Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… Got a few reviews for this week so I am going to jump right in with ‘X-Force’. Hope you enjoy it.

X-Force #22 (preview)
Writer: Christopher Yost & Craig Kyle
Artist: Clayton Crain

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Selene confronting one of her newly raised mutants, Ellie. Most of the mutants are disoriented and powerless but there are still a million to be sacrificed. Selene orders Caliban to find a builder to make her a city.

Back on Utopia the X-Men are barely holding their own against their Techno-zombie foes often having to fight old friends or powerful mutants. Warren and Proudstar manage to regroup and get clear of their battles. In the infirmary, Nemesis sedates Rahne and relates to the others she is pregnant.

Selene orders her slaves to build her city in the next day. She then plans to perform the ritual to sacrifice the mutants and the rest if needed. Selene orders Bard to bring her the blade and prepare the ritual. Elsewhere, Hrimhari flees the X-Men’s base and finds a secluded place where he calls Hela.

Back on Genosha, Bard confides in Blink that he does not have the dagger. He asks for her help in retrieving it from Warpath. She agrees but instead teleports them to Selene and tells her of Eli’s trickery. Selene orders all of her living troops to Utopia to get the dagger and tells them to kill Bard if they do not find it.

On the Utopia, Cyclops is leading a retreat with wounded trying to buy some time. His group is saved by the arrival of Wolverine, Warpath and Archangel who take down the attackers. Cyclops plans to fall back to the Atlanteans and form a new plan but he is interrupted by the arrival of Selene’s death squad.

MY TAKE: Part three of Necrosha remains an entertaining ride although there are some definite logic issues in this one. The plot does not advance as far as I would like for the halfway point and much of the issue is given to updates and continuing battles. While it definitely is a pager turner, I would like to see a things move along a bit quicker.

There are some very interesting turns here with Rahne’s pregnancy being the biggest. While it is not unexpected, having her problem be a Asgardian child has a lot of potential. I was glad to see X-Force taking a bit more of an active role too and making their presence known. This is their book and they should definitely be the ones to step up. Wolverine, Archangel, Proudstar and Domino are becoming front and center now, we just need to see more of Laura.

The idea of Selene’s ritual being held up due to a lost knife is a bit flimsy on the surface but really it is a nice way to tie in to some of the earlier stories. It does seem a little silly that Selene did not bother to make sure she had the thing before starting this whole process but it fits with her arrogant personality. It definitely makes Warpath a pivotal character and gives X-Force a reason to be at the center of things.

We are starting to get a little bit deeper in Selene’s head and those of her troops and that is a good thing. While the Gathering one shot was nice, it is better to see some sort of characterization coming from the actual main title. I would definitely like to see a better explanation on how some of these characters got so radically changed. Blink especially has gone from a sweet, innocent girl that sacrificed herself for her new friends, to a bloodthirsty slave to Selene’s every whim. That is too extreme to attribute to just having Selene help her.

I was also confused that most of the mutants on Genosha were affected by M-Day since none of the other mutants were. And if they are affected then why only roughly one in sixteen since there is a mention of a million mutants still being on the island? Wanda took out like 99.99% of the mutant population so there should be no more then a few hundred.

Still it was a fun read and I am looking forward to seeing the living villains getting into the action. The dead mutants are a bit boring since they are essentially unkillable. I still do not understand why that is the case since all the other Techno-organic creatures can die, but these are unique so I can let it slide. Still it increases my anticipation for the fight against the death squad next chapter and hope to see X-Force going to Genosha soon.

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.