X-Force #2, page 14
Big news: I'm bringing XFXP back. If you're reading this, you probably already know, since this is the first update in a year. Exactly a year, actually--this is one year to the day after I SHOULD'VE posted my analysis of this page. It's been a pretty good year, overall, and I'm happy to say that my Rob Liefeld collection has only grown.
Recapping the plot so far is probably not hugely necessary, since you can go back two pages to find the last page. As a training exercise, it's everyone vs. Feral. There's some pretty boring and stilted dialogue, as Shatterstar proves that he's a colossal douchebag, Domino proves she's a colossal douchebag, and Warpath and Cannonball actually ask fairly relevant questions about the nature of the exercise. And we've got boring blather in orange text boxes about Feral being all feral and thinking in hunting terms. For Liefeld and Nacieza, this is sophisticated characterization.
The art is pretty classic. We've got a behemoth Cable striding over the panels with his tiny, tiny feet trailing behind. We've got Cannonball making a frankly GLORIOUS lazy-eyed expression. The fact that his helmet looks like something from the 1920s or so only adds to it. It's really quite impressive just how pronounced everyone's cheekbones are, and how recessed the rest of their jaw is.
The last panel is where things really shine, and sadly it's too small for us to get the full effect of their gliriousness. Everyone is running in different directinos, and the background is completely different from the one established one page ago. I'm not sure if it's poor foreshortening or poor blocking, but Cable has become a midget. Also notable is that Cannonball is rocketing from BEHIND them, when he was right along with them to begin with. Did they get a huge head start, and then Cannonball realized "Fuck, the exercise started! There's a time limit, too! I gotta get going!"? Or did Rob Liefeld just forget that the guy who shits fire from his waist might move faster than ordinary plebs?
