NYX is a hyper-local teen book for a new era of X-Men

By James On Jun 20, 2024

Whether the Krakow era of the X-Men was your thing or not, you’ll have to admit: it was about as far removed from everyday human life as the characters ever got. Living on an island paradise, inventing the mutant religion, terraforming Mars and conquering death – it was a far cry from Kansas.

Now the Krakoan era is over, and Marvel’s new line of X-Men comics spreads the characters into superhero adventures around the world, in titles like X Men, Creepy X-MenAnd Exceptional X-Men. And in the new ongoing series NYXwriters Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, along with artist Francesco Mortarino, bring a select group of teenage mutants to the doorsteps of New York City to take on a completely unknown challenge: completing a college course together.

“A lot of these (new) books, while there are some incredible solo titles, are X-team books,” Kelly told Polygon via video call, “and they’re very much about X-Men solving X-Men problems. One of the things we pay attention to is Yes, this may be a team, but it’s not a superhero team. They are a friendship, they are a community.”

NYX (say it NYXnot Nothing) is a throwback title to Marvel’s divisiveness NYX ’00s miniseries that followed the tough lives of homeless mutant teens in New York City and introduced Laura Kinney/Wolverine to the comic canon. But when Kelly and Lanzing talk about their leading stars for their NYXthey mention Runaways, Young Avengers, PhonogramAnd The wicked + the divine.

Kamala Khan and Sophie Cuckoo in a sample page of NYX #1.

Image: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Francesco Mortarino/Marvel Comics

Kamala Khan looks surprised and entranced by Sophie Cuckoo, who levitates books and other classroom supplies using her telekenesis in NYX #1.

“The nice thing about superhero books for teens,” Lanzing said, “is that (characters) tend not to come together in the face of a major threat. Instead, they’re usually much closer to hanging out or friendship books. They tend to be a little closer to a teen drama than a big action extravaganza.

In case of NYX, leads Ms. Marvel, Sophie Cuckoo, Prodigy, Anole, and Laura Kinney begin to get to know each other as some of them take the same class at Empire State University that another of them teaches. (Kelly and Lanzing didn’t specify, but with Prodigy’s mutant power to instantly absorb the studied expertise of those around him, he seems like a shoo-in for professorial duties.)

Who is the Krakoan? asks Marvel promotional art for NYX, in which Ms. Marvel confronts a floating figure dressed a bit like Magneto and a bit like Professor X, who appears to hang an entire subway car with his powers.

Kelly, herself a university professor, said the course is about exploring what the mutant cultural diaspora looks like now that the mutant island paradise is gone. “So we’re going to immediately start bringing some of these characters together, not in a superhero context, but in an intellectual educational context.”

If that all sounds rambunctious, don’t worry – both writers emphasized that there’s still plenty of action. NYXwhether it’s Wolverine appointing himself the dark mutant avenger of New York, or a mysterious new mutant villain called the Krakoan, who represents a threat to the continuation of the Krakoan-style community in the post-Krakoan world .

For more hints about the series – including Anole’s new job bartending at a mutant nightclub, and Ms. Marvel and Wolverine living it up in a very recognizable New York location, check out these four pages of preview art from NYX #1, courtesy of Marvel Comics.

Kamala Khan and Sophie Cuckoo chat with Anole, who bartends at a club with the initials KT in NYX #1.

Ms. Marvel and Wolverine (Laura Kinney) brawl atop the ship in Hudson Yards, as Wolverine pierces a cell phone with one of her claws in NYX #1.

NYX #1 hits shelves on July 24th.