3 out of 5

Zeb Wells does his best to navigate through the X-Necrosha crossover, starting off very strongly by using the resurrected Cypher as a narrative “in,” leading to a tense, conflicted battle in issue 6, but things become rather repetitive thereafter, as we first have to repeat many of those battle beats with the also-resurrected Hellions, and then there’s the matter of crossover cleanup: check in with other relevant storylines; and try to bring the book back to its original focus.

Given more issues, I think this actually would’ve been really strong, as when Wells can focus on those who he may’ve already wanted in the NM stable – Cypher, Warlock – the writing is presented with the scribe’s usual deftness, navigating between lore-rich elements and a very naturalistic flow extending from that; but presumably to keep with Necrosha deadlines, squeezing this into three issues makes the impact seem entirely nil, like it’s a big deal for a hot minute, and then it’s back to what we were doing. That’s the grind of the Hellion battle, and what requires a whole bunch of 180 degree turns in issue 8. Perhaps as an effect of this, penciller Dio Neves requires a boost in the final issue by Kevin Sharpe; and even in issue 7, potentially the most visually fun, with the Hellions unleashing an array of wild powers, things feel looser and less compelling than Neves’ work with Legion in the opening arc of this series.

More positively, this is a required read for Wells’ time on the book, as it explains how Cyper and Warlock are brought back into the fold; actually justifying an event crossover is one of the greatest difficulties for most Marvel / DC event-affected books. And Cypher’s reintroduction wouldn’t have been half as interesting without the Necrosha T-O virus infecting him. However, the event itself still feels like an aside, and the characters moreso tied to it – the Hellions – are disposable fodder rolled out for a singular wham-bang issue.