X-Force #19
Kid Omega faces down the darkest parts of himself in X-Force #19, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Garry Brown, colorist GURU-eFX, and letterer Joe Caramagna. The last few issues’ focus on Kid Omega has done wonders for the character, and this issue is no exception.
At the Summer House, Jean Grey gets a distress call from Phoebe Cuckoo and rushes to her and Kid Omega’s aid as on the Astral Plane, the Kid Omega clone almost gets its psychic hands on the real thing. Jean saves him and back in the real world and agrees to teach Phoebe and Kid Omega how to fight it out on the Astral Plane. Using memories of things he saw on the Astral Plane and Sage’s skills, they find the XENO base and make a plan- Jean and Domino will attack the base while Phoebe and Kid Omega will attack the clone on the Astral Plane. Black Tom, controlled by the clone, tries to get at Phoebe and Kid Omega’s bodies, pulling Phoebe out of her trance, but Sage stops him from killing them. Kid Omega is able to defeat his clone on the Astral Plane, killing him just as Jean Grey and Domino get to him.
Kid Omega has long been the black sheep of the X-Men, one of its most powerful members who glorified in his reputation as a problem child. While this is all well and good, Percy has added so much to the character in the last few issues, and this comic is the culmination of all of that. Quentin Quire is a character who has been holding himself back for a long time, and that’s one of the things that has resulted in his multiple resurrections. This issue finally sees him confronting all of that head-on, and it’s wonderful to see. Kid Omega has always had a lot of potential, and this issue finally sees him embrace that.
One of the most telling parts of the whole thing comes when Jean is getting ready to train him to fight better on the Astral Plane and out and out says that before, she never would have taught him anything like this, but she can see that he has changed. That is a huge deal because Jean Grey has been around the mutant block plenty of times. For her to see something new in Kid Omega is a huge deal and bodes well for the character. By killing the clone, it’s almost like he’s killing the bad parts of himself, and while this is a simple, heavy-handed metaphor, it works.
Brown’s art, while not perfect, actually works really well for this issue. The highlight is a two-page spread, most of which is taken up by the twisted Astral Plane form of Kid Omega on the right page with panels interspersed showing Kid Omega escaping him and Jean saving him. Brown’s unique style does justice to the whole scene, and there are plenty more opportunities throughout the book for him to shine.
X-Force #19 completes the redemption of Quentin Quire, transforming Kid Omega from the enfant terrible of the X-Men into something better. Percy’s metaphors can be heavy-handed and obvious, but they work. The gritty quality of Brown’s pencil does the story more justice than one would think. X-Force #19 can be a little obvious and predictable, but it’s still a great issue.
