X-Force #11 Recap and Review, Spoilers

[orionblue]

I think I... hated this issue. From the start with Cecilia's ridiculous death to the spot-on critique that this Kayla person was immediately uninteresting/unlikable (that's a feat in one issue lol).

The nesting dolls might be an interesting concept, but all these trained mutants fighting like amateurs against them is incredible stupid writing. If you cut something down and they multiply into smaller ones, don't cut them down. Capture them in a box. Get all your telekinetics and hold them in place. Such a frustrating issue. This series just can't be the mutants constantly being overtaken like they're imbeciles.

Well put; I concur wholeheartedly.

[Anchorsify]

What an awful issue. Colossus is content to farm on the savage land while his homeland is still fucking around with power dampened and kidnapping its own mutant population (of which he was one of them!), and instead he starts a romance with a random nobody, again offscreen (he fought in Russia off screen, died off screen, had it mentioned in a data page, and now has a new relationship that formed off screen), while skipping kitty's funeral? Ugh. Ugh. The character assassination in the books so far is just absolutely heart breaking.

Which is to say nothing of how X-force and krakoa in general has bodies explode in their morgue and somehow no extra security is stepped up to ensure another incident doesn't occur there as beast and sage walk off knowing that little dudes are able to pop up out of the bodies. How inept can you be?

How is it that Mikhail could return from the negative zone without being detected? Nevermore that he was supposed to be trapped there endlessly to begin with.

Hopefully they explain his presence better but this just looks.. bad.

[Jack The Tripper]

Quentin only being in the book to die is dumb. Who wants character development when you can have an unfunny and repetitious gag instead?

The new status quo of Krakoa was supposed to create stories that don't rely on a gimmicky cheap death, Percy has failed with that concept.

Strong disagree. I think this type of thing is a fun way to use the new idea of resurrection. Especially for someone as egotistical as Quentin. I also wish people would stop getting annoyed at certain characters in a team book not getting character development yet in an ongoing series. There's still time, man, just be patient!

[Jack The Tripper]

I thought this was the weakest issue of X-Force so far. It wasn't bad imo because it still had fun concepts, but I'm getting a bit annoyed at Krakoa getting infiltrated so much. Liked the nesting dolls though.

[Rev9]

I thought this was the weakest issue of X-Force so far. It wasn't bad imo because it still had fun concepts, but I'm getting a bit annoyed at Krakoa getting infiltrated so much. Liked the nesting dolls though.

I liked the nesting dolls,pretty unique idea..speaking of Mikhail Rasputin,I never read issues with him as the central villain, are his dimension hoping powers derived from Limbo like Ilyana? It is never mentioned if he has magic powers or sorcery as the source.It seems his is purely mutation,so maybe Ilyana's portals are her mutation ability not magic..anyone know the nitty gritty here to help me out?

Also do you guys think it was him breaking up the Xeno meeting or was that another mystery mutant?

[GeneTitan]

The nesting dolls were a great concept and really fun to watch. I can't get over how Cecilia died from an attack her power could've easily deflected. I'm also kinda over Quentin dying every issue. He is an omega, albeit with poor defensive skills.

[Grunty]

Cecilia Reyes. Survivor of Operation Zero Tolerance. Survivor of a Ru'tai dimensional invasion. Survivor of a secret mutant concentration camp. Medical Doctor with years of experience in emergency rooms. Mutant with the power of a force field that acts like a point defence system. Getting killed by a cheap matrjoshka joke with her own scalpel.

Is it too much to hope that next issue revealed that she managed to use her expertise and mutant power to stop the blood loss and keep herself alive long enough until proper medical help arrived?
Judging by these current writers track records with death it seems unlikely.

When this whole "people printer" copy and paste system was established (sorry but i will never be able to see it as resurrection system, because it still involves the full termination of the original's mind and body included) in House of X, i was afraid it would cause the comming writers to become too casual with killing characters.

Because it's a weird trend in fiction that if a system to revive or replicate people is established the writers will cause named characters to die a lot more frequent than without such a system. So it's somewhat dissapointing to see these current X-men writers whole heartedly following this trend without apparent awareness of how cheap it can make stories.

Everyone getting "kennied" and the X-men all act incredible casual about dying or seeing their friends and family dying infront of their eyes.
As i wrote elsewhere, i'm half jokingly expect Kurt to casualy die teleporting himself in a volcano between issues.

What's weird is how quickly they adopted this mindset.
As far as we know Krakoa was barely established a few months ago (seeing how the rest of the marvel universe didn't had any major time skips) and the people's printer system is even newer than that (though it was noted they had some older cloning technology which they used before like with Proteus), so it's weird how quickly everyone got so used to it.
There is not looking a gift horse in the mouth and then there is sudden shifts in personality and behaviour, which in most stories would usualy be a sign of worry for the readers.
Yes death in comics has become a joke to readers, but it's not supposed to be a joke to characters (even immortals don't like dying because it HURTS).

Last week's X-factor had Northstar react to the death of his beloved sister (one of little more than two people he actualy cares about) more like someone who just saw his dog ruining his carpet, demanding an immediat replacement like going to the nearest carpet dealership and finaly dumping the dead body of his sister on the ground like said carpet to prove that yes the thing is ruined and his 1 year warranty for a new one is still on.

It's to the point where i wonder if the writers are unaware of odd/unnerving it can look, or if there is an editorial/writers mandate to up the numbers of casual deaths for some major reveal down the line?

I guess at this point one could do an anti-dead pool about which character won't have stupidly died at least once by the end of Dawn of X.

As for the rest of the issue i have to agree with the notion that it looks quite bad how easily Krakoa gets attacked despite all the claims of superiority.
Basic secruity seems to be missing frequently and not keeping the bodies of the clearly geneticaly engineered soldiers in highly secured rooms seems oddly careless, given what the X-men have encountered over the years. At least Xavier's assassination can be chalked up to him allowing it to happen.

Mikhails appearance makes me wonder if he still has access to The Hill?
Since it would essentialy provide someone with their own version of The Vault and The World. A secure pocket dimension in which time runs faster (compared to the marvel universe) the lower you are on said hill, which is also filled with techno-organic flora and fauna. Quite a treasure trove for anyone trying to speed up a gene tech based arms races isn't it?
Then again The Hill was hardly ever refered to again, so it's possible writers just forgot it. However it might be interesting if it turns out The Hill, The Vault and The World are all somehow connected considering similar design and usage.

His interest in the Sword of Krakoa raises the question if it still can function as memory device? Considering that this Cerebro was made with alien technology, it doesn't seem farfetched to consider the possibility that despite it's reshaped state the data storage or transmission system on it still works.

[Kingdom X]

Cecilia Reyes. Survivor of Operation Zero Tolerance. Survivor of a Ru'tai dimensional invasion. Survivor of a secret mutant concentration camp. Medical Doctor with years of experience in emergency rooms. Mutant with the power of a force field that acts like a point defence system. Getting killed by a cheap matrjoshka joke with her own scalpel.

Is it too much to hope that next issue revealed that she managed to use her expertise and mutant power to stop the blood loss and keep herself alive long enough until proper medical help arrived?
Judging by these current writers track records with death it seems unlikely.

When this whole "people printer" copy and paste system was established (sorry but i will never be able to see it as resurrection system, because it still involves the full termination of the original's mind and body included) in House of X, i was afraid it would cause the comming writers to become too casual with killing characters.

Because it's a weird trend in fiction that if a system to revive or replicate people is established the writers will cause named characters to die a lot more frequent than without such a system. So it's somewhat dissapointing to see these current X-men writers whole hearted following this trend without apparent awareness of how cheap it can make stories.

Everyone getting "kennied" and the X-men all act incredible casual about dying or seeing their friends and family dying infront of their eyes.
As i wrote in the X-factor topic, i'm half jokingly expect Kurt to casualy die teleporting himself in a volcano between issues.

What's weird is how quickly they adopted this mindset, considering how barely a few weeks or months passed since the system was established to beginn with and yet everyone acts so casualy and adjusted to this status quo.

Last week's X-factor had Northstar react to the death of his beloved sister (one of little more than two people he actualy cares about) more like someone who just saw his dog ruining his carpet, demanding an immediat replacement like going to the nearest carpet dealership and finaly dumping the dead body of his sister on the ground like said carpet to prove that yes the thing is ruined and his 1 year warranty for a new one is still on.

As far as we know Krakoa was barely established a few months ago (seeing how the rest of the marvel universe didn't had any major time skips) and the people's printer system is even newer than that (though it was noted they had some older cloning technology which they used before like with Proteus), so it's weird how quickly everyone got so used to it.
There is not looking a gift horse in the mouth and then there is sudden shifts in personality and behaviour, which in most stories would usualy be a sign of worry for the readers.
Yes death in comics has become a joke to readers, but it's not supposed to be a joke to characters (even immortals don't like dying because it HURTS).

It's to the point where i wonder if the writers are unaware of odd/unnerving it can look, or if there is an editorial/writers mandate to up the numbers of casual deaths for some major reveal down the line?

I guess at this point one could do an anti-dead pool about which character won't have stupidly died at least once by the end of Dawn of X.

As for the rest of the issue i have to agree with the notion that it looks quite bad how easily Krakoa gets attacked despite all the claims of superiority.
Basic secruity seems to be missing frequently and not keeping the bodies of the clearly geneticaly engineered soldiers in highly secured rooms seems oddly careless, given what the X-men have encountered over the years. At least Xavier's assassination can be chalked up to him allowing it to happen.

Mikhails appearance makes me wonder if he still has access to The Hill?
Since it would essentialy provide someone with their own version of The Vault and The World. A secure pocket dimension in which time runs faster (compared to the marvel universe) the lower you are on said hill, which is also filled with techno-organic flora and fauna. Quite a treasure trove for anyone trying to speed up a gene tech based arms races isn't it?
Then again The Hill was hardly ever refered to again, so it's possible writers just forgot it. However it might be interesting if it turns out The Hill, The Vault and The World are all somehow connected considering similar design and usage.

His interest in the Sword of Krakoa raises the question if it still can function as memory device? Considering that this Cerebro was made with alien technology, it doesn't seem farfetched to consider the possibility that despite it's reshaped state the data storage or transmission system on it still works.

I definitely prefer the way that X-Factor handled death when compared to this. Northstar was clearly upset about his sister dying even though he knew that she could come back. It felt like he was in the bargaining stage of the grieving process, except on Krakoa you can actually bargain. As a reader I felt more invested because death was still treated as an upsetting topic and all of the characters treated it as such.

X-Force (despite being one of my favorite DoX books) has taken it a step too far. If Percy wants to have his running gag of Quentin dying every issue I'll give him that (even though it's stupid), but then he needs to be less nonchalant about killing everyone else. I'm supposed to be invested in Domino's resurrection because she had some memories and trauma erased, but at the same we're gonna act like Quentin dying every issue isn't having a long-term affect on him? You can't have your cake and eat it too.

[Soulsword323]

Is her force field always on? I mean it would make sense if her guard is down so is her shield.

When Cecilia debuted, her force-field acted instinctively, and protected her from threats without her having to active it. Technically, it is supposed to be around her all the time, but invisible, until it's needed to protect her.

[Devaishwarya]

Hated this issue.

[franckd]

I thought this issue was enjoyable. Probably the worst issue of the run but definitely not what I would call bad. I will agree that the art was lacking but I've definitely seen worse. I also am in the camp that is enjoying seeing the running gag that is Quentin dying every issue.

I agree. Most people on this board loath Quentin, so I don't even don't understand why some of them are upset by his many deaths. It's a running gag as you said. That's pretty much Percy's weird sense of humour that I really enjoy. X-Force is blood, violence, humour and sex. I mean, do people remember Black Tom's dream about Juggernaut's big turgid something? Or Logan saying peter has a big everything? That's Percy. Have fun, enjoy the ride. This book is kinda unique and I embrace every weirdness and amazing concepts and ideas. Like the nesting Russian soldiers : really great concept.

[Factor]

Someone needs to tell Bazaldua that Colossus isn't Giant-Man. The guy is three times the size of Domino.

I really did enjoy the issue even if I missed Cassara. Love when Sage and Cece show up. The villain was creepy and the concept fun. Don't know what to think about Mikhail being the main bad guy.

[Kurolegacy]

So anyone keeping count on the death count in X-Force? Sure Quentin’s deaths are clearly a gag at this point but with that plus the others, it really feels like it’s creating the situation that was feared with giving the X-Men unlimited respawns in the dying loses all meaning and is treated like nothing more than a mild inconvenience.

[JB]

Strong disagree. I think this type of thing is a fun way to use the new idea of resurrection. Especially for someone as egotistical as Quentin. I also wish people would stop getting annoyed at certain characters in a team book not getting character development yet in an ongoing series. There's still time, man, just be patient!

I'm fine with his deaths also and for all we know, it may lead to a story concerning something happening to the mutants when resurrected so many times.

[superjosh]

Cecilia Reyes. Survivor of Operation Zero Tolerance. Survivor of a Ru'tai dimensional invasion. Survivor of a secret mutant concentration camp. Medical Doctor with years of experience in emergency rooms. Mutant with the power of a force field that acts like a point defence system. Getting killed by a cheap matrjoshka joke with her own scalpel.

Is it too much to hope that next issue revealed that she managed to use her expertise and mutant power to stop the blood loss and keep herself alive long enough until proper medical help arrived?
Judging by these current writers track records with death it seems unlikely.

When this whole "people printer" copy and paste system was established (sorry but i will never be able to see it as resurrection system, because it still involves the full termination of the original's mind and body included) in House of X, i was afraid it would cause the comming writers to become too casual with killing characters.

Because it's a weird trend in fiction that if a system to revive or replicate people is established the writers will cause named characters to die a lot more frequent than without such a system. So it's somewhat dissapointing to see these current X-men writers whole heartedly following this trend without apparent awareness of how cheap it can make stories.

Everyone getting "kennied" and the X-men all act incredible casual about dying or seeing their friends and family dying infront of their eyes.
As i wrote elsewhere, i'm half jokingly expect Kurt to casualy die teleporting himself in a volcano between issues.

What's weird is how quickly they adopted this mindset.
As far as we know Krakoa was barely established a few months ago (seeing how the rest of the marvel universe didn't had any major time skips) and the people's printer system is even newer than that (though it was noted they had some older cloning technology which they used before like with Proteus), so it's weird how quickly everyone got so used to it.
There is not looking a gift horse in the mouth and then there is sudden shifts in personality and behaviour, which in most stories would usualy be a sign of worry for the readers.
Yes death in comics has become a joke to readers, but it's not supposed to be a joke to characters (even immortals don't like dying because it HURTS).

Last week's X-factor had Northstar react to the death of his beloved sister (one of little more than two people he actualy cares about) more like someone who just saw his dog ruining his carpet, demanding an immediat replacement like going to the nearest carpet dealership and finaly dumping the dead body of his sister on the ground like said carpet to prove that yes the thing is ruined and his 1 year warranty for a new one is still on.

It's to the point where i wonder if the writers are unaware of odd/unnerving it can look, or if there is an editorial/writers mandate to up the numbers of casual deaths for some major reveal down the line?

I guess at this point one could do an anti-dead pool about which character won't have stupidly died at least once by the end of Dawn of X.

As for the rest of the issue i have to agree with the notion that it looks quite bad how easily Krakoa gets attacked despite all the claims of superiority.
Basic secruity seems to be missing frequently and not keeping the bodies of the clearly geneticaly engineered soldiers in highly secured rooms seems oddly careless, given what the X-men have encountered over the years. At least Xavier's assassination can be chalked up to him allowing it to happen.

Mikhails appearance makes me wonder if he still has access to The Hill?
Since it would essentialy provide someone with their own version of The Vault and The World. A secure pocket dimension in which time runs faster (compared to the marvel universe) the lower you are on said hill, which is also filled with techno-organic flora and fauna. Quite a treasure trove for anyone trying to speed up a gene tech based arms races isn't it?
Then again The Hill was hardly ever refered to again, so it's possible writers just forgot it. However it might be interesting if it turns out The Hill, The Vault and The World are all somehow connected considering similar design and usage.

His interest in the Sword of Krakoa raises the question if it still can function as memory device? Considering that this Cerebro was made with alien technology, it doesn't seem farfetched to consider the possibility that despite it's reshaped state the data storage or transmission system on it still works.

Yep agree with everything. I love the concept and world that Hickman and co. are creating, but this terrible use of death/resurrection is so callous it honestly makes me question their taste level. It gives all the criticisms against this Krakoan era a lot of validity. And also, it's just not fun. When Cecilia was killed (which in and of itself was so stupid and shows a lack of understanding or care for characters), the immediate response was "we can bring her back". Almost like a cheeky reminder to the audience, "hey, you're not supposed to care". And yeah, you got me there. I don't care anymore. In one issue, this series went from top of my list to just outright loathing it.