In a perfect world, X-Force wouldn’t be necessary. Krakoa pooped a parasitic sea monster and our Mutant CIA have to clean it up as Benjamin Percey, Joshua Cassara, Guru-eFX, and Joe Caramanga bring us X-Force #16.
Ari Bard: Well Kenneth, it looks like it’s time for a relaxing day at the beach in the middle of January during a pandemic! What do you say?
Kenneth Laster: Oh yes a nice winter beach walk. No crowds, just weird plant zombies and good vibes. Which honestly is how I’d describe this issue. Good vibes, sea monsters, andonly a dash of attempted war crimes!
Beast Back at it Again
KL: Oh Hank…you didn’t even wait until the underwater parasite was dealt with before trying to weaponize it. This guy! Thank goodness Cecilia Reyes was there but boy oh boy does Krakoa need someone to watch Hank 24/7 so he doesn’t build a death ray. Thoughts on Hank, Ari?
AB: I think you put it well yourself, Kenneth. Hank’s the kind of guy who sees this underwater parasite that could provide another piece of information, another clue, to the large mystery that is the giant, living island that is now home to all mutants. Instead of using it to that benefit, however, he thinks, “How can we kill more people with it?” What a rascal. Dr. Reyes is the sane person thinking about the dangers of mutation and we’re all aware of how diseases can mutate and build up resistances to antibodies and such. That’s scary stuff. Beast’s just like, “So this can be used offensively huh?” When do we get to throw Hank in the pit?
KL: The pit has to be in the future right?
I still can’t figure out if it’s because of the release schedule but I really feel like we’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop with Hank for a minute. Like yeah he’s been like this for a minute now but it feels like Percy’s been leaning into it a bit more and like we always say…I’m hoping we still see something from it. As much fun as X-Force is, it’s kind of hard to tell what’s coming down the road so we could see some results as soon as the next issue or maybe a year later. But as it stands in this it’s Hank being Hank.
But I will say, I do objectively enjoy Cassara and Guru-eFX’s take on this autopsy scene. The altered decay of the corpse and the muddy flora of the lab is once again right up this teams alley and sure there are bigger flexes later in this but sigh always love to see these two depicting plants and gross things. Any last thoughts before we take a dip Ari?
AB: I actually do want to touch on what you said about this autopsy scene, because I’m hoping that the X-Force team can start to get into exploring the medical and biological ramifications here. I think Cassara and Guru-eFX have fully leaned into the biological and anatomical hybrid concept, but I think the way Percy wrote Dr. Cecilia Reyes approaching this problem as a doctor was very interesting. Black Tom Cassidy was “scanning for masses,” the ocean is their “patient,” and X-Force is performing “field surgery.” It appeared as though almost all human and mutant medicine was a known quantity to mutantdom on Krakoa, but this problem may exercise that it’s not the case. After all, how do you treat an island or an ocean that’s sick? I would be quite interested to see a sick or dying piece of the environment get treated with medical knowledge or likewise a biological phenomenon such as mutation get treated like an element of nature. There’s some intermingling between ecology and anatomy here that my nerd brain is quite excited about.
KL: Those are a ton of interesting points I hadn’t thought about! I remember thinking of the movie Annihilation, which was definitely an inspiration on this Hickman era and I think more fully explored in the OG HoXPoXToX on the site. [Ed. note: And in Percy’s Weapon Plus: World War IV] But the idea of the idea of the island being like a body that can just as easily turn on you as easily as it keeps you alive, definitely hits the idea of self destruction that the movie explores. But this may be getting too much into the depths of our next topic…
Aqua Lads
KL: Let’s get wet! Oh Forge…Although you may not officially be on the team, you are the best part of it. I can’t think of anyone else I would enjoy roughhousing with a flamethrower more. There’s so much to enjoy with The Lads™ trip to the briny depths.
Any standout moments for you? Mine was Logan’s heavy bones sinking to the bottom. Something I think about often.
AB: You can’t underestimate density! That Wolverine’s a tightly packed one for sure. I appreciate Quentin Quire’s brazen determination not to die this time. It’s so adorable even before factor in young love a.k.a. Whatever Quentin thinks is going on with Phoebe Cuckoo vs. whatever agenda Phoebe Cuckoo actually has. Before that, however, Logan has to fight off a zombie and comes face to face with a very large eyeball in one of the most impressive splash pages we’ve seen on this book. What did you think about Logan’s eye-opening discovering Kenneth?
KL: That was a very good moment that reminded me that the deep deep ocean is just as terrifying if not more so than deep deep space. Very bad if these creatures get infected by some a zombie virus. I know I already gushed about Guru-eFX and Cassara’s flora but they are also killing it on fauna as well. Very happy that these two get to draw monsters of both varieties on a regular basis. I also really enjoyed the giant crabs that Logan got to compare claws with and how that may be a callback to Logan fighting a giant crab in the Giant Sized X-Men Anniversary Special on the very same page that Cassara drew. Something about that Cassara [Ed. note: and Krakoa] and crustaceans! But overall this chunk of the issue was good fun between Logan, Quire, and Forge fighting zombie sea creatures. I can’t be mad at that! Anything else to add?
AB: I definitely have to agree with you Kenneth. Guru-eFX and Cassara are a perfect team on this book, and with every new issue (or every other), we know that we’ll at least get to see some awesome action sequences. But Percy is dropping in some gems as well with that callback you mentioned. I’m curious to see if it was just a fun homage or if something larger is in store. Overall, The Lads™ made this issue a great time with their joshing, their tomfoolery and their good ol’fashioned razzing of Quentin, but it seems like another Lad wants to join the party wouldn’t you say?
KL: Oh yes!
Imperius Rex!
AB: Our buddy Namor showed up! Now we’ve seen some testy interactions in the past between Krakoa and Namor, and it seems as though this little medical expedition isn’t doing any wonders for the relationship. Words like “nonsense” and “parasite” were used and threats were issued. What do you think of Namor’s attitude, Kenneth?
KL: I always love to see Marvel’s Mean Mer-man and it was a treat to see him here. I really like how Percy used him here and pushed at those international tensions and I love his questioning if Krakoa is the parasite to Xavier or is it the other way around. Namor’s only had a handful of run-ins with Krakoa so far so it’s very nice to see this beef reignited and I really am hopeful to see more come from these run-ins. As it serves the story here, it really is the perfect little guest spot. Of course they’d bump into each other and Percy really writes some solid Namor insults. Although I can’t tell if “piss off” felt too casual for Namor or if it reminded me of Thor: Ragnarok’s iconic “Piss off ghost!” Overall, very good to see the King of Atlantis. Thoughts on this little visit?
AB: I mean, you can’t blame Namor for being angry at this kind of trouble. It’s hard to say that it was Krakoa’s fault, but things have not been easy for Namor either. I’m curious to see if these threats end up coming true, and I’m wondering how the relationship continues to evolve. I’m guessing he’ll be needed for that “leviathan” in the trench, as Logan put it. It is admittedly both curious and frustrating that Percy is introducing yet another menace without following up on anything he’s already created. How did Quentin even get back from Russia? I don’t think we know the answer to that one. There’s just so much dangling that I’m left wondering what the point is sometimes.
KL: I agree! It’s like I said before, there’s never a sense of knowing what’s coming up next in this title which is on one hand exhibiting but on the other hand exhausting. Every issue puts a new toy on the table and we already have so many at home. I’m hoping we get some threads tied up at some point or at least get a sense on where we are going because we definitely have momentum. But I guess we will see next time!
X-Traneous Thoughts
- The underwater Snikt was a great touch.
- In addition to that lovingly wet “Snikt” I was fond of Skilch, tek, and skelch this issue as fun words to hear in my brain.
- Krakoan Reads: OMEGA
Ari Bard is a huge comic fan studying Mechanical Engineering so he can finally figure out how the Batmobile works.
Kenneth Laster is a critic, cartoonist, and cryptid with a movie degree.
