NYX Vol. 7

NYX is a seven-issue limited series published by Marvel between 2003 and 2005, written by then-Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, with Joshua Middleton on art for issues #1–4 and Robert Teranishi taking over for issues #5–7. The three letters NYX come from "New York" and the mutant enclave "District X," yet the story does not show heroes saving the world; instead it turns its lens on a group of homeless, socially abandoned mutant teenagers in New York City: Kiden Nixon, who can freeze time; Tatiana, who can alter her appearance; Bobby Soul, who can inhabit other people's bodies; and X-23, a girl controlled by the brothel keeper "Zebra Daddy." This volume is issue #7 of the series, the closing chapter of the entire "Wannabe" arc: Zebra Daddy mobilizes his men to settle accounts once and for all with Kiden and X-23's group, the ghost of Kiden's father asks Bobby for help, and the conflict builds toward a violent showdown. In a life-or-death moment Kiden freezes time, intending to avenge her father, but ultimately chooses to save Cameron's life; X-23 herself finishes off the pimp who once controlled her. The story ends between bloodshed and tenderness—some die, some find a place to live, Kiden's family moves away from the old neighborhood, and they never get to read the letter she wrote. Told in a gritty street-realist style, the book depicts poverty, violence, and broken families, and is regarded as an important starting point for X-23's move from animation into mainline comics continuity.