Inglorious X-Force #7
"As Luck Would Have It"
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Michael Sta. Maria
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover Artist: R.B. Silva and David Curiel
As Cable and Scott have a nice father/son chat, Quire accidentally lets the cat out of the bag to Hellverine (Akihiro) and Archangel (Warren Worthington III) that they both have feelings for Boom-Boom (Tabitha Smith). It... doesn't go over well. Speaking of Boomer, she and Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) are still trying to, y'know, interrogate their prisoners. Ms. Marvel is able to get through to one of them by finding some common ground...
Like Sand Through the Hourglass...
Domino (Neena Thurman, not that she knows that right now) finds herself on the run from a trio of mutant-hating men. Trying to lose them in the woods around Old Haven, New York, she continually feels like she's getting the short end of the stick. What she doesn't realize is her mutant luck powers are making sure that for every speedbump she encounters, it's a pothole for the hunters...
Meanwhile, X-Force is trying to interrogate their new prisoners—teenage members of the Mutant Liberation Front—without much luck. The teens have bought too heavily into what the MLF's new leader, Kali, is selling. Cable (Nathan Dayspring Askani'son Summers) is ready to try more drastic methods when Cyclops (Scott Summers) and Kid Omega (Quentin Quire) stop by for a chat about a missing Zero unit.
As Cable and Scott have a nice father/son chat, Quire accidentally lets the cat out of the bag to Hellverine (Akihiro) and Archangel (Warren Worthington III) that they both have feelings for Boom-Boom (Tabitha Smith). It... doesn't go over well. Speaking of Boomer, she and Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) are still trying to, y'know, interrogate their prisoners. Ms. Marvel is able to get through to one of them by finding some common ground...
Daddy's Home
This was a really good issue. I’ve commented before how this title feels like an old-school X-book, and issue #7 is a perfect example of what I mean. We get some action from the mutant-haters chasing Domino, but the rest of the issue is built around conversations. A friendly chat between father and son, an anything-but-civil argument between two men with feelings for Boom-Boom, and an attempt by Ms. Marvel to find common ground with the MLF teens. Each one has a different impact on the story going forward.
I'm a sucker for a good Cyclops/Cable father/son scene, so this issue was automatically like catnip to me. It's sullied a bit by the fact that we readers know Cable's not exactly himself these days, but it was still nice to see the two men interact. And civilly, to boot. Good to see that they've grown and changed over the years.
Too bad the same can't be said for Quentin Quire, Archangel, and Hellverine. Quire pulling the two men's feelings for Tabitha from their minds and bringing them out in the open was just a bad idea. But it's classic X-Men soap opera—even more so, since Akihiro is a lot more like his father Logan than he'd care to admit. There's nothing like an X-Men love triangle, especially one involving a dude with claws.
At the start of this series, I (and the characters) were worried that making Kamala part of X-Force was going to change her. She needs that youthful innocence; it's part of what makes her so endearing. Fortunately, not only has she not lost that, but she's using it to show X-Force that Cable's way isn't the only way. The way she was able to tap into her Inhuman side and single out one of the MLF teens, then actually get through to him just by talking to him, helps show how she really might end up being the person Cable saw her as in the future.
With all the serious conversations taking place throughout X-Force's base, we needed something a little more fun as a counterbalance. Thankfully, Domino still has her luck powers, even if she doesn't know it. Although her being hunted by the mutant-haters was very serious, the way her powers shifted things in her favor was downright hilarious at times. One of them gets sap from a tree in his eye and can't aim through his rifle scope, because one of his friends accidentally whacked him in the face with a branch? That's almost Bugs Bunny-style slapstick. I love it.
The stakes continue to rise throughout this series, so the fun little asides are appreciated. Based on Domino's encounter with an old friend at the end of this issue, I wonder if she's going to put a group of her own together soon. If she doesn't, I don't think it's going to be so they can sit down and have coffee with Cable's squad...
Perfect Strangers
It takes a special creative team that's one part serious conversations and one part Looney Tunes—thankfully, Tim Seeley, Michael Sta. Maria, and Romulo Fajardo Jr. are that team.
Seeley clearly has a master plan for this series, and each issue fills in another piece of it. Now that all of the team members have been cleared, Cable has widened his suspect pool to "all mutants." Of course, he hasn't included himself, but we readers know that's where he should be looking. Even in an issue where the team never leaves the base, and Cable is with Cyclops the whole time, Seeley is still able to sneak in a reminder that not everything is right with Nathan. Here, dear old dad is able to notice that something isn't right with his son, which was a nice touch. The rest of the cast was able to shine here, too, but at the end of the day, this is really Cable's book, so the main focus is always on him.
Sta. Maria does a good job with an issue that is largely people talking (or trying not to throw down, in the case of Warren and Akihiro). He's still able to keep the page layouts and panel structures fresh, so that things never have time to get boring. But it's the Domino scenes where he really shines. The way that Domino almost flails through her escape attempt, while increasingly crazy things happen to her pursuers, is the perfect mix of serious and silly. Some of the bits could have too easily devolved into a cartoon, and he's able to avoid that here.
The colors of Fajardo Jr. bring the two disparate plots together and give the issue a consistent tone. Domino's scenes are largely in the woods at night, so there's a darker tone to them, which is counterbalanced by the cartoonish happenings in her wake. The scenes in X-Force's base are much brighter, which serves as a nice contrast to the seriousness of the events happening within. There's not a lot of actual power effects this issue, so he doesn't get to play a lot with those, but that looks to change in the next issue.
What's Up, Doc?
Inglorious X-Force #7 is a strong issue that slows the pace down a bit, as Cyclops stops by for a chat with his son Cable while Domino gets her Bugs Bunny on. Ms. Marvel is able to make a breakthrough and get the team a new lead on Kali, so it's back on the hunt next issue—albeit with some new tensions amongst the men of the team, thanks to Quentin Quire.