ICYMI! X-Force #50: In My End Is My Beginning

We all knew this was coming. A hard reset for a character who has become so consumed by defeating his enemies that he has embraced their very worst qualities. Hank McCoy has returned to the hopeful, gentle (still somewhat manipulative and egotistical) man he was many years ago and all that reset required was one nuclear bomb and a smidgen of murder.

Percy’s been setting this number up for a good long while, getting all of the dominos (pun partly intended) in a row over the span of three long years, only to knock them over at last in one beautiful motion.

This final issue left us with some explosions, a few beautifully symbolic artistic choices (more on that in a minute) and the knowledge that Beast has moved back in with Wonder Man — on whom he seems to be a slightly deleterious influence. Robert Gill’s art was nothing short of spectacular. His talent was used to best advantage during the Beast on Beast fight, when the characters were slowly divested on their markers (one’s armor, the other’s glasses) as they were being spiritually pared back down to their essential selves. It was a beautiful piece of storytelling.