It’s not looking good for X-Force. Wolverine is cut in half and nearly dead, Quentin Quire is decapitated and Domino may be having an even worse day than both of them! Just another day in X-Force I guess — but can they turn the tide and beat back these human interlopers?
If you were hoping for all-out action you get it in this 5th issue. We’re talking holes being shot into Wolverine’s top half as he screams bloody murder and cuts an enemy down and some serious Krakoan weaponry at work doing all sorts of madness. If you come away from this issue with anything it might be how incredibly dangerous Krakoan weaponry can be seen, especially since it’s organic. Joshua Cassara does a fabulous job with this issue drawing all kinds of teeth-gritting action.
At its core, however, this is Domino’s book. She was tortured and flayed in previous issues and she’s not going to go out with a whimper by any means. Writer Benjamin Percy does a good job establishing her rage and pain by manifesting it in her actions. Those emotions come welling out and it’s interesting to see how she deals with them. All the while, Beast is screaming at her to leave at least one human alive. That’s where the intelligence-gathering part comes into play as Beast needs someone alive to interrogate.
Not looking good, team.
Credit: Marvel Comics
The data page that ends this book is a fascinating turn for all data-pages since it serves as the cliffhanger. Once again these prose sections end up being a neat way to layer in a story, plot progression, or color in the realm of mutants. This page does well to set up the next issue. An earlier data-page ends up being a fun look at a certain mutant. Again, we usually see a character develop on the page, but to read their development is a whole new thing. It somehow feels more pertinent and real when you learn of new superpowers yet to be discovered.
Props should go to color artists Dean White and Rachelle Rosenberg who do a great job capturing the organic nature of Krakoa and the weaponry. Earthy tones populate the book and remind us mutants are now tethered to Krakoa quite closely. The weaponry looks gross in its own way too and one has to wonder if an X-Men movie in the same vein of David Cronenberg will ever see the light of day.
Action, gore, and a whole lot of vengeance are in order for the fifth issue of this excellent new series. You have to love the wealth of ideas in play here like seeing Wolverine cut in half, or how ingenious Krakoan weaponry can get. This is a darker book and it will suit any reader who likes their violence raw.
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