Inglorious X-Force #9
"A Force to be Conflicted"
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Michael Sta. Maria
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover Artist: R.B. Silva and David Curiel
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time travel makes my head hurt.
Fight, then Team Up
Nathan Summers—Cable—has summoned his X-Force team for a briefing. He reveals to them that Domino is the traitor they have been searching for, and so she needs to be stopped in order to ensure Kamala Khan's future. Before the team can go looking for her, she appears at their doorstep with her own X-Force team in tow!
Domino's team consists of Rictor, Warpath, Shatterstar, and Pug-Smasher. They were all hoping that Nathan would go quietly, but that is not the case. Before the day is over, the truth of Cable's possession will be revealed, and the assassination the team was created to prevent will be one step closer...
Blame!
Everything is coming to a head now.
Inglorious X-Force #9 takes us inside the head of Akihiro, the son of Wolverine and current host of the demon Bagra-Ghul. I've never been the biggest fan of the character of Akihiro, especially when he was Daken. He was too "Daddy never loved me so now I'm emo and angsty" with a side order of problematic pheromone powers. So when they turned him into Hellverine, I couldn't have cared less.
Imagine my surprise at what a good character he's turned into over the course of this series. Akihiro being the team member that knows what it's like to be possessed by something you can't always control makes him the perfect viewpoint character for the reveal of Cable's betrayal to the team.
Speaking of Cable, here's why my time-travel headache comes into play. The last issue showed Nate getting pulled into his own future, where we saw the first appearance of the Project: Catharsis 6.0 vial. Here, as Cable tells Ms. Marvel about his lost wife Aliya, the vial makes an appearance again. This time, we can see on the label that it was engineered by En Sabah Nur. Yeah, probably don't want to open that, Nathan... and it shattered and got all over you, never mind.
Because Cable's whole schtick is jumping back and forth through time over and over ad nauseam, this is where I get confused. Are we being told that he's been infected with this going all the way back to the days when he had a beard (which, if I recall, was when Stryfe was in charge of his body), or is this a more recent event that somehow happened in his past (which is the X-Men's future)? See what I mean about a headache from time travel stuff? It's like the classic exchange from Spaceballs: "When will then be now?" "Soon!"
It was cool seeing the classic X-Force characters again, although Rictor seemed out of character to me. And Pug-Smasher is just dumb. This newer, gentler take on Shatterstar is interesting, as it's got him trying very much to play against type. Warpath could stand to try playing against type a bit himself; he's pretty boring. He's tough, and he hits stuff. That's about the extent of his character. And the less I say about Pug-Smasher, the better.
So now we've come full circle to the start of this series, with the future rally for President Khan and the subsequent assassination attempt. We now know that the culprit is Cable, or rather Catharsix, who wants the war between humans and mutants to continue forever. He was created by Apocalypse, after all. Only this time around, the rest of X-Force tried following Nate so they could try to stop him. They're all pretty upset about being lied to, especially Boom-Boom. Seeing how she handles her father figure lying to and using her like that is going to be very interesting to see.
This has been a very classic X-book in terms of its character development, team dynamics, secrets, and lies. This issue maintains that classic tone with the "two teams fight because of a misunderstanding" hook, and the character work continues to be great too. I just wish the timey-wimey stuff was less confusing.
Lying Liars
Tim Seeley continues to do solid work on this series. Each member of the team has their own voice, and everyone gets more or less equal focus. If anyone has gotten short shrift characterization-wise, it's Ms. Marvel—but she's almost more the mascot, or the mission, than a member of the team. The pacing has been just about right, with events and characters never wearing out their welcome. I did think it was odd that Cable was right back to giving the team doctored intel at the start of this issue, when last issue showed his mind getting sent to his future self or something of the sort?
Regular artist Michael Sta. Maria is back with us this month, and just in time for the big "team versus team" issue. Everyone gets a moment to shine here, both in the story and also in his artwork. I personally can't get into Pug-Smasher, so the very "Wile E. Coyote" kind of way that Archangel dispatches him is hilarious to me, and Sta. Maria renders it perfectly. As for the full on-screen reveal of Catharsix, it looks bizarre and alien and a little creepy, which definitely all fits with its implied origins.
Romulo Fajardo Jr. is on colors once again, and it's his usual quality work. Double the characters means double the colorful costumes (well, Rictor is in street clothes) and power effects, and he makes everything look unique. Lots of power effects at play here, and plenty of panel time for Hellverine this month, which calls for plenty of varied palettes and effects. Everything just works. Oh, and Cable's timeslide device looks like a Stargate to me, so kudos for going with the classic blue coloring for its wormhole.
Fight the Future
Inglorious X-Force #9 brings things to a head and makes my head hurt in the process, thanks to some time-travel confusion. Domino's team of former X-Force members makes for a great foil, and things finally come to a head with the revelation of the traitor that Cable has been looking for—himself. Now that things have gone full circle and we're back in the future, I'm curious to see how this wraps up—and if Cable can be saved.