Not great, Charles. Not great.

X-FORCE #43 is out this week and it reveals what Benjamin Percy agreed to so he could write his dream pairings in WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE, PREDATOR VS. WOLVERINE, and the upcoming Sabretooth War arc in WOLVERINE — Marvel made him take Colossus back and finish the drawn-out sleeper-agent storyline that as first introduced all the way back in X-FORCE #24. Poor Percy. Poor Sage, Domino, Kid Omega, Wolverine, Deadpool, and Omega Red. Most of all, poor us.

When it was first revealed that Mikhail had been controlling his brother as part of a master plan to accumulate power for himself and Mother Russia, many thought it was the original groundwork being laid for the end of Krakoa. However, that was nearly two years ago and over that time period Orchis grew into the larger threat to mutantkind leaving this plot point to live on the periphery ever since. It made for an easy crutch any time one of the X-writers wanted to introduce an element of uncertainty to their narrative (e.g. Colossus joining the Quiet Council) and was never really explored deeper on its own. That appears to be changing now that Percy made his deal with the devil as X-Force will be following this plot for at least two more issues based on Marvel’s advanced solicitations through October.

The issue refocuses our attention here after Colossus was appointed by the Quiet Council to oversee X-Force after all the Beast drama came to a head during the previous “Weapons of X” arc. We see that the brainwashed Colossus had his own plans for this year’s Hellfire Gala, which were thwarted when Orchis unleashed their own attack. He calls an audible and the issue ends with the first major movement related to Mikhail Rasputin’s grand plan in quite some time. I don’t have much to say on this issue other than Percy’s writing (and the issue itself) shined whenever any character not-named Colossus was talking. Percy continues to write the rest of this rag-tag cast of characters so well.

Aside from a few panels that will cause readers’ to feel some heavy Hellfire Gala PTSD, there wasn’t a ton for artist Robert Gill to sink his teeth into. GURU-eFX elevates the art in the book with some fun colors. I loved the pinkish-purple telepathic “husks” that Kid Omega chooses between for his Gala outfit.

One last thing I wanted to note is the apparent lack of consistency that’s beginning to pop up around which mutants actually died at the Hellfire Gala. Madelyne Pryor alludes to only Jean Grey dying in last week’s DARK X-MEN #1, yet a data page in this issue indicates Frenzy, Jubilee, Prodigy, Cannonball, and Dazzler are deceased and has no mention of Jean. I’m willing to give some leeway here there probably hasn’t been a moment for the surviving mutants to compare notes but I hope it’s addressed at some point in-universe.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m ready for this Colossus storyline to be wrapped up and hopefully it will all end with the no-fun Piotr far, far away from this title. This was my least favorite Fall of X issue so far and it all has to do with the focus on this story that feels like it’s beating a dead horse now.

Rating: 5/10