Hellions #2 // Review
The Hellions face Mister Sinister’s past sins in Hellions #2 by writer Zeb Well, artist Stephen Segovia, colorist David Curiel, and letterer Cory Petit. What happens when a bunch of mutants with some screws loose walk into Sinister’s old cloning farm? This issue answers that question.
The Hellions arrive at the orphanage Sinister used to run and begin to investigate. They find the old cloning tanks and then make an even worse discovery- the Marauders are there, and they have a new leader- the Goblin Queen Madelyne Pryor. The two groups fight it out, but the Marauders take out most of the group, except for Psylocke and Wild Child… who chooses that moment to fight a weakened Psylocke for leadership.
There’s a lot of interesting little things in this that Zeb Wells sprinkles throughout. He foreshadows the fight for dominance between Wild Child and Psylocke by showing him attacking a policeman with a police dog, asking the policeman beforehand if he’s an alpha. Havok still has his doubts about why he’s on the team, but before everything goes down, he catches a glimpse of himself and Madelyne Pryor in a shard of glass.
Wells uses one of the patented Dawn Of X info pages to let readers know that part of the reason behind this mission is Scalphunter wanting to help his old Marauder teammates. Freeing them from the hell they’ve been living in, which is very interesting since compassion of any kind isn’t really Scalphunter’s strong suit. Riptide tricks him into letting his guard long enough for one of the other Marauders to take him down, and this is also something that readers wouldn’t expect from a man like him.
The art by Stephen Segovia looks excellent. It’s a little dark, color-wise, but that actually fits the mood of the whole thing- the Hellions aren’t heading into a lovely bright place but an abandoned orphanage that was home to brutal experiments. David Curiel’s brooding colors go a long way to set this tone and give Segovia’s deft pencils a nice contrast.
Hellions #2 is a gut-punch of a comic. The pace is quick and brutal. Wells doesn’t waste a lot of time getting to the action, but he’s still able to do some nice work with his characters, balancing things very well. The return of Madelyne Pryor is a very interesting development, especially because there’s no way Sinister didn’t know she was back. Segovia’s art looks great and is enhanced by Curiel’s deft coloring. As far as second issues, Hellions #2 does everything right.
Grade: B
