In ‘X-Force’ #5 things were looking bad for our heroes. As the first book closed all of them had been captured and Cable was blown to pieces. Of course for those keeping count, this was by no means the first time that we’ve seen Cable supposedly die in this series. There is no resolution to the overall direction of the series in this story, however we do finally get to figure out exactly what is going on for Cable and Meme.
Dare I say it? This is the issue that you have been waiting for in the series! Spurrier pays off big time and if the series is anything like his masterpiece of ‘X-Men: Legacy,’ this is still not going to be the greatest moment in the series by any stretch as something greater is sure to come.
First up, Meme goes through a flashback sequence into Alexandria where she shows us what really happened. The psuedo-father and daughter weren’t there for any real reason aside from having a bonding experience. During the events, Volga not only caused the massive explosion to blame it on mutants and find a new way to sell arms, but he infected Cable with a virus that causes him to rapidly age and die. Hope tries to intervene but in the process her mutant ability kicks in and mimics not only Cable’s power but that of the virus as well. They are both infected.
As the lawyer explodes, Cable body slides the two and and is back in. As he comes back, he finds Fantomex and Marrow among the wreckage.
After we start finding out what happened to the pair, Cable and Nemesis end up breaking into the ship and we now find out that Cable’s actual body is in stasis to prevent his aging and we’ve been seeing clones that are being controlled by the head gear he has had on in every issue (thank Nemesis for that set up and idea).
X-Force is freed while Psylocke takes over Marrow to fight off the rest of them. A huge fight ensues and they come up with a creative way to not only save the day (temporarily of course), but put themselves in a predicament that almost means the death of a few team members!
Volga gets away and in the last panel, the biggest reveal of all kicks in. Meme has been brain dead all along and Psylocke now knows the truth. Meme’s powers have been copied and someone else is in control. Now, who here has the ability to copy powers? Yes ladies and gentlemen, Hope may be in a coma but she is still alive and kicking.
We’ve come a long in this book! We’ve had some huge reveals in the last two isues and yet we still have so far to go. Spurrier once again proves he knows how to write mutants in a cohesive and addictive story. This issue is further proof that Marvel has to keep Spurrier in the realm of mutants for as long as they possibly can.
X-FORCE #6
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Jorge Molina
