It has been nearly three months since the last X-Force issue, but it returns this week in full force from Ben Percy and Robert Gill. Will it spin out of Wolverine’s narrative, is Beast still a bastard, and what will this CIA of Krakoa manage to screw up next? All good questions, but most importantly, is it good?
Now that we’re in the Destiny of X era, it’s nice to see this story reflect on X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine. The preview shows us exactly that, paying off the events of those series right at the start of X-Force #27. In that way, X-Force #27 is about the fallout of those events, but also elements from this series as well in regards to Beast and Sage.
As a fan of the immoral version of Beast Percy has been developing, I loved this issue. The character means well — he’s not evil, but his immorality and ability to mess with people have shown no bounds. In some ways, this issue begins to develop a direction that may stop Beast in his tracks. Or at the very least, spur on some change that could affect how Beast moves forward. That’s exciting, as it promises some real change for the characters due to their actions.
In many ways, this series has been about monsters. We’ve seen it with plant foes, Omega Red, and Beast’s ability to do terrible things for a “greater good.” This issue offers that and more thanks to the monster teased in the preview. The Xavier helmet used to jump Wolverine back in time becomes a major threat and a gross-looking thing at that. If there was a running theme in this series it’s that you shouldn’t mess with things you don’t fully understand. Don’t mess with nature and nature won’t mess with you back.
Spinning out of Wolverine’s epic ‘X Lives’ and ‘X Deaths’ series.
Credit: Marvel
Much of the narrative revolves around Beast and his actions, but there are some decent check-ins with the team. If you were unfamiliar with this series or didn’t read Wolverine’s two series over the last two months you might feel a touch confused, but as far as who these characters are you get the gist. It would have been nice if we got more from this new threat and what it is, but as a horror story, it works.
Gill draws a solid issue, possibly his best yet on the series so far. He’s backed up by GURU-eFX on colors and Joe Caramagna on letters. The horror imagery goes to the highest level for a superhero book with some rather disturbing stuff that I’m surprised Marvel let them get away with here. There’s no rating on the book of course, but it goes hard in one or two scenes.
X-Force #27 is a good start to a horror story that is intertwined with immoral heroes and hard decisions being made as messing with nature always ends badly. Beast fans who have liked his dance on the edge of good and evil will delight in this issue.
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