Uncanny X-Force 7
Humphries (w) and Alphona and Talajić (a) and Sotomayor and Loughridge (c)
Cluster and Psylocke are on the search for Fantomex which brings up a few old memories for Betsy. We finally get to see a little bit of what happened in Paris, an event she has referred to a few times to indicate her relationship's decline with Fantomex. Fantomex had convinced her to help him thieve a bit, getting back into his old ways and allowing her to try something new. She gets bored with it, or so she claims, which disappoints Fantomex. Back in the present, Cluster has traced one of Weapon XIII's suppliers to a shady club which allows its patrons to hire women dressed as superheroes for...things. Cluster and Psylocke, wearing a costume that she had when she was thieving with Fantomex and which is a purple variation of Fantomex's costume, decide it's their best opportunity to infiltrate. The pair manage to find the supplier but quickly discover that they've been set up and there are ninjas in the room waiting for them. They chase after the supplier, who has slipped out of the room, and are pursued by the ninjas. Cluster realizes that the ninjas aren't trying to advance, just cutting off escape routes. They turn a corner and find that the supplier has disappeared. Cluster feels a familiar dejā vu sense and realizes that it's the feeling Fantomex's misdirect gives, a power that is now Weapon XIII's. He appears and instantly catches Cluster, holding her at gunpoint and making Psylocke submit to his custody or else. She does and we get another glimpse into her memories. As Fantomex's need to keep thieving starts to annoy her, she begins to separate herself from him a little bit. Cluster, who has been living with them and helping out in their capers, comes to talk to her. She admits that Fantomex seemed to have gotten the scoundrel parts of their personality but they all got love for Psylocke. However, the part of the brain that perhaps had the most love, Psylocke realizes, was Cluster. The two kiss passionately. We cut back to the present, with Betsy tied up in a dark room of Weapon XIII's, who admits that this is all for show. Really, all he wanted was a chance to show, he says with a rose outstretched to her, how much he loves her.
I've been waiting for a Fantomex-driven story since this book was announced. He was the breakout character of Remender's fantastic X-Force series and I thought he was just an awesome addition to the Universe (I know he was there before, but not very much and this role defined him). This story doesn't disappoint. It's exactly as high-strung and crazy and confusing as I would have hoped. There were a couple problems I had but they're problems that I personally have as a fan of Fantomex and not problems in constructing the story. I'm saddened that Fantomex seems kind of like the jerk of the bunch and I'm saddened that Weapon XIII has the misdirect powers. Again, these aren't issues with the story, just issues I have to come to terms with as a fan. Still, it's an interesting story that's going to leave us in a very strange and confusing place but that could ultimately provide exactly what we've wanted from the Fantomex saga.
Wolverine and the X-Men 32
Aaron (w) and Bradshaw and Wong (a) and L. Martin and Milla (c)
Quentin Quire has been tortured extensively since his discovery as a traitor. They tried, it seems, to throw him in the Siege Perilous but he was rejected. He learns that the Philistine was created by the Siege Perilous and has decided that he owes himself to it, following it wherever it needs to go. Right now, it felt it needed to be at the Hellfire Academy so he's there too. As with last issue where we were introduced to the whole school in a sort of montage kind of way, we get a montage of people torturing Quentin mixed with a montage of Wolverine using the little bamfs to help him follow-up on leads and track the Hellfire Academy. Like last time, it comes off as kind of annoying rather than anything worth watching. The Wolverine parts are definitely better than the torture parts which are predictable and irritating. It culminates in a meeting between the heads of the school, now including Kilgore's new headmaster Sabretooth, to figure out how to proceed with the students. The issue ends with Kilgore introducing, via satellite, the new Hellions to the men and women of the Hellfire Club. The Hellions, of course, are the trained students now wearing uniforms and yelling "all hail Hellfire."
Again, it's hard for me to nail down who this book is for and, though that sounds like it might not be a huge issue as long as the book's good, it is. The book isn't good enough to cover for the fact that it's hard to figure out its audience and knowing that would at least help put it in perspective. There's a lot of violence and language and alcohol and the likes for it to be directed at children but there's an equal amount of goofiness and cheap jokes for the adults. Maybe early teens? I don't know. It's a little like Deadpool except it's not as obsessed with puns/in-jokes and Deadpool is decidedly meant for an older audience so at least it can be judged that way. Here it's hard to come to a conclusion on it because I can never shake the feeling that I'm not the one for whom it's intended. Even if I try to view it as an all-ages book, I know it fails with a couple markets (or it should, anyway). It's a hard book to get a feel for and, when you do, it rather feels like it's not hitting home.
Wolverine 5
Cornell (w) and Pierfederici and Kesel w/ Fischer (a) and Mossa (c)
Wolverine has been taken into the SHIELD helicarrier Hercules for debriefing but he's accurately suspected that Fury et al have been infected by the parasite he's been dealing with lately. He goes anyway, after seeing the Watcher last time made him wary of not going. When there, he tries to fight his way through the helicarrier without killing too many people before he manages to escape below deck. The helicarrier, which was built with Atlantis in mind, plunges underwater. Wolverine gets a call off to his cast of supporting characters and they manage to get him plans for the helicarrier to show him his way around. He manages to find a few agents in a decompression chamber and outfits them with oxygen masks before releasing them. They haven't been contaminated, leading Wolverine to suspect that the parasite travels through the air. It doesn't have an effect on him because he heals it out and it hasn't had an effect on them because they were in an airtight chamber when it made its way through the helicarrier. The group works their way through the helicarrier. They make their way, not without incident, to the armory before parasite-controlled Fury decides to open the vent in there and start drowning them.
This was one of the more straightforward issues of this series so far but it still moves awfully slowly. It's unclear entirely what Wolverine's plan is but not knowing isn't a huge detriment to this issue. It's a little bit of one because it's hard to figure out if he has a plan or not but we figure that he'll have one when the time to have one is appropriate. By and large, though, the problem with this issue, as it has been with the series in general, is the feel of the issue. It feels slow and so it is slow. It's hard to get a real grip on Wolverine's character aside from the few things that are rather shoved down our throats. This includes his distaste for killing and his cynic attitude. There are also a couple thought bubbles, which are largely phased out from comics. They don't really have a huge impact but I felt it was worth noting anyway. They take the place of captions, as does Wolverine's decision to talk to himself whenever he's alone. I've complained about Savage Wolverine being too focused on the violence of Wolverine (especially when Wolverine MAX is also around) but this one is too focused on making Wolverine a thinker. I know, I'm getting picky. Honestly, I'm the type of person who would rather see someone plotting than someone fighting in most cases and I don't think Cornell is wrong to focus on Wolverine thinking and trying to find ways to not use his claws, but his thinking tends not to carry the book, as much as it wants to, and his insistence to show Wolverine as the reluctantly violent character doesn't really work because he so quickly pops his claws. I think there is a compelling way to do it but it's not happening right now, at least not well enough to carry the series.
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