The Hellions battle Tarn and the Locus Vile in Hellions #14, by writer Zeb Wells, artist Roge Antonio, colorist Rain Beredo, and letterer Ariana Maher. This is a no-nonsense, action-packed comic the Hellions team has proven adroit at producing.

The issue starts on Arakko, where Storm talks to Tarn about threatening Krakoa and why he shouldn’t do that. The confrontation between the Locus Vile and the Hellions back on Earth heats up as Wild Child, Nanny, and Orphan Maker go hard at them, basically taking them down all alone. Tarn shows up, taking away from Wild Child the changes given to him by dying in Amenth and then shows everyone the truth about what happened with Sinister and how he killed them after they returned from Amenth. Sinister awakens a bunch of his clones to fight off Tarn, and he and the Amethi clone Sinister escape through a No Gate only they can leave through while exhorting Psylocke and the team to deal with Tarn.

There’s a lot of cool stuff in this issue, but first, the Arakko mutants need to be talked about for a bit. Basically, every single Arakko mutant is kind of ridiculously overpowered, and it’s sort of ridiculous. Tarn, for example, can control genetics, but he’s also a powerful telepath that can broadcast other people’s memories to them. Sure, they needed to evolve to survive fighting Amenth, but it’s a bit much about how powerful they all are. That said, the Locus Vile gets thrashed in this issue, so that’s nice. Honestly, Tarn and their speech patterns are sort of annoying and grandiose, but it fits their character very well.

What’s really interesting is Wells takes a minute out to explain why Wild Child, Nanny, and Orphan Maker are all different after their Amenthi deaths- their bodies have evolved to survive there. They react even more violently towards threats from there, like the Locus Vile. It also kind of goes to explain why Arakko mutants are so powerful- something about Amenth affected them on a genetic level as they lived there. Hence, each generation was more powerful and able to survive than the last. It makes the whole thing of them being so powerful make sense- although it’s still no less ridiculous that so many of them are straight Omega-class bruisers- and is just an interesting little bit of info. Beyond that, Wells pretty much does what he always does- laces humor, action, and plot perfectly through the book, creating a story that is just loads of fun.

Antonio had some enormous shoes to fill on art, and he’s filling them admirably. This issue looks great, and that’s not something that every B-level X-book like has been able to say when new artists come on. The character acting makes the drama and the humor land, the actions looks dynamic, and the page layouts are attractive. Beredo’s colors make the whole thing pop.

Hellions #14 is another example of why this book is so solid and entertaining. Wells knows how to balances a book very well, getting the right mixture of action, exposition, humor, and stakes to make the whole thing work. Antonio and Beredo’s art makes the entire thing look great. Hellions remains one of the highlights of the X-line.

Grade: B+