NYX, Vol. 1: What Comes Next Will Be Marvelous

NYX (2024)

by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Francesco Mortarino (Artist)

From the ashes of the Krakoan era, a new age begins for the young mutants of the Big Apple!

This isn't a book about X-Men. This is a book about mutants living past the end of their world and into a new beginning. This is Ms. Marvel embracing her mutant life in the neon streets of the Lower East Side. This is Anole trying to keep his head above water. This is Wolverine in the shadows of Bushwick, protecting her own. This is Prodigy writing history as it happens -- and Sophie Cuckoo finding her own way. But the news reports are bleak. The streets feel dangerous. There's something lurking underground. Evil coming from every direction. Nevertheless, they're determined to make it. This is mutant community. This is mutant pride. This is NYX!

COLLECTING: NYX (2024) 1-5

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2025

Reviews

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE this team! I love this story. It feels so disgustingly real and important right now, protest can make serious change and that’s no joke. Only thing I don’t like is how stupid the villain is, he did all of this thinking he could make a new Krakoa on Manhattan island by getting mutants made illegal and having the island turned into a ghetto. They would never convert the biggest city in the country into a mutant ghetto, dumbass villain.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just overly complicated. Since the end of the Krakoa era, things are even worse for mutants. If you are bullied or attacked, you are a mutant. If you fight back, you are a terrorist and you are proving the point that all mutants are evil.

Each of the five issues in this book concentrates on a different character, from the highly optimistic (monologuing) Ms Marvel, to Wolverine (Laura) going undercover in possible the worst fake identity ever, a school teacher, a bartender, or a Cuckoo everyone is trying to do their best as the war us not just coming it is already here.

After finishing this book, I am still not sure what the "bad" guys were trying to accomplish. I am familiar with Ms Marvel (Kamala Khan), what I learn about her in this book is that nobody can get a word in edgeways with her, she is optimistic, opinionated, but smart and does have leadership potential.

It's great to see a Muslim hero, but I am not sure about her cousin. This is a start to the series, and I am interested enough to see where it goes. I do hope they decide to keep the next book simple. The book finishes with a variant covers gallery, most of these with (Wolverine/Laura) on them, possibly as the original NYX launched her. However, Ms Marvel is the main character of this book.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.1 stars

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of all the From The Ashes titles, this is the one that is most directly addressing the fallout from Krakoa. It’s a little messy and it’s a little cringe but it seems to be the one book trying to do something original.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic and everything I’d waited for for years!! This is basically a love letter to the Academy X/Kyle & Yost New X-Men run. Ms Marvel is in the mix too, and I thought she worked surprisingly well. The art and colors were great. A very timely story, and nice to touch back with these young people post-Krakoa. I hope we get more Julian and see him interact with Laura! 5/5 stars and a new favorite.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

NYX is a grittier, more street level book for the new X-Books. Focusing much more on how they are living their everyday lives, I really enjoyed this title and perspective.
Highlights:
- Team members: Ms Marvel, Wolverine (Laura), Prodigy, Anole, and Sophie Cuckoo
- Opposition:
1) Quiet Council of Krakoa (if this team really believes they are... LOL)
- Hellion (now going as The Krakoan), Empath, and the remaining 4 Stepford Cuckoos
2) Mr. Friend, who is eventually revealed to be Mojo
- There's a lot about mutant rights after Krakoa
- We also get a glimpse of the new Morlocks, which seem to be made of mutants that can't pass as human.

Overall, a good read. Won't be my favorite of the new X-Books, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
Recommend.

[Alex Sarll]

Probably not the book I'd have chosen for my first attempt at post-Krakoa X-Men; I never read the previous version(s?) of NYX, and after a strong start I've been going right off Kelly and Lanzing as writers. But it's the first one I've seen in a library, it's not one of the ones that sounded like an outright disaster, and it features characters I like: Prodigy, Ms Marvel, a Cuckoo... And, somewhat to my surprise, it's not bad. If Krakoa had to end (which it shouldn't have, but it was good, and this is the 2020s, so...) then this is exactly the sort of book to do in the aftermath of that, the mutant diaspora shaken by the loss of what was supposed to be their haven, traumatised, trying to make sense of it all, torn between reforging community and lashing out at each other for Doing It Wrong. And with David Alleyne installed as a lecturer at a university that was collaborating with fascist goons last term and is now trying to pretend that didn't happen, and Phoebe and Kamala among the students, there's a perfect Good Place-style excuse to get theoretical about the issues that raises. Of course, the downside is that for all the insistence that this isn't a superteam book, in order to exist within the Marvel ecology it still has to be the sort of not-a-superteam book in which characters with superpowers nevertheless team up against villains, and it's these compromises which throw out the pacing and sometimes swamp the stuff that felt most fruitful. You can argue whether it needed more or less of them to survive, but clearly this amount wasn't optimal, because the optimistic subtitle What Comes Next Will Be Marvelous was swiftly disproved: what came next was cancellation. A pity.

[Myah · Rating 3 out of 5]

maybe a generous 3.5 ⭐️?

i cant decide if the decision to release this after the 2024 election was a good idea or a bad one. my biggest issue with NYX is how weak it is compared to the other x-titles at the moment. every issue ends with a problem that is easily solved within the pages of the next issue. AND while this is advertised as a team series, it almost feels like a ms. marvel/sophie cuckoo team-up that uses laura to sell variant covers. idk i really want to love this series, and i will be reading at least the next issue (i love dazzler and mojo storylines, sue me!); but i find myself disappointed after reading each issue

[Pruett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the comic book equivalent of a Netflix original high school show, with slightly more mutants and a lot less sex, and you know what? Everyone needs one of those in their life. It’s a really cute, short and sweet balm for the serious stuff going on in the real world every month.

I also LOVE Laura Kinney and Kamala Khan, which doesn’t hurt 🥰

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh i loved this! the idea of the krakoan diaspora trying to rebuild some semblance of a community when there's mutants who lived the full experience on the island and others that only briefly visited or never saw it at all. this is the first title of this new era that still uses their alphabet! and it's also about this new generation of mutants as young adults in new york city. i still think it's weird kamala's a mutant but she's a sweetie and also sophie is so fun as emma frost-lite. idk that i ever noticed anole having a giant arm??

also the artttt! it has an manga sort of feel to it while still being in marvel's regular superhero style. kamala's hairstyle!!!! is this what a wolf cut is?? it's so cute

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nyx" is a fast paced, action filled mutant adventure set in NYC after the fall of Krakoa. Focusing on Kamala Khan and a few other mutant college age students this book is brimming with mostly unrealized potential. There is a heart warming, although vaguely saccharine, female bonding sub plot and a fairly elaborate villainous threat to NYC, but neither is enough to make this book really take off. Sadly, Kamala also never gets to shine the way she did in earlier books.

3.5 stars rounded to three.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ended up being way better than I was expecting, and I loved Kamala & Sophie's friendship! The Laura characterisation was a little off (though at this point it always is) but I found the plot super engaging and it was fun to look at mutant culture and the Krakoan diaspora through the eyes of young adults instead of the more established X-Men. Most of the art was fantastic and I especially loved the graffiti. I have high hopes for the second volume.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75
There is something...off about this book that doesn't quite work. Contrived? Some good moments I liked.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars rounded up

Summary:

The era of Krakoa may be over, but many heroes are finding their way forward. Prodigy has taken a teaching job. Wolverine is working from the shadows, keeping her people safe. Ms. Marvel is learning what it means to be both Inhuman and mutant.

Unfortunately, many threats lurk in the city, some human, some not so much. These heroes will have to work together if they want to keep the city safe for everyone, mutants, humans, and Inhumans.

Review:

NYX is one of six series that launched Marvel’s From the Ashes event, and it took a lot of risks. The story is set in the city, taking a tighter focus on what’s happening in mutant lives after the fall of Krakoa.

The series brings together an unlikely crew of heroes, including Ms. Marvel, Wolverine (Laura), Sophie Cuckoo, Prodigy, and Anole. I actually really liked the combination of characters, even though I wasn’t always overly impressed by the plot. I’d love to see them working together in other ways in the future.

Part of the problem is that NYX never got to feel like an official team. Sure, they’re working together, but it feels more like they’re tackling the same problem, and thus happen to share the same space. Ms. Marvel still has her own conflicts, Wolverine is still dealing with her own shit (and trying to keep people safe), etc.

That said, there are parts I love about this story. For example, it made the plight personal. Kamala and her dealing with her cousin. Anole’s concern about finding peace and avoiding conflict. It all works to drive home certain points.

Overall, I did like the tone and risks taken here. I’m sad they didn’t pay off, as by the time I’m writing this, the series has concluded (it and at least two other From the Ashes series have been canceled). At least there’s one more volume to read!

Highlights:
From the Ashes
Ms. Marvel/Wolverine/Sophie Cuckoo
Lower East Side Drama
Mutants/Inhumans
Professor Prodigy

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[Nikki 🎯 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most X-books after the fall have fallen flat for me. Part of this is because of Krakoa was such a golden age for X-books starring so many wonderful characters that haven't seen the light of day in forever ( St. John Allerdyce, Kwannon, and so so many more), only to now be replaced by books starring the same tired main characters (Cyclops, Emma, the Wolverines, Rogue, etc etc). However this book falls the flattest for me. I don't know if that by merit of constraints the editor put on the series or just the author.

1. I'm so sorry but I need Marvel to stop throwing Kamala in everything. She was wonderful in Champions, wonderful in her own run and she'd be great in any Marvels piece or Avengers piece. I don't like her being a mutant and she has no history or chemistry with the rest of the mutants. There are so many bench young x-men that could be used. Hell, if you wanna use another brown Muslim girl; I haven't seen Sooraya Qadir in FOREVER.

2. Someone else said in a review that this is just a Kamala/Sophie team up book with Wolverine in it to sell variant covers. Yeah. I agree completely. This makes this book even more rough because aside from what I already said about Kamala; the cuckoos are written so wildly inconsistently that I really have no idea if Sophie is OOC or just written that way now.

3. How old are these characters??? It's like they can't commit to them being adults but also refuse to commit to them being teenagers.

4. Actually legitimately angry that they broke up David and Tommy and replaced Tommy with a rando character. Why. This was literally the only thing keeping Tommy relevant in comics and now he is lost to the sea of benched young superheroes. Plus having a couple randomly get together off screen immediately after a canon break-up is the quickest way for me to never care about that couple.

I could probably go on forever so I'm gonna stop here.

[TR Naus · Rating 3 out of 5]

NYX includes some good character-driven moments of the post-Krakoa era relaunch, but as a cohesive piece of storytelling, it lacks the necessary follow-through.

The standout element of this volume is the relationship between Ms. Marvel and Sophie Cuckoo. It is a perfect showcase of what makes Kamala such a compelling hero. Her unrelenting optimism. Watching her choose to believe in Sophia, even while knowing Sophie was working with the "bad guys", is a powerful character beat. It isn't just a "teen drama" moment. It’s a reminder of how Kamala’s faith in others is her true superpower.

While the individual character vignettes are often excellent on their own, the volume struggles to weave them into a single tapestry. By the end, the story feels disjointed. The anthology-style structure jumped from Kamala to Laura to Anole. It never quite builds enough momentum to keep the overarching plot cohesive. It felt less like a novel and more like a collection of short stories that hadn't found their center.

The conclusion arrives in a "blink of an eye," leaving several key elements underdeveloped. Both Julian (Hellion) and Manual (Empath) feel like background noise. We don't see enough of Julian to understand the weight of his involvement, and Empath is deprived of the screen time needed to make him a credible threat.

The final confrontation with the crowd feels overly simplistic, resolving complex sociological tensions with a quick, neat bow that feels unearned.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s almost the potential for a good book in here but it’s hidden behind contrived, on the nose, cringeworthy writing. Marvel insist on giving work to these writers that don’t sell comics. It’s proven time and time again that there’s just not an audience for this crap, it’s just bizarre at this stage.

It’s so forced and cheesy that you’d be forgiven for thinking Kelly and Lanzig are 14 year old teenagers. And maybe that’s the mentality of the age group they are going for here.

Sophie Cuckoo and Kamala Khan becoming best friends ever in the space of 3 issues is just ridiculous.
As for the dialogue, no-one in the real world speaks like this ffs.

These people need to get out and travel, spend time around real human beings in workplaces and bars and listen to how different individuals interact and take a break from being online and from their curated Bluesky feeds.

The two main titles of the From The Ashes relaunch are great, but outside of Sentinels, the satellite titles all suck. Is it any surprise that they have all been cancelled??
Year after year Marvel continue to make the same mistakes, learning nothing and expecting different results. The company is rotten to the core. A blind man can see why DC is miles ahead both critically and in the sales charts.

If only there was a way to sell comics by putting better writers on them.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I’m upscoring this from like a 3.5. I’ve been on a Ms Marvel kick this summer and I tend to really like her character, and I like that we get her working more directly with a community of mutants in NYX. Laura seems a bit more feral than where we last left her, and Sophie’s arc is fine (though I ended up really in the weeds trying to figure out which she was separate from Esme and Phoebe, the latter who is most recently spent time with on Krakoa). The stuff with Prodigy is also pretty interesting, and I like that his culmination builds to an active protest movement instead of just throwing down hands with other mutants. It’s fun, although by painting close enough to the current political reality, it seems a bit simplistic to feel like the bigots can simply be cowed by overwhelming unity. Your mileage may vary.

I think I’m going to start ending these with a new scale of where I’m sitting on my enthusiasm of this post-Krakoa storyline, rated from frozen to frosty to tepid to warm to fiery.

Currently…well around frosty still, which I think I’ve mostly been this entire time.

[Luke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think there's some sincere effort here to tell a story of building community after the loss of your old home, but it's told in a very clumsy way that feels obnoxiously on-the-nose and very predictable and hackneyed. None of our leads are especially interesting to read, which is a shame because there are some heavy-hitters present. X-23 in particular just feels like a crummy archetype of the most basic Wolverine tropes rather than being her own character's development over the years.

There's also a weird trope where Ms. Marvel is an investigator, but we're never shown her investigating outside of once when she's stymied in the first issue. Instead, she just kind of enters scenes knowing a bunch of clandestine info that we, the audience, are aware of but she shouldn't and there's never a meaningful explanation as to how she discovers her info. She even calls out the character who is about to betray her before it happens, but does so in such a magnanimous and kind way that it feels incredibly off and insincere.

The book as a whole just feels messy and I found myself frustrated by the end of the volume.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

NYX is a little scattered, but this first volume nails the character work, and I think that's really what counts, especially with these street-level heroes. Essentially, NYX is about a bunch of mutants starting over post-Krakoa in New York City. Some are still trying to push back against the idea of the "mutant menace" while others are just hoping to blend in. Yet others (the bad ones) are trying to recreate Krakoa in New York City via nefarious mind-control means.

There are quite a few threads to follow in this volume, but that might be the goal? This is the Rent of the mutant world, with each character following their own path, for better or for worse. The multiple threads make for engaging reading, but also make for plots that are picked up and dropped before they amount to anything (see: random Mojo issue). Overall, it's nice to see mutants with humanity, but it also kinda sucks that the "big bad" is once again humans hating mutants. Well, except for Empath, I guess he's also bad, but not as bad as the racists.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krakoa is gone..
What's next?

NY-X?

We get a look at a fresh(relatively) group of mutants trying to live lives in NYC. Kamala Khan is still going to school (now with less anti-mutant teaching!) where she bumps into Sophie Cuckoo (one the Emma Frost quintuplets). Anole is serving drinks at a trendy club. X-23 (Laura Kinney) is sniffing out danger on the streets of NYC. You can even find Prodigy teaching classes on Krakoa's influence on mutant culture.

It's not your classic X-team fighting to protect the world.
It isn't a team on the run being shunned by everyone.

They just want to get a coffee, go to class , and maybe hit the club...

Somebody is out there making mutants disappear.
Somebody else is lashing out at humans as 'The Krakoan'.

It's never going to be simple, is it?
===
Bonus: Art is up and down. Anole looks 6'2" one panel and 30, next page 5'8" and 18...
Bonus Bonus: This is a New X-Men: Academy X ...sequel of sorts. Love it.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the From the Ashes X-books were announced, this one instantly got my vote for first to be cancelled. Turns out it was just one of many to get the ax. It's actually not bad. It is unfocused though. It's about 5 young mutants living in New York, Ms. Marvel, Sophie Cuckoo, Anole, Prodigy and Laura Kinney. It's more about them living their lives more than anything else. One thing it gets really right is using the background of New York to bring the book to life. There were several times that I was like "Oh yeah, I've been there." It was really nice to look at a book and not have the backgrounds just be speed lines and other nonsense because artists didn't have time to draw them.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think tbe idea here has promise, but the actual book is pretty underwhelming. Basically, it's a look at several disconnected mutants, all just trying to live their lives in New York City. But, since this is an X-Men title, that's not going to be possible. Ms. Marvel is the lead, with new friend Sophie Cuckoo. And then there's Anole, trying to get by as a bartender at an underground club; Prodigy, now a professor at Empire State; and Laura Kinney, doing who knows what (she just seems to be around). Something sinister is going on and there might be a team-up in the offing. Story is pretty scattershot and unfocused. The art's decent enough. But this is going to have to be more focused if it's going to continue.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking for to this book. It had a great cast and there was some decent moments.

Sadly, much like all of the current X-men (and wider Marvel) it's being let down by the nostalgia kick From the Ashes is having.

Mutants hiding from the public...again. Hunted and killed... Again. And Sobunar and other Arrako residents with the Morlocks? Why?!

[ShinyOcelot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly this is probably my favorite part of the "From the Ashes" relaunch for the mutant side of the Marvel universe. (Might be biased because I already liked G Willow Wilson's Ms Marvel but oh well)

The idea of a found community was always at the heart of the various X-Men titles and their spin-offs, but with this relaunch of NYX we see this concept done in a way that helps spin those core ideas for modern audiences.

Youth activism for social change being part of the plot as well as feeling completely natural felt like a natural return to the roots of what made Wilson's Ms Marvel and Kieron Gillen's Young Avengers run (as well as various fan favorite X-Men stories) enjoyable by providing a decent portrayal of what young minority life is like in the world outside our window with that Marvel flair we've come to know and love.

It's a shame this was cut short after the second storyline since this was a solid re-introduction of Kamala Khan and the perfect hopeful story for minority youth in our current problematic political climate.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has followed Ms. Marvel throughout Krakoa and much of Krakoa itself, I found this book to feel incredibly comforting. In a time where so much of the state of the world exists in a precarious state, a story about a found family resisting and overcoming bigoted forces sparks joy in a way I found rejuvenating.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had the most hesitation on this title going into the Ashes phase (actually maybe more reservations for Exceptional which I still haven’t gotten to), but there were bits of it that proved more deserving of a title than X-Force/X-Factor. But it still has a tired voice and a bland resolution.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good first issue, definitely better than the other marvel nyx run

[Laissez Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Were this only issues 1-4, I would be rating this a lot higher. The last issue fails to stick the landing fairly hard, however.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Va mejorando, veamos como sigue el próximo volumen