X-Force #37
X-Force tries to find XENO’s base as the Man with the Peacock Tattoo hatches a new plan with Max in X-Force #37, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Robert Gill, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. This issue sees X-Force go after XENO like never before while readers get an answer to a question that has developed since the beginning of the book.
The comic is split between two parts. On Krakoa, Domino tells Beast that she may have a way to find XENO’s base since the egg they allowed XENO to have’s tracking functions are disabled. They go through her old memories and find clues to XENO’s location, which they find on Genosha. The team goes to deal with them. In XENO’s base, the Man with the Peacock Tattoo talks to Max about their work. Max is frightened that he’s going to be vivisected once his usefulness is over. The man tells him about his childhood and reveals his true identity: he’s a clone of Genosha’s old Genegineer. At the end, Max realizes the Genegineer is going to kill him and runs off. As the Genegineer goes after him, the egg hatches and reveals a terrifying Chimera.
X-Force is either beloved by fans for its long-term storytelling or hated for it. Percy has no problem stretching a story out, letting readers wonder what’s happening with those plots while other things happen. The XENO plot has been something that has run since the first issue. The mystery of the Man with the Peacock Tattoo has been a long-term plot, and this chapter finally pays that off. Making him a clone of the Genegineer is intriguing, as it brings back an old X-Men plot line that makes sense in the Krakoa Era. Who would hate Krakoa more than anything? The Genegineer.
Beyond that reveal, it’s a pretty good issue. Percy has a nice scene with annoying Deadpool that’s entertaining. Conversely, Omega Red’s bizarre stoicism is also quite entertaining. A key to this book is the character writing, and this issue delivers that. The ending with the Chimera reveal is pretty cool, as it gives the team something interesting to fight against. All in all, this is a solidly written comic.
Gill and GURU-eFX kill it. So rarely does an art team work this well together. The two have learned how to work with each other as time has gone on, and this chapter is an example of that. Gill’s pencils are nice and detailed. The character acting is excellent, especially in the funnier scenes. Gill does a great job of conveying emotion and the madcap energy of Deadpool. GURU’s colors are beautiful, but that’s gotten pretty normal on X-Force. Everyone talks about Gracia as the best colorist working on the X-books, but GURU is silently turning in wonderful work. Gill’s pencils would be fantastic without GURU, but he makes them amazing.
X-Force #37 pays off a mystery that has been going on since the comic launched. It’s a good story; it’s entertaining, sets up a few cool plots, and the reveal makes sense. All in all, this is another fine issue of an underpraised book that deserves a lot more eyes on it.
