X-Force #23
Mikhail Rasputin prepares to make his move against Krakoa in X-Force #23, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Martin Coccolo, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. Percy and company have been building this conflict for a while, and this issue does a good job of setting things up.
The issue goes back and forth between Mikhail Rasputin in his fortress and Beast in his laboratory. XENO has been supplying Rasputin with bioengineered weapons. Still, Rasputin doesn’t exactly trust the leader of the group, banishing him to a shadow dimension to hold him before preparing his forces to strike on Krakoa with the help of a strange writer. On Krakoa, Beast’s dissecting of a XENO homunculus has repercussions for him as one of them infects him, and he calls on Black Tom for help.
Percy has been laying out the pieces of this coming conflict for a while, and this issue shows just how ready Mikhail Rasputin is for the battle. It’s interesting to see him working with XENO since the group has been pretty anti-mutant. Rasputin knows this and understands how easy it would be for them to betray him, so it makes sense for him to imprison their leader. However, that raises the question of why he would trust them to supply him with anything- if they can genetically engineer soldiers, why wouldn’t they put failsafes in? It will interesting to see how Percy plays with this since subterfuge has been such a big part of X-Force.
On the Krakoan front, Beast is still being stupid. He’s a scientist, so him keeping a sample of the XENO homunculi makes sense but doing it in secret like he does, where no one can help him when it inevitably goes wrong, is the worst thing to do. Beast’s internal monologue gives readers a glimpse into what he thinks, and it’s just so deluded- he thinks that he’s doing the right thing, that he’s the person who should be in charge because he’s become the “the bastard they need,” but that’s not exactly true. It feels like Percy has been making the argument that Beast is both terrible and actually good at his job. He makes a ton of mistakes, but he’s also able to roll with the punches and come through when the chips are down. Even though the whole reason the chips are done is because of how he plays his cards.
Coccolo’s one of the better artists to come onto the title. He does a great job with the material’s given, including the vague body horror of XENO’s soldiers battling an ice bear and later with the homunculus jumping into Beast. GURU-eFX is the book’s secret weapon when it comes to the art and always has been. He colors each penciler in the same way, and his sumptuous style gives the art a continuity that works even when the artists’ styles are very different.
X-Force #23 opens up a new battle for the team and does so in an entertaining manner. Percy has been building these plots for a while, and seeing where he takes the whole thing is going to be a lot of fun. Coccolo’s art is outstanding, and GURU-eFX’s colors make the entire thing pop. X-Force #23 is a good beginning for a new story arc.