The X-Manhunt has begun! The eight-issue crossover debuts its first three parts this week, starting in Uncanny X-Men #11 and closing with Storm #6. Sandwiched between the two is NYX #9, which also serves as the series’ penultimate issue. Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Francesco Mortarino, Raúl Angulo, VC’s Joe Sabino, and Annalise Bissa are the creative team behind NYX #9, weaving Charles Xavier’s fugitive flight into the final stages of Mojo’s plot for New York City.
In the period between the release of NYX #8 and NYX #9, writing duo Lanzing and Kelly, a.k.a. Hivemind, have confirmed that this iteration of NYX will be coming to an end with issue #10. The exact reason for the cancellation is unclear, but the book’s sales data and a stated desire by Senior X-Editor Tom Brevoort to shift attention away from stories on Krakoan aftermath are likely contributing factors. Regardless, this volume of NYX has always been an underdog: from the unexpected title, cast composition, and nuanced core concepts, Marvel seemed to continually face difficulty in selling this book, even if it has been widely praised by those who took a chance on it.
Considering the additional charge to bring the book to a finale as well as complete its current arc, making NYX #9 part of X-Manhunt is quite a gamble. Professor X hasn’t appeared in the book until now, but the storytellers commit to their part of this crossover, dedicating the title and the majority of the issue’s POV to Charles. In doing so, NYX #9 treats Xavier in a similar manner to the series’ regular cast, and it works. While the current Uncanny X-Men book reflects on the more naïve, classic presentation of Charles’ dream for the X-Men, the fingerprints of Xavier’s actions are most keenly felt in NYX. From his self-appointed role as representative for mutantkind on Krakoa and his later descent into full war criminal, the cast of NYX may have more personal connections with mutant leaders like Cyclops or Emma Frost, but the current socio-political standing of mutant populations like those in NYC has suffered more from Charles’ actions than any other mutant’s.
To the best of their ability, the young heroes of NYX have revitalized the mutant community of New York City over the course of the From the Ashes era. In collaboration with Arakki immigrants, unhoused mutants and visible mutants like Anole have grown a new Morlock sanctuary under the city, even maintaining Krakoan cultural practices to the best of their ability. Aboveground, Prodigy helps facilitate the distribution of material and academic resources for mutants and their allies out of the NYX Community Center. Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, and Sophie Cuckoo help fill in the gaps, protecting the NYX building, hiding the Morlock sanctuary, and fighting back against Mr. Friend (a.k.a. Mojo) and his mutant trafficking scheme. But nothing is perfect, and a parasitic force has come in the dark of night to exploit the NYXer’s weak points for their own gain: Mojo and his unwitting partner, Professor X.
So Anole ain’t the only one who’s been juicing huh?
Credit: Marvel Comics
Mojo’s collaboration with Xavier is baked right into the form of the issue. Despite being named for Charles and the majority of its focus centering on his exploits, Xavier’s internal monologue is narrated by Mojo. Charles is rarely honest and self-aware about his more duplicitous acts, and is quick to hide behind lofty moral platitudes instead. Of course, Mojo is a showman at heart, but his dissection of Xavier’s actions and motivations are as accurate as they are vile. If you’re tracking along the X-Manhunt reading order, then by now you know that Charles is unwell, and that saving Xandra supersedes any other goal he claims to have. The following misdirects and murder attempts as Xavier abandons Ms. Marvel and Anole to fight Mojo for the final Krakoan Seed are still surprising if not altogether unforeseen. The key reveal for X-Manhunt readers is that Charles is able to retrieve a secret Cerebro helmet that was hidden in the Treehouse. However, the biggest shock arrives when Mojo throws his plan into motion in what seems to be an attempt to entwine himself throughout New York City itself via some horrific consumption of Local and the Krakoan Seed.
NYX #9 has a lot on its plate, and it largely succeeds as a satisfying penultimate issue as well as the second part of a crossover. However, it should be noted that the handoff between Uncanny X-Men #11 and NYX #9 isn’t the smoothest. Coming out of Uncanny, Charles is stumbling along barely conscious, let alone lucid. By the time he arrives in Manhattan, not only has he had time to change clothes, but his mental state has progressed from being unable to tell Nightcrawler apart from Iceman to a state where he is aware of and able to manipulate mutants like Anole and Sobunar. At the time of this writing, I haven’t gotten to check out Storm #6 yet, making it unclear if there’s a narrative logic for the shifting characterizations, so I hesitate to fully call these rough edges flaws.
Once again, Mortarino and Angulo prove to be a winning pair as shown in this book’s art. Mojo looks scary and actually feels like an imposing figure. Rather than an amorphous blob with an aesthetic appreciation for A Clockwork Orange, Mojo is big and muscular like some kind of alien WrestleMania nightmare. In contrast is Fauna, and the newly minted majordomo’s haunted look of defeat is heartbreaking. Also worth shouting out is another gross but creative application of Kamala Khan’s powers.
Charles Xavier has come to crash the party in NYX #9, and his bad vibes bring about the perfect opportunity for Mojo to strike. Part crossover story, part series’ near-finale, the whole issue coalesces into a long hard look at Xavier. Professor X’s best days inspired mutants to build communities like NYX, but the man has been rotting from the inside out for a long time–and no, I’m not referring to the tumor retcon. The mutants of NYX have weathered Xavier’s latest betrayal, but none of that matters if they can’t put a stop to Mojo’s endgame.
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