Review: ‘NYX: No Way Home’ #1 & 2
When the original NYX series dropped in 2003, I was utterly blown away. NYX (which stands for New York, District X) followed the lives of some truly fucked-up teenagers as they come to grips with their newfound mutant powers like the ability to manipulate time, or turn into an animal just by touching its blood. This was also the series that marked the debut of X-23, a female clone of Wolverine who winds up a prostitute and currently roles with X-Force and was on the X-Men: Evolution cartoon series.
Now, I’m not all that into super-hero books, but something about this just really captivated me. Joe Quesada’s writing blended perfectly with Josh Middleton’s amazing artwork, and this was something VERY edgy for Marvel at the time. Within the seven issue mini-series, they explore themes like teen drug use, prostitution, school violence, and suicide. Not your daddy’s funnybooks by any means.
While Middleton’s artwork was certainly the main driving force behind the series (although he only did the first 4 issues until Rob Teranishi took over), Quesada’s writing was brilliant and painted a desolate and lonely picture of mutant life. The series immediately reminded me of Brian Wood’s DEMO series, and then I found out that Brian Wood pitched the original concept for NYX, but was turned down. That’s the industry, I guess.
The only downside to the original NYX was the fact that Joe Quesada had a bit of a problem getting the script out on time - a terrible example for Marvel’s Editor-In-Chief to set. For crying out loud, it took 2 years for all seven issues to come out!
Finally, five years later, we’re brought back to District X to catch up with Kaden and the gang (minus X-23) with NYX: No Way Home, and some serious shit is under way. This time around, the story’s written by first-time comic writer Marjorie Liu and penciled Kalman Andrasofszky.
We’re gonna’ try and keep the review as spoiler-free as possible so check it out after the jump and, as always, feedback in the comments is appreciated.
I was a really big fan of the original NYX, so I was excited to start reading this.
I love when stories start off with something awesome happening, tease you a little, then go back 48 hours (or however long) to tell you the events that lead them there. This is how the 1st issue starts. I was thinking what the F*%K is going on? I didn’t stop reading for a second. Once I finished the 1st issue, I right away read the second. It kept my attention the whole time. I didn’t get bored, there was always something going on. The characters are still a little mysterious, yet familiar. At the end of the second issue I was like “HOLY SHIT!!! I forgot she can do that!!!”With any comic I read, by the end of the 1st issue if I don’t like it I will not buy the 2nd issue. Once in a while if a comic is “meh” then I will try the 2nd issue. With NYX: No Way Home, I knew I was going to want to read the whole series. If you haven’t read the original NYX, DO IT!!! There is a trade and the art in it is fucking awesome! Then once you are done read that, pick up the first 2 issue of NYX: No Way Home. I highly recommend it. I give it a 4 out of 5, only because of the art! The should have stuck with Josh Middleton!
I was thoroughly excited to read this, but it just didn’t have that same “WOW” factor that drew me into the original NYX. I felt a bit disconnected from the characters, but this could just be because it’s continuing a story that left off over 3 years ago… they probably should’ve had some sort of plot/character synopsis on the first page for people who forgot or never experienced the first series. I was also a tad confused at the start of the 2nd issue because it’s narrated by a different character than the first issue. Maybe I’m just slow.
The story takes a while to pick up (until the last few pages of the first issue), and when it does pick up, it’s just sort of “meh” until the climax of the 2nd issue.
I also had a bit of an issue with the art - there were some parts where the artwork was amazing and just popped right off the pages, but there were moments when the art seemed lazy and half-assed and it was so distracting that it literally took me out of the story. But believe me when I say that when the art is good, it’s great. Especially the character design.
Pros:
- The covers by Alina Urusov are spectacular.
- Bonus content like concept art, and a glimpse at additional cover design ideas. Marjorie Liu and Kalman Andrasofszky also interview each other which is pretty interesting and insightful.
- Some of the art is just gorgeous and some of the creative panel layout really pops off the page.
Cons:
- Artist isn’t Josh Middleton. There’s just something about NYX with no Middleton that doesn’t make sense.
- Art is a bit sloppy sometimes. The bad anatomy and facial expressions can sometimes be distracting.
- Story takes a while to pick up and might be hard to hold your attention if you’re unfamiliar with the NYX series.
