A New Brotherhood
I have been really enjoying this storyline so far and have been enjoying seeing X-Force at a disadvantage. Rick Remender continues his brilliant run on this series and after his work on this and Venom he is become one my favourite writers currently working at Marvel.
Plot
This issue sees Fantomex continue his fight with Mystique whilst Sabretooth and AoA Blob are out to recruit Genesis to the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The person behind the attacks against the X-Force and new leader of the Brotherhood is also revealed in this issue (warning I will reveal the identity of this person later in the review).
Review
This was another brilliant issue and my favourite issue in this story so far, as well as being one of my favourite issues in the series period. I can't praise Remender enough for this issue and how he keeps making this series better and better with each issue and story I don't know. The way he writes the action throughout this issue is outstanding and I loved reading all the individual fights throughout this issue. I also loved the way he revealed the person behind the attacks on the X-Force and leader of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants which had ton's of suspense.
Phil Noto continues to produce some of the best art I have ever seen in this issue and I'm very happy that he's the main artist working on this storyline. I love how he is able to add so much emotion to the characters and whether they're hero or villain it's not to hard to work out what kind of thing they're thinking. The detail in his art is also magnificent, whether it's the characters themselves, the surrounding location or even the panels showing impact like AoA Blob crashing to the ground or Fantomex breaking through a window and is a true joy to look at. The colour from Dean White in this issue is once again brilliant and the series wouldn't be the same without it. I love how he colours each character perfectly whilst adding amazing atmosphere and mood to the issue.
The continuation of Fantomex and Mystiques fight in this issue was brilliant and probably the thing I was most looking forward to see in this issue. The fight itself didn't disappoint and I loved seeing the back and forth progression to the fight. The conversation between the two during this fight was also very interesting and I liked how Fantomex had no shame in sleeping with Mystique even though he knew it wasn't Psylocke. Fantomex's run in with Shadow King and Skinless Man whilst looking for Psylocke later on in this issue was also brilliant and very well written.
I was also happy to see Sabretooth's involvement in this series confirmed and thought it was interesting to see that he and AoA Blob were sent to recruit Genesis to the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants whether he's willing to join or not. After the disappointing Sabretooth Reborn storyline in the Wolverine series where Sabretooth wasn't even the main villain it was nice to see Sabretooth back in his proper role as a henchman. To be fair to Sabretooth he has had his fair share of great fights with Wolverine and other characters without anyone's help but most of his best appearances come whilst working for someone or in a group, whether that's Magneto whilst he ran the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Weapon X or the current leader of the Brotherhood. I also liked AoA Blob's involvement in this sequence as it showed that Sabretooth wasn't taking any chances whilst getting the kid by having backup with him.
I also liked seeing the progression of Quentin Quire quarrel with Genesis in this issue and that Quentin makes it clear to Gensis that he doesn't trust him and no matter how hard he tries he will eventually become Apocalypse. I am also looking forward to seeing how or if this will progress later in the story. This issue aslo makes me think eben more that this story will end similar to how the series started which should be interesting to find out.
My favourite part in this issue was who was revealed as the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Daken. I already knew whilst reading these issues that he was the person behind the attacks on the X-Force as well as the leader of the Brotherhood as that was the reason I bought the issues in this story that have already been released. I loved the Daken character throughouth the Wolverine: Origins series and when he had his two solo series, Dark Wolverine and Daken: Dark Wolverine and was upset when they killed him off. I am also interested to see what else he will have in store for his father (Wolverine) and his X-Force next issue and what role Genesis will play in this.
Final Verdict
This was an outstanding issue and my favourite of the storyline so far. I would highly recommend both this issue and the rest of the story, and with the leader of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants being revealed I am extremely looking forward to the next issue.
