Listen. I was, and still am, a Krakoa stan. I will always return to Krakoan comics. While I have loved the X-Men for many years, the Krakoan Era brought me back into the X-Men full time, and inspired me to get into comic new journalism and reviews. I was very disappointed when Krakoa disappeared into the White Hot Room, but was hopeful for the latest From the Ashes age as a comic fan who knows that every era has its silver linings. I was very excited when I heard NYX announced, promising to explore young mutants as they reintegrate into human society. Sadly, the “ongoing” series has been cancelled early, after only ten issues.
NYX Vol. 1: What Comes Next Will be Marvelous is one of the first trade paperbacks from the From the Ashes era, and features the first five issues of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing’s NYX series, featuring gorgeous art by Francesco Mortarino and complex character development from Lanzing and Kelly. Personally, I really do think that this first major arc of NYX tried its best to honor the “Promise of Krakoa,” but fell short in several ways.
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Making Kamala Khan, a new mutant who spent less than a day on the island nation of Krakoa, the central figure in the first issue was an interesting choice… I love Ms. Marvel, but I think I would have enjoyed the start of the series better if it highlighted an established young mutant hero in its initial issue. That being said, I also think Kamala’s “fangirling” over Krakoa and famous mutants is incredibly endearing, and I love her burgeoning friendship with the stuck-up Sophie Cuckoo.
Prodigy’s speech in his post-Krakoa college course at ESU was a fascinating reflection on Krakoa’s promise and Xavier’s twisted dream, and I love that there are mutants existing in humanity who are trying to keep Krakoan culture and language alive. A lot of people viewed Sophie’s interruption of David, and later her diatribe against Kamala’s Muslim family, as controversial and inappropriate… but I think that was the point!
I enjoyed the complexity of Sophie breaking free from her toxic hivemind, while still existing in a white, privileged, non-physically mutated space where she needs to do a lot of internal and external growth. While the book’s cancellation impacts every character (actually, it barely impacts Kamala or Laura), I think its biggest disservice is not allowing Sophie’s growth and development to continue on-panel.
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I was not very impressed by the villainous Quiet Council. They are pretty boring, especially with Empath as their leader, a worm of a man who was an absolute embarrassment in Hellions. Hellion turning into The Krakoan was honestly silly, although his recent featured role in NYX #8 was one of the best issues of the series, and finally actually made me a fan of Julian Keller.
Instead of the Quiet Council, I wish that Mojo was the main villain of the whole series. My god, he is horrifying in this comic. Mojo has often been seen as a silly, deranged… blob, that was always more ridiculous than he was terrifying. In NYX though, Mojo has been updated to our modern social media age, and Mortarino’s depiction of Mojo is monstrous and scary, including his new “Mr. Friend” disguise. Yikes. I want more TikTok Mojo, please, and also WHY was the queen Spiral not involved!
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NYX Vol. 1: What Comes Next Will be Marvelous is a pretty standard Marvel trade paperback. Very prettily designed, easy to read, with a vibrant glossy cover. However, one of my favorite parts of Marvel TPBs is the variant cover gallery at the end of every volume. The gallery for NYX was very, very revealing. Out of the 11 variants covers depicted in the gallery, nine of them featured Laura Kinney’s Wolverine as the solo or featured character. I get it, Laura is an incredibly popular Marvel hero, her design is instantly recognizable, and she starred in the original NYX, but I wish that the other mutants were featured at least once, particularly the only Black character, Prodigy.
The afterward to NYX Vol. 1: What Comes Next Will be Marvelous from Kelly and Lanzing was a nice reflection on the end of Krakoa, and what From the Ashes is attempting to accomplish. I did pause when reading about the writers’ perceived “necessary assimilation” of mutantkind into human society, because I just don’t think that is true.
A major part of NYX is the collective power of the new Morlock community, and why mutants can still live fulfilling lives without adhering to human norms… so I would push strongly back against the concept of necessary assimilation, which the Krakoan Era so effectively disproved.
Marvel
I think that this first major arc of NYX is a fun, mature read, with absolutely gorgeous artwork. I liked the social interactions between the five main characters, their complex characterizations, and the paths that Lanzing and Kelly put them on. There are very reasonable complaints about how the post-Krakoa integration of mutantkind is handled, and Sophie’s characterization in particular, but I also think that for newcomers to the X-Men universe, NYX’s first arc would be a lovely way to introduce this new era for the mutants.
If you are a fan of comic series focused on young superheroes, enjoy a diverse lineup of main characters, or have always craved a version of Mojo that is pure nightmare-fuel, NYX Vol. 1: What Comes Next Will be Marvelous is almost certainly for you.
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