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When the lineup of mutants for Hellions was revealed, it seemed like Psylocke and Havok were the two odd-ones-out. Everyone else on the team has some sort of derangement or is even just a past villain. By the time you reach the end of Hellions #4, you will understand perfectly why everyone is here.
Hellions #4 is written by Zeb Wells, drawn by Stephen Segovia, with colors by David Curiel, letters by VC’s Ariana Maher, and designs by Tom Muller. The main cover is provided by Stephen Segovia and Rain Beredo.
Inferno 2.0?
Think back, dear reader, think back to a year ago. House Of X and Powers Of X are just about at their collective end, and your head is humming with thoughts about where we go next. You think about the data pages in Powers Of X #4, yes, the Sinister secrets. The pages were rife with potential developments down the road that we as fans were given to form theories around. We’ve seen some of these come to pass already (see: Jumbo Carnation in Marauders), but many remain unresolved or untouched. But I draw your attention to this particular secret below:
Ominous, right? Now is this a guarantee that we are going straight for Inferno 2: Electric Boogaloo? Not at all, but Hellions has shone new light on this subject. Madelyne’s return has caused quite a stir but her machinations definitely include an army of demons and raising some hell on Earth.
It sounds a lot like a coming Inferno to me at least, the writing is on the wall. Maddie will sacrifice Alex to bring her nightmares to life, and she doesn’t have a moment’s hesitation behind it.
Checking In With The Others
While Alex is going through it with Maddie, the rest of the team is still dealing with their own troubles from the original Marauders. Nanny and Orphan Maker continue to get beat down pretty badly, while Greycrow is…well, he’s just not having a good time all-around. Psylocke and Wild Child have resolved their issues, and are ready to tear Maddie’s forces to pieces.
Segovia flexes the hardest when it comes to Psylocke. While her purpose here is to keep the team on a leash and watch over them, she ends up just dominating people every time she fights. There is both power and grace in equal measure in the way Segovia works her on the page, and it never fails to impress. Curiel’s colors surrounding her powers only add to the intensity of her action.
Greycrow has already evolved over these few issues and Hellions #4 seals the deal. He contains multitudes now, no longer as much of a one-dimensional character. While reluctant to do so, seemingly at least, he shows his former teammates mercy, as he has every intention of saving them from this fate. He shows compassion and growth in a way that I don’t think anyone was expecting to see in this book.
Nanny faces a brief moment of trauma that is handled brilliantly by Wells and Segovia. There’s only so much body language you can convey with a character who is not unlike a statue with movable legs and arms, but even with minimal effort, they convey just how distraught she becomes at one simple sight. It swings back to the end of Hellions #4 for a satisfying conclusion, but also to let you know that this isn’t over for Nanny and she will come for Sinister one day.
Alex Summers: Tragic Hero
This has been a difficult four issues for Alex Summers. My hot take on Alex is that he is infinitely more relatable than Scott. He’s a broken man, now more than ever, but he is not a bad person. Scott is a leader of men, a tactician, an inspiration to many even. Alex is just a guy though, only trying to do his best. He has the best of intentions that lead him astray time and time again, getting entangled in the messiest situations, something that many well-meaning folks can easily understand. He’s the guy you want to root for to come out on top, because you feel like he deserves it, but he never seems to get his win.
Maddie sees Alex’s damaged mind as something she has made. It’s hers, she owns it. But when Alex admits she isn’t the cause, it throws her off and leads to a moment of sincerity, and perhaps even sympathy. Madelyne does love Alex in some deeply morbid and depressing way – I have no doubt. I think they are both just broken people who have never been given a fair shot and are drawn to each other by a cursed fate, like two trains coming from opposite directions, bound to collide. Toxic love is something so many have experienced, and know just how disarming it can be. The way Wells tells this story with nuance is truly impressive, and tugs at my heartstrings to read.
Hellions #4 goes for the throat and takes Maddie away from him. This is a good thing, right? She’s evil and has evil plans for those Alex loves, right? It’s just not that simple though. Alex longs to be loved, to feel like he belongs. He wants to matter to someone, and in Madelyne, he sees a kindred spirit basically, whose motivations come down to wanting to be acknowledged as a real person that does exist. Their love is messy, wild, dangerous, toxic even, but it’s all he has at this moment, and now it’s gone. He gives in to his passions and allows himself to feel the hurt of her life slipping away from. He explodes in a fit of passion and rage, completely destroying the lab, which is indeed what the team came here to do.
So in the end, it was all a success, at least in a matter of speaking.
Should You Read Hellions #4?
This series is truly doing some incredible things here. Of all the X-titles that I read, which is all of them, this is the series that hits me the hardest emotionally with each issue. This is group therapy by way of destruction and catharsis for the most broken minds on Krakoa. At no point does Hellions make light of the fact that these folks are positively messed up, it embraces and accepts them the way they are. There is a moment where they all laugh, after Alex destroys everything in sight in an emotionally charged fit of rage, and it solidifies why everyone is here, and exactly why they need this.
The data pages are genuinely interesting this time around even as they touch on what the therapeutic value of this team is, and this mission specifically. It’s a valued insight that I would genuinely like to take a breakdown of after every mission for this team. I can’t stress enough what the long-form potential of this book is. Wells is going places with these characters that are so deep and profound, leaving himself story threads to follow dozens of issues from now on. Segovia and Curiel are at the top of their respective games here. I felt the sheer power that echoes across the page when Alex loses it.
Much like every other issue before, Hellions #4 is a heavy comic, with some moments of levity, but I am coming to love these characters so much and even more than that, am coming to a sense of understanding with them in a way I have never imagined possible. This is a personal, and relatable work of comics, and one that I am extraordinarily happy to get to read each month. No X-book has my higher praise at this time.
