Can the team survive a volcanic eruption and stormy seas? Let’s find out in X-Force #26 by Benjamin Percy, Robert Gill and Guru-eFX, and Joe Caramanga.
Ari Bard: The X-Force team continues to catch some gnarly waves in an attempt to rescue some kidnapped babies (oops, Pike and her gang weren’t mutants ?). Surfing on water and lava, they suffer an epic wipeout, but the only things broken are Logan and Quentin’s hearts. Time for some sad dude bonding in X-Force #26!
Kenneth Laster: Oh, Pike, a character we got to know, love, and all equally feel betrayed by in maybe ten pages? Iām certain sheāll go down as Loganās one of great loves. I jestābut still, while this isnāt the last issue of this X-Force run, it is an end of an era of sortsāletās get into it!
Wolvie Wipeout
Kenneth: We are picking back up with the wild and wacky but very serious world of surfing and baby kidnapping. What did you think about getting back into the mix of this plotline?
Ari: I feel like about 37 other plot lines are probably more relevant, but this one has an adamantium surfboard in it, so why not? If it wasnāt made clear by the end of the last issue, Wolverine f$%*ed up. Pike and her gang of biologically modified misfits have kidnapped three babies for diabolical purposes (those rascals). Now, Iām not trying to be the insufferable guy who pokes holes in plotlines just to be a jerk about it, but isnāt this vulnerability in the island something that should have been identified sooner? Death was taken off the table because it was a crutch for writers. It was too easy and mainly uninteresting to generate stories around the concept of the X-men. With the invasions that have happened on Krakoa, particularly in X-Force, itās starting to feel like a crutch for Percy. If you think about it, almost every arc or incident has been incited by someone physically or mentally infiltrating Krakoa. Iām not a special intelligence expert, but I feel like a team likened to the mutant CIA would spend more time collecting intelligence from potential threats abroad than it does being reactionary to incidents at home.
Kenneth: Thereās a lot in this that I feel should have come up sooner. I didnāt think that Logan assuming Pike and pals were mutants was something I should have picked up *at* all. I think Iām so used to background mutants having blue skin or a mildly interesting design that they came off as just humans near Krakoa, and Logan wasnāt thinking. I agree with you, weāve had a lot of invasions, and they have not been that varied. Most of the time, it feels like red light green light with the villain of the week to get to their goal as fast as possible before X-Force turns around. I will give it to this instanceāyou can claim they jump the shark with this plotāor sliced it in half. The action feels lackluster. It could be from the X-Force feeling like a diversion from more interesting X-titles or Gil missing some of that Cassara magic. However, when the action hits, it hits with a clear and engaging visual story. Thereās just something about the final product on this comic.
Ari: I can see where youāre coming from. Percy writes like itās the biggest summer blockbuster of the year. With Cassara, that issue can become the Mad Max: Fury Road and blow everyone away with phenomenal body horror. Other times, itās like 2017ās Geostorm starring Gerard Butler. Thereās a lot of weather effects to see, but thereās no excitement behind the spectacle, even if thereās a coherent story. The story doesnāt advance the nation of Krakoa forward in any way. How are we supposed to take threats like this seriously when Nimrod appears in other titles, and the Colossus conflict has left the pages of X-Force entirely? Connecting everything to the man in the peacock mask is meant to justify all of this, but how did he get out of the void?
Kenneth: I genuinely forgot that happened! I just met him with the same, āthis freakin guyā Maybe it will be addressed in Inferno of all places? It feels like this plot thread might outlive the Phalanx stuff in Hickmanās run. PeacockWatch continues on into Destiny of X, it seems. Is there anything else to discuss on the surf or is the real tidal wave in the heart?
Kid Omega; Not Over It
Ari: No waves are gnarlier than the radical ebbs and flows of love. This was an issue of heartbreak amongst dues, and nothing says ādudes rockā like two bros bonding over heartbreak. Now, I found it interesting that in Inferno #3, Destiny foretold that two Cuckoos would find love, possibly hinting that Quentinās romance isnāt over, but it sure looks to be that way for now, what with the constant reminders of it all with Loganās longing looks in the distance and Quentinās astral projections of broken hearts and love-making alike. Quite frankly, itās all a bit too melodramatic for what either of these knuckleheads deserve, but it at least provided a good laugh.
Kenneth: Yes, indeed! Quireās series-long relationship woes are the grounds for bonding with Logan, whoās bummed out about a woman he met the day before stealing babies. I gotta say itās all so, so bland and uninventive. One of the few exciting things with this is the callback to Quireās relationship with death. I enjoyed that angle, but itās only for a line, and the rest of the characterization feels like a generic break-up/ action plot. The other interesting wrinkle beyond the āput your feelings aside, focus on the missionā is Quire calling Logan on his hypocrisy as he is also beaten up about a breakup. But even then, itās just that? I really canāt figure out how much more depth I should be looking for in this. But it all just fuels this feeling of āwhy are we here?ā from this storyline.
Ari: Listen, perhaps it is put best by two other characters who stole the show this issue even with their minimal lines. The first is Domino, who very astutely says, āI donāt know what you two are going on about, but Iād rather not hear it,ā and I mean, if that isnāt a mood, I donāt know what is. Then thereās Jean, who compares Quentinās upset mental state to a āstaticky butt rock station.ā There are no lies here, and Logan and Quentin deserve to get roasted. Jean giving Quentin advice was quite a surprise because why even bother? The suggestion about codependency being dangerous wasnāt wrong, but her closing statements implying that Logan would always be there for Quentin were confusing. I suppose itās reasonable for Percy to think that since Quentin and Logan have been on the same team for 25 issues, thereād be some sort of bond, but I sensed no such thing. Logan will always be there for Quentinā¦ until he dies for the 35th time.
Kenneth: I was left scratching my head at Logan being the āperson whoād always be thereā for Quentin. I guess it fits with Logan, a wise mentor, that he is depicted as someone who hasnāt read Wolverine and the X-Men. I suspect there are character ties between the two from that. Even if thatās the case, none of their dialogue feels like they are two people whoāve known each other for more than a week. It fits this bookās very Saturday Morning Cartoon vibe, but we are starving out here for meaningful character interactions.
Ari: Itās somewhat telling that Black Tom Cassidy saying āRodger Dodgerā and nerding out with Sage over the Veg-tech interface is some of the most natural dialogue we get in this issue. Speaking of honest writing, letās transition to the end of this review, and unfortunately, the end of our run covering this title.
See You Again by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
Kenneth: Well, Ariā¦after 26 issues and a Tom & Jerry film, it seems like weāre reaching the end of the road with this morally iffy band of mutants.
Ari: Itās been a long ride through thick, thin, and the ridiculousness in between. I had an absolute blast reviewing this series with you. Even when there wasnāt much going on during the single issues, I think we found a way to joke around the absence of gravitas while critically calling out what needed to be addressed. I hope people appreciated the random comparisons and references that came out of nowhere.
Kenneth: It has been an absolute pleasure! Through the highs and lows, itās been a real treat to get to hop on a google doc to see what thoughts and discussions weāll have and log on the next day to see how coherent Zack or Andrea will have made us seem. I can only hope that X-Force has valued this commentary (and the goofs that came with it) heads everywhere! Until the next āskelchā sound effect rears its headā¦
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Them naming the undersea Blackbird āBluebirdā made me madāitās still a bird! Both the sky and ocean are blue! Argh!
- The chronicler is teasing us with a comic we could have been reading instead.
- X-Force looks cute in the promo picture for April.
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.
