From the ashes to the ashtray.
Writer | Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing |
Illustrator & Inker | Francesco Mortarino |
Colorist | Raúl Angulo |
Publisher | Marvel | 07.24.24 |
Spoilers Ahead
Sigh. NYX #1 is not good. And it could be good, but in the hands of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, the series practically didn't have a shot from the outset. To be clear, this is just the latest Ms. Marvel relaunch masqueraded as an X book. If you enjoy the character, that might be enough to get you onboard. The X part of the book comes from the supporting cast, which includes Sophie Cuckoo, Anole, Prodigy, and Laura Kinney. Again, if you like these characters, that might be all the motivation you need to start reading, but if you care about quality writing, NYX won't be for you.
The issue starts off with Ms. Marvel heading to class at Empire State University. When she gets there, she runs into Sophie, who immediately wants to be besties with Kamala because, well, she's a mutant, too. Seriously, they seem to go from being strangers to besties in an instant, which works in fan fiction but not so much in a professional comic book. It's more of the strange trend with Marvel where young characters rarely have actual personalities: Sophie and Kamala are girls and mutants and go to the same school, and that's about as deep as the relationship gets.
In class, Prodigy is teaching "Post-Krakoan Diaspora." It makes zero sense that this is a class, and the canned, ham-fisted activist speak coming from Prodigy is even worse. The new Redditor talking point for the X-Men, Xavier's dream is bad, is at the core of Prodigy's intro. You remember Xavier's dream, right? About everyone living together in respect and harmony? According to Prodigy it's wrong that the X-Men protected a world that hated and feared them. Why? Because in his infinite ignorance he thinks Charles wanted mutants to "take it. Forever."
That is not what Xavier's dream was. I guess no one bothered to let Kelly and Lanzing know, but the X-Men comics, like most of Marvel's books, have been in publication since the '60s. From Spider-Man to the Avengers, all of the Marvel pantheon has been in a never-ending battle of one kind or another. It's how you publish stories about the same characters for decades. If the X-Men or any other character fully eradicated or defeated the thing they fight against, the books would stop being published. Is Prodigy just breaking the fourth wall or is he actually really dim? Who can say, but this persistent messaging from Marvel that coexistence is bad is some of the most toxic nonsense to come out of the X office in the past few years. I hate to break it to Kelly and Lanzing, but Magneto is not right.
Sophie comes into class with a big mouth, calling out Prodigy for essentially not being radical enough. It's fun seeing someone knock him down a peg, but it also comes across as really obnoxious. From there, Ms. Marvel and Sophie wind up at a nightclub. Kamala is underage, but Sophie uses her powers to sneak them in. Running the bar is Anole, who is descended upon by a couple of lunatics from an extremist group called the Truthseekers. Bigots are nothing new in the world of X-Men, but the blatantly obvious signaling here is painfully amateurish—they might as well have put red baseball caps on them all and called it a day.
Another extremely problematic aspect of the From the Ashes era of X-Men is this attempt to reclassify mutants as "immigrants." Living on some random island for a little while and then coming back home after things don't work out doesn't make mutants immigrants. It is, frankly, insulting to see Marvel making this comparison, all seemingly so that the X writers can make present-day political commentary on immigration. As someone with immigrants in his family, I can't stand seeing this direction being taken—I highly recommend Marvel steer clear of this usage of the term as it's diminishing and trivializing of people who are actual immigrants and refugees.
After the scuffle, we come to find that Kamala got hold of one of the Truthseekers' phones. She goes on the hunt before running into trouble: X-23. Laura gets introduced almost as an afterthought towards the end of the issue. Like with her upcoming solo series, Marvel is shoehorning the Wolverine moniker onto her here, a title that no one identifies her with and comes across as forced every time it's used. Laura tells off Kamala for sticking her nose in, arguing that she's not ready for this sort of heat. Kamala comes right back at her and asserts that there's nothing wrong with living her life on top of being a superhero.
This interaction is one of the bright spots of the issue. Of all the characters here (with the exception of Laura), Kamala is the most fleshed out and human feeling. Writers can lean too hard into the "plucky youngster" bit with Kamala, but overall her heart shines through and she feels like she really cares. After a completely forgettable run-in with "The Krakoan" (it's just Hellion), Kamala heads home and we see her interact with her older brother Aamir. This interaction is another one that comes across as honest and real. These are actual interactions that real people would have. Why Kelly and Lanzing can't do this consistently is unclear.
The one saving grace of this issue is the art. Francesco Mortarino does a good job of bringing the script to life. The characters have distinct looks, backgrounds are detailed with spaces that feel lived in, and the characters have emotive faces. The one downside is that I don't think Mortarino quite has a handle on superhero action. Fights lack weight and force, which diminishes the tension in these sequences. Overall, however, it's decent art that suits the feel of the story.
Sadly, the art isn't enough to push this issue to a "Recommended" verdict. The writing is slight, pandering, and about as deep as a sheet of toilet paper. There's potential here for a teen X book, but when Marvel refuses to put any effort into creating authentic relationships, it's hard to feel any investment in what's happening. Throw in some offensive use of the term immigrant, a snoozer of a cliffhanger (Hellion is teams with the Cuckoo Sisters and Empath to do something naughty), and awful dialogue (Sophie actually says Kamala should "live [her] truth"—my eyes rolled), and NYX is not off to an auspicious start.
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