Marauders #15: The Dinner that Never Ends

Marauders #15 resolves the cliffhanger of the previous issue pretty quickly before spinning off into more character-focused moments. Considering that X of Swords has a cast of twenty participating in the tournament alone (not counting mutants left in Krakoa, the remaining Horsemen, and all of the Otherworld dignitaries), this character focus can help ground the story. Unfortunately, these moments may have arrived too much and too late.

At Chapter 14 of 22 in a crossover about the contest of Krakoa versus Akkaro, I would have expected the contest to have begun. Instead, the whole issue focused on interactions between the two sides to flesh out the Akkaro champions. Gerry Duggan and Benjamin Percy are able to accomplish that mission, allowing for characters like Isca the Unbeaten and The White Sword to stand out. But the story feels lacking in forward motion for the most part.

The art Stefano Caselli and colors by Edgar Delgado do a fantastic job portraying the emotions of the diner party, which just added fuel to my impatience. While the end result of War’s poisoning is presented flawlessly, other emotional depictions almost felt too much. Cable is plagued by self-doubt. Doubt that is so clear on his face in most panels (complete with ominous shadowing during his conversation with Apocalypse) that I couldn’t help wondering when another champion would say something. Though with Magik being by his side most of the issue, her obliviousness to her teammate’s crisis could be attributed to the unadulterated glee that she is clearly feeling throughout this dinner.