X-Force #30
As Wolverine deals with the death of Kid Omega, X-Force has two important missions and gains a new foe in X-Force #30, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Robert Gill, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. This is yet another solid issue of this book, an entertaining number that hits all the right spots.
Wolverine rages at Krakoa to find out what happened to Kid Omega, but Xavier finds him and tells him it’s for naught because no one knows where Quentin is. In the Arctic, Kraven hunts down an ice bear and finds Deadpool’s head in its stomach. At the Pointe, Wolverine is a no-show at the X-Force meeting, and Beast and Sage send the remains of the team on two different missions. Domino and Black Tom break up some protesters outside a gate and save Angel, while Deadpool and Omega Red are sent to the Arctic to stop Russian trafficked mutants. Deadpool gets on Red’s nerves, so he rips him apart, and the ice bear eats him while Red saves the mutants. Later, Kraven goes to a Russian bar and overhears someone call mutants apex predators, something he takes exception to.
X-Force has long been a solidly entertaining book, and this issue hits that perfectly. The evolution of Wolverine and Kid Omega’s relationship since Quire’s first appearance waaaay back in “Riot At Xavier’s” has always been compelling. Percy understands how the two men see each other, so having Wolverine angry at his friend’s death, another young mutant he took under his wing despite everything he did, is pitch perfect. It’s a short and sweet way to begin this chapter and remind readers of the stakes of what the team just went through with Cerebrax.
The Kraven scenes in this book are excellent. At first, it feels weird and a bit non sequitur for him to show up here, but the end of the book pays it off in an exciting way. Another interesting little wrinkle with this issue is that Percy presents a page from the logbooks of Beast and Sage, showing how each of them looks at missions and their different ways of doing things with X-Force. It’s nice to see how each one looks at the team’s role in things and the way their strategic minds differ.
Gill and GURU-eFX are killing it with the art this issue. The opening sequence with Wolverine is wonderful, really getting across the rage and futility of the moment. The penciling is fantastic, and the colors are lush and beautiful. The sequence with Kraven is simpler when it comes to colors, but GURU-eFX does an amazing job of capturing the lighting and the feeling of cold. Gill’s pencils are incredible here as well. The art team captures the humor of the Deadpool pages, as well as the silent strength of Red as he rips through the mutant traffickers.
X-Force #30 keeps doing what this book does best. It has some great character moments, an intriguing story, and stunning art. Setting up Kraven as an enemy of mutantkind that X-Force has to deal with is inspired and comes right out of left field. All in all, Percy, Gill, GURU-eFX, and Caramagna do a great job with this one.