What do you do with the most violent, uncontrollable, and undesirable mutants? Put them on a team of course. Your Major Spoilers review of Hellions #1 from Marvel, awaits!

HELLIONS #1

Writer: Zeb Wells
Artist: Stephen Segovia
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Jordan D. White
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 25th, 2020

Previously in Hellions: When Krakoa opened their doors to all mutants and forgave all past crimes, they might have known they’d have to accept some of their worst foes into the fold… but they didn’t plan for what to do with them.

Mr. Sinister’s Plan

Hellions #1 opens up with a team of Havoc, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine on the hunt for a group of weapon dealers.  As Havoc and Nightcrawler confront the criminals a bomb goes off injuring Nightcrawler.  Consumed by rage, Havoc grabs one of the humans and begins to burn him until Wolverine intervenes.  Cut to the Quiet Council debating about what they need to do with a collection of mutants all accused of abusing their powers and hurting humans. Among them is Scalphunter, Wild Child, Empath, Nanny, Orphanmaker, and Havoc. After seeing little vignettes of what each one did, the action returns to the deliberations where Mr. Sinister proposes a plan, putting them together on a team to handle missions that require mass destruction with no human casualty risk. Cyclops has reservations about the team, especially with his brother being included so he assigns Psylocke as the team’s handler. The team is then assigned their first mission: Destroy Mr. Sinister’s old orphanage and laboratory.

Unexpected Tone

When I first read the solicitations for this series, my initial thoughts were that we were just getting another team of “violent X-Men” like X-Force or Fallen Angels.  To my surprise though, this has a pretty humorous tone to it.  What’s even more  surprising is that a lot of the humor is good.  Mr. Sinister especially has some great lines.  Also, the vignettes do a pretty decent job at showing what kind of characters we’re dealing with, making sure the readers know that these are not nice people, and doesn’t try to endear them at all.  While it may be a bit early to make this comparison, there is a real Suicide Squad feel here that has me interested to at least see their first mission play out.

A Bit Static

While for the most part the art is fine.  All the characters look distinct and the action is clear. The thing that rubbed me the wrong way were the faces.  It seems like each character was assigned two faces and just alternated between them depending on which one seemed more appropriate for the dialog.  Also, there’s some clear examples of some copy/paste work that makes a lot of the conversations seem lifeless.

Bottom Line: A Good Addition To The X-Book Family (So Far)

Hellions #1 surprised me with it’s tone and quality of humor. The artwork doesn’t do the book any favors though.  Hellions also has an interesting place within the rest of the X-Men books.  It continually astounds me how well constructed this reintroduction to the mutants corner of the Marvel Universe has been.  It seems like every question, scenario, and logistical issue is being addressed somehow and Hellions is a well thought out addition to that.  4 out of 5 stars.

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Hellions #1

70%

70%

Funny

Hellions #1 has a lot going for it past the whole “It’s the X-Men but violent and mean” thing that’s been advertised. There’s a strong sense of humor and a good mixture of characters as well.

• Writing

  9
• Art

  5
• Coloring

  7
• User Ratings (0 Votes)
  0