Hellions #4 Spoiler/Review - The Tragic Case of Madelyne Pryor

[xhx23x]

You know Jean was all like, 'NO way in Hell!' while screaming and pointing at Sinister in the QC meeting!

This is honestly what I think happened and Scott just gave Alex the more... diplomatic version of events.

[Bookem Danno]

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...-preview/page4

Loved the tease at the end. I think they are definitely setting up Sinister's fall and Nanny has now been thrown in as someone that might come after him

Nanny is a useless character. We don't even get proper confirmation from her that Orphan-Maker is not humanoid form in his "shell".

I understand why the council decided not to resurrect Maddie, and generally agree with it, but the reasoning will be sticky down the line. If Maddie doesn't count as "real" what does that mean for Laura, Gabby, the Cuckoos, etc? Sophie and Esme have already been reborn.

Excellent point. Not to mention the inferrence that every writer is not consistent on properly considering the soul make up of all Handbook clones in the MU. BTW, has Nathaniel Essex ever compared notes with Miles Warren in any backissue?

She's not real. Its not the same thing. Maddie was a psychic ghost created by X-man and given a magically altered body by Spiral to look like Jean. The original clone Maddie died and merged with Jean in Inferno. She was originally brought to life with a portion of Jean's soul and that and her memories merged with Jean where they've existed as one being ever since. This Maddie is a perversion of that

Missed that story. This was news to me. Makes her motivation in this arc more plausible. It should have been made clearer.

Wells continues to knock it out of the park. This was another great issue full of drama, buffonery and good character moments. I felt for Maddie and it def seems like this isn't the end of her story yet.

For the most part agree. Despite the blandworthy members selected.

Mentions that Emma feels partially guilty for not being able to fix Alex all right (she had to improvise on X-Men Blue) implies that Alex is suffering from AXIS's Inversion spell.

Yeah, they're dragging that plotline too long through the mud with proper exposition - given that every other victim have long since moved on.

That horny energy cover.

Yes to the variant! And even the main cover was coyly context friendly.

2 of the Cuckoos have already been resurrected so we know they are an exception. The reason is part of their power is their hive mind functionality such that with one gone, they are crippled. Its like losing a limb for them. They have always operated better as 5 which makes them a unique case. They want mutants to be at their optimal best which means the Cuckoos should always be a quintet

Yeah. It's been one of the umpteen pet peeves about this Krakoa pitch.

[Kitty&Piotr<3]

I wasn't going to read this issue or the last because I don't like Maddie and what her character represents, but I did decide to pick the issues up and I am so glad I did. This was a great couple of issues, story and art. From an art perspective, I think this is the best the X-Men have looked since Immonen and Gracia's issues of All-New X-Men. The pencils, inks, and colors all click together into a vibrant superhero comic style that is at once you've-seen-this-before and of premium quality. The expressions are great. You really feel Madelyn's madness and sadness, Havok's frustration and loss, Cyclops' doucheyness. This team needs to do an event book.

On the story, let me say that Wells did an excellent job making me feel something for everyone. The dialogue and story beats resonate. I am beyond tired of Maddie's shtick, but Zeb sold it. The action was great too. This is a great comic.

Now, all that said about the work itself, I must comment on the story in a couple of meta senses, first regarding the characters as if they are real people:

Has it never occurred to Maddie to maybe try not being a dick? This is why she wasn't invited to Krakoa: she's Mystique, but worse, always up to the same dumb nonsense. It's not a wonder she was left dead. Maybe she should try popping up unannounced and helping instead of trying to cause problems.

"But she has grievances", you say. Yeah. With one douchebag. So she plots to kill all of mutantdom. What a dumb person, honestly.

In a second meta sense, I have comments about Maddie's as far as merit as a character. This woman, having lived multiple lives, has dedicated each of them and her entire personality toward destroying everything one guy loves because he decided to bang some other chick. Maddie has potential to be a cool villain, but can they update her motivations? She really wants to end the world because of a shitty marriage? Still?

Originally, her story is tragic, but seeing as she keeps getting new leases on life and then written to do the same thing again, it's not tragic anymore.

I felt sad for her position as she died and that's a testament to the creative team, but the character as a whole is kind of cringe for this day and age. At least let her be about trying to reconnect with Nathan. There are 3.5 billion dudes out there. The character should progress.

[Hulkout42]

I understand why the council decided not to resurrect Maddie, and generally agree with it, but the reasoning will be sticky down the line. If Maddie doesn't count as "real" what does that mean for Laura, Gabby, the Cuckoos, etc? Sophie and Esme have already been reborn.

Maybe it isn't about how real they are but about how useful they are in the grand scheme.

[Glio]

Attachment 100663

If Selene doesn’t go into the pit for killing all those people, then the Council is seriously screwed up...

Maddie isn’t as much of a threat as Selene, and yet Maddie can’t come back on a technicality....

To be honest, I don't know to what extent this can be canon for Dawn of X because Coates Captain America seems to be set when Steve Rogers was a fugitive and in current comics the rest of Marvel (Like House of X), he is fine in America.

[CoCoBandz]

She's not real. Its not the same thing. Maddie was a psychic ghost created by X-man and given a magically altered body by Spiral to look like Jean. The original clone Maddie died and merged with Jean in Inferno. She was originally brought to life with a portion of Jean's soul and that and her memories merged with Jean where they've existed as one being ever since. This Maddie is a perversion of that

So then Alex might as well thirst dog over Jean at this point. It's not like she's being stingy with the egg basket plus they already live together and there's been weirder...

I mean why stop at kissing just on of your brothers wives. I'm sure Scott wouldn't mind.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Just gonna guess that this will all blow up in the Council's faces one of these days and then they'll act all shocked and surprised and like they never saw it coming and don't deserve any of it when they're obviously playing favorites and such, maybe Maddy when she comes back will pull the dark parts of Alex out of him and make her own Goblin King that isn't Alex and such...like having her version of Alex so that there's two of them...and Scott willingly siding with Sinister over his own brother...another of Scott's winning moments...note sarcasm...

[djoki96]

She's not real. Its not the same thing. Maddie was a psychic ghost created by X-man and given a magically altered body by Spiral to look like Jean. The original clone Maddie died and merged with Jean in Inferno. She was originally brought to life with a portion of Jean's soul and that and her memories merged with Jean where they've existed as one being ever since. This Maddie is a perversion of that

Define "real".

[numberthirty]

Well, that certainly wrapped up more quickly than I thought that it would.

Very interested in seeing where this goes next.

[Whim]

this arc actually had resolutions and a conclusion. still well written with good art. this team needs to stick around as it's clearly a top x-book right now.

outclassing Marauders, X-Force and Excalibur despite the odd line up.

[jwatson]

Great issue. First time i've liked Havok in ages. also felt bad for maddie. can't they just resurrect her with only her maddie consciousness. i feel she lived enough life to have a personality though she may be immature.

[Kurolegacy]

She's not real. Its not the same thing. Maddie was a psychic ghost created by X-man and given a magically altered body by Spiral to look like Jean. The original clone Maddie died and merged with Jean in Inferno. She was originally brought to life with a portion of Jean's soul and that and her memories merged with Jean where they've existed as one being ever since. This Maddie is a perversion of that

By that logic Nightcrawler and Strong Guy aren’t real either. Nightcrawler died and made a deal with the Bamfs to come back at the cost of his soul. Strong Guy died and was revived by Lyla Miller whose power destroys the soul of the one revived. Both have since then died and been reborn on Krakoa. However, if their souls no longer exist, then what does that make them, clones with the memories of the original stuffed in their heads? What makes them any more real than Maddie?

[Havok83]

By that logic Nightcrawler and Strong Guy aren’t real either. Nightcrawler died and made a deal with the Bamfs to come back at the cost of his soul. Strong Guy died and was revived by Lyla Miller whose power destroys the soul of the one revived. Both have since then died and been reborn on Krakoa. However, if their souls no longer exist, then what does that make them, clones with the memories of the original stuffed in their heads? What makes them any more real than Maddie?

I already explained it. The original Maddie merged with Jean. This version was not here. Its not the same thing as the examples you mention as she was literally a creation of Nate Grey and existed for years without a body until the Enchantress altered one to look like Jean for her. The human Maddie that married Scott died in Inferno and her memories and portion of Jean's soul that she had returned to her. This version that died was a demonic perversion of Jean.

Based on the concept of cloning and resurrections in this era, Maddie always was Jean in the same way that the Phoenix clone was also Jean. Jean was presumed dead and she was cloned and that version of her became the Phoenix and picked up where she left off. That version died and another clone of Jean was given life and sent to Scott to pick up where Jean left off. The OG came back and all three versions merged into one being. Any Maddie we'e seen since has not been that same character. In retrospect its a cautionary tale for what happens when a character is cloned when the original isnt actually dead.

[Harpoon]

The conclusion to its first arc confirms further that Hellions is the breakout star of Dawn of X. This book has made me love characters like Greycrow and Nanny more than I ever thought I would.

Honestly, I think a lot of my excitement for X of Swords may come from seeing what kind of shenanigans this team gets up to there, as I think an interview said their issues are the funniest.

[Kitty&Piotr<3]

Has anyone said it?

Are we acknowledging the Greycrow/Kwannon chemistry?

Never too early for shipping, I always say.