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X-FORCE #26

SECOND COMING, CHAPTER FIVE As the X-Men make their desperate attempt to get Hope to Utopia, the battle will cost them one of their own. Nothing will ever be the same.

WRITER: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
PENCILS: Mike Choi
COVER BY: Adi Granov

Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 29.6%

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Comments

  1. Avatar photo OnASunday says:
    April 26, 2010 at 2:37 pm

    Hm who could it be… I wish it would be Emma.

  2. Avatar photo blulew23 says:
    April 26, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    Emma is the most interesting character in all of the x-books. Why would you want her to die?

     

  3. Avatar photo DorianP says:
    April 26, 2010 at 3:27 pm

    Second Coming has been pretty good so far.

  4. Avatar photo XManRyan says:
    April 26, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    "To save the world, one of these X-Men will die" Marvel teaser for X-Force #26.

    Will it be Colossus, Magik (looks like Magma), Iceman, Angel, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler, or Cable? Place your bets!!!

    Definitely NOT Colossus because he already sacrificed himself for mutantkind and just came back in Astonishing X-Men series. Could not be Illyana because she will appear in Hellbound. I have a hard time thinking that either Iceman or Angel will die. Maybe because they are founding members of the X-Men and the writers would not just throw them away. Emma will not die. Matt Fraction stated that he wrote a funeral for a "fan-favorite character" so it looks like Nightcrawler will be kicking the bucket. As for Cable, he will definitely die at the last chapter or towards the end.

  5. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 26, 2010 at 4:07 pm

    @XManRyan-Most have us agreed that it’s going to be Nightcrawler since chapter 2 came out.

  6. Avatar photo whitespyder9 says:
    April 26, 2010 at 4:08 pm

    I’m going with Nightcrawler on this one too.

  7. Avatar photo mikeandzod21 says:
    April 26, 2010 at 4:16 pm

    Oh please don’t let it be Nightcrawler!

  8. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 26, 2010 at 4:17 pm

    Ugh, I suck at typing.

    Meant to say that most of us have agreed that it’s going to be Nightcrawler since chapter 2 came out.

  9. Avatar photo zattaric says:
    April 26, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    Darn you Marvel.  Somehow you keep getting me to buy X-Force.  I don’t want to buy X-Force, but guess what will be in my bag of Wednesday…X-Force

  10. Avatar photo JimBilly4 says:
    April 26, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    I hate losing Nightcrawler — he is one of my faves — but he is too big a name to stay dead too long. I hope if they do go and off the poor little blue bastard they have the stones to keep him dead for several years and not resurrect him at the end of the arc. I think killing off characters is a cheap, easy device. Every rare blue moon it really works storywise, but usually it is just an easy shocker (the death of Colossus being a perfect example of a dumb death). 9 times out of 10 a non-death horrible result (kicked off team, betrayed, injured, blind, doing the betraying) is much more interesting and leads to better long term stories. But that is just my humble opinion.

  11. Avatar photo CGPO says:
    April 26, 2010 at 5:48 pm

    Wasn’t there a solicit for a Nightcrawler mini about him leaving the X-Men?  I don’t know if it got pulled or not as I never saw a solicit for #2 or anything, so I’m thinking they decided to yank it since he’s probably victim #1 here.  Frankly, while he’s been a core X-Man for a while, there have been times he wasn’t on the team, including while he was on Excalibur, so I’m sure unless there’s some big plan to bring him back already that he’ll be dead for a while.

  12. Avatar photo USPUNX says:
    April 26, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    nightcrawler was voted most popular x-man of all time last year. i doubt he gets killed.

  13. Avatar photo misterckent says:
    April 26, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    I’m thinking that Cable’s going to bite it.  Also, they could just kill off Nightcrawler BECAUSE he was voted the most popular. 

  14. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    April 26, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    @CGPO- you might be thinking about the Nightcrawler Manifest Destiny one-shot that came out last year.  it was great.  it was about Nightcrawler leaving for Europe to be a preacher full-time.  he got in some fight that convinced him to go back to the X-Men.  simple and a little cliche in concept, but the execution was good.

    in hindsight, I’d have preferred that route to have been continued than this nonsense of killing him.  a shame.

    maybe Illyana dies again and that is why she is "hellbound".  just a guess; I haven’t investigated what the idea behind the Hellbound mini is yet. 

  15. Avatar photo TheTaken says:
    April 26, 2010 at 9:37 pm

    a phoenix rises from its ashes – hopefully

  16. Avatar photo Slockhart says:
    April 26, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    The silhouette of the post Second Coming X-Force team has what looks a LOT like Nightcrawler.

    http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=25821&page=article

    That’s either a tail, or part of the belt from the chick next to him.

  17. Avatar photo skeets says:
    April 27, 2010 at 2:30 am

    naw that’s Deadpool. Nightcrawler’s a goner.

  18. Avatar photo mikeandzod21 says:
    April 27, 2010 at 2:46 am

    If Nightcrawler dies somebody deserves a nut punch. It would be terrible…like having Spider-Man make a deal with the devil

  19. Avatar photo whitespyder9 says:
    April 27, 2010 at 3:50 am

    @Slockhart Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña??? That "New X-Force" book is gonna be sweet!!!!

    Anyone gonna take a guess as to who the silhouettes are? Wolverine and Archangel are present, obviously… But it looks like the others might be Deadpool (unfortunately), Psylocke, and possibly Hope?

  20. Avatar photo vadamowens says:
    April 27, 2010 at 11:34 am

    @slockhart That article gives fantastic news!!! Thanks for the post:)

  21. Avatar photo Slockhart says:
    April 27, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    Honestly I didn’t even read the article… I just wanted the picture 😛

  22. Avatar photo daccampo says:
    April 27, 2010 at 2:46 pm

    I could be wrong, but I just figured the X-force silhouettes were kinda obvious in that photo: Deadpool, Archangel, Psylocke, and Fantomex.

    The "tail" isn’t for Nightcrawler, but rather Psylocke’s sash flowing out (long hair, holding a sword, wears a sash).

     

  23. Avatar photo JimBilly4 says:
    April 27, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    Yikes, that sure does look like Fantomex. I don’t mind an occasional revisit, but a core team member? Rick, I hope you know what you are doing. And a team that has Deadpool and Fantomex might make my head explode, so I hope at least one of those two ain’t true.

  24. Avatar photo whitespyder9 says:
    April 27, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    Ah I didn’t think of Fantomex! I like that idea. Also, I’m pretty sure that Angel, Colossus, and Emma are gonna make it since they’re all on the cover of the new ongoing X-Men #1 in July.

  25. Avatar photo vadamowens says:
    April 27, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    @slock well read it dammit!!!;)

  26. Avatar photo BizDaddy says:
    April 28, 2010 at 10:27 am

    @ deccampo – When I first looked at it I took it for granted that it was Angel as well, but looking at it closer I think it may be Mimic

  27. Avatar photo twistedkaijuu07 says:
    April 28, 2010 at 11:16 am

    the elf’s death is a product of one being a long standing character who has weight and no one doing anything with him at the moment so his death will have an impact but not affect any of their stories. Kurt also has been made completely redundant with other more poweful teleporters including Cloak(no long on the team), Pixie, Magik and Ariel(dead)

  28. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 28, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    Just saw the first page and laughed my ass off at the layout for that first panel.

    Magnet>>>Utopia

  29. Avatar photo cutty says:
    April 28, 2010 at 2:48 pm

    That’s the best comic I’ve read all year. 

  30. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 28, 2010 at 3:55 pm

    The death was handled rather well. I hate that he had to die in order to add weight and consequence to the story, but I like they way it was done.

    Overall, a great issue.

  31. Avatar photo PimpToxie says:
    April 28, 2010 at 7:43 pm

    There is something in my eye….

     

    This issue was fantastic.  The artwork was beautiful and Second Coming continues to impress me.
    Cannot recommend this book enough.  A MUST BUY for any past or present X-Fan.

  32. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    April 28, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    I’m so glad that Mike Choi drew this issue. I’m one of the biggest fans of his art style, and to see his art depict this extremely pivotal issue was a real treat. I was a big fan of this issue, even though I am quite sad that one of…nay…my favorite X-Man got the axe.

  33. Avatar photo skeets says:
    April 28, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    new it was coming but it was still well done. not sure i’m ok with it though…

  34. Avatar photo j206 says:
    April 28, 2010 at 10:44 pm

    This book is so much better when you can actually tell what is going on. Choi’s art is a huge improvement over the dark muddy look from before.

    Gut punch at the end. Loved the page at the end with Wolverine saying who it was and the panel of his claws with the blood dripping down. This event just got kicked into gear.

     

  35. Avatar photo greendart32 says:
    April 28, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    R.I.P Kurt Wagner

  36. Avatar photo rift1128 says:
    April 28, 2010 at 11:35 pm

    Loved this issue…

  37. Avatar photo Slockhart says:
    April 28, 2010 at 11:53 pm

    I kinda thought he went out like a bitch…  The more I think about it, I guess he didn’t. Still, it didn’t serve any purpose to the plot.  Wolverine’s reaction was the best part of the issue by far.

    So… is that Deadpool on the new roster?  Oh god 🙁 

  38. Avatar photo Mangaman says:
    April 29, 2010 at 5:08 am

    YES! KNEW IT!

    I’m so good at the "guess what happens" game in the X-universe. I like that, predictable is where I want this Universe to stay, after all it’s kept me happy since after Grant Morrison’s run.

  39. Avatar photo AquaPimp82 says:
    April 29, 2010 at 6:24 am

    Saw this coming a mile away but damn does it suck. R.I.P. Kurt

  40. Avatar photo JesTr says:
    April 29, 2010 at 9:21 am

    It sucks that Kurt was killed but I can’t say I’m surprised. Their was a lot of speculation it was going to be him, hell read most of the post in this thread. Kurt even asked why the team needs two teleporters with him and Pixie. That also has me wondering if Rogue still has Nightcrawlers powers?

  41. Avatar photo Selfstyler says:
    April 29, 2010 at 11:31 am

    This was an absolutely incredible issue by all involved – stunning art and colour, great pacing and writing – the three panel page with Cyclops, the retracting claws and Wolverine realising which one of their number hadn’t made it back was stunning.  Second time in as many weeks (thanks, Brave & The Bold) I’ve had tears in my eyes.

  42. Avatar photo cutty says:
    April 29, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    I thought the interaction between he and Hope was phenominal in his last few panels.  Very heroic way to go

  43. Avatar photo Askanison says:
    April 29, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO he isnt dead.  Next issue Elixer will bring him back some how and he will die inastead of Kurt.  Im going to go cry myself to sleep now.

     

  44. Avatar photo XManRyan says:
    April 29, 2010 at 5:17 pm

    @ Askanison

    Sorry man Elixer can not bring people back from the dead. Although if Elixer was there while Kurt had his last breaths, he would have healed him.

  45. Avatar photo XManRyan says:
    April 29, 2010 at 5:29 pm

    @ drakedangerz

    I absolutely agree with ya. First two pages were okay here are Cyclops, Namor, and Emma on Utopia, Bobby Drake and Megan Gwyn are in the same place on Utopia, and Magneto is in a comma with no one accompanying him by his bedside hahahahaaa. What the heck is up with Domino and Vanisher? Are they a couple now?

  46. Avatar photo AlanRob says:
    April 29, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    @XManRyan   Cyclops ordered both of the to go to SAn Francisco and await orders.  I think it happened in the Second Coming One-Shot.  

    I am much more concerned with who the hearse is for in the X-Factor panel.  I know Rictor got shot in #204 but he is walking around and talking a few pages later.

  47. Avatar photo AlanRob says:
    April 29, 2010 at 9:07 pm

    Not to mention Layla’s new codename. Butterfly. WTF?

  48. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    April 29, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    @AlanRob: Not new. Layla had that codename since X-Factor #5 or 6. She doesnt really go by it too much though.

  49. Avatar photo AlanRob says:
    April 29, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    @comicBookchris  Really?  I had no idea. I didnt start reading X-Factor until Messiah Complex. The trades are in my stack. Guess its time to get to it. Thanks!

  50. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    April 30, 2010 at 12:32 am

    Kurt’s father is a demon… there are always loopholes

  51. Avatar photo theswordisdrawn says:
    April 30, 2010 at 7:47 am

    Angry! Angry! Really frickin’ Angry!

    Just because Fraction hasn’t had a clue what to do with the guy, doesn’t mean that he should be killed off. This is just like Lobdell and Colosus, all over again.

    What a waste.

  52. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 30, 2010 at 9:33 am

    @theswordisdrawn-Why would you blame Fraction for killing him? It was more than likely an editorial decision. Plus Kyle and Yost wrote this chapter.

  53. Avatar photo ColMichaelRossi says:
    April 30, 2010 at 10:34 am

    Here’s my theory: Remeber how Illyana disappeared a few issues ago? And someone mentioned above that Nightcrawler is half demon. Kurt’s in Limbo where he’ll team-up with Illyana to escape, possibly with Colossos’ help.

     

    That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Not that I <sniff> miss Nightcrawler or anything…

  54. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 30, 2010 at 12:46 pm

    @ColMichaelRossi-The upcoming book called X-Men Second Coming Revelations Hellbound (horrible title) will address the team that is being sent to bring Ilyana back home.

  55. Avatar photo s1lentslayer says:
    April 30, 2010 at 9:08 pm

    Did I miss why only Bastion’s arm got teleported and not his whole body?

  56. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    April 30, 2010 at 9:16 pm

    yeah, I’m not saying we’re seeing Kurt back in this crossover.  but I’m guessing the half-demon thing plays into his eventual return.

  57. Avatar photo captbastrd says:
    May 1, 2010 at 5:30 am

    When Kurt was hit with a laser-y blast, I thought, "Great, he’s getting shot… that’s how he dies… pfft!!" Then, as intended, I’m sure, I thought Rogue would be the one to die. Perhaps due to the fact that I’ve not read anything w/ Rogue in years (if… ever?). Then it happened and I did a Jack Donaghy 5 stages of grief in 5 seconds and decided that his death was very much done tastefully. It wasn’t some obligatory death like Loeb surely did in his bullshit Ultimatum; this was a fine death. He died saving Hope, he died an interesting death, and he left a corpse with a robot hand sticking out of it. I think this was a great send off to one of my favorite X-Men… I just wish he didn’t have to go.

  58. Avatar photo cutty says:
    May 1, 2010 at 11:51 am

    @captbastrd – If you want some good Rogue, go back and read Mike Carey’s X-MEN run pre-Messiah Complex, #188-200.  The best the character’s ever been; there’s a very unique thread there for Rogue in #199 that Carey never re-visited.  I’m hoping he does eventually, could be some very interesting stuff.

  59. Avatar photo rwpos says:
    May 2, 2010 at 12:10 am

    In the context of an ongoing “soap opera” it makes little sense to casually “kill” a long standing character when you’ve run out of story ideas for him. It’s more sensible to write him out of current stories and preserve him until a writer with new ideas comes along to put the developed property back in play with good use. These days I feel that comic companies have too casually taken to “killing” the characters that their customers have invested in simply to create a cheap thrill for a transient story moment, in lieu of challenging their writers to do a better job of finding new ways to delight the audience. Few “big-death-stories” really feel that big anymore, and while I enjoyed this comic the death just felt flat, formulaic, and obvious to me.

  60. Avatar photo BornIn1142 says:
    May 2, 2010 at 10:06 am

    @ rwpos

    Though I liked how the death was pulled off myself, I couldn’t agree with you more in general. Kyle and Yost especially have been far too prone to this over the years.

  61. Avatar photo cutty says:
    May 2, 2010 at 10:43 am

    @bornin – not really.  they’ve killed off a lot of the kids, but that was more of a house cleaning type of deal when they took over the book.  Nothing wrong with that with such a bloated cast, especially considering how well it was done.  Stryker’s attack on the school was a landmark story

  62. Avatar photo rwpos says:
    May 2, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    With the Young X-Men they were new, still-in-development characters that were being killed in what felt like an “organic” evolution of the story. More like the way we see characters die “in context” in The Walking Dead all of the time. I think this was a lot different from those stories. Cross over “Events” (see Blackest Night and Seige for more great current examples) seem the most guilty of these pointless and frustrating abuses.

  63. Avatar photo cutty says:
    May 2, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    I wouldn’t call Kurt’s death pointless.  I got pretty emotional and that rarely happens with a comic.  It was very powerful stuff and extremely well executed, but definately not pointless.

  64. Avatar photo horrorofsorts says:
    May 2, 2010 at 12:58 pm

    I barely read any X-Men titles, to be honest I only jumped on with Second Coming #1 and I felt the impact of Kurt’s death

  65. Avatar photo rwpos says:
    May 2, 2010 at 2:27 pm

    I agree 100% that the story was well written and Kurt’s role and sacrifice well done. My response was tainted by the fact that Nightcrawler is rarely used any more and this was first time in a long time any writer bothered to find something imoportant to do with him, and it ended up being to kill himself. It served this one story well enough but feels very short sighted, considering that a similar effect could have been achieved through other narrative means. Also, the increasingly frequent use of currently out of favor characters as cannon fodder to boost the so called impact of events is very annoying to me. Nearly all event marketing boils down to “You won’t believe who dies this issue!” and that’s what I’m responding to negatively here as much as anything.

  66. Avatar photo theswordisdrawn says:
    May 2, 2010 at 8:28 pm

    For me, in all honesty, Nightcrawler died when Excalibur was cancelled in 1998.

    As with Kitty Pryde and Colossus while they may have returned to the X-Men for that year’s Anniversary Event while they returned in form none of them truly returned in character.

    Up until 1998 Nightcrawler was a strong, confident leader figure, who had worked his way up to running an international team. He still had his faith, sure, but he was a swashbuckling, womanising, fun guy. His Christian beliefs were there, but not i such a lazy way as that the character was defined by them. He was a competent veteran hero, who while not in favour of killing was aware that sometimes a line had to be crossed if the enemy raised the stakes, and it was for the greater good. He let Pete Wisdom take care of that. If you read the culmination of the Black Air arc around Excalibur #100 Kurt is quite specific upon taking that stance. This, to me, is why his sudden shock at the way X-Force work, in Second Coming, makes so little sense – and kind of rings of hypocrisy.

    That kind of Nightcrawler is interesting to read. That kind of Nightcrawler acknowledged 10 years of character development. That kind of Nightcrawler would be a credit to any team he was placed on.

    But it’s not the Nightcrawler we’ve been offered in the X-Books for the past 11+ years. He’s not been used a lot during that time. When he has he’s been seriously downgraded in terms of personality, ability and personal strength of character.

    I remember reading Matt Fraction’s first use of Nightcrawler in one of the many anthology series books Marvel have put out in recent years. He was tracking down Scalphunter after Messiah Complex. Only in this story Fraction wrote him as an evangelical priest, complete with cod rhetoric. When I heard that Fraction had plans to use him in his Uncanny run, to be honest, I groaned. Letting Christianity define Kurt is lazy writing. Nightcrawler is a far more complex character and if you limit him be going down that road you’re only doing one thing.

    Making him expendable.

    What narks me the most, though, is that Peter David has requested Nightcrawler for X-Factor in recent years. Dan Slott wanted him for Mighty Avengers line-up. Both were told no. Because there were plans for him.

    If these were the plan in question – well, what a huge waste. 

  67. Avatar photo rwpos says:
    May 2, 2010 at 9:38 pm

    @theswordisdrawn – Amen.  I couldn’t agree with you more.

  68. Avatar photo glwarm76 says:
    May 3, 2010 at 12:41 am

    Best cross-over since Sinestro Corps. Yeah I said it because its the dam truth.

  69. Avatar photo cutty says:
    May 3, 2010 at 9:16 am

    @glwarm76 – couldn’t agree more.  So far, this x-over really reminds me of Mutant Massacre – there’s a real level of tension and it seems like the X-Men are legitimately outmatched

    On Kurt, we’re going to see the ramifications now and I think it’s going to add a great component to the story.  I’d imagine Wolverine’s gonna be kind of William Wallace after his wife was murdered.  I don’t mind writers killing off a major character as long as it doesn’t feel cheap and it’s handled well.  I don’t think Kurt’s death was a gimmick, I think its powerful storytelling

  70. Avatar photo JimBilly4 says:
    May 5, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    The story is only half over, so we will see about the gimick vs. powerful storytelling aspect. So far it at least fits into the story well. Hope is a messianic figure, so it does seem fitting the team member with the most faith delivered her unto his people, kind of a Moses not getting to the promised land thing. And the team under Scott and Emma has definitely lost sight of the dream, putting together what was essential a Death Squad. There are several members of the old guard that would likely be outraged by this (Beast, obviously) but Kurt would have been up there near the top of the list. To lose him just as the depths the X-men have descended to is revealed wil have serious reverberations. And storywise a depth of this magnitude is likely to further push the mutants to the dark side, something possibly required within the story.

    So while I agree a character death is generally a cheap, easy shocker I am willing to wait and at least see this story pan out. No major X-character has managed to stay dead and I don’t expect Kurt will be any different. I think the demon angle the most likely one. Hey, anyone else notice his final jump was ridiculously farther than he had ever achieved before and it even looked different (a flash of light, not smoke).  A final deathbed accomplishment, or a sign that whenever Nightcrawler returns he might up his teleporting game?

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