X-Force #13 Review

X-FORCE #13
Written by Chris Yost & Craig Kyle
Art by Clayton Crain

What was probably one of the stronger recent X-Force issues ends up being my last on the title for a while as Yost & Kyle shift focus to the upcoming Messiah War event. Surprisingly, I don't find myself upset or even caring in the slightest that I'll be dropping the title as I've been left cold and apathetic towards the title, much like the very characters and events contained therein.

Much like last issue, the star of this issue is, sadly, the Leper Queen. In my eyes, she's had more development and been a much more sympathetic character than our "heroes", which is rather pathetic when you think about it. The Leper Queen is a rascist bigot that has killed hundreds of mutants and her inner monologue and reasonings behind her actions makes me care more about her than anything Wolverine's forced justifications for his own actions in his own thought boxes this issue conveyed.

The Leper Queen is a character that believes in her convictions and purpose and cannot abide by the living bondage she has found herself in through her servitude to Bastion. As Bastion will not allow her to kill herself and seeing no other way to free herself, Leper Queen has opted to take Boom Boom hostage and force the X-Force team to kill her.

The problem with this plan is that Cyclops, in his infinite douchebaggery, has decided that it's more important to chase after his own son, Cable, and wants to use X-Force to recover the 'messiah baby' by any means necessary. Cyclops had commissioned time travel devices from Beast last issue and has told X-Force that as soon as they are ready, they will be leaving for the future, regardless of what else was going on. Yes, he doesn't care who lives or die and the time travel physics of how someone in the future won't be there regardless of how long they wait doesn't seem to make sense anyway you wrap your head around it, so friends and fellow mutants get to die because Cyclops wants to save mutants by, uh, letting them die? Makes sense to me!

As you can probably guess, this time travel plot led to a standoff with Leper Queen and her hostage, Boom Boom. Queen simply wants them to save Boom Boom and kill her in the process. As Wolverine is ordering the kill, Cyclops initiates the time jump, warping the X-Force team away and leaving Boom Boom to die at the hands of the Bastion controlled Leaper Queen, who can only curse her own fate. It's a touching scene and the only problem I have with it is that it's the goddamn villain I have to care about since everyone else is so devoid of the most basic emotions and practically revel in their killing ways.

Verdict - Check It. While one of the strongest issues of X-Force, to date, I'm officially done with the title going forward as I just can't connect with any characters or the supposed "heroes" we've been following.

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