Hellions #5
The Hellions go on a knightly quest in Hellions #5, by writer Zeb Wells, artist Carmen Carnero, colorist David Curiel, and letterer Ariana Maher. Part six of X Of Swords is an entertaining comic, but it doesn't really feel like it moves the story's plot along very much.
Empath is brought back to life and curses everyone out, including Xavier. The Quiet Council weighs their options, and Sinister comes up with a novel solution- sending the Hellions into Otherworld and taking the Arakko's champions swords, basically cheating. The Council agrees, and Exodus suggests that Sinister himself should lead the mission. It's put to the vote, and at first, it's decided against until Sinister talks bad about Polaris to Magneto and how he wants Magneto to keep her away from Havok. Magneto changes his vote, and Sinister is chosen to lead the Hellions. Psylocke briefs the team on their mission while in Bar Sinister, Sinister speaks to a clone of himself who he plans on sending on the mission. The clone doesn't want to go, and they settle the matter between themselves. Upon arrival to Avalon, they encounter King Jamie Braddock, the new ruler of Avalon. He agrees to let them travel through Avalon, against Saturnyne's wishes, in exchange for one of Sinister's clones. They exchange gifts, with Braddock giving them a horse and getting Sinister's cape in exchange, which irks Sinister to no end. On their way through Avalon, the team encounters Saturnyne's minions, who accuse them of stealing Saturnyne's horse. Sinister asks Empath to use his powers on them, and he refuses unless Sinister will let him take control of Greycrow. Sinister agrees, Empath gets them out of the jam, and the team goes on its way.
This issue plays heavily on the humor, and that makes it worth a read, but its X Of Swords elements leave something to be desired. It sort of feels like Wells uses a bit too much page space for set-up. X Of Swords is very long, so there's a chance this story will play out in the background of things, but if it's only continued in the next issue, it completely feels like a waste. If Sinister and his team aren't able to steal any of the swords or make any difference, what was this subplot's point? To fill space in the crossover? That's an extremely cynical way to write something. Some of the X Of Swords have been double-sized, and this issue actually would have been perfect for that treatment. Instead, readers get some set-up for the mission, and that's pretty much it.
That said, it's still a pretty good issue. The jokes are funny; Empath being just the worst person ever works perfectly, and Mister Sinister is very entertaining, his whole crazy schtick playing well. One of the most interesting parts of the issue is the reveal of his personal cloning lab that no one knows about. Sinister keeping secrets is nothing new, but this one means he can replace anyone on Krakoa if he so chose. Also, his giving Jamie Braddock a clone is ostensibly an altruistic act because resurrection doesn't work in Otherworld… but Sinister isn't an altruistic person. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out in the future.
The art by Carmen Carnero is outstanding. It sort of has a Pepe Larraz feel to it in places, and he captures all of the various histrionics of the characters very well, which makes the humor land. That's pretty much all he gets to do in this issue; there's no action to speak of. Still, it all looks very good, and that's a plus.
Hellions #5 is a fun read, but in the overall X Of Swords story, it just feels like a placeholder, a way to pad the run time, to use a movie metaphor. The Hellions aren't going to be able to make enough of a difference in the whole thing; it would completely ruin X Of Swords if they did. The idea is good, and the characters make the whole thing worthwhile, but it's just a way to justify X Of Swords being 22 issues long. Well and company do a great job, though, so there's that.
Grade: B+
