Preoccupied with… Hellions #1-4
“Bad is the new good!” adorns the sharp purple of the trade paperback in my hands. A simple thesis statement for the book: Showing the audience that ‘Bad guys’ embracing their natures doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Turning the book over, we’re shown a deceptively detailed collage of characters below the word “HELLIONS” (Courtesy of artists Stephen Segovia and Rain Beredo). This team is full of weirdos, murderers, comic-book nobodies, emotional manipulators, and the badass woman tasked with making sure they don’t get anyone killed (except for themselves). The first volume of Hellions (2019) is proof that Jonathan Hickman’s true vision for the X-men was not engaging stories, massive world-shattering events, or even the new Krakoan age. Hellions stands as a testament to Hickman’s true goal in reinvigorating the X-office: Creating a place where talented creators like Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia can keep making unique comics that are this damn good.
(Hellions #1 Cover)
After Alex Summers (Havok) almost kills a man on a field operation, the Quiet Council meets to discuss what should be done with Krakoa’s “problem mutants.” A problem mutant is any mutant whose mutation is “intrinsically asocial” or causes violent behavior that cannot necessarily be blamed on the mutant themselves. The solution to these square pegs in round holes? Psylocke (Kwannon) will be put in charge of the Hellions; a team of problem mutants that will be let loose on violent teachable moments like a super-powered bull in a china shop. We are introduced to the Hellions in a series of cut-away introductions with operatic titles like “The Passion of Nanny and the Orphan-Maker” and “The Curious Condition of Kyle Gibney.” This cut-away montage is a perfect example of Wells’ greatest skill as a writer. He has a near-supernatural skill for taking old characters, finding the nugget of potential in them, and mining it out into absolute gold on the page. It’s also worth highlighting how the art in each cut-away is perfect for the succinct introduction of the cut-away’s focal character. For example, “The Crimes of Manuel De La Rocha (Empath)” uses clever power-indicators and eye-direction to show how effortlessly Empath is able to direct the emotions of people around him.
(The power-indicator around Empath’s temple in the second panel, as well as the color and lack of pupils in Jetstream’s eyes quickly establishes that controlling the emotions of others is as natural to Empath as breathing or walking. The visual language of this page informs readers that Empath has been controlling the emotions of people around him for a VERY long time.)
Including the ‘good guys’ in Havok and Psylocke, every member of this team is a character with a deeply traumatic, overly-complex, or under-utilized publication history, and Wells uses every panel of this book to show how each of them is worth your time and love. Reading this book is an easy way to end up with two or three new favorite mutants.
Before we get to those mutants, I just want to give a shout-out to Apocalypse, Exodus, Magneto, Charles Xavier, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler, Mystique, and every other X-men mainstay who gets to contribute to the Quiet Council conversation about the Hellions. The presence of these characters in this story is one of the many benefits of the collaborative undertaking of the Krakoan era, and the Hellions creative team uses this to great success by giving many of these characters a nice moment without feeling as though they’re overstaying their welcome. Personal favorite panels include…
My favorite character moment in Hellions #1 belongs to John Greycrow. The Morlocks are victims of a massacre that Greycrow and the original “Marauders” committed (read The Mutant Massacre) in the 1980s X-men comics. Greycrow’s introductory vignette shows him cleaning his guns on a beach and being attacked by the Morlocks. At the following Quiet Council hearing on the Hellions, Storm describes this scene as Greycrow ‘attacking defenseless Morlocks’, even though we know he didn’t start the fight at the beach. Greycrow does not try to refute Storm or tell her that he didn’t attack them, he simply accepts that this is how he is seen and stands quietly as the fate of the problem mutants is deliberated. The look on Greycrow’s face in this scene is one of acceptance, but not one of comfort with that acceptance. We are shown a man who knows the horrors he has committed, but one who cannot yet come to terms with the idea of being forgiven and moving forward. There is a reason his opening vignette is called “The Ghosts that Haunt John Greycrow.”
This Quiet Council meeting concludes when Mister Sinister proposes that the expression of one’s mutant gift is a birthright held by all mutants, and that the best solution is to place these mutants together on a team where they can use their mutations on missions where death, civilian casualties, and collateral damage need not be considered. Mister Sinister proposes that Psylocke act as their babysitter, and just like that, Krakoa’s Hellions are born! What ensues are a few pages of get-to-know dialogue with the team, some very funny one-liners from Mister Sinister, and the introduction of their first mission: A search-and-destroy operation focused on one of Mister Sinister’s clone farms under the orphanage where Havok grew up. Issue #1 ends with the revelation that Madelyne Pryor, looking alive and gorgeous as ever, is scheming in the basement of the orphanage.
The following three issues (Hellions #2-4) encompass this orphanage search-and-destroy operation. Here’s a team shot and each member of the Hellions’ name, so you can know who we’re talking about. I will provide details about their powers and histories when relevant, but I highly suggest you read some of these characters’ earlier appearances if you want extra context for their story.
(From left to right - by their head: Wild Child, Orphan-Maker, Nanny, John Greycrow, Kwannon (Psylocke), Alex Summers (Havok), and Empath)
Hellions #2 is responsible for setting up one of my favorite running gags in comics; Empath cannot stop getting violently killed. Early on in the mission, Empath, a mutant with the power to control emotions in other people, gives Nanny’s emotions a little push towards motherly care which results in her latching on to Greycrow. Upon realizing what has happened, Greycrow keeps a promise he made in Hellions #1; “...using your powers on one of us at any time, I’m gonna shoot you between the eyes”.
(Quick detour to admire the excellent facial work done by Stephen Segovia and David Curiel. This entire book is full to the brim with expressive facial art that always perfectly conveys what emotions a character is feeling as a scene unfolds. Each face feels fully realized, as if the art team had taken extra care to make you feel something along with the characters. The line work and color are both fantastic throughout this book, but I feel most enraptured by the sheer depth of emotion Segovia and Curiel are able to consistently achieve through characters’ faces.)
The mission carries on until the team encounters the original Marauders (the other perpetrators of The Mutant Massacre) defending what is left of Sinister’s clone farm under the orphanage. Greycrow tries to invite his old compatriots to join everyone on Krakoa, but they are zombified shells of their former selves. The team learns that Madelyne Pryor is keeping the former Marauders as her slaves when she commands them to attack the Hellions. The ensuing fight sees Havok begin to be seduced by Madelyne (his ex-lover), the zombie Marauders catching Greycrow off guard by calling for him to save them from Madelyn’s control, and Wild Child deciding to challenge Psylocke’s position as the ‘alpha’ of their group.
Before addressing the final two issues of the book, I want to highlight some of the current plot threads and why they matter. Firstly, Psylocke is re-establishing herself as a powerful Mutant leader. Now that Betsy Braddock no longer inhabits her body, Psylocke is able to come into her own as a field leader for mutantkind. She fills an excellent role as the hard-exterior forced-to-lead assassin type, and this book really makes you care about her in conjunction with stories like Tini Howard’s Excalibur. Another character receiving some much-needed spotlight is John Greycrow. This book paints him as a guilt-ridden former soldier looking for an opportunity to do something right. He’s happy to join the Hellions in service of the greater Krakoan project, he decides not to blame the Morlocks for attacking him on the beach, and he genuinely wants to save his former teammates from their lives of struggle and strife. Much of this run focuses on how Psylocke and Greycrow move forward given the trauma of their past, and I love that those seeds are being planted so quickly. Finally, the presence of a clone farm, and Madelyne Pryor, in this story is a very intentional choice within the context of the broader Krakoan landscape. Wells is planning to address how clones are handled in the Krakoan resurrection process, and what sorts of implications those choices might have.
(Instead of a good transition, enjoy this picture of Madelyne Pryor being a total smokeshow)
As we move into Hellions #3, Havok falls further into Madelyne’s thrall as he has his mouth magically sewn shut. Madelyne then performs a song for him that recaps her character history (or at least enough to understand her role in this book) in one succinct page. This prompts Havok to cut his mouth open with a piece of glass, so that he can tell Madelyne that he is tired of hearing about her past relationship with his brother. Madelyne smiles at this and kisses him deeply. I see this scene as a statement that Madelyne can exist as a person outside of her relationship to Cyclops. Furthermore, I see this as the creative team making the statement that Madelyne Pryor can exist in stories that do not tie her down to her past relationship with Cyclops. Given her standout presence in future Marvel events, I hold this statement in the same regard as Babe Ruth calling his shot in the 1932 World Series. Madelyne Pryor is back on the scene, she is calling her own shots, and you WILL pay attention.
Madelyne’s plan is to use Sinister’s clone-Marauders as a massive army to assault Krakoa. The goal is to cause a wave of bloodshed that is impossible to ignore, so that people will never forget her again. The specifics of her plan aren’t too important, but it is worth noting that this continues to reinforce the idea that Madelyne is a powerful and interesting character who knows her worth and deserves time in the spotlight (even if her methods are so violent and brutal).
The explanation of Madelyne’s plan is inter-cut with scenes of Psylocke and Wild Child fighting over the ‘alpha’ position of their group. This scene is a great display of the powers of both characters, but it is clear from the beginning that Psylocke is going to beat Wild Child handedly. Psylocke snaps Wild Child’s neck and leaves him on the ground to recover, knowing he has been put in his place. This fight is followed by a data page that ponders the question of the Hellions’ loyalties. Mister Sinister may be their leader, but when things really get hard, this team will be loyal to the person who’s been in the trenches side-by-side with them. They’re going to follow the person who’s bled and shed blood for them. The Hellions are going to follow Psylocke. Here, Hellions makes a salient point about the nature of human relationships and hardship. Listening to vague rich leadership, middle-managers, or some ivory-tower business billionaire is sometimes required in life, but when things get rough, it's the people who’ve struggled with you that truly have your back. It doesn’t matter if you’re at a job, handling a difficult social situation, or trying to do some type of activist work. The best way forward in difficult times is to band together with those who have suffered with you, because they can, more deeply than anyone else, understand what you’ve gone through and why your fight matters.
(Wild Child’s face here is very different from the various ‘feral’ smiles and growls he gives throughout the early issues and his fight with Psylocke. Wild Child ceases to look like a wild animal and now carries himself like a proud dog, happy to have a “clear head” now that he knows Psylocke is his superior. The way in which his physicality, posture, and face come together to convey this shift is nothing short of stellar.)
It turns out that Madelyne’s plan is to sacrifice Alex to summon demons to fulfill her goal of destroying Krakoa. Madelyne says that she’s hurt to not be allowed in the mutant homeland and says she will be delivering Alex’s head to Cyclops. We cut to Wild Child and Psylocke saving the rest of the Hellions from the surviving Marauders. During the scuffle, Madelyne begins stretching her mind too thin between all of the Marauder clones, and the zombie-Marauders are freed from her mental grasp. Greycrow vows to save the Marauders because they’re “his people.” He plans to have them resurrected on Krakoa so they can lead lives without him or the pain of their past, but to do this he is forced to kill the zombified versions of all of his former teammates. Once again we see a John Greycrow that is committed to paying forward good deeds and then distancing himself from those he helps. He accepted an undeserved fault for the Morlocks attacking him in the first issue, and now he wants to save his old teammates from an after-life of servitude. Both of these situations put him in a self-sacrificing position that, while noble, is deeply sad. I cannot wait to see the direction Hellions takes with this character as he comes to terms with the ghosts of his past.
After putting down his former teammates, Greycrow sneaks deep into the compound and shoots Madelyne. She begins to bleed to death in Alex’s arms and monologues about how everyone leaves her eventually. Demons, her ex-husband Cyclops, and even decades of Marvel writers have all abandoned Madelyne. Everyone except for Alex. Alex is the only one who sees her as the real person she is, and Alex wants that woman in his life. Distraught by Madelyne’s death, Alex loses control of his mental faculties and goes on an emotional rampage as he tears the orphanage to the ground with his mutant powers. It is a stirring, yet horrifying, act of domination over the traumas of his past and every difficulty he has faced in that orphanage and the life that came after it. Alex snaps back to his senses and doesn’t remember destroying the orphanage. The mission concludes with the Hellions (except for a disapproving Nanny and a dead Empath) laughing as Wild Child calls their group “Crazy sons of bitches.”
This volume ends with two epilogue scenes after the Hellions have returned to Krakoa. The first sees Greycrow sitting on the same beach from issue #1. Psylocke, with Wild Child slavishly in tow, arrives to tell Greycrow that the original Marauders are all going to be resurrected to live full lives on Krakoa. Greycrow denies that their lives are any of his business and thanks her solemnly. She reminds him that Krakoa will never ask him to deny his nature. She tussles Wild Child’s hair and says “A dog will hunt. And we must wrest peace wherever we find it.” before the three of them sit silently and stare out over the horizon of Krakoa’s coast. As two former soldiers looking for their place in a new world, Psylocke and Greycrow see something of themselves in each other. I am excited to see how these two characters grow together, because their relationship is full of potential to discuss how different people come to terms with the difficulties of their pasts.
The final pages of the book see Havok sitting alone on a staircase. Cyclops informs him that, no matter what he says, the Quiet Council has decided that Madelyne Pryor will not be resurrected. Havok asks Cyclops if he agrees with the council’s decision and is brushed off with a weak apology. I’ll let the next panels speak for themselves.
The denial of Madelyne Pryor’s resurrection is one of the first moments in the Dawn of X where I believe we are intended to be very critical of Krakoa’s governing body. To Alex, and to many readers, this is a clear case of the Quiet Council playing favorites with their rules regarding cloning. Jamie Madrox (The Multiple Man) or the quintuplet clone Stepford Cuckoos can be resurrected without any difficulty, but Madelyne Pryor is too much of a clone to be considered her own person? From Alex’s point of view, this is Madelyne’s worst nightmare coming true; She’s being forgotten and left behind by the people who were supposed to always support her. It reads as though the ruling powers of Krakoa have changed the rule from ‘No clone resurrections’ to ‘No clone resurrections*’ (* = Except for people we like, people who support our ideologies, or people who we consider to be worthwhile). This book doesn’t answer or fully address any of these questions and critiques, but it excellently opens the door for Wells and team to address it in the next 14 issues of Hellions. Furthermore, this adds another layer of doubt to the mosaic of Krakoa. The audience is slowly being shown the cracks in the Krakoan experiment. This doesn’t mean Krakoa is doomed or unworthy of support, but it reminds us to always be critical in our support of any institution (state, business, NGO, or otherwise) that might seem too good to be true. I still stand as a proud supporter of the Krakoan experiment, but Hellions reminds us to not blindly support the acts of any institution.
The book ends on a tense exchange between Nanny and Mister Sinister, and I think the comedic timing of these panels is perfect.
Hellions is a gorgeous, darkly funny, deceptively self-reflective, and endearingly sincere comic book that stands heads and shoulders higher than the simple pitch of “Mutant Suicide Squad.”
That’s what I’ve been Preoccupied with.
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PS: Each issue of Hellions opens with a quote from Nightcrawler that addresses the various overarching themes of the book. I’ll list all of these opening quotes below the article. Tweet at me (@PPreoccupied) about which of them is your favorite and why. My personal favorite is the fourth because of how perfectly it applies to the struggles facing many of the members of the Hellions and because I always find a deep peace in understanding myself as an amalgamation of the experiences (both positive and negative) from my past.
It is folly to create an Eden, if one has no use for snakes - Nightcrawler
2. Those whose violence you do not understand have often seen horrors you cannot imagine - Nightcrawler
3. I do wonder which binds us more… Xavier’s ideals or the trauma of being mutant. The dream or the pain. - Nightcrawler
4. May I be heard in this: the challenges of the soul outweigh those of the body. Either we befriend the sorrows of the past or they destroy us. - Nightcrawler
