Broken Frontier

X-Force #25 is the final chapter of the most recent X-crossover, Necrosha.  This arc, which was centered on X-Force, tied in with the New Mutants and X-Men Legacy books.  In it, Selene raises an army of dead mutants from the grave with the techno-organic virus for the purpose of empowering herself and exacting revenge on her enemies.  In this issue, she succeeds, absorbing the souls of all the people she resurrected and making herself a “god”. 

It’s no surprise that Marvel called in Clayton Crain for the art in this issue.  His style brings a stern and occult flavor to the book that was essential to this issue’s success.  The framing, figures and color were all used in a theatrical manner that made this comic visually appealing and brought a ‘cool’ factor to the reading experience.  The loose and gritty way that Crain paints also made the action scenes very stimulating and exciting.  The only real artistic disagreement I have is the feminine way that Cyclops is drawn throughout this issue.

The storytelling was fantastic.  I’m not sure how much of the finished product was Crain and how much was Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, but the story moved at an incredible pace.  The entire book was like a grand Hollywood production:  it was exciting, captivating and emotional.  The major battle between X-Force and Selene’s inner circle was especially so.  All of the fighters were well matched and meaningful.  Kyle and Yost used these to resolve earlier issues, like the conflict between James and his brother, the newly resurrected John Proudstar.  John’s ascension after that battle is sad but stunning.  Also, as a long time New X-Men fan, I really appreciated the resolution to the Elixir and Wither conflict.  It is really apparent that there was a lot of thought put into this crossover.  It ties up a lot of loose ends from X-past. 

With that being said, Necrosha was not at all new-reader friendly.  I’ve been an X-fan for a good amount of time, but not long enough to know all the mutants that appear throughout this crossover.  Marvel’s always been very good about helping new readers get acclimated regardless of their jumping on point, but Necrosha references low-profile mutants from way back that fans may have forgotten or have never seen before.  Outside of the Necrosha one-shot, none of the characters are ever explained.  While long-time fans will appreciate the cameos, at times it makes the story a bit hard to follow. 

Another problem was with the climatic battle between X-Force and Selene.  After Selene rises to godhood, she doesn’t really get that powerful.  She gets big and blue.  Sure, she’s strong and can emit energy, but energy powers are common among mutants and one would expect a giant to be strong anyway.  X-Force manages to defeat her easily, and without any fatalities.  The problem here is that the term ‘godhood’ is thrown around too easily in comic books.  Villains are always claiming that they’re gods but few ever stay that way for more than a couple of pages.  I just expected more after all the trouble she went to.