Welcome to NYX

NYX #1

A few weeks back, Walt told me that New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu was taking over the writing chores to the Marvel comicbook, NYX. For those of you who are uninsulated in the lore of Marvel Mutants, NYX is about a group of street-wise teens living off their wits on the mean streets of New York. As stated, these kids all have mutant (or extra-normal) powers and abilities.

Personally, I was not that familiar with the first run of the title, but told him that I’d check out the new series. According to the Marvel line, the new series picks up some time after the conclusion of the initial run:

There’s no place like home—just ask young mutant KIDEN NIXON. She’s survived the hard streets of Manhattan, and she’s built a home—and a family—for herself, with her friends TATIANA, BOBBY SOUL and his LI’L BRO. But with fewer than 200 mutants left on the planet, Kiden’s become a target—and when somebody strikes at one of her friends, Kiden’s going to find out just how much farther she can fall!

As this series opens up, we witness a young girl in a hospital johnny coat chained down to what appears to be an operating table. She has obviously been captured by someone, but we don’t see her captor. From here we head out into the heart of the story, where we are re-introduced to the cast of kids.

Kiden and Tatiana are foraging through a dumpster for a present for their friend, Bobby. Returning to their apartment, they find Bobby and Lil’ Bro having breakfast. From her we go thought he rest of their day and move into their adventure.

Let me be clear here, if you are looking for standard comicbook spandex-and-testosterone punching and histrionics, this is going to be the wrong comic for you. These are not superheroes, and the fact that they are super-powered people is secondary to the story. This is a day-to-day drama of a bunch of street kids trying to get along in a life that has been quite tough to them.

I am not familiar with Liu’s work — from her bio I learned that she was born around Philadelphia, spent her formative years in Seattle, and now reside in the Midwest. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin and was admitted to the bar, only she didn’t wind up as a lawyer, but decided to become a writer instead.

This first chapter is quite good, and — because it is so different from most of the superhero comics that I do read — proved to be very intriguing, and thus I’m going to continue reading it. The new issue should be due out soon, and I’ll get back to you with it after I’ve acquired and read it.

The Perfessor