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By Ben Morse
Beginning this May in UNCANNY X-FORCE #25, Wolverine’s clandestine team will once again see the consequences of their past actions come back to haunt them as the “Final Execution” storyline ties together loose threads from the entire series and introduce deadly new foes.
Helping kick off this pivotal arc, artist Mike McKone, no stranger to mutants with his work on EXILES and ASTONISHING X-MEN, and excited to dive into the grimy world of X-Force.
“[Editor] Nick Lowe took pity on me,” McKone jokes in regards to how he landed the gig. “After my ASTONISHING X-MEN arc wrapped up, Nick asked if I’d be interested in working with [writer] Rick [Remender] on UNCANNY X-FORCE. Escaping the shackles of my own stupidity for a moment, I said yes.”
McKone’s story will focus on Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Deadpool as they encounter the Omega Clan, a fresh threat cooked up from the same recipe as Omega Red—with some modifications. The artist enjoyed working with all the characters in the X-Force toy box, but one most of all:
“Probably Wolverine,” he says, when asked who among the cast he took to most. “I tend to have fun with grumpier characters and Logan is nothing if not a sourpuss.”
In addition to Remender, McKone also collaborated series colorist Dean White on the story. With an impressive rotation of artists that has included Jerome Opena, Esad Ribic and most recently Greg Tocchini, Remender and White have managed to maintain a narrative and visual continuity for UNCANNY X-FORCE.
“Working with Rick and Dean has been wonderful,” touts McKone. “Rick’s script was brimful of fresh ideas and spot on character moments so that was a joy. I’m just beginning to see what Dean has been doing with my inks and his work here, as elsewhere, is just beautiful.”
Besides the Omega Clan, McKone got to add another footnote to X-Force lore in designing the unique locale where the story takes place.
“The main location in the issue is a really fun idea of Rick’s,” he says. “It’s a huge, floating mall, hidden in a cloud, where assassins can be bought and traded. It’s a great example, I think, of why this series has struck such a chord with readers: huge playful ideas, writ on a giant canvas with truly wonderful characterization. I hope I can do it again.”
UNCANNY X-FORCE #25 will be available on May 9
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