Like many of us, the mutants of New York City are trying something different in the new year, and their new status quo is immediately being put to the test in this week’s NYX #7. Hivemind Jackson Lanzing and Colin Kelly team once more with Enid Balám, Raúl Angulo, VC’s Joe Sabino, and Annalise Bissa to hard launch NYX’s new headquarters and show Synch’s attempt to shut it down. In many ways, Everett Thomas was The X-Man of the First Krakoan Age, and his absence since the island’s ascension has been noticeable. As it turns out, that disappearance was intentional.
After spending roughly the last four and a half months drifting across the country, Synch arrives at a repurposed warehouse branded “NYX: ALL WELCOME.” This community center for mutant New Yorkers first appeared in Astonishing X-Men over on Marvel Unlimited, but this grander debut shows the new space as one for distributing resources, support, and academic material from Prodigy’s former course at ESU. It holds little interest for the dejected Everett, with a bit of a chip on his shoulder as he enters, rebuffing Ms. Marvel’s hospitality and singling out Prodigy as the object of his frustration. From the outside looking in, Synch sees a big building emblazoned with an X, gathering vulnerable mutants under the authority of an egoist professor. While the prof. may be Alleyne instead of Xavier, it still reads to Everett as a selfish endeavor and reckless endangerment. Makes sense for the man who led his X-Men squad from the city’s subterranean sewers.
Though David and Everett’s fight isn’t all that long (just shy of one-third of the issue), Synch’s arrival and subsequent clash with Prodigy is rare among X-comics for a number of reasons. For one, these two are among the most prominent Black men in a franchise that is largely devoid of them. Fan-favorite Kafka remains with Krakoa in the White Hot Room, Gentle and Bishop have yet to join the cast in any current X-title, Darwin is God knows where, and even Apocalypse and his sons hardly bear any physical traits that are legible to the average reader that they’re Black men.
David and Everett each bear even more significance considering the importance of Prodigy’s queerness and the symbolism of Synch being resurrected after dying via hate crime. Ash Alleyne and Kendra James, as guests on Connor Goldsmith’s popular X-fan podcast CEREBRO, in their respective episodes on Prodigy and Synch brought to light that both character’s mutant gifts engage with anti-Black anxieties: Everett can match and exceed beyond any one person’s physical achievements, while David is the smartest person in any room he enters, despite the legitimacy of his intellect constantly being doubted. Not to mention both men led X-Men squads earlier this year during the Fall of X. Even while being so significant, especially in contrast to one another, NYX #7 marks Prodigy and Synch’s longest interaction to date.
Despite invoking the mutant culture of Arakko and challenging David to a duel in the Circle Perilous, neither X-Man dies, or is even seriously injured. Everett comes in hot, and a bit of a jerk, which is a side of the character we don’t often see, and is reminiscent of Cyclops’ or Logan’s previous bad boy attitudes. The first arc of NYX challenged Prodigy’s professorship, accusing him of commodifying mutant culture in exchange for the relative assimilation of academic tenure. Now, regardless of the validity of his claims, Synch is here to test David: is he a community organizer, or an Xavier in sheep’s clothing? Issue #4 reminded us that Prodigy can scrap when he needs to, but violence isn’t how he ends this confrontation. David challenges Everett to look at what work is being done in their new building. It’s not an exercise in centering Prodigy or promoting assimilation. Is there a risk by gathering there? Sure, but they are not defenseless, and championing mutant pride and equipping human allies is worth the risk. David and the other NYXers aren’t interested in putting mutant life and culture on hold until the next Krakoan Age. Making the mutant lives they want here and now makes the dream real.
Marvel
Speaking of security concerns at NYX, the other main plot of this issue follows Ms. Marvel out the door and into her latest encounter with her cousin Bilal. She and Bilal have butted heads at home and in public, both as Kamala Khan and Ms. Marvel, but this latest encounter finds them both in supersuits. Bilal’s escalating spiral into fascism and anti-mutant bigotry has led him to taking the moniker “Truthseeker,” armed with second hand, black market versions of Green Goblin and Spider-Slayer tech. Ms. Marvel is able to repel Truthseeker’s attack and avoid his spyware, but the teen hero is not unscathed, at least emotionally. In different words, both Synch and Truthseeker accuse Ms. Marvel of hiding behind a mask. Before being a mutant, Kamala Khan’s secret identity was superhero stock and trade. Now there’s another layer: the world knows Ms. Marvel is a mutant, but by maintaining her secret identity, Kamala Khan remains a closeted mutant. Navigating any closet, be that of gender, sexuality, or mutanthood is always a personal one where “the right answer” is often as fictitious as the X-gene, and its clear that this turmoil is weighing heavily on Kamala in her closing panels.
Balám and Angulo’s art shines in NYX #7. I just mentioned it, but the final page is only one text box and two panels, which leaves us so much space to sit with Kamala while she quietly cries into the night. It’s beautiful and drives her feelings home for us. Prodigy and Synch’s fight is also worth a shoutout. Angulo brings back the rainbow motif of Synch’s powers, coloring the synched powers in a rainbow along with the classic rainbow aura. Balám adds to the fun by posing the fighters parallel in panel after panel once Everett syncs with David’s hand-to-hand combat skills.
There’s hardly anything missing in NYX #7. Laura Kinney is still off reconnecting with Kiden Nixon (heavy gay suspicion from Kamala Khan on this one). Anole is content to just watch from the background this week, and Sophie Stepford seems focused on her arcade gaming skills more than anything else at the moment. Despite her absence, Wolverine seems to be the throughline for this arc: last issue revisited her investigation into Mojo and Kiden returned, her former classmate Synch is back today, and next issue pits Wolverine against Hellion, her former love interest. If I had to nitpick, I guess I’d say let’s actually make Laura and Kiden a romantic couple instead of just hinting at it, but that’s just me.
Don’t be scared by the cover page! Synch and Prodigy are both safe and sound by the end of NYX #7. Ejected from academia, Prodigy is no longer a scholarly spectator or a secret instigator of mutant culture. It’s less glamorous than a cushy ESU gig, but David Alleyne is much better suited for community organizing–despite Synch’s intense interruption. On top of all that, Ms. Marvel has a dramatic confrontation of her own that’s not to be missed!
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