Review by Frank Plowright

This group of Hellions, not to be confused with earlier or later incarnations, were conceived by Nunzio DeFilipis and Christina Weir as part of the New X-Men: Academy X series, where they were the wilder and provocative counterparts to the New Mutants team. As such their main role was disruptive, and while a couple of them stood out, several others were reduced to bit parts.

Julian Keller, Hellion, was never reduced to the background, and here takes the leading role by inviting the whole team to his family’s Los Angeles mansion for a break. Unfortunately for him, by the time they arrive, he’s thoroughly annoyed his parents.

Hellions is sustained by the relatively common narrative set-up of each character getting a single wish. Given that this applies to six individuals, it means knowing who each is and what they might greatly desire, and while readers who’ve followed the cast may make an educated guess about a couple, DeFilippis and Weir throw in plenty of surprises. The person responsible calls themselves Kingmaker, and anyone with that name is going to want something in return, which is exactly what DeFilippis and Weir string out.

Clayton Henry hasn’t worked on the characters before, but takes to them immediately. They look good individually and working as a team, and because this is more action-oriented than the parent series that’s important.

Once the genie’s out of the bottle, so to speak, Hellions becomes more predictable, but it’s interesting seeing a more heroic side to a bunch of characters who’ve previously been typecast as troublemakers pure and simple. This is also available as part of bulkier book New X-Men: Academy X – The Complete Collection.