Inglorious X-Force #4
“Death War, Part One”
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Philip Tan
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Things were a little slow at first, but last issue really hit the gas, and now in Inglorious X-Force #4 the pedal goes all the way down to the floor.
Nathan Christopher Charles Dayspring Askani’son Summers, or Cable for short, has trust issues. Might stem from being infected with a techno-organic virus as a baby and being sent into the future for a cure. Might be because that future was pretty awful, being a world where the mutant conquerer Apocalypse ruled the world. Might be due to the evil twin, Stryfe, that caused him no shortage of greed. Might have something to do with the number of times that people have betrayed him. Whatever the reason, those trust issues are in full force this issue. Let’s talk about it:
Who’s That Thinking Them Nasty Thoughts?
In the closing moments of last issue, Tabitha Smith, aka Boom-Boom, found former teammate Domino standing over Cable, who looked like he had been shot. Tick, tick, boom.
We pick up in the aftermath as the team tries to figure out what happened. Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, had fallen asleep in the TV room when she heard the explosion. Akhiro, aka Hellverine, had been in his room, and he passed a squirrel as he raced toward the explosion. He doubts the squirrel is a suspect, but details matter. Warren Worthington, aka Archangel, had been having dinner with Maxine Danger of the Beyond Corporation when he decided that he needed to talk to Boom-Boom. When he got there, Cable was seriously wounded, and Tabitha was near death. Warren slipped into his new Life form and apparently healed them.
Cable makes it abundantly clear that he doesn’t trust Warren and this strange new form of his, even more so than when he’s Death. Akhiro says that the energies that kept Tabitha’s soul in her body are still distinct, and he can track them. Wolverines, man, they’re always sniffing things.
As the team departs to follow Akhiro’s newfound trail, Domino watches from nearby. She reflects on what happened earlier, how her probability powers made Tabitha’s bomb go off in a more self-destructive manner than normal. That makes a lot more sense than Tabitha suddenly being all kamikaze.
X-Force arrives at a Florida beach house, where the trail has led them. They split up—Tabitha and Akhiro going inside, the others staying outside where Cable can keep an eye on Archangel. Akhiro figures out that the building is a SHIELD black site, right before they are all attacked by the Nasty Boys!
But wait, aren’t the Nasty Boys dead?
Why yes, they are. As soon as X-Force figures this out, the Nasty Boys all melt. They’re clones, you say? Sure enough, here to take credit for them is none other than Mister Sinister. That’s when Archangel falls over in pain and starts to change colors, as though he were transforming into another form, and Sinister declares that Archangel now works for him, too…
Who’s That in That Nasty Car?
This was really good. It was a given that the focus was going to shift to Archangel this issue, since the other teammates/suspects have been cleared. I didn’t expect Cable to get so much characterization focus at the same time, but it was very welcome. It’s interesting how Warren Worthington is one of Cable’s dad’s—Scott Summers, aka Cyclops—oldest friends, and yet Cable doesn’t trust him as far as that squirrel could throw him. But then again, Warren has been manipulated by Apocalypse more than once, and no one knows more about that monster than Cable, so maybe he’s justified.
For what seemed like such a random lineup for this new X-Force, they’ve congealed together into a unit pretty well. It’s all very “classic X-book”—teammates with dark secrets, secret hookups, and all the interpersonal drama. In a day and age when the X-Men can’t seem to get out of their own way half the time, it’s a very welcome dynamic.
The weakest thing about this series so far has been the bad guys—as a millennial, the TikTok-inspired new Mutant Liberation Front annoys the heck out of me, and the Beyond Corporation is too hard to take seriously. So to see the Nasty Boys briefly appear here, and that lead to Mister Sinister, gives me some hope for the quality of villain we’re going to get going forward. The team is slowly getting its stuff together, and when they do, they’re going to need a higher caliber of baddie to challenge them.
Who’s That Eating That Nasty Food?
Writer Tim Seeley is all over the place right now—in addition to this title, he’s been doing some Godzilla stuff, the heist book Everyone Loves a Jewel Thief, the horror title Pretty Hate Machine, and more. It’s quite the mix. To see such a classic-style X-Men book from someone as busy as he is, and for it to be as good as it is, is very impressive. The pacing is a little awkward at times, and the way he picks up from the last issue’s cliffhanger is a little awkward, but those are the biggest quibbles. Overall, he’s found his footing on this title and given it a unique identity amongst the current crop of X-books.
Our artist this month is Philip Tan, who is no stranger to the X-Men line, having worked on them in the early 2000s. He’s also had a solid run on Green Lantern, and done work for countless other titles. His art works well here; he has a little bit of that ‘90s art style that is so familiar on X-books in particular. He handles action well, gives Cable the giant shoulder pads and pouches that we’re used to, and his images of the melting Nasty Boys are, well, nasty-looking.
The artist may be different, but colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr. is still with us, so that helps give the book a more consistent visual style. He still handles explosions well, and there are several of those this issue. And the images of Archangel changing are particularly effective. Maybe he’s not super flashy, but his work is solid and consistent.
Who’s Jamming to That Nasty Groove?
Inglorious X-Force #4 picks up where the previous issue left off, and uses that as a springboard to launch the book’s biggest story yet, giving us a interesting story that’s got mistrust, betrayal, and the appearance of a classic X-foe. The mystery of who is the future killer of Kamala Khan still needs to be solved, this issue tries too hard to make it seem like it’s a certain team member, which makes me think it’s a red herring. If so, we’ll have to open up the list of suspects beyond the core team soon - given her looming presence throughout the series so far, I’m guessing Domino is involved. As cliche as it sounds, given that time travel is involved, I guess time will tell.