X-Force #25 Review: The Bigger They Are…

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…This week we have the end of Necrosha in ‘X-Force’.  Hope you enjoy it.

X-Force #25 (Preview)
Writer: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Art: Clayton Crain

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Selene rising as a goddess and affecting all of the magic users of the world. Even with all her power, Selene hungers for more and orders her followers to bring back the rest of the techno-zombie mutants. Blink leaves and teleports all the attackers off of Utopia and back to Genosha.

Meanwhile, Proudstar is using his people’s mystic arts to protect X-Force and allow them to speak with the dead and hopefully kill them. Selene’s troops are starting to question their purpose, especially Mortis. The others are less fearful or even in awe of their mistress. They are interrupted by X-Force who separate to take out Selene’s people.

Wolverine and X-23 take down Senyaka and Vanisher intercepts and holds Blink while Archangel slices her. Rahne fights Mortis and cuts her deeply, but is nearly grabbed by Kevin who sneaks up on her. Elixir confronts his once friend and they fight power to power and it is Josh who proves to be the stronger. He completely destroys Wither until there is nothing left.

James confronts his brother and they fight even though neither of them really wants to. Proudstar is able to best his older brother and give him peace in death. X-Force then moves to confront the former Black Queen while Blink flees with the wounded Mortis in tow. Selene tries to absorb the living mutants but they are immune. The fight turns into a traditional battle of powers and will, and Wolverine and Warren manage to get Selene’s arms partially pinned. Warpath then jams the spirit knife into her heart and she explodes in a burst of light.

While X-Force takes stock, they see all the spirits of the dead departing. Proudstar even sees his brother’s soul ascending and is able to make peace with his death. In the end, Scott and Wolverine meet. Cyclops wants X-Force to stay together and Wolverine says he will stay with Domino and Vanisher. Elixir, James and Rahne are all out for various reasons, and Wolverine says he is taking X-23 out so she can be normal. Still Scott needs his strike team and says that things are only going to be getting worse before they get better.

MY TAKE: This a good, if somewhat anti-climatic issue, that gave us resolution on the total arc but not much more then that. There were very few surprises to the issue, all of the heroes survive, and the enemies that might eventually be allies. There are lingering questions on which of the risen characters are still around but that will probably not be resolved until after the next big event finishes.

The story and the characters are well written, as usual, but there is not a lot of plot. There are a few good character moments, and I was glad to see that Proudstar is finally getting some resolution to his personal issues. Still, most of the story is taken up by fighting between X-Force and their various enemies. The combats were fine but none of them was unexpected. Everything was pretty predictable and well foreshadowed, though, and the ending was never really in doubt. I also wonder how a broken neck was able to even phase Thunderbird considering the healing power the techno-dead possess.

The fight with Selene was definitely the weakest part of the comic. They spent most of the event stressing how powerful and godlike Selene could become and then the team was able to fight her with hand-to-hand tactics. Wolverine and Warren should never been able to hold her so Proudstar could simply stab her with one easy blow. Even with Native magic, which Jimmy has never been shown to possess, Selene’s appearance was enough to take out the most powerful magic users in the world. But once it got to the end, there was no real feeling of threat. Plus her size seemed to really fluctuate, in one panel she is able to hold Warren in her hand, and the next her head is nearly the same size  as Logan’s.

Still it was an entertaining read and I did enjoy the story. I am afraid it will be overshadowed by Second Coming though, especially with the first issue of that story happening on the same day as this conclusion. An event of this scope should have had more importance and been given more focus for the conclusion. This felt rushed and a bit slapped together to make way for the next major story. Even the deaths are already being overshadowed by what will be happening in the near future. And that is a shame because this was a fun and well-done story that deserved to the spotlight all by itself.

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.

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