Arcade has the Hellions just where he wants them in Hellions #10, by writer Zeb Wells, artists Stephen Segovia, colorist David Curiel, and letterer Ariana Maher. This issue is pretty okay, but it feels like Wells and company didn’t exactly take advantage of the team-up between Arcade and Mastermind.

Arcade tortures Sinister, revealing why he and Mastermind are working together and what he wants from Sinister. Arcade is seemingly down on his luck, and Mastermind is bolstering his lackluster murder enclosures. Each member of the Hellions is held in one that is giving them their heart’s desire. Sinister agrees to Arcade’s demands, but Arcade still wants to torture him a bit. Psylocke figures out what is going on and uses her telepathy to alert Greycrow. Arcade has Mastermind switch the illusions from what the Hellions want to something deadlier. Even though Sinister has agreed to his terms, Arcade keeps torturing.

This issue has a lot of promise but went exactly the other way. Wells has done a great job in this book of balancing humor and violence, and Arcade is a perfect character for that sort of writing. However, this issue isn’t that- there are very little humor and a whole bunch of violence. It all makes sense with the story being told, but it’s also a tad bit disappointing. Seeing the Hellions fight their way through some awesome Arcade-built murder machines would have been a lot of fun.

There are some interesting things in this book, though- Arcade and Mastermind are working together because Arcade doesn’t have the resources he used to have, so Mastermind’s powers are backing things up. Arcade wants Sinister to make clones for him, one he can use in his future murder endeavors. This all makes sense, and the story isn’t bad, but it is missing a lot of what has made Hellions such a good book. It isn’t a bad issue; it’s just kind of relentlessly bleak. It fits, but it could be a lot better.

Segovia’s art, though, is top-notch as usual. While it would have been more fun to see him illustrating some classic Arcade murder machines, he still a great job with what he’s given, especially Arcade. He really captures the sadism and insanity that are the core of the character, and it makes the scenes he’s in that much better.

Hellions #10 works for what it is, but it could have been so much more. Wells hits all the right marks, but there was so much potential here that got left behind. It’s a perfectly fine comic but nothing special. Segovia’s art marks everything look great, so that’s one in the plus column. This is still an interesting story, but it could have been more than it is.

Grace: C+