'Hellions' #1: Krakoa's solution for villains is to encourage them to embrace their inner sociopaths
Spoilers for 'Hellions' #1 by Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia
If there is one thing that has been reinforced over and over again since Jonathan Hickman's 'Dawn of X' relaunch transformed the landscape of X-Men stories, it's that mutant society is fundamentally different from human society.
We've seen how this applies to questions of mortality, suicide and even marriage but the new 'Hellions' series written by Zeb Wells and illustrated by Stephen Segovia explores a whole new question: How would mutants deal with violent sociopaths?
Within the pages of 'Hellions' #1, we get an answer and it's definitely different from any approach humans would have taken. It seems mutantkind's solution to mutants with twisted and violent personalities is to actually encourage them to be evil in the most beneficial way possible.
Now that does sound a bit weird, which is understandable because the idea comes from the mad scientist Mister Sinister and in all probability, this is just an attempt to create a new team of Marauders. The name Hellions was probably chosen simply because Kate Pryde already has dibs on the Marauders name.
However, whatever Sinister's real intentions may be, we do see a philosophy forming here. One of the data pages included in the issue reveals that the mutant Empath became a sociopath specifically as a result of living with his mutation and not because of biological or psychological issues.
The argument being made here is simple: if sociopaths can't help being sociopaths, why punish them for it? Why not use their gifts for the greater good by deploying them in situations where overenthusiasm and mindless violence aren't just acceptable, they're encouraged?
Unlike DC's 'Suicide Squad' or Marvel's own 'Thunderbolts', the 'Hellions' aren't villains being coerced to be good with the threat of death or the incentive of early parole. These are violent, anti-social people who are being encouraged to be as violent and anti-social as they want in service of the interests of the greater mutant nation.
It's a unique solution, one that would be unthinkable in human society. But then again, this isn't human society we're talking about, is it?
'Hellions' #1 was released in stores on March 25.