X-Force #45 Review

 

Writer: Benjamin Percy

Artist: Robert Gill

Colorist: GURU-eFX

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Daniel Acuña; Whilce Portacio & Arif Prianto

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 4, 2023

 

Domino’s raid on an exclusive Russian bathhouse netted her a mysterious ring. Is it linked to Mikhail Rasputin? Can it help Sage rebuild X-Force? Let’s leap into X-Force #45 and find out!

 

Story

The Chronicler writes the story of X-Force’s downfall. His mutant powers influence those he writes about. Mikhail used his brother Colossus to help Orchis destroy the thriving community of Krakoa. But the massacre left Orchis running the world, and Mikhail craves power. So Mikhail gives the Chronicler a new task. Find another character for your next story arc. Choose someone inside Orchis who can work for me!

 

Sage lost her team at the Hellfire Gala. Mikhail holds half her people prisoner. She must reform X-Force to free the mutant community from Orchis' shackles. The key to achieving her goals lies in the mysterious ring. She's secreted the strange artifact in a No-Place tumor. But who can help unlock its secrets?

 

In X-Force #45, Benjamin Percy weaves readers into two intertwined dramas. The Chronicler yearns to escape Mikhail’s domination. Sage wants to defeat Mikhail. But the clock is ticking, and a misstep could sweep either player off the gameboard.

 

 

 

 

Art

Robert Gill packs pages with detailed art that portrays characters consistently from panel to panel. Darkness surrounds Colossus amid the tragedy of his life while parchment leaps from tall stacks upon the Chronicler’s desk. Orchis agent Jun Wei tantalizes with a dragon tattoo that slithers across her skull, while Deadpool savors the good life in Las Vegas. Settings filled with life and energy invite readers to visit every locale featured in X-Force #45.

 

GURU-eFX loads his palette and doesn’t hold back. Panels set in Krakoa and Las Vegas explode with color. Darkness surrounds people in Mikhail’s world, yet nothing hides from the reader’s gaze. Gray seeps into a colorful, unlit corridor in Dr. Strange’s house while the fire crackling in his hearth casts the library in pink and orange. Glowing symbols hover before his eyes as he studies the mysterious ring, while tears trickle down the Chronicler's cheeks as he writes a character’s demise in X-Force #45.

 

Joe Caramagna writes the Chronicler’s narrative in white boxes and Deadpool’s dialogue in yellow balloons. He gives aging eyes a break from his tiny script with a fact sheet on Orchis agent Jun Wei and the Telepathic Notations of Dr. Strange. Giant, angry letters roar amid the darkness when someone withdraws a gun and pulls the trigger. Who shot J.R., you ask? Forget Dallas! Discover who shot who in X-Force #45!

 

Final Thoughts

While Sage and Domino seek the key to mutant liberation, a prisoner’s desperate bid for freedom could doom countless others in X-Force #45.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

X-Force #43 Review

 

Writer: Benjamin Percy

Artist: Robert Gill

Colorist: GURU-eFX

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Daniel Acuña; Rahzzah

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 23, 2023

 

Everyone wants to attend the party, but will Sage let them? X-Force's leader doesn't have the last say, as she's taking orders from Colossus. But the metal man's mind is on other matters as the Hellfire Gala gets set to rock. How will Sage, Colossus, and their squad fare as the massacre of the millennium begins? Let's leap into X-Force #43 and find out!

 

Story

Colossus doesn’t want X-Force to join the party. As a representative of Krakoa’s Quiet Council, he orders them to monitor the gala remotely. What they don’t know is he's under the sway of his brother Mikhail. X-23 and Deadpool may be none the wiser, but Domino suspects Colossus is compromised. Can she discover his secrets before the festivities begin?

 

If you've read X-Men Hellfire Gala #1, you know about the party that rocked the mutant community to its core. X-Force #43 serves as a prequel and gives greater context to the event. While Deadpool and Quentin provide the laughs, Domino’s excursion exposes the change Colossus has undergone. Even if you know how the group’s journey ends, what Domino discovers in the Savage Land enthralls.

 

 

Art

Appealing characters inhabit this strange, organic world. Rooms and buildings look grown instead of made, rounded instead of rectangular, and more whimsical than real. Communities rise from the seafloor to stand above the ocean waves in X-Force #43. Plants decorate buildings and interiors. Bright colors mesmerize, energize, and prevent the epic tragedy from becoming dark and dreary. Inspired by such artistry, Deadpool and Colossus indulge their creative sides.

 

Lettering is tiny, as lowercase black words inhabit white and colored dialogue balloons and boxes. A letter from Mikhail and an entry from Sage's logbook prove easier to read in X-Force #43. Few sound effects accompany the team's journey into darkness.

 

Final Thoughts

Sage struggles to control her team as Domino races to discover Colossus’ secrets in X-Force #43.

 

8.8/10

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.