Calling all Hellion fans! Marvel Comics is releasing a whopping 25 new issues this week, so make sure NYX #8 doesn’t fly under your radar without picking up a copy. Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Francesco Mortarino, Raúl Angulo, VC’s Joe Sabino, and Annalise Bissa unite for a story where the NYX’ers finally learn what’s eating Julian Keller. Hellion’s turn to villainy has been a surprise to many, but the time has come to see if The Krakoan is more facade than he seemed at first glance.
The first arc of this NYX volume took its ensemble cast of Anole, Ms. Marvel, Prodigy, Sophie Stepford, and Wolverine and gave each of them an issue to narrate all while a plot to antagonize the bonds between human and mutant New Yorkers came to light. In a 2024 interview with comics YouTuber Nikhil Clayton, series writers Lanzing and Kelly confirmed that this model would not only continue, but expand as well. This second arc now bears the fruit of those claims as the spotlight shifts to newcomers like Kiden Nixon and Synch. Issue #8 turns its focus onto Julian Keller, just as he’s scheduled to be imprisoned over at Graymalkin. If the first arc of NYX gave the cast a moment to catch their breath after the fall of Krakoa, this leg of the journey is much more concerned with the residual frustration towards the new status quo and how this cast responds to it.
Hellion’s rebrand as The Krakoan found Julian positioning himself as heir to the villainous role Magneto left behind some time ago. A newfound animosity for non-mutants paired with dramatic speechifying, a new helmet and cape, and a professed desire to rule over a new mutant supremacist state – all that was missing from Keller’s impression of Silver-Age Magneto were some pesky young X-Men rushing in to dash his schemes. That is, until the plot was foiled, and Hellion was left out to dry by his co-conspirators. This is the moment in which the entirety of issue #8 occurs: en route to Graymalkin Prison, Kiden, Wolverine, and Sophie Stepford have come to rescue this friend-turned-foe, but not without having some difficult conversations first. Thankfully, Kiden keeps the surrounding prison transport frozen in time, so there’s no rush.
Remember that red-hot frustration I mentioned earlier? Julian is still riddled with it, as is Laura Kinney, who is spearheading this rescue operation. After Sophie has ensured that Keller’s actions as The Krakoan were made free of Empath’s manipulations, Wolverine is left wondering how the hotheaded, heroic Hellion became someone who killed six innocents in cold-blood simply because they stood in the way of his plans. As the discussion between the two gets heated, Julian takes a shot right at Laura’s weakspot: who could have altered his path in life towards ruthless violence more than his ex-girlfriend, the ex-murderess? Thanks again to Kiden’s powers, Wolverine is able to do some light deforestation in a nearby wood rather than carve her response onto Hellion’s hide.
Moody girls in the woods who might kiss, what is this, Yellowjackets?
Credit: Marvel Comics
Speaking of Ms. Nixon, it may only be her second appearance since her return in issue #6, but her presence is key to this mission’s success, and not solely because of her mutant powers. After the lines of communication between Laura and Julian have reached a breakdown, Kiden offers a listening ear to her old friend, giving the readers a refresh on Wolverine’s history with Hellion as well as giving Laura the opportunity to process her own relationship with anger and how it differs from Julian’s. Wolverine’s anger felt like a cage because she only knew how to respond to it with violence, where Julian’s anger was a boon for his survival while Krakoa fell. Now his anger is forming a different kind of trap as it becomes the only thing to which he can cling.
Bolstered by this epiphany, Wolverine resumes talking with Hellion, but takes a different tack. Sidestepping his jabs, Laura reminds Julian how really lost his hands, sacrificing them to save others. She can see that impulse to self-sacrifice still burning within. In the same way that Magneto argued that he played the role of the evil mutant boogeyman so that the X-Men’s valor shone even brighter, The Krakoan’s infamy lets Julian martyr himself and his past heroism for the sake of other mutants. Laura Kinney is no telepath, which makes pulling that truth out of him all the more surprising, and it finally breaks Hellion’s resolve. Revealing that he faked his victim’s deaths to assuage Empath and the other Cuckoos, we see that Julian is not a blossoming megalomaniac, but a hero who’s burned out–someone who can still make good out of his mistakes.
On top of the rich character work, Mortarino and Angulo put in the work to keep a largely dialogue-driven narrative infused with beautiful imagery. Thanks to this pair of artists, we get brief flashbacks to the Krakoan Crucible and frames of Hellion’s history, both in his mindscape and as ghostly figures that haunt Laura. The coloring shift when Kiden’s power activates remains gorgeous. A final art shoutout is also due for the not-so-subtle looks that Kiden gives Laura. One of them, if not both, is smitten. Fingers crossed that the two women get to have that conversation on page.
As mentioned, this issue is not action heavy. Most action shots happen in a mindscape, taking the form of memories of past battles, or as threats from Julian and Laura that run right up to the edge of an actual fight. In my opinion, it’s not a detriment to this issue to be structured this way, but your mileage may vary. If someone is looking for more fights and power feats in their issues of NYX, may I recommend the previous installment? Other than that, I’m hard pressed to see how someone would leave this book dissatisfied.
NYX #8 is a stellar character piece on the hell-raising Hellion. This comic is about communication, the violence we can do to our loved ones with words, how anger can be a mask over a cry for help. Hellion claims that he is a nail that refuses to break under the might of the world’s hammer, but maybe he’s learning that being broken doesn’t mean losing yourself or what makes you a hero.
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