Hellions #17
The team comes back together to take on the Right in Hellions #17, by writer Zeb Wells, artist Stephen Segovia, colorist Rain Beredo, and letterer Ariana Maher. Hellions is one of the highlights of the X-Men line, and this issue is no different.
Emma confronts Psylocke as she’s leaving Krakoa to ask why she’s doing what she’s doing when the Cuckoos warn them of the Right’s attack on Nanny’s ship. They learn that Orphan Maker has already gone after them, and Psylocke gets ready to go after them, but the rest of the team asks to join her. She allows them to, except for Empath, and make their way to the Right base. Orphan Maker kills his way through the base, the team does the same. Nanny gets the neonate back, but it lashes out and kills her. Orphan Maker goes crazy, killing everyone in his way before being confronted by some cops who had been watching the fight afar. The team hears gunshots, but they are too late to stop what happened.
Wells is getting a promotion to The Amazing Spider-Man, so this is one of the last issues of Hellions. This issue is another example of how good this book is. It starts out with a perfect bit of drama, with Emma looking to confront Kwannon, but instead, Wells moves it in another direction. It works both to set the issue’s plot into motion and also push back the inevitable conflict between Kwannon and Emma, as the death of Kwannon’s child is Emma’s fault completely: she had Empath use Havok to destroy Sinister’s lab. She didn’t set out to hurt Kwannon, but it was an inevitable part of the whole operation. It will be interesting to see if Wells gets to close out this plotline next issue, the last solicited issue of the book, or if the other X-Men writers are holding it for themselves after he’s gone. It’s his plot, so it would be nice for him to close it out, but the way the X-Men books are going lately, with stretching everything out as far as they can, he probably won’t get to.
Another great part of the book is the team coming back together. Since the beginning, the Hellions have been the team of misfits; to see them all want to go and help Orphan Maker is touching, including Psylocke forgiving Havok. The premise of this book was damaged people coming together and using their damage for Krakoa’s advantage; they’ve all hurt each other in some way, and that bonds them in a weird way. They’re more of a team than anything. The opening pages of this story are so great because of how much Wells puts into the few pages of set-up and how well the whole thing works. The rest of the book is action-packed and fast-paced. It works perfectly, with a shocking ending that’s not exactly telegraphed but follows from the events of the story that is going to test the bonds of the team. This book is as good as it gets.
Segovia’s art is great, but it has a weirdly sketchy quality in some places. Usually, this is a bad thing, but it isn’t here. Even sketchy, Segovia’s art looks great, and the action scenes are fluid and detailed. The character acting in the opening pages is great as well. The opening hinges on the emotion of those scenes, and Segovia does a fantastic job of getting them across.
Hellions #17 is the book’s penultimate issue, and it’s a tragedy. Wells sets up an amazing story, Segovia’s artworks brilliantly, and the story has a great ending. This book is the direction the X-men books should be taking, but most of them can’t hold a candle to it. The fact that great books like this keep ending and the remaining books are so mixed in quality is a problem the X-Men line will have to deal with in the future.
