X-Force #16 Review: End of a War

Hey, everyone… Here is first review for the week. Going to be another heavy week so I wanted to kick things off with a bang. That said I am starting with X-Force.  Hope you enjoy it.

X-Force #16 cover X-Force #16 (preview | thread)
Writers: Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost
Art: Clayton Crain

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Wolverine, Warpath and Cable fighting against Stryfe. They are holding their own until their time runs out and they are struck by the attempted time reversal.

We flash to Domino and Laura who are still with Kidden. She begs X-23 to kill her but the girl can not do it. So Domino shoots her in the head and ends the time stasis that is holding them in place.

The fight has now gone against the heroes but before Stryfe can act to finish it, Apocalypse and Archangel arrive.

We get a quick flash of the others. Domino hypothesizes that the devices are still holding them in place. Vanisher immediately takes his off and is jerked to the present.

Back to the fight and Apocalypse and Warren are beating on the clone. Bishop takes the time to once again try to kill Hope but is stopped again by Cable. He manages to wound Nathan but Wolverine steps in and cuts out one of his eyes ending the fight.

Stryfe attempts to fight back but Apocalypse is much stronger now and shrugs it off, beating Stryfe down. He snatches up Hope and nearly kills Bishop before Lucas manages to time jump. The immortal mutant is going to use Hope as a host body. The others move to fight Apolcalypse for the girl, but Warren steps up and demands her as payment for sparing him.

Apocalypse hands her over and takes Stryfe as a host instead. Cable takes Hope to the future on Wolverine’s orders. Knowing they have little time to accomplish their mission in the present, they split in two teams. Wolverine, Angel and Exlir head to the U.N. and crash land. They strip off their devices and are pulled back.

Domino, Laura and Warpath are given the task to save Boomer. They cannot get far, though Domino nearly kills herself in the process. Laura sends her back and continues promising to save the girl. Crawling she makes it to the designated spot and removes her device.

MY TAKE: This was a good ending to what was a surprisingly entertaining story. The characterizations remained strong even though this was primarily an action based issue. It still felt like a fitting and satisfying end to the overall story arc. It was filled with a number of great moments and I especially liked the ending as a fan of X-23.

I’m glad we got a conclusion with at least a little emotion and some suitable character moments, but of course it was mostly about the fighting. Wolverine got an especially good moment but it really came down to Apocalypse and Stryfe. The showdown had been hyped almost since the beginning so I was really hoping to see it a bit sooner then the final issue. Still it was a pretty good brawl with Apocalypse finally getting his moment to shine. I never was a fan of Stryfe as a character so is was good to see him getting beaten like a little girl.

Though I admit to being a bit disappointed in the briefness of the fight. I really would have liked to see it last more then a few pages. Still it worked for the story and I do not see what could have possibly been cut to make room. Stryfe’s final fate was poetic justice and I was glad to see how much he was going to suffer.

There were some other good moments too, Warren standing up to Apocalypse was enough to warrant a cheer. But the big stand out in the issue was Laura. Her failing to kill her friend was a huge statement on her value of people and her being more then just a killing machine. The ending especially showed just how far she is willing to go to save people, forcing herself on when all the others, even Wolverine, had returned to the present. Enduring horrible suffering just for the chance to save a stranger and keep a promise to Domino. She is rarely shown as having a human side and I was glad to see it in this issue.

Overall this was another strong comic and it was a fitting end to a great story. I just hope that some of the plot elements from this show up in the books and we can see the fall out or maybe even a sequel to the story. I know I will enjoy it.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

0 0 votes
Article Rating

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x