Beast has got it coming in X-Force, and he’s even worse than we thought after discovering what he’s done in X-Force #34. A black-ops prison imprisoning folks for crimes with no due diligence or system of justice? Yikes. Smash cut to X-Force #35, out today, and all these many issues of Beast showing his true self behind the scenes may have caught up to him.
X-Force #35 opens with Beast alone in a lab working on a mutant as if they weren’t alive but just an object. Soon he’s jettisoning him into space like trash, but with the ring of an alarm bell, Beast realizes something bad is happening in his prison. There’s an uprising. The super secret nature of the prison has backfired, and now he’s only got a hired gun in Maverick to help him not die or worse.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Percy further explores Sage’s alcoholism and the ramifications of that. In the last issue, Omega Red found her covered in vomit in a field, and her drinking messing up her life and her teams. Domino was hurt when she needed Sage’s help, and much of the narrative in this issue is about Sage’s guilt. It also deals with her rage around not being in control of herself. Percy explores her addiction in a meaningful and adult way that I think many will see as a guiding light in their own lives or see how it’s a familiar element in others in their lives. It grounds the story in a reality often underlooked in comics, which can depict drinking as harmless fun with no repercussions.
Beast is questioning his life choices right about now.
Credit: Marvel
If you’re looking for space monsters and chaotic action, you’ve come to the right place. From Blood floating about in Beast’s prison to a beast created by Beast, there’s a lot to take in. Chris Allen draws the issue with many dramatic angles on the action, be it a turned angle on characters sitting at a computer or dramatic lighting spilling from a door over a character’s shoulders. Carlos Lopez’s colors bring the fleshy monster of teeth and green globules to life while adding pleasant purple lighting to the interiors. The interiors of the prison are all straight lines and detailed right out of a futuristic sci-fi, which suits the antiseptic evil intentions of the location.
The data pages in this issue are also quite good, so don’t skip them. One details different prisoners in Beast’s intake log, with some being brought in for very suspect reasons. Another is a quote that gives us essential info on the prison location. Skip it, and you won’t know who gets the prison in the end!
Primarily, this issue focuses on paying off all the terrible things Beast has done, with more to come next issue, but on some level, it isn’t an X-Force book. The team aspect is missing, and while it’s good to see Sage and Domino connect in a meaningful way, this issue loses sight of the team’s identity. Previous issues show the montaging of the team in action, for instance. It’s a minor gripe, to be sure.
X-Force #35 is a good prison break story interwoven with a deeply meaningful story of addiction and a character wrestling with guilt and shame. You get the character bits and the action while progressing key character plots in an X-Men line that’s as good as ever.
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