X-Force #2: The Drums of War

Geoffrey Thorne continues to play with the threat-of-the-month format, plotting a one-and-done story that is high in action, sufficient in plot, and low on character development or personality. This is shaping up to be the kind of book which you can buy, knowing exactly what to expect, and which you can read casually, without having to worry about continuity.

The threat appears (in this instance, in the form of a reality-warping drum) Sage figures out what it is, and Forge just so happens to have the right mcguffin on his person which is required to fix it. Thus, after the requisite fireworks, the problem is solved and everybody moves on to the next threat. If this story were taking place in the real world, Forge and Sage would be exactly the pair of mutants that you’d want to have around. They can see the problem, analyze it, and come up with a workable solution with few problems. 

If you are reading the story for the purposes of entertainment, the pairing (at least as they are written here) is less than ideal. It’s not fun to read a story in which every possibility of threat is automatically neutralized. 

This problem is magnified by the fact that the other characters are reduced, in this issue at least, to plot devices. Rachel and Betsy have hardly any role to speak of. Surge gets four lines, and she’s mainly used as a courier, taking messages from one place to another, less character than priority mail envelope. 

Marcus To’s art is as lovely as ever. He’s adept at depicting action scenes and his costume designs are incredibly fun. Erick Arciniega’s colors are vibrant and striking, adding considerable energy to the panels.