X-Force #22
X-Force and Man-Slaughter team up to find the source of the floronic assassins in X-Force #22, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Robert Gill, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. This is an action-packed issue that builds up the threat of XENO, and it works very well.
In flashback, Dr. Bloodroot is approached at the grave of his wife, who died of an overdose of Krakoan pollen, by the leader of XENO and recruited to their cause. In the present, Sage and Beast put together the sequence of events that led to the three murderers’ attacks, and Beast shows that Man-Slaughter can control pieces of himself that are cut off. In return for his help, Man-Slaughter wants to talk to Krakoa. In New Orlean, Bloodroot takes control of some of the Order of X, hacks the Krakoan gate, and sends them to the island. They attack as Man-Slaughter and Krakoa figure out where Bloodroot is through the floronic network. Man-Slaughter, Wolverine, and Domino take the fight to Bloodroot, where Man-Slaughter tells him that he found out the leader of XENO was dealing with his wife. They’re able to defeat Bloodroot, stopping the attackers and saving the island.
Percy has been doing something interesting in both Wolverine and X-Force. Instead of telling long, five to six-issue arcs, he’s been building the plots slowly, using several issue stories. It makes a lot of sense in both books, as Wolverine and X-Force are constantly called on to solve all kinds of problems, and once they solve one, there’s another one. Some people don’t like this type of storytelling as they’ve gotten used to longer arcs. However, these last two issues prove why it works so well. The threat of XENO has been a part of X-Force since the beginning, and this chapter adds another wrinkle. Sure, the team could have already gone all out, hunting them down and moving on to the next threat, but that’s not how black ops work, and XENO’s plans are too well thought out.
This story represents a new and more deadly aspect to that threat- with Bloodroot’s floronic tech, Krakoan gates can be hacked. Non-mutants can enter them. Bloodroot is defeated, but Man-Slaughter even says that there’s a chance he’s coming back. Percy has given Krakoa’s enemy another way to strike at them, which builds up the XENO threat even more. Other than that, this is a well-done issue all around. Percy keeps bringing up the nature of floronics and how they work throughout his run, which is very interesting and fitting since that’s the same thing mutants have used to rise to prominence. It’s an all-around well-written comic, which is pretty much a given when Percy is around.
Gill’s art is reminiscent of Cassara’s, and it works very well for this issue. Bloodroot’s plant form looks great. For fans used to the cliche Man-Thing/Swamp Thing type of plant characters, it’s a different design than usual, and Gill’s art really makes it work. Throughout the book, he does a great job with the floronics and the action scenes. GURU-eFX does an amazing job with the colors, but that’s pretty typical. There’s a richness to this book’s colors that sets it apart from others on the market.
X-Force #22 is another excellent issue of this book. Percy is doing something exciting with his storytelling in this book, and the last two chapters show why it works so well. This issue is generally a great read, but it introduces new factors to the battle between XENO and X-Force that could play into the future. The art team of Gill and GURU-eFX kill it on this issue, making it look great. X-Force is a solid book, and this issue is another example of why.