If you like action and high stakes, you’ve probably adored Benjamin Percy’s run on X-Force. The series has leaned heavily into horror, which is especially true in the latest story arc as Cerebrax has captured and turned each mutant’s powers against them. Given the number of mutants on Krakoa, things are escalating fast. Plus, Wolverine is grounded. That leaves Kid Omega, one of the main characters of this series, left to fight.
X-Force #29 opens with Kid Omega observing Krakoa from very high up. Via captions, Percy makes a point about having absolute faith in oneself or one’s own nation and how you have to be quite stupid to believe in such things. It’s a point made that puts Kid Omega’s role as the hero of the issue at the forefront. It also bookends well with what happens to Kid Omega by issue’s end.
Make no mistake, the stakes are very dire with characters getting eaten and Wolverine so weak he can only drag his body around. That said, Kid Omega has a ton of fun with his projections. Omega Red also plays an interesting part in this issue. Serving as the main villain in a lot of the previous issues, one can see Percy is showing even evil villains like Omega Red can turn another cheek.
Kid Omega has some of the coolest powers as seen in this issue.
Credit: Marvel
Robert Gill goes big with the art, literally, as kaiju-sized threats pop up in the issue. The story continues to lean into the horror with some edgy gore and violence thrown in too. Cerebrax takes some bloody chews out of Black Cassidy, for instance. Costuming looks great across the board on these characters and the design of the Krakoa-Cerebrax is quite cool. In a full-page spread, Gill plays with the foreground well to show the size and there are some fun details in the fingers of the creature.
This issue is a good example of showing rather than telling. That goes for Kid Omega being a hero, but also Omega Red’s likely reluctant aid. I say likely because Gill doesn’t quite capture the mix of emotions Omega Red is going through. Gill does capture the joy of Kid Omega, and the disgust of Wolverine at the sight of Omega Red, though.
X-Force #29 is a good climactic issue featuring a giant-sized villain and two types of unlikely heroes. At this point, Kid Omega isn’t so unlikely, but given his history and thoughts at the opening of this issue, it still serves that purpose. In X-Force, even the most awful character can be a hero given the threat and unabashed lack of fear.
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