NYX #3 – Review

NYX #3, from Dynamite Comics on January 12th, 2022, takes Nyx and Vampirella on a girls’… err, monsters’ night out when Nyx asks for advice on how to live a “normal” life among humans. The night doesn’t go well.

The Details

• Written By: Christos Gage
• Art By: Marc Borstel
• Colors By: Jordi Escuin Llorach
• Letters By: Taylor Esposito
• Cover Art By: Rose Besch (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: January 12, 2022

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Was It Good?

So far, we’ve been positive on the Nyx series from Dynamite. Nyx has gotten a lot of page space in the last year or two in an assortment of incarnations, from reluctant anti-hero to brutal, tyrannical demi-god bent on taking over Earth. That’s quite a range, and admittedly, not a consistent one. However, it’s a pleasant change of pace to see a character put in a situation with an opportunity to grow and evolve into whatever she’s meant to be.

In NYX #3, Nyx reaches out to occasional ally, occasional enemy Vampirella for advice on how to live in the world without breaking the world and every human in her sphere. It’s an unexpected bit of humility for Nyx, and the meeting is rife with opportunities for humor. Gage takes full advantage by showing Vampirella and Nyx egging each other on to have fun in raucous ways. If you’re a Vampirella fan, you can’t get much better than a drunk ‘Ella riding a mechanical bull.

While the setup and execution are amusing, there’s not much story here that connects the issue to the previous two. Gage, perhaps, is going for an arc that’s almost entirely a character-development story, but it feels disconnected somehow.

We’re often critical of writing characters who are purely reactive. They take no action and do not affect their own story other than to react to things and people around them. However, there is another side to that same coin where you have characters that are all proactive without any purpose or direction. They’re simply doing things to see what happens. That can make for some excitement, but that approach to character development can get hollow very quickly. This version of Nyx isn’t there yet, but she’s trending in that direction. Gage has shown Nyx is a proactive character but she still needs some challenge or obstacle presented to her to have a proper journey. The ending of this issue is a hint at future shenanigans, but it remains to be seen if it’s worth hanging on.

Marc Borstel’s art is fine for this entry. The demon characters are creative, and the action is fairly good. When critiquing the art, we try to look for something that stands out, either negatively or positively. Here, there’s nothing negative to point to and there’s nothing that is particularly positive that stands out. It’s a solid showing.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

At the beginning of this issue, Nyx refers to her attempt to live a “normal” life. See our NYX #2 review to find out how that went.

We begin mid-battle between Nyx and Vampirella over the city at night. After a few exchanges, Nyx explains she only attacked Vampirella to make sure it was her after recently encountering a doppelganger. When the hostilities settle down, Nyx pleads for help from Vampirella. She wants to know how Vampirella has managed to live a “normal” life among humans.

Vampirella explains that it’s not possible to live a life with humans without an ever-present risk of attack from monsters and demonic forces. Her better bet, Vampirella explains, is to form relationships with other powerful beings, so when the dangers come, they have a chance of surviving. Offering the first step, Vampirella suggests going out for some fun.

What follows is an amusing montage of (very) excessive drinking, mechanical bull riding, poorly aimed dart throwing, and more. As the drunken festivities start to tone down, a group of Chaos cultists show up and summon an ice demon to kill Vampirella to settle an old grudge. We conclude the issue with more snarky quips than a Buffy episode, Vampirella explaining why the cult was a legitimate threat at one point, and Nyx taking a scavenger hunt trip to Rome.

Final Thoughts

NYX #3 continues the story of Nyx trying to find her place in the world to live a “normal” life. The art is fine, and the shenanigans that happen when Nyx reaches out to Vampirella for help are amusing, but the story doesn’t feel like it has a direction yet. If the goal is to have a series that grows and evolves the character, something important needs to happen to get things moving.

Score: 7.5/10

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