Writer: Peter David
Art: Jae Lee
What Went Down: Part 2 of the X-Cutioner’s Song, and my first non-X-Men book review. Anywho, X-Force starts off the issue pretty perplexed after the events of last issue. They decide that they owe it to Cable to find out what’s going on, so Cannonball, Rictor, Boomer, and Feral go off to the crime scene to look for clues. Also, Sunspot is injured in this issue, but he’ll be better by the next issue of the story.
Professor X is rushed to the hospital with X-Factor and Val Cooper right behind. When they are barred from going into the emergency room, Wolfsbane scares some orderlies.
Storm and Bishop meet up with X-Factor in the waiting room. Quicksilver, Polaris, and Multiple Man are guarding a member of the X-Patriots in another hospital room (I’m unfamiliar with this storyline, so I can’t tell you much about it). Strong Guy and his girlfriend Jo Beth also show up; I am also unfamiliar with Jo Beth, but since she was nowhere to be seen in the previous issue, I believe that this is a continuity error. Strong Guy and Wolfsbane are dispatched to the crime scene to see if they can pick up Cable’s trail.
Archangel is moping around again, this time because he failed to save the Professor; at least he isn’t crying. Guido and Rahne arrive at the scene before X-Force, so they decide to hide. Wolfsbane approaches the team since most of them used to be her teammates in the New Mutants. Guido tries to arrest X-Force, and Cannonball offers Rahne a chance to join his team. She refuses because she doesn’t trust them.
A fight ensues. Quicksilver joins them, followed shortly by the rest of X-Factor. We also get our first Feral vs Wolfsbane fight, for you fans of similarly designed characters with different color schemes. Rictor shoots X-Factor’s plane out of the sky. X-Force gets away, but Havok is able to hit their plane with an energy blast. Right after X-Force escapes, the blue team shows up to ask if they can help. Alex asks where his brother is, and Wolverine is reluctant to tell him Scott’s been captured.
At the same time the Horsemen are delivering Scott and Jean to someone who looks like Apocalypse, but it is really Mr. Sinister in disguise.
The final scene has the doctor of the hospital explaining Xavier’s condition to some of the X-Men and Val…he has been infected with a techno virus. The X-Men decide to take him back to the mansion. Also, the New York hospital appears to have placed Xavier in a bacta tank from Star Wars; what ever happened to a normal hospital bed?
How It Was: The first thing that is going to jump out at you is Jae Lee’s art because it definitely stands out from your traditional Marvel House Style. It’s bold, heavily shadowed, and the characters’ features are pretty exaggerated. It’s not bad, but it’s not for me. While it’s definitely interesting to look at, the style makes a lot of the characters look older and some of the expressions just make them look maniacal; to me it almost gives off the tone of a horror book.
As for the story, it’s still chugging right along. We have our first of two battles with X-Force, some more villains are revealed, and it is revealed that the Professor has an incurable virus to cure. There is also a nice New Mutants reunion for the fans. Peter David’s strong suits were always character interaction and humor. Plus all of the characters get a chance to shine in this issue.
Definitely worth your time.
B+
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