X-Force #19

X-Force #19
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Greg Capullo


I know I usually only do books directly affecting the X-Men, but I just came upon this little gem at a moving sale, and it ties in pretty well to the X-Cutioner’s Song events. Plus I figure I owe my readers for taking a month break.

What Went Down: Boomer starts off by utilizing the X-Men’s advanced Shiar technology to make a new costume. Her broken jaw (that she received during the X-Cutioner’s Song) seems to have pretty much healed since she spends the scene talking to herself in the mirror. Lila Cheney takes the opportunity to confront her and explain that she no longer has feelings for Cannonball, and Boomer is free to ask him out.

Sunspot and Stevie Hunter have a talk outside about Roberto’s frustrations over his recent behavior and new powers. This doesn’t really matter unless you’re reading X-Force regularly.

Feral, Rictor, and Shatterstar spend the evening in the Danger Room while discussing the death of their leader, Cable, and their potential arrest. Feral is insistent that she’s not going to prison, no matter what. Beast observes them and comments on their savagery and lack of ethics.

Warpath and Siryn sneak into the X-Men’s war room and copy a lot of files, but Xavier is monitoring them the whole time.

Cannonball confronts Xavier about letting X-Force go. This is followed by a one-page subplot about supporting character Copycat being ill.

Cut to the SHIELD helicarrier where G.W. Bridge resigns to Henry Gyrich over X-Force’s involvement in a theft (probably in recent issues).

Back at the mansion, Boomer makes new costumes for the rest of the team. Siryn and Xavier have a heart to heart outside while Cannonball talks with Sunspot and searches through some leaves.

Sam once again confronts the Professor. This time, utilizing both a field mouse he found in the leaves and a metaphor about an open hand and a closed fist, Sam convinces Xavier to let them leave. Outside, Feral kills the mouse Sam used to prove his point and eats it.

Lila Cheney makes a teleportation portal to send X-Force back to their base. Before Cannonball leaves, Xavier reveals the war room theft to Cannonball and wishes him good luck.

How It Was: Presenting X-Force, minus Cable. Yeah, it doesn’t sound too promising to me either, but Nicieza gives a go at presenting the team without their driving force. This issue is a pretty mixed bag; it offers some interesting character moments and some potentially interesting subplots, but there are a lot of dull moments as well. The scenes with Sunspot are particularly boring as I can only assume he is using Stevie to remind readers of everything that happened to him prior to X-Cutioner’s Song. Also, what’s up with the X-Men having a machine that designs clothing? If they own such a machine, why do they shop at all? While Tabitha’s crush on Cannonball and her animosity towards Lila get resolved a little, it seems like a waste just to have her make new clothes for everybody. And some of the costumes are horribly dated: I’m looking at you Warpath—not only do you dress like an Indian, you want to add fringe to that look?

What works in this issue is Cannonball. This is a real coming of age issue for him. Not only does he stand up to Xavier, but he also calls him out for leaving the New Mutants under the charge of Magneto. It’s wonderful to see Cable’s influence rub off on Sam, and Nicieza sets him up really well as a potential successor to Cable’s leadership. It’s issues like this that make Cannonball’s recruitment by the X-Men years later all the harder to swallow as later he is portrayed as an awkward, intimidated wuss. If those creators had read this issue before writing those stories, I can only imagine how much better they would have turned out. I also like how Sam is being set up as the good intentioned leader of a group that he may not be able to trust because they are morally and ethically compromised.

Capullo’s art is really nice, although his Danger Room doesn’t show enough of the room to let the reader really know what is going on. And of course, I guess he deserves some of the blame for those costumes. A mediocre issue brought up by a strong portrayal of Cannonball.

B-

X-Men #19

X-Men #19
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: The issue starts with a really cool two page spread looking into the dreams and nightmares of the captive X-Men; it’s so cool that I don’t mind that it’s drawn sideways. The X-Men’s dark dreams are as follows: Psylocke is tortured by her feelings of attraction for Cyclops, Cyclops feels guilt over Jean and Madelyne Pryor and his son Nathan, Wolverine is being torn apart by his dead girlfriend Mariko Yashida, Iceman is being melted by his girlfriend Opal, and Jubilee sees her dead parents.

The Soul Skinner relates to Cyclops’ loss of a child and explains his own origin. He had a daughter, Oksana, who was very sick. He tried to use his powers to ease her pain, but was unable to do even that. After Oksana died, the Skinner learned that his wife, and Oksana’s mother, had been a Flagwatch—a mole hired by the government to monitor potential threats. Blaming her for not using her resources to help their daughter, the Skinner turned his powers on his wife, and now he cannot stop.

Colossus and Vazhin are still in the cabin with the captive children trying to figure out why they are immune to the Soul Skinner’s powers. Vazhin detects the entrance of a government craft, and figures that it contains Colossus’s sister on it. Alexei tries to stop Colossus from attacking the soldiers, but Peter plows through them. During the fight, the Soul Skinner reveals to Colossus that his parents were just killed by these same soldiers; Colossus doesn’t take it well.

Back at the X-Mansion Rogue is still blind, but she has decided that she wants to do some flying, so Gambit gets to act as her eyes. Jean Grey approaches Beast about how down he has been; Beast is sad because he is turning thirty and feels old, so Jean agrees to share a coffee and talk with him.

Colossus attacks Vazhin while he pleads that he was not responsible for the death of the Rasputins. As Peter calms down, the Soul Skinner attacks them both. Illyana pleads with the Skinner to let him go, but instead he activates the age accelerator so that she will stop him. The other X-Men and the Winter Guard wake up and assist in the fight against the Soul Skinner. Cyclops and Garnoff try to free Illyana while Colossus comes up with a plan to stop the Skinner; he has Psylocke stab one of the children with her psychic knife and then stabs the Skinner, overwhelming him with the children’s innocence. Vazhin then shoots the Skinner in the head, killing him. Colossus frees Illyana, Wolverine tells everyone that Omega Red got away, and Jubilee makes a throwaway line at the end.

How It Was: Mehh. A mix of good and bad, so let’s go with the good first. The Soul Skinner’s origin is actually really interesting in a tragic kind of way. The idea that he isn’t evil, but just can’t deal with his own guilt works really well for the story. Plus, it connects really well with the issues that Cyclops is going through at this time. And, well I guess Colossus’s reaction to his parents’ death gets some good dramatic mileage out of the character.

What’s problematic about this issue is that the ending isn’t very satisfying. First we have Psylocke overwhelming the bad guy with children’s innocence, which is really lame. And then you have everyone standing around, looking for a note to end on. The right way to end the story would be to have everybody react to the death of Peter’s parents and possibly go after those responsible. Instead, all the characters just stand around and remark about how twisted and tragic the Soul Skinner was. Also, the plotline about Beast feeling old at thirty is really boring, and nobody cares. While some important events happen for Colossus, the rest of the story is easily skippable.

C

X-Men #18

X-Men #18
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: The first page begins in the middle of a fight between Omega Red and the Soul Skinner, our main villain for the story. They fight for a couple of pages until the Soul Skinner defeats Red with his powers; he uses the fears and regrets people have to shut down their minds.

In the Blackbird, Vazhin has already recruited the X-Men and is briefing them on the mission; he also has a spiffy set of battle armor to wear. He and Wolverine explain that a Flagwatch is basically a long term mole planted to observe potential threats. Iceman shows concern for Darkstar and Garnoff because he used to know them through the Champions, a super hero team he was on in the 80s, while Colossus seems very upset that Vazhin interrupted the visit with his family. The X-Men search for life, but only find townspeople standing still. Omega Red comes out of nowhere and attacks.

Safe in Moscow, the general is talking with some scientists and Matsuo Tsuryaba, presumably because he is still working with Omega Red. In Tokyo, the woman in purple has killed all of the bodyguards of a man named Nyorin. He calls her Kwannon, which is the name of the woman whose body Betsy Braddock now inhabits as Psylocke, but we don’t know that yet. The woman announces that she killed the guards to prove her place and that the X-Man Psylocke must die.

It turns out that Omega Red is being controlled by the Soul Skinner, although you wouldn’t be able to tell since he talks and acts normally. His encounter with the Soul Skinner has also left him immune to Psylocke’s psychic knife. After beating on the X-Men for a bit, Omega releases his death spores, which cause most of the team to fall unconscious. The Soul Skinner takes down Cyclops by making him feel the pain of losing his brother in childhood, and the pain that his child might have grown up to become Stryfe. The Soul Skinner even comments that Scott lives with so much guilt that it hurt him.

While the rest of the X-Men are getting beat, Colossus and Vazhin make their escape. They discover a bunch of children being held hostage, and ascertain that children are immune to the Skinner’s abilities. This worries Alexei because it means that the Red Flag, Illyana, will also not be affected.

During the night at the Ust-Ordynski Collective, soldiers break in to the Rasputins’, kill Colossus’s parents, and kidnap his sister. Vazhin reveals that the plan is to age Illyana using genetic acceleration so that she can use her powers to stop the Skinner, leaving many to assume that this story was going to lead to the return of Magik.

How It Was: A lot of fighting this issue, which is always exciting. Omega Red is back, and he usually makes for colorful fights, at least until he activates his death spore and characters end up just passing out. For all of the pages of fighting, it does feel a little rushed at times as characters like Iceman and Wolverine are defeated off panel. Nicieza could definitely have spent fewer pages exploring the motionless people of the village since that idea was already fairly well established last issue. And why does Cyclops fall down when everyone else under the Skinner’s power just stands in place? The sequence where the Rasputins are gunned down by soldiers is very abrupt and effective, as is the sequence inside Scott’s mind. Art once again is fantastic; my only complaint is that Psylocke looks absurd in her costume with a teeny, tiny jacket on in the middle of the snow of Russia.

C+

X-Men #17

X-Men #17
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: Our story opens on a shady government mole observing the Rasputin family on the Ust-Ordynski Collective. The youngest Rasputin, Illyana, is excited that her brother is coming for a visit.

In another Russian town, Neftelensk, Winter Guard members Darkstar and Alexi Garnoff are investigating why the entire town appears to be in a catatonic state. Darkstar’s father, the super villain the Presence, appears to her, but it is only an illusion meant to attack her mind. Garnoff is similarly attacked, and it is implied that he is reliving some abuse that his own father brought upon him.

Over in Moscow, obscure supporting character Alexi Vazhin (think the Russian Nick Fury) is debriefing two members of the Russian military over the catatonic people epidemic. Vazhin mentions that Omega Red will become available to assist in the situation.

Three days later, most of the X-Men’s Blue Team, plus Iceman and Colossus, are on their way to visit the Rasputins after picking up Wolverine over in his series. Psylocke is still coming on way too strong to Cyclops while Colossus is pondering what he is going to tell his parents about his brother Mikhail, who recently committed suicide and took all of the Morlocks with him. The reunion is suitably touching, and the government agent observing them is revealed to be known as a Flagwatch.

Back in the U.S., Rogue is still dealing with her blindness, and Gambit is trying to get her over it by almost letting her fall into the pool. Xavier observes them and wishes that Gambit would just get over himself and commit to her.

Beast asks if Xavier has a second to talk, but they get interrupted by Storm and X-Force. This subplot drags on for a couple of issues and basically turns out to be the Beast feeling old and having something of a mid-life crisis. Cannonball and Warpath want permission to go and tell the other old New Mutants and Firestar about the death of the Hellions. This leads to New Warriors #31, before X-Force finally leaves the mansion in X-Force #19.

A brief two page subplot introduces a purple clad woman beating up some gangsters in Tokyo. After beating them all up, she unmasks and states that she is ready for revenge on the X-Men. This purple haired woman later turns out to be Revanche, the woman in Psylocke’s old body.

Back in Russia, Colossus is chopping wood, Wolverine is smoking a cigar, and Cyclops is walking in on Psylocke in the shower after having a nightmare about Cable and Stryfe. In the kitchen, Iceman and Jubilee discuss how Illyana used to be a teenager and the hero Magik—a plot point that proves crucial to understanding this story. In the Moscow office, Vazhin is trying to convince his superior that Illyana is not necessary to stop the looming threat. Alexei plans on using the X-Men instead.

How It Was: This is an odd storyline that introduces a one-off villain who we will never see again. The truly perplexing detail is that this story takes place in X-Men even though it focuses on a character that regularly stars in Uncanny X-Men. And no, there is no explanation as to why Peter goes with the Blue Team instead of his regular team. At the same time, it is nice to see that the fallout from Mikhail’s death isn’t being brushed to the side as just a phone call. Unfortunately the rest of the issue is more of the same thing that has been going on for months. Psylocke is still being inappropriate towards Cyclops, Cyclops is still a stammering idiot around her, and Rogue and Gambit are still getting closer…but not too close. Nothing terrible, it’s just nothing to write home about. The Revanche subplot does offer a little bit of action, although that whole subplot does not turn out well in the end.

On the art side of things, Andy Kubert is doing some great character models. However, he is still a little over indulgent with depicting dust and smoke. The panel where X-Force walks into Xavier’s office looks like they are walking inside from a Western. And the final page has the general’s cigar filling half the room with smoke to the point that we can only see the top half of Vazhin. Other than that, the art is really awesome.

C-