X-Force #8: Where the Clovers Grow

This issue rounds off the two-issue arc from Percy and it finds Domino and Colossus tracking down the lab cranking out Frankenstein versions of Domino laced with her same luck abilities after Neena neutralizes a certain opposite number from the previous issue early on in the issue.

Percy’s use of a stereotypical “lucky” charm as a plot point is clever and memorable as once again this is a small scale cast affair from a mutant point of view limited to Domino, Sage, and Colossus. Sage gets a bit more page time and that’s good to see. There is some detective work and certainly a bit of action too but the most interesting part of the issue for me is the back and forth between Domino and Colossus. The exchanges are emotion-filled and show the closeness between the two as they continue down the road of dealing with their respective trauma.

They both have severe recent trauma in common but sit completely opposite in how they choose to deal with it. Peter who has had his countrymen turn on him advocates for death and a return to life with the physical scars and trauma erased from memory, while Domino chooses to hold onto that trauma, internalize it and turn it into a source of strength…they are two very different approaches and Percy doesnt really advocate heavily for either as being the right solution although I feel that Domino’s choice feels (for me) like the right one but let’s be honest in the real world if those who have suffered extreme trauma had the option to reset wouldn’t they? It’s these questions that the new status quo raises that make this series and the other X-books such a fertile ground for analysis and debate.

Ultimately the issue of Domino’s luck is resolved in typical violent X-force fashion but it’s that strong character writing that Percy brings to the end of this issue that makes the ending feel meaningful.

The first data page contrasts deeply with the tone of the actual story which is very serious. The page is humorous and maybe it’s Percy trying to break the seriousness of the issue a little but for me, it came off a little out of place this time. By itself, it’s very entertaining and I have no doubt that we will see more of the Green Lagoon in future issues but I kept thinking it didn’t fit. The second page serves to narratively move us along the overreaching arc that has run through the series and that’s the search for the Peacock Man and Xeno as further clues move X-Force inexorably closer a confrontation with this unknown enemy. This leads us to the book’s epilogue which introduces a new mystery player in the Xeno organization who plans to escalate the aggression against Krakoa.

Jan Bazaldua once again on line art duties and while she does a solid job with some slick paneling and dynamic movements when there is an action sequence. I don’t think this issue is as strong as the previous from her but maybe it’s because there isn’t a great deal in the way of fancy splashes although the train scene is pretty spectacular in its dynamism. Coloring from Guru-Fx is once more on point and so is the cover from Dustin Weaver which is so symbolic of how the two characters are dealing with the trauma in the issue… Domino and Colossus both standing in a bloody battlefield but with their backs to each other facing in
different directions is such a great piece of symbolism when framed against the character’s positions in the issue.