Cable and X-Force 11, Uncanny X-Force 7, X-Factor 259

Cable and X-Force 11
Hopeless (w) and Larroca (a) and D'Armata (c)

Cable's been taken prisoner by the Uncanny Avengers but it's okay, this issue isn't about that anyway. Before he went down, he divided up his team to accomplish goals to prevent visions he'd had. Domino and Boom Boom are first on the docket and need to kidnap a child from a hospital before his mutation kicks in, which Cable has foreseen will liquify the hospital, killing a bunch of people. The two have to audible a few times as, in true Cable and X-Force fashion, things don't go according to plan. Meanwhile, Hope wakes up in a possible future the Blaquesmith has brought her to so that she can understand why Cable's going through what he's going through.

This book continues to be strong in that it's one of Marvel's best at characterizing its team. Not only has it already set that precent by really hammering home what I talked about in my Avengers Assemble review this week: the team acts like a team and everyone has a voice. That's been true throughout the series and now, as we focus on just two members of the team (outside of the Hope storyline, who is characterized in her own way there) and, to boot, two members of the team who have a longstanding relationship. The two talk naturally (though they do pretty thoroughly fail the Bechdel Test) and with the confidence that a real relationship brings while executing the mission in their very different ways. It leads their talk to a lot of different places, including the subject of Domino's relationship with Colossus (which is all Boom Boom wants to talk about) and examinations of who the two characters are through the way they handle adversity. We get a little of their past and a little of their present mixed with their reactions to situations and to one another. It's a solid look into these two all with the backdrop of a nice X-Force story. Really looking forward to the others in this arc if they're going to be structured in a similar way.

Uncanny X-Force 7
Humphries (w) and Alphona and Talajić (a) and Sotomayor and Loughridge (c)

Psylocke and Cluster have been taken captive by Weapon XIII in the hopes that he will be able to woo Betsy into loving him the way he loves her and the way she loved Fantomex (when the three brains were in one body). We get a bit more of the past as we find out how the rift developed between then and now, when she was so happy with Cluster (again failing the Bechdel Test) and when things broke apart, and we hear Weapon XIII's version of the story, which involves him telling her that he loves her more than Fantomex and Cluster ever could, that he loves and respects her as an equal, not as a prize to be held, and so on. We also get a better look at XIII's powers as his misdirect is hugely amplified now that he's free of the nanites that kept their powers in some sort of check (those nanites went to Fantomex; I'd love to see a list of what abilities went to whom, get that out of the way). Psylocke has the opportunity to stop Weapon XIII, or either of the other Fantomexes for that matter. Will she take it?

I like aspects of this story and I'm interested in a lot of it. I'm not an expert on Psylocke's long and complicated past; I'm most familiar with her in the last few years, as a member of X-Force and the X-Men. However, this new Psylocke is a strange one to get a grasp on. In the time I've seen her, she's been pretty independent and strayed pretty far from games. Here, though, she's being toyed with in the very least by someone and it seems like she's allowing everyone in turn to bend her to what they want her to be, which is a little disconcerting for her character. I really would like a list of the powers and personalities that went to the other Fantomexes because it feels like everything was divided up but it's a bit uneven at this point and I'd like to just know, especially as it feels like it's not going to be clearly revealed for some time, at least. It also feels like the Fantomexes are, as right now, fairly one dimensional, which was never true in the other X-Force book. Maybe that's a result of their three brains splitting into three people but, if that is the case, it makes each individual less interesting, which is depressing. Also, I get that Weapon XIII is in love with Betsy, but isn't that brain the one that's programmed to hunt mutants? I was always under the impression that the other two brains had to keep that one massively in check when they were in one body but maybe it's easier than it seems. Who knows. I wish I did.

X-Factor 259
David (w) and someone (a) and Milla (c)

First, a major complaint. Who is working on this book? The cover shows that Leonard Kirk is the illustrator, the cover page of the book says it's Carmen Carnero and Jay Leisten and my new comic list shows it as Neil Edwards and David Yardin. So I have no idea who drew this book. I probably could do a little more research, see their styles or whatever, or even google around, but I'm not going to. I don't like to come off as more professional than whoever assembled the book. Just madder than them. Anyway, let's talk about this book that was definitely written by Peter David and probably colored by Matt Milla. Rictor and Shatterstar had been blasted somewhere by Mephisto in the Hell on Earth storyline's conclusion and now we get to find out where. They've apparently been blasted to the Mojoverse, but that's not all. Rictor's been fighting for Mojo's broadcasts and trying to wait for a way out. Finally one's presented as an opponent of his ends up being Shatterstar, devoid of his memory of Rictor, and as Longshot, also not remembering Rictor, appears with some rebels to rescue Star, taking Rictor along with them. Yes, it's confusing. But it gets more confusing as we realize that we're not only displaced in space but also in time. We finally get the origin of both Shatterstar and Longshot and boy is it weird and involves a good deal of time travel and strange parentage. The issue itself doesn't really leave us with a great impression of what's going to become of Rictor and Shatterstar (and Longshot but he's not really our time's Longshot anyway) but it's possible they'll get where they need to be off-camera.

Outside of the book's confusion on the artist, the story itself is fairly interesting and finally clears up something that X-Factor fans have likely been wondering about for some time now (I wasn't because, honestly, I jumped onboard to the series in the last couple years and kind of just fell into the idea that I didn't actually know Longshot or Shatterstar's past beyond the basics and that I didn't totally need it; they were still fully fleshed out characters and their past was kind of irrelevant to what I had learned of their personalities). Still, it certainly must clear up a lot of questions that it likely asks several more and boy, there's nothing more confusing than talking about the lineage of time travelers, is there? Maybe this was a poor time to start tightening up my summaries. The end of the issue was a bit of a let-down as nothing really feels resolved the story feels kind of over anyway. Next time it looks like we'll focus on what's going on with Polaris as she has some sort of interaction with half-brother Quicksilver. Should be interesting as Polaris has been kind of the dark-horse of the family lately and her relationship with Magneto has gotten weirder in recent issues.