X-Force #20
With the Hellfire Gala in full swing, Beast’s machinations come back to haunt him in X-Force #20, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Joshua Cassara, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. This is just a fantastic issue in general, as Percy uses old plot points from the book to make the Gala exciting.
With the Hellfire Gala in full swing, X-Force handles security. Kid Omega spars verbally with Iron Man, Domino and Wolverine patrol the perimeter, and Beast hobnobs. However, he has a secret plan, using hacked Terra Verde telefloronics to plant bugs on other ambassadors. Wolverine is called to deal with an interloper- Deadpool. The two battle, and Domino breaks it up. Meanwhile, Emma Frost confronts Sage about Beast’s actions, and things go from bad to worse.
Percy has long been the secret MVP of the X-books, and this issue is yet another example of why. Fans already got a glimpse of Kid Omega and Iron Man squabbling a bit in Marauders #21, but this issue expands on it, and it’s wonderful. Deadpool’s appearance and his battle with Wolverine are a bit of lighthearted fun, which this issue and story need, frankly. There’s a lot of mystery to the Hellfire Gala, and readers who are keeping up the story already got a glimpse of the reaction to the end of the Gala, so this moment and the one between Kid Omega and Iron Man are a nice bit of levity.
However, not everything is all fun and games, and as usual, it’s because of Beast. Beast was always an interesting choice to be the leader of the X-Force in its new role as the Krakoan CIA. In recent years, he’s been one of shadier X-Men, so putting him in charge of the shady division sort of made sense, even if Wolverine or Domino would have been actually better choices. However, his actions with Terra Verde proved that he was willing to take things very, very far. It also proved that he didn’t exactly think things out fully, as the whole situation almost blew up in their faces. This issue shows another example of that, one that begins innocuously enough- bugging ambassadors is an old game in the spy world. However, the problem comes in what comes next. Without giving too much away, Terra Verde telefloronics had been hacked by X-Force, so they can be hacked again. Beast is willing to do the kind of dirty things that intelligence services are known for, but he never thinks things through. Percy has been building this in the background, and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes with it from here.
Cassara’s art is great as always. The fight between Deadpool and Wolverine looks great, which is pretty usual for Cassara’s fight scene. His character acting is perfect as well, with a particular highlight being the panel where Emma Frost realizes exactly what’s going on. It’s the character acting that really sells this issue. Sure, the action scene is great, but the other stuff, building the drama of Percy’s script, is really important, and Cassara delivers.
X-Force #20 gives another view of the Hellfire Gala, showing what the security services do during diplomatic dinner- ensure security in more ways than one. Percy does a great job in this chapter, but by now, that’s to be expected. Cassara’s art is sensational, and all in all, this issue doesn’t disappoint, with a nice cliffhanger leading into the next issue of Wolverine.
