Teens with powers. It's been done and done to death.

NYX is a little different, however. It's not neat and tidy. There's no spandex. No wise costumed mentors to lead their sidekicks through danger. These are mutants on the loose in a dark and dangerous city, and all the wise-cracking in the world won't make things better.

The first book in the series, Wannabe, introduces us first to Kiden, a young and happy girl who loses her father -- a New York City police officer -- in a shooting incident right in front of her eyes. This is no sanitized killing to inspire a grim resolve to fight crime; Kiden's father dies badly, bloodily, and it sends Kiden into a tailspin toward dissolution and disaster -- until she develops a mutant power that allows her to slow time to crawl and cause serious damage while it's stopped. Oh, and her dad, still bloody and still dead, pops up every now and then with advice.

Then there's Cameron, a teacher who only wanted to help a troubled student. She doesn't have a power, but she does learn the meaning of fear. Still, sometimes you can't run away from your terror.

Tatiana's love for animals sends her into a desperate run for her life after her confusing new power appears. And X-23, a nameless whore with razor-sharp claws and a dangerous fetish, inadvertently binds them together when they all end up on the run from the city's worst pimp and thug.

It's a good start to the series. I hope these kids never end up wearing costumes or calling themselves something with "teen" in the title. I hope the X-Men and Avengers never show up. Let's see how they do on their own.