Two short weeks after Prodigy’s swift defeat of Hellion, NYX #5 has arrived to finish the series’ opening arc. Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Francesco Mortarino, Elisabetta D’Amico, Rául Angulo, VC’s Joe Sabino, and Annalise Bissa form the creative coalition behind this issue. Now that each of her fellow cast mates have had their swing at narrating an issue, its Sophie’s turn to tell the tale of Empath’s endgame.
If the previous issue of NYX still feels quite recent in our minds, the sentiment resonates even more so with the book’s leads. Though the exact timeline remains vague, as little as a day or two may have passed since Prodigy’s brawl with Hellion. Despite losing a key member in the fight, the remaining Quiet Council, Empath and the Stepford Cuckoos, still stand on the verge of a larger victory. After using Hellion’s terror attacks to provoke anti-mutant sentiment and planting their own assets on NYC’s city council, Manuel de la Rocha and the Stepford S.P.I.C.E. Girls’ plan to take over Manhattan now hinges on a proposed ghetto for the mutants of New York City. Puppeteering from the shadows, this Quiet Council aims to accelerate mutant oppression in order to co-opt the inevitable revolutionary upswell that rises in response. Riding that wave, they would build the Krakoa that its critics feared: a colonizer, anti-human state that doles out violence in the name of oppressed mutants while being ruled by a rich, white, human-passing oligarchy.
In light of all that’s at stake, Sophie’s choice (sorry) about the role she plays in these final moments carries a lot of weight. Of course, victory against the proposed ghetto relies on everyone’s contributions: Anole’s call to the Morlocks, Wolverine hijacking local news media to focus on the vote, Prodigy’s art, and Ms. Marvel’s marshaling of human allies, not to mention her big speech to the people of New York. However, none of this comes to pass without three key choices by Sophie: her apology to her friends, sharing the details of the Quiet Council’s plan, and disabling Empath and the Cuckoo’s mental/emotional manipulation of the city council vote. Hearts and minds clear, the council members are either swayed by Ms. Marvel’s plea, or more likely swayed by all the public pressure behind it. Like an inverted “Riot at Xavier’s,” Sophie saves the day not alongside her sisters but in spite of them, and both times victory came at a cost: Sophie survives, but she is cutoff from her sisters and seemingly from her psionic powers entirely.
Any analysis of NYX #5 would be incomplete without acknowledging the elections held in the United States last week. As the most explicitly political book in the X-line, it’s clear that Lanzing and Kelly knew that this issue would need to say something regardless of the election’s outcome. Of course, it would be an insult to equate what the miracle of Krakoa was for so many with the largely ineffective and downright violent Biden-Harris administration, and at the same time the loss of Krakoa and the ascendance of a second Trump presidency surely generates parallel feelings among mutantkind and real-life marginalized people.
The last week has seen numerous white, northern liberals spend their time fantasizing about deporting their Latine and Middle East/North African neighbors, and wishing catastrophic destruction on Southern states where decades of gerrymandering and voter suppression have kept them red, all in the name of payback for giving Trump his victory. In light of this, Empath, Hellion, and the Cuckoo’s actions to accelerate the suffering of their own kind feel all the more probable and all the more disgusting.
“people say we’re alike / they say we’ve got the same hair”
Credit: Marvel Comics
With all of that in mind, I entirely understand where some may find the resolution of NYX #5 to be naïve, patronizing, or even tone-deaf. I disagree. Yes, victory against ghettoizing NYC’s mutants does rely on the idea of “if we all come together, our voices will be heard!” Placed next to the presidential election, such a message is disingenuous, but this story isn’t about an entire nation, it’s about a city. Local politics, “small” politics, where an individual voice heard at the right moment could actually lead to meaningful change. As a queer, trans person living in the South, seeing Trump win again is disheartening. At the same time, seven states (including fellow red state, Missouri) increased access and protections for abortion, three states codified the right to gay marriage, and US Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib both secured reelection not in spite of their stances on freeing Palestine but because of them. These victories matter, just like the victory in NYX #5.
Mortarino and Angulo are an NYX staple by now, but this issue marks the addition of Elisabetta D’Amico as the inker to Mortarino’s pencils. From Kamala’s tears to Laura’s outrage, this issue is full of people feeling strong emotions, and this team of artists captures those emotions perfectly. In particular Sophie, burnt out after her big telepathic whammy, looks fucked up in a way that just feels so real and weighty. Also, the recurrence of Krakoan text in the art of NYX continues to be a treat: my favorite this week comes from among the protest signage, where Anole’s banner reads “Everywhere Is Krakoa Now.”
When it comes to flaws, again, your mileage may vary on how the win at the end strikes you. One can only imagine how it reads in a world where Trump didn’t just get reelected. But, if this issue truly just rubbed you the wrong way, perhaps future arcs will resonate with you more. As the final page teases, the drama is not done in NYX. Synch’s coming for Prodigy, Mojo is still around and somehow connected to an upcoming Dazzler concert, and is that Kiden Nixon? Oh my.
NYX #5 may be Sophie Stepford’s solo issue, but she sure isn’t alone as the cast comes together in the first arc’s finale. Superhero stories are inherently political stories, the X-Men moreso than any other, and even more than most other current X-books, NYX has made no attempt to pretend its not a political book. Saving the day for the oppressed doesn’t seem to match the world outside our windows these days, which makes NYX #5 an interesting balancing act. Even in small victories, so many other hopes for change can end up in ash, but just as the ash remains so do we. It’s not a call to hope or to celebrate, but to live.
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