YMMV / Hellions

• Catharsis Factor:
  • Empath getting shot in the head by Greycrow after Empath made Nanny try to nurse him during the second issue. Considering what an absolutely detestable creep Empath is (remember, he can and has used his powers to commit Rape by Proxy), it was extremely satisfying to see him get what he deserves.
  • The final issue has Mister Sinister taunting Kwannon after holding her daughter over her head so he can blackmail her into to helping him use the Hellions to fulfil his sinister operations. He then realises she’s not shackled only moments before she beats him to which various Quiet Council members only allow her to do more.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Mr. Sinister does a lot of questionable but fun stuff, but killing off the whole team, and then crying for help as if he was the Sole Survivor of some form of tragedy he had nothing to do with is surely at the top.
  • Nanny wears armor that makes her look like an ambulatory egg. Zeb Wells ups the absurdity of this image by putting her on a horse during X of Swords.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Nanny and Greycrow have steadily gained a lot of popularity from readers, due to Nanny being portrayed as both silly and genuinely terrifying, while Greycrow manages to show a considerable amount of stoic depth.
  • Empath has gained a sizable following the X of Swords event, where he trolls his team and only cooperates with them after being bribed, solely For the Evulz.
• Fridge Brilliance: In issue #11 Mastermind tells one of Arcade's employees that if he saves his daughter, he'll help him look for his own loved one who Arcade's keeping hostage, he tells him to look into his eyes and see he's telling the truth... he isn't. Of course looking into his eyes wouldn't reveal if he's lying, his entire physical appearance is a psychic projection.
• Like You Would Really Do It: In the exactly three decades since the Inferno arc to here now, Marvel's history in how they always treat Pryor should've surprised no one that she wasn't going to get a fair shake now either, as only once ever has the character gotten a Throw the Dog a Bone moment in mainstream 616 rather than alternate realities.
• Out of Focus: Havok was the main character of the first arc but since then hasn't really done anything significant. It's been acknowledged that he's trying to keep a distance from the others because he desperately wants to be off the team.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • Pretty much the entire cast. Before this, nearly all of the Hellions were forgettable characters no one particularly liked or outright hated. The book gave nearly all of them much-needed development, strong relationships, and compelling elements, turning these once-hated characters into small fan-favorites.
  • Madelyne Pryor too, perhaps more so than any other attempt at doing this. Many fans were as desperate as Havok to see her resurrected.
• Rooting for the Empire: Fans have reacted to Madelyne's actions in the third issue, wherein she recaps how she was abandoned by Scott and treated like nothing simply because she wasn't Jean and how overall no one ever acknowledges her unless she does horrible stuff, by hoping she does get revenge on Scott. After the Quiet Council voted not to resurrect Madelyne on the flimsy excuse she was already a clone of Jean (never mind Esme and Sophie Cuckoo were two of the first seen resurrected mutants and they're clones of Emma Frost), fans have been clamoring Madelyne should've razed Krakoa to the ground.
• Sleeper Hit: The comic has been surprisingly popular after it was initially viewed as a ripoff of DC's Suicide Squad with others questioning why there was only one of the actual Hellions in the group, and it was Empath of all people. Four issues in, people have been praising the amount of depth given to Greycrow, Nanny, and Madelyne Pryor while the story seems to act as a critique on the flaws of Krakoa.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: The rest of the Original Hellions from Massachusetts Academy. They’re especially wasted because apart from Empath, the original Hellions had been dead for decades before House of X and hadn’t been featured in the spotlight for a long time. Even though this book has their team name on it and one of their members is on the current team, we don’t get to see much of them and they unfortunately only appear in two or three issues. Even then, they only appear for one or two pages tops, mostly to further develop Empath’s character. We also don’t get to see them interact with their old mentor Emma Frost (again, except for Empath), despite the fact that their deaths left a huge impact on Emma for a long time due to her considering their deaths her greatest failure and helping kick off her character development into a guilt-ridden anti-heroine later on.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: As of this writing, every single member of all incarnations of the Hellions are alive on Krakoa. Not just the original Hellions who first appeared in New Mutants, but also the newer Hellions Squad who debuted later in New X-Men: Academy X, and everybody else who has ever been a Hellion too. Yet, despite that, we never see any of the Sinister Hellions interact with the previous Hellions Teams (unless you count Empath, which isn’t much because he’s rarely ever seen with his original team due to being The Friend Nobody Likes). Just once, it would’ve been interesting to see the original Hellions from Massachusetts Academy, the Hellions Squad and Mr Sinister’s New Hellions meet and interact with each other. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen.

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