inhabit the clone bodies and use them to create hell on earth. She mentions that Sinister’s actions here have been so horrible that they’ve literally worn the veil between earth and hell thin, making it easier for the demons to pass through. But, of course, she needs to sacrifice Alex to kick it all off.
AG: That Maddie, always with the human sacrifices! While it’s not explicitly tied to them specifically, the callback to the demons of Inferno and the role demonic manipulation played in the fall of Madelyne Pryor is a great example of what we’ve come to expect from this book’s relationship with X-History, as the mad swirl of Mister Sinister’s genetic experimentations and demonic manipulations once again coalesce around Maddie. But curiously enough, Alex is seemingly on board for Maddie’s plan – or at least someone is – as Zeb Wells returns to the series’ inaugural mystery: Something Is Wrong With Havok, Maybe?
LL: Just as Maddie works her way through a very good villain speech, she points out what we’ve suspected: someone has messed with Alex’s head, and shockingly, it wasn’t her. To me at least, that was a surprise—I assumed some residual Goblin Queen influence had come back. She’s upset, both that she doesn’t have quite as much power over him as she expected and also that someone else has hurt him. It’s tragic that the first person to really put in any effort to see what’s wrong with Alex is the woman who is moments away from sacrificing him.
AG: The tragedy definitely comes in layers with these two: just as Maddie begins to probe who has their hooks in Havok, she’s shot by Greycrow, and this is the moment which snaps Havok back to his senses. And snaps something inside him, as his power quickly builds and he proceeds to blast Mister Sinister’s Orphanage of Terror apart from the inside. Putting aside the raw emotion of this plot turn for the moment, how well did this work for you, the sudden falling apart of Madelyne’s “send an army of demon-possessed zombie-Marauders to purge Krakoa for spurning me” plan? Was it an abrupt derailment coming because the plot was slated to end at issue four, or a reasonable turn that hinged on the earned emotion of the character interactions?
LL: From a logistical point, I know they had to wrap things up here because swords are coming. But it worked for me! I don’t think Madelyne has ever been a tactical genius, so losing track of the other people in the base and not realizing that the Hellions were loose and coming for her seems reasonable, especially since her focus the whole time has really been on Alex. Everyone else has just been set dressing, and easily forgotten when out of sight.
From a totally off the wall perspective, this could be a set up in a game we don’t know Maddie is playing yet. In the moments before her death, she asks Alex to remember her as a real girl, and also does…something to him. She heals the wound in his face from the last issue, yes, but I don’t trust her to do something just to be nice. What about you— do you think Maddie has a future?
AG: Boy, I sure hope so. Not only because I’d love to see her return for more than one story arc, but also because, unfortunately, her story in this issue doesn’t entirely end with her death-by-Greycrow. Upon the Hellions triumphant(-ish) return to Krakoa, the Quiet Council takes up the case of Maddie and whether she merits entry into the resurrection protocol, or if her status as a clone of Jean Grey renders such need void. And, well, if Maddie’s motivation for her (admittedly, demented & homicidal, that can’t be stressed enough) plan to attack Krakoa was built on her (understandable) rage at the way no one treated her like a “real girl”, then it’s the perfect gut-punch of a coda to her story to have the Quiet Council come back with an answer of “we’ll…pass”, because she’s not, ultimately, a real girl. How much rage did the council’s decision fill you with, and why was it “all the rage”?
LL: Oh, I have some THOUGHTS. Madelyne Pryor had a life— she had a job, she fell in love, she had a child. She was manipulated and set up in that life, yes. She absolutely went full-on, demon summoning evil. But the point of Krakoa is that we’re allegedly forgiving or working past all our previous actions, and giving mutants a second chance. She’s a clone created by a terrible scientist, yes, but so are Gabby Kinney and all of the Cuckoos, and you cannot tell me that if one of them was dead they’d stay that way. In summary: bring her back and put her on Hellions.
AG: YES! Maddie was absolutely a fully-formed character from the get-go, and for the council to suggest otherwise seems to put a frightening amount of weight on the “nature” side of the nature vs. nurture divide, suggesting everything that made her unique was irrelevant because her genetics – something she had no control over – were a copy of someone else’s. While I don’t think Wells is doing wrong by the character – this decision by the council is absolutely a payoff to the characterization of Madelyne throughout the story, a final twist of the knife that proves her feelings of being ignored and discredited were genuine and justified. Through Havok’s reaction to the council’s decision, Wells clearly wants us to view it as the wrong decision – I do hope this is just the first chapter in a larger Madelyne story. Or, at least, a not insignificant chapter in the “is the Quiet Council maybe not great?” subplot that has been percolating in various places across the line. If we can’t have Maddie back, then at least give her some justice!
A Bunch of Crazy Sons of #@$%@#
LL: Speaking of characters getting what they deserve…the other Hellions didn’t get eaten by Greycrow’s former teammates! With death being a lot less permanent for most characters in this book, I think there’s a risk of relying too heavily on it as a plot point, so I liked that we got a rescue and a fight scene, rather than a mutant buffet. Psylocke’s show of dominance over Wild Child last issue really stuck—he’s now following all her orders to the letter, including going straight back into the fight after being speared through the stomach. It’s good to see the members of the team working together, at least.
AG: Great point on avoiding the “death for the sake of death” trap that always lies in wait for this series (and, really, the entire line at this point). It was also good to see the members of the team being effective – the surprise (and sheer horror) of what was lying in wait for them (and Wild Child’s ill-timed dominance issues) behind them, this team takes care of business in relatively short-order. And rather than feeling like a rushed conclusion because the story was almost over, the brevity of the Hellions’ counterattack felt like a showcase for the effectiveness of the group. Even our favorite little armored egg was able to get back on her feet!
LL: I love Nanny so much. Truly the MVP of this series. Our data page this issue was a post mission report, and it really showed that the team is meeting the expectations set by the council. Personally, I enjoyed the official response to Empath’s death being “this was expected”, but it was also interesting to see the official take on everyone’s reactions. In addition to shooting Maddie, Greycrow also executed the zombie Marauders. Earlier in the series, we learned that there was some official debate about how to bring them back, since they were copies of copies, with a lot of edits. It seems as though being able to confirm their deaths may have helped make the decision to bring them back.
AG: The Marauders: more worthy of resurrection than the woman they once tried to kill, apparently. In terms of the data page, it felt more expositional than usual, helping transition to the story from the destruction of the orphanage to the more lingering aftermath of the Hellions’ first mission, weeks later. Personally, I love that kind of stuff (I would like all books to conclude with a Wikipedia-style entry on what every character goes on to do after the story ended), but did this work for you, or did it skew too close to “telling instead of showing”?
LL: I’m with you— give me an 80’s movie style freeze frame during the credits and let me know where they all ended up. For Hellions, it makes sense that there would be some sort of observer documenting this, since it’s a government mandated program. Do I think that this would work in every comic? No, but I think Wells is doing a good job making it fit. It also gives us a sense of time passing, since not only is the report written a week after the mission, but it leaves questions and undecided issues, some of which are answered later in the issue (like the Maddie resurrection situation). Others, like Nanny’s emotional state, seem to be playing to something bigger in the future.
AG: We get a brief peek at that to close out the issue, with Nanny, flush with her own rage after seeing evidence of the children Mister Sinister casually discarded at his orphanage, confronts the man, quietly threatening him with making all of his “children” orphans, a threat which even (delightfully) flaps the usually unflappable Sinister. But that will have to wait, because first, there are swords to be drawn. X of them, in fact.
She Existed
LL: As we head into sword town, what did you think of this arc? With only four issues to set up the premise, introduce the team, and, oh yeah, tell a story, do you think it hit the mark?
AG: I will admit, I was dubious that it would; having only four issues to do everything you listed before diving into a large line wide crossover seemed like a recipe for disaster – or, at least, a recipe for something to get short-changed. But, this first arc is largely a success. It helped, for sure, that by killing off Empath (to comedic delight) it narrowed the cast from the first issue without undermining the book’s mission statement, arguably making room for a deeper exploration of Madelyne’s character. But with the exception of Orphan Maker – who functioned mostly as a comic relief figure and little else – nearly every member of the cast had their moment to shine in the four issues, with Greycrow in particular emerging as a vastly more interesting & engaging character than you’d expect from the guy whose power is making guns from his costume. How about you, did this introductory arc check all the necessary boxes, and was there anything that felt like it got too short of shrift along the way?
LL: With, like you said, the exception of Orphan Maker, I really think these issues did some heavy lifting. Even Empath, who barely appeared on page, got a data page that really made a difference when it comes to how I look at his character.
The biggest issue I’ve had with this book since the beginning is the concept itself and how unjust it is. It never made sense how inconsistent the sentencing was—Krakoa is meant to be a second chance, and many mutants on the island have done worse things. Why would Alex almost killing some humans be on a worse level than the many mutants who actually have killed humans before? Why would Greycrow, whose actions were done at the behest of Mister Sinister, need to atone while the man who gave the orders gets to benefit from his punishment? It never made sense. But this issue made it clear that this is intentional. Nanny’s confrontation with Mister Sinister as he gloats over his influence and power really sealed the deal for me. Something is building up here, and I’m very excited to see what happens.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- The cover of this issue is an homage to Uncanny X-Men #270 (the first chapter of X-Tinction Agenda), one of Jim Lee’s all-time great X-Men covers.
- For the second issue in a row, Empath appears on the cast page but does not show his face in the issue. Love this for him.
- The data page also references a reluctance on Emma’s part to poke around inside Havok’s mind after the last time she did so, which is presumably a reference to when she fixed his good/evil inversion and all the Mothervine nonsense. [Ed. note: See X-Men: Blue #28]
- Cannot stress enough: I would die to protect Nanny at this point. PLEASE let her murder Mister Sinister at least once.
- Also, his horror at the appearance of her armor is a great bit.
- “They’re funny Nanny!”
- Speaking as one of the Xavier Files Cyclops stans, Cyclops was a grade A, “leaving his wife & infant child to play with his high school friends in X-Factor #1” jerk this issue. Guess Maddie brings that out in him.
- Segovia and Curiel are doing great work on the facial expressions in this issue. Every one of Maddie’s expressions was full of emotion, and they handled the emotional scene between the Summers brothers really well.
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him on Twitter @AustinGorton
Liz Large is a copywriter with a lot of opinions on mutants.
