REVIEW: ‘Hellions,’ Issue #2

Hellions #2 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Zeb Wells, with art by Stephan Segovia, colors by David Curiel, and letters by VC’s Corey Petit. The previous issue set-up the premise of the series eloquently, with Krakoa opening its doors to all mutants, including the worst of the worst. Mister Sinister knows just what to do with these troublemakers and sets up his new team, the Hellions, to become productive members of mutant society. With Psylocke as the team leader and a supposedly newly reformed Havok to back her up, what could possibly go wrong?

In Hellions #2, the newly formed team is sent to destroy Sinister’s defunct cloning farm hidden in the basement of an orphanage. Havok is having some doubts about the mission they’re on; after all, he went to the very same orphanage that the Hellions are now traipsing through, bringing up some bad memories. However, if he thinks the abandoned orphanage is bad, what the team finds in the cloning facility is even worse. Sinister has really thrown them to the wolves.

With the end of the House of X/Powers of X (HOX/POX) plotline, I was wondering just what Sinister was going to get up to. It was odd knowing that he was going to be part of the Quiet Council and have great sway over the course of the new mutant nation on Krakoa. With all this power, what was Sinister going to get up to in the future? Hellions seems to answer just that.

We have seen other comics do something similar: taking society’s villains, outcasts, and the unstable and forcing them to rehabilitate by going on life-threatening missions. Given that some of the characters in Hellions are mentally unstable and should probably be in therapy, this theme is a bit unsettling. However, I suppose it is better than Sabretooth’s fate in HOX. On top of this, HOX/POX has given us a vastly different Professor X. In this new timeline, Xavier has seen and done things that are very questionable for the calm and loving professor we’ve all become accustomed to. So, it’s a very different Professor X who would have sanctioned something like this. Given these facts, I suppose this idea makes sense, but it is still unsettling.

The characters are a hodge-podge from all walks of life, all of which have one thing in common: they don’t play well with others. They’re angry, violent, awkward, and don’t follow the rules; they’re constantly at each other’s’ throats. Wells represents these characters phenomenally through the dialogue and plot, capturing their unruliness and contrariness effortlessly.

The dialogue is harsh and callous when it needs to be and snarky and humorous at just the right moments. The characters’ personalities come through the dialogue and word-choice and really enhance the characterization. The story is dark (Sinister is sending mutants on missions that could turn deadly, after all) so we get just enough humor to lighten the mood but not enough to overshadow the plot.

We also see another group of characters introduced that have a history surrounding them. If you don’t have prior knowledge about them, or even about their current inclusion in the new HOX/POX storyline, the comic has a one-page script describing the group, why they’re in Sinister’s cloning facility, and even why the Hellions are there. It’s super helpful given the complexity that is the X-Men timeline.

The art by Segovia is phenomenal. They have a wonderful way of drawing emotive expressions and dynamic action that’ll suck you in instantly. Curiel’s colors only add to the expressiveness of the art, keeping the panels dark and grungy when the plot takes a dark turn. Petit’s lettering also shines, keeping the panels uncluttered and making it easy to follow the dialogue. All in all, the creative team did a wonderful job on this issue.

It’s hard to tell just what is allowed in this new timeline presented in HOX/POX, but even with Sinister being on the Quiet Council and a very different Professor X, the premise of this series is still a bit hard to swallow. However, the characters are written wonderfully and the tumultuous interactions between the members of the Hellion represented well. The plot is picking up quickly and the creative team is handling this team of misfits beautifully.

Hellions #2 is available now wherever comic books are sold!