NYX (2024 series)

This article is about 2024 series. For 2003-2005 series, see NYX (comics).

NYX is the second volume of the American superhero comic book series NYX by publisher Marvel Comics. The series focuses on former X-Men students (especially from Academy X era) and Kamala Khan as they adapt to life at New York City in the post-Krakoan Age when mutants are hated and feared even more due to the actions of Orchis. Laura Kinney (formerly X-23) is the only returning character from the original series.

NYX (vol. 2)
Cover of NYX (vol. 2) #1 by Sara Pichelli and Federico Blee.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	July, 2024 – present
Main character(s)	See below
Creative team
Written by	Collin Kelly Jackson Lanzing
Artist(s)	Francesco Mortarino
Letterer(s)	Joe Sabino
Colorist(s)	Raúl Angulo
Editor(s)	Annalise Bissa

The ongoing series is written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing with art by Francesco Mortarino. The first issue was released in July 2024 as part of the X-Men: From the Ashes publishing initiative which relaunches the X-Men line.

Publication history

The second volume of NYX was announced by Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski and VP, Executive Editor Tom Brevoort during the "Future of Marvel Comics' X-Men and Digital Comics" panel at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 14, 2024, as part of X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch. In April 2024, it was revealed that the series would focus on young mutants in New York City after the end of Krakoan Age, with only Laura Kinney returning from the original series. Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing were announced to be writers and Francesco Mortarino as artist.

Lanzing highlighted that the series influences include pulling Academy X plot lines and characters "forward in this new era" and the noir aspect of Mutant Town in "Peter David's latter-day X Factor". On picking their ensemble cast, Kelly stated "if you only get one chance to write X-Men, you should write the things that you love and care about" and for the writing pair that meant "not necessarily the classics, but finding those characters that exist in the corners who haven’t had their full story told". Kelly has "always loved" Anole and "his journey of not only discovering how to be a lizard man but how to be queer within that space" and Lanzing commented that they're "longtime fans of" Prodigy who has to discover what's next after becoming a Cyclops-like figure which "didn’t work" out. Lanzing emphasized how Kamala and Sophie contrast each other; Kelly stated that "if Sophie is our bright light, standing to blind everybody, and Kamala is this kind of honest truth, trying to find her way, then Laura knows exactly who she is, or at least she thinks so". Lanzing and Kelly also highlighted that the characters in the series are often burdened by iconography with Lanzing commenting that "the way we're reflecting that is every issue of NYX is titled by the name of the character that it's about – not their mutant name, their human name, because that's the world they're living in right now, and the world they have to start understanding how to operate inside".

Main characters

The series is structured by having a different point of view character for each issue.

• Kamala Khan – A mutant/Inhuman hybrid also known as Ms. Marvel who has recently relocated from Jersey City to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She attends Empire State University (ESU) and is in the "Examinations of Post-Krakoan Diaspora" class.
• Laura Kinney – The former X-23 who now goes by the codename Wolverine; she is a hero in Brooklyn focused on "saving mutants" in the Bushwick area.
• Anole – A former X-Men student and proprietor of the Green Lagoon tiki bar on Krakoa who is now a bartender at a popular New York City bar.
• Prodigy (David Alleyne) – A former X-Men student who now works as a historian with a focus on mutant history. He is a professor at ESU, teaching the diaspora course that Kamala and Sophie are taking.
• Sophie Cuckoo – A former X-Men student attempting to find her way without her identical sisters. She attends ESU and is in the "Examinations of Post-Krakoan Diaspora" class.

Plot summary

Kamala Khan commutes from Jersey City to New York City to attend classes at Empire State University. She meets Sophie Cuckoo there, who is also attending the same "Examinations of Post-Krakoan Diaspora" class that is being taught by Prodigy. The two later visit Anole at a club in the Lower East Side, where he works as a bartender. But when several anti-mutant bigots called the Truthseekers harass Anole, Kamala and Sophie fight them and get kicked out. Donning her Ms. Marvel identity, Kamala attempts to investigate the Truthseekers but Laura Kinney (now going as Wolverine) discourages her from doing so, believing that Kamala lacks the experience in dealing with anti-mutant hate crimes. Kamala is forced to save a group of Truthseekers when a masked mutant radical calling himself the Krakoan attacks them. Before fleeing, the Krakoan accuses Ms. Marvel of being a traitor to mutants for saving humans and for never having the lived the "true" mutant experience on Krakoa. The Krakoan is revealed to be Julian Keller when he meets up with Empath and the remaining Stepford Cuckoos, who have formed their own version of the Quiet Council and plan to turn New York into a haven for mutants. Meanwhile, the adolescent mutant Fauna meets the mysterious Mr. Friend in Queens.

While Wolverine investigates Mr. Friend, who has been recruiting young mutants throughout the city into his criminal organization, she reminisces about her old friend Kiden Nixion. Wolverine's investigation takes her to a club in Bushwick, which is run and frequented by mutant diaspora and comes across Kamala, Sophie and Anole. Shedding her Wolverine identity, Laura approaches Mr. Friend's lieutenant Local, a technopathic mutant, under the alias "Scratch" and offers to join his organization. Laura commits several petty thefts with Local in order to earn his trust and is eventually taken to meet Mr. Friend. Mr. Friend reveals himself to be Mojo and during their subsequent fight, Mojo overwhelms and badly maims Laura with his weapons, forcing her to retreat. Despite healing from her wounds, Laura feels hopeless after her confrontation with Mojo but cheers herself up by spending time with her friends at the Bushwick club.

Anole and the others attend a vigil for Shay, a young mutant who was murdered by an anti-mutant bigot, which is being protested by the Truthseekers. Caliban makes a rare public appearance to attend the vigil, which surprises Anole and he follows Caliban back the sewers, where he discovers that the Morlocks have been keeping Krakoa's culture alive in the Alley. Before Anole can respond to Caliban's offer to join them, the Alley is attacked by the Truthseekers' armed members but they are fought off by Anole, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine and Sophie. Anole accepts Caliban's invitation and embraces his new life with the Morlocks. Afterwards, Sophie meets with Empath, revealing that she is secretly working with the Quiet Council, and the two discuss their plans for Ms. Marvel.

Kamala eventually deduces the Krakoan's identity as Julian Keller and receives a cryptic message from him that he will attack Times Square. After Prodigy appears disinterested when she reports her findings to him, Kamala takes Sophie with her to confront the Krakoan. Before fighting the Krakoan, Ms. Marvel reveals to Sophie that she knows she is secretly working with him but reaffirms their friendship, which leaves Sophie torn. Nonetheless, Sophie reluctantly helps her sisters use their telepathy to alert the media to Times Square and immobilize Ms. Marvel, allowing the Krakoan to defeat her. With the world watching, the Krakoan threatens humanity while using his victory over Ms. Marvel as a warning. Despite knowing the consequences of his actions, Prodigy arrives at Times Square to confront his former rival and uses his skills and abilities to incapacitate the Cuckoos and easily defeat the Krakoan. Prodigy helps Ms. Marvel escape just before he and Keller are arrested, just as he predicted would happen, while an infuriated Empath fumes that Prodigy's interference ruined the Quiet Council's plans.

Reception

Jenna Anderson, for ComicBook.com, commented that "NYX #1 is a charming, albeit restrained, menagerie of Marvel's mutant adolescence" – "Francesco Mortarino's art exhibits the sense of liveliness that the script of NYX #1 demands [...]. Raul Angulo's color work bathes everything in vibrant blues and golds without ever losing a sense of realism. Joe Sabino's lettering is expressive". Anderson thought the relaunch could be received in various ways by fans of the first volume as "the dark and often-controversial themes of the previous runs are cast aside, in favor of the xenophobia and overall prejudice that the characters feel post-Krakoa". She opined that the script by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing "does deliver some poignant moments", however, "these moments are only a brief part of the issue's lively storyline – a choice that both conveys the dizziness of being a young adult, and that leaves this particular issue feeling a little shallow". David Brooke of AIPT rated NYX #1 a 9 out of 10. Brooke viewed the first issue as "strong", although a bit focused on Ms. Marvel for a team book, and that the issue "allows its characters to emerge as fully dimensional individuals, serving as an antidote to readers who want more than just action scenes". Brooke opined that "the art by Francesco Mortarino is great, especially the character acting" where "these characters come off the page and feel quite real", and that "for how much dialogue is in this book, Mortarino does not miss". In contrast, Tim Rooney of The Beat gave NYX #1 a "skip" verdict as "structurally, NYX falters out of the gate" and that the book "wastes an exciting character" by burdening her with "a cast of mostly nobodies". Rooney viewed the script by Lanzing and Kelly as underwhelming "despite presenting some interesting ideas" and that while "its stated purpose is to explore how a culture finds community amidst diaspora", it ends up feeling "inauthentic". However, Rooney commented that Mortarino's art "is full of energy" and "elevated by colorist Raúl Angulo's bold, vibrant colors"; the art team makes the main characters seem "stylish and, critically, look like teens" where the only artistic weakness is "that everyone looks young" which "sometimes undermines the script".