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.

Uncanny X-Force 7, Wolverine and the X-Men 32, Wolverine 5

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.