HELLIONS

HELLIONS 1/9 The Hellions give the New Mutants something their school has been missing: a rival class. Introduced in New Mutants #16 in 1984, Emma Frost's students train at the Massachusetts Academy under the Hellfire Club's protection. The original six are Empath, Tarot, Catseye, Jetstream, Roulette and James Proudstar, calling himself Thunderbird. They have uniforms, a teacher and a training room of their own. They also have very different ideas about what being on this team means. Their first encounter with Xavier's students begins with ambushes and prisoners. By the following issue, the young mutants are negotiating a contest to settle matters themselves. Several Hellions object to forcing the New Mutants into their school, even while happily trying to beat them. The rescue itself gives the newcomers room to make an impression. Xavier's students split into pairs, and the Hellions meet them with combinations of their own. Thunderbird and Roulette bring strength and bad luck. Catseye and Tarot mix a stalking animal threat with figures pulled from a deck of cards. Empath and Jetstream turn an attempt to reach Doug Ramsey into a much messier fight. Some of those pairings are more successful than others. Empath's behavior causes trouble for his own side, which carries over into the next morning's class. The fighting leaves these students with grievances as well as opponents. They have to sit beside one another afterward and explain what went wrong. That disagreement gives the team room to breathe. These kids can enjoy the rivalry, dislike one another, make friends across the divide and still serve a dangerous institution. Emma has recruited six students. Getting them to want the same things is another matter.