The Cable-led team of mutants in Inglorious X-Force have carved an interesting spot in the mutant side of comic books. While Uncanny and no-adjective X-Men handle the superhero team aspect and the various solo books cover characters in their own adventures, the latest round of extreme mutants has taken on the covert action that X-Force has been known for, while also adding a bit of mystery to the proceedings. Someone in this roster of mutants is going to murder Kamala Khan when she becomes president in the future, but who? Well, even though we have one suspect left (and the cover pretty much reveals it), there are still plenty of surprises in Inglorious X-Force #4, with one that reinvigorates a fairly standard middle chapter of the current arc.
When Kamala Khan wakes up in the middle of night to the sound of Boom-Boom’s explosions, she comes across the various members of the team awake and bickering over what caused Boom-Boom to self destruct. After admitting to some new “Angel Powers” that have just started to manifest in himself, Angel revives Boom-Boom back to her pre-explosive self. This revelation doesn’t sit well with Cable, who has been on edge with Angel from the beginning, and his suspicions have only grown since he’s cleared both Hellverine and Boom-Boom from his list of suspects. Believing that Apocalypse may have something to do with both Angel’s new powers and the future attack on Kamala, the team head to their next drop site in Florida and enter a nice beachfront property that marks the spot for their target. Yet despite the picture-perfect property, the building houses the Nasty Boys, the mercenary mutant team that was very much dead up until now, and something even more Sinister than them.
One of the key markers of Inglorious X-Force‘s surprising success as a book has been Tim Seeley’s dynamic between these different characters, and this issue continues that streak really well. With the team now fully committed to helping prevent Kamala’s future assassination, there’s a stronger sense of team dynamics for these random mutants, but the added element of Cable still not trusting one member adds a great amount of tension to the book, especially now that the team is starting to catch on that there’s some weird stuff happening with Angel.
Marvel
That all being said, the execution of Seeley’s script is a bit disjointed this issue. After three issues of pretty straightforward superhero action, I can fully understand the desire to mix things up and try a new approach to presenting the story in this issue. But Seeley’s decision to start things in media res with Kamala watching TV and being interrupted by Boom-Boom’s blasts is a jarring sequence to start on, especially when last issue ended with the arrival of Domino. We don’t get full context for that opening sequence or a resolution to the previous issue’s cliffhanger until halfway through the issue, and even then I had to go back and forth to make sure what I was reading was in the right order. While it’s a commendable idea, another go at the scripting stage or some additional captions to anchor our spot in the story would have gone a long way.
Unfortunately, this is also the first issue of Inglorious X-Force to not feature Michael Sta. Maria’s art, and he is sorely missed. While Phillip Tan has made a name for himself in the industry in his own right, his scratchier style is jarring and not in line with the style of art that the book has set up for itself with the past few issues. There’s a roughness to the art (especially in the way Tan depicts our character’s faces) that feels very rushed, and the lack of a credited inker definitely plays a role in this. While Tan’s style is well suited for the action beats that come later in the issue, overall it’s just not a very good fit for what I’ve come to expect from the series.
Almost every book will have an issue that feels like a speed bump in the narrative, and it looks like the fourth issue of Inglorious X-Force is going to be the one for this series. While it’s not a series-ending disaster, it is a bummer to have a book hit this kind of a bump when the previous ones were so fun and engaging. Here’s hoping that the next two issues of the arc rebound.
You must be logged in to post a comment.