On the same end, Sinister’s reimagining as a foppish dandy who also is an inhuman monster (which I trace back to the post-Schism X-Men run by Kieron Gillen) is fun and good for some laughs, but I do miss the more mysterious and evil version of Essex, rather than the mischievous trickster he is now.

Yes, he’s been psychologically manipulated in the past (joining the Genoshan apartheid state, following Madeleine Prior into goblin royalty, etc.) but recent years have revealed a far more resolute and in-control version of Alex, and frankly I prefer that. I can’t say, however, I’m particularly fond of the role that Havoc has fallen into in this series.

Yes, he’s still riddled with enough character flaws to not be too relatable (he is a cold-blooded killer after all), but this story has provided meaning and pathos to a character whose main role in the 35 years of his published existence has been “expendable henchman.” Seeing his third dimension makes us root for Greycrow, even though he’s an outright villain. Shoot, Greycrow is a guy who punched the military leader of his homeland right in the face to protect a teammate that he knows is facing a serious sentence. Like so many of us, he struggles with confidence issues, pines for a woman who doesn’t appear to reciprocate those feelings, and yet still tries to hype up his friends when they are down. It’s bizarre to say this about a character who once had a horribly racist codename, but John Greycrow proves to be one of the more relatable entry point characters in modern comics. While most of that sounds pretty bog-standard as far as Hickman-Era X-Men stuff goes, it is delivered with Wells’ eye for dialogue and a cast of lovable losers that endear themselves to the readers with every page.

Hellions, Vol. 1 by Zeb Wells