‘X-Force’ #18 takes a dip into the horror pool

X-Force joins X-Factor and Hellions with a story about psychological horror, delving into the minds of the cast.

Lia Williamson

March 17, 2021

X-Force has been a lot of things over the year+ that it’s existed, and although it’s delved into some horror elements before, X-Force #18 certainly takes it a step farther.

It’s clear that Percy’s favorite characters in the book are Quentin and Logan. So it should come as no surprise that Logan leads the early pages in a scene with Jean while Quentin is the focal point of the issue. If you are into Jean/Logan as a romantic pairing, these early pages will probably be your cup of tea. If you aren’t, these opening pages are probably more annoying to read. Scott shows up to ask if Jean is OK, but basically ignores Logan’s existence which is…oddly funny?

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The art is, unfortunately, a downgrade from the work Joshua Cassara had done on the series prior, though the one aspect that Garry Brown absolutely excels at here is the horror panels. Each image is uniquely creepy and gives off exactly the kind of vibe this comic is going for. Horror fits X-Force quite well, especially with some of the imagery in earlier books.

Marvel Comics

Quentin/Phoebe still makes very little sense and has very little chemistry, but it’s clear X-Force is committed to trying to sell them. What X-Force does very well as far as Quentin is concerned here, is starting to examine just what all those deaths have really meant to him. All those deaths have to have had some sort of larger consequence, and it’s cool to see that idea explored on the island where death is virtually meaningless. It’s one of those stories that could only exist in the Krakoa era, so it’s cool to see that being taken advantage of here.

What makes X-Force #18 interesting is that it’s essentially a psychological horror book. It delves into our heroes’ fears and inner psyches, tearing them apart bit by bit. In future issues, it’ll be neat to see if this idea is explored more, delving into the minds of these people a bit more. It feels thematic then, that between X-Factor‘s Morrigan plot and Hellions‘ last issue with Arcade, that X-Force is also delving into some psychological horror.