X-Force #21
X-Force’s newest mission brings back memories from their recent past in X-Force #21, by writer Benjamin Percy, artists Joshua Cassara and Robert Gill, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. This issue isn’t anything special, honestly; it’s not bad, but it’s not as good as some of the previous issues.
Months in the past, X-Force is called on to stop a chemical spill in Washington state that would have eventually affected Krakoa and encounter a swamp monster saving lives from chemically mutated monsters. They’re able to get a sample of it and take it in for analysis. In the present, Sage tells Beast about a bunch of people affected by a similar strain of Man-Thing-like material, which they call Man-Slaughter, that forces the infected to kill. X-Force goes back to Washington to hunt down the monster they first encountered and find it with Domino’s help. After a short tussle, it talks to them, telling them it won’t go back to Weapon Plus. Meanwhile, at a Weapon Plus lab, the leader of XENO talks to Dr. Bloodroot about fighting mutants.
Ever since the Terra Verde issues, Percy has been playing with the concept of telefloronic throughout the book. Krakoan flowers are an example of it, as is Terra Verdean biotech. Percy has Beast bring up the concept of multiple discovery- different groups of humans making similar discoveries at once. This telefloronic arms race has given Krakoa power, but it’s also empowering their enemies as well, which is a problem for mutants. It’s a cool hook, and it looks like XENO, the book’s bad guy in the shadows since the beginning, has access to it as well.
However, other than all of that, this issue is pretty average. Percy layers his plots over multiple issues, so it’s weird that this issue starts with a flashback of something readers didn’t even know happened; this seems like something Percy easily could have added in issues ago. That makes this whole plotline, as intriguing as it can be, feel like an afterthought. It’s not a stretch to think that readers don’t see everything that happens to X-Force, but something this important could have been foreshadowed earlier in the series, and it would have worked better. Other than that, everything about the issue is perfectly fine. There’s nothing spectacular but nothing amazing either.
Cassara and Gill share art duties in this issue. Cassara does the first few pages, and they look great; mutated monsters are a specialty of his, and his Man-Thing looks cool. Gill’s art gets better as the issue goes on, with the action scene of X-Force fighting Man-Thing looking pretty great. GURU-eFX’s colors are the issue’s MVP, though, especially the ending stuff in the Washington forest; the greens are so lush and beautiful. The coloring throughout the installment is top-notch in general, as usual with their work.
X-Force #21 plays with the concept of telefloronics that Percy has been building up throughout his run. It’s intriguing, but it’s not enough to save an aggressively okay comic. There’s nothing wrong with this book- the writing is good, the art is good, the plot is good, and it builds up intrigue for the next issue- but it’s just good. There’s nothing spectacular about it. That’s okay, of course. It’s still an entertaining ride, and that’s all that matters.
