X-Force #28
A new danger hunts Krakoa and X-Force is just about powerless before it in X-Force #28, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Robert Gill, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. Percy and company build yet another solid chapter of this series, heightening the threat of Cerebro.
Forge gets through to Cerebro, and it decides to embrace its new mission to consume and build. Beast and company discuss the ramifications of this before Wolverine goes to find Kid Omega, testing a new way of finding himself by piloting specially grown husks in battle in the Crucible, while Sage goes to ask for Omega Red's help. As Kid Omega goes to warn the Cuckoos, Wolverine and Domino find its lair and engage. It's futile, and Cerebro gives itself a new name - Cerebrax - and drives them off, having barely survived.
This story isn't the first time Cerebro went bad - that would in the late '90s Kelly/Seagle run on Uncanny and X-Men - but it manages to be different than before. Percy is able to tease what may be the reason it became sentient but leaves the whole thing vague enough that he can go in a different direction. He makes it even more threatening, as it's revealed that it can still the powers of those it consumes and their minds. Cerebral is a novel threat; it doesn't rehash what the previous evil Cerebro story did, and it makes readers wonder exactly how this will play out. This is a new lifeform and perhaps even a mutant one. Will X-Force destroy it or find a way to work with it.
In between all of that, Percy puts some satisfying character moments in the middle of the book. Sage's conversation with Omega Red reveals the toll being on X-Force has taken on her and lets her shame the mutant because she's braver than he is. It's a great moment for Sage, who too often is treated simply as a computer with a human body; it makes her more accessible. Kid Omega is still trying to find himself, making sense for the character. He may have found a newfound maturity, but all of its trappings, the things that made him want to change, are being taken away. His somewhat extreme method of finding himself is definitely something the old Kid Omega would do, but it also fits his new outlook as well. Percy builds a tasty sandwich of this issue, with the beginning and end laying down the new stakes and surpassing them, respectively, with a good meaty middle for the characters.
Gill and GURU-eFX make a great team. GURU has long been the secret weapon of this book, his layered colors making the art pop regardless of how was penciling it. He makes Gill look like a million bucks throughout this issue. Gill's pencils definitely don't need much embellishment, though. There are some scenes where the heavy linework doesn't exactly look the best, but there are also some great pages and panels. Gill has some big shoes to fill replacing Cassara, but he's proving up to the challenge.
X-Force #28 does a great job of setting up the new threat to X-Force and then making it that much worse. Percy builds an entertaining story that does the heavy lifting with two of the book's best characters. Gill and GURU-eFX remain an incredible art team, giving readers some fantastic imagery. All in all, this is another stunning chapter of the book.
