X-Force #3 - Marvel

Ok, up to this point, the Purifiers have been a real pain in the ass. Well . . mostly to the X-Men . . but still, a pain none the less. Which is saying alot, considering that, from what I understand, William Stryker started up this little "movement" because he felt that it was his mission, as deemed by the Lord, to rid the world of the hellish influence of mutants. So he banded together a group of like-minded individuals and set out to create, basically, a new church. From there, it grew in to what it is today . . one of the largest, and most out-spoken, anti-mutant movements in the world. They stayed mostly under the X-Men's radar, until they blew up the school-bus full of mutant students. Well . . that, and an attack or 2 on the school. It seemed like they just got to the point where they didn't want to hide any more. But still, the X-Men never really went out of their way to do anything to them. Well . . X-Factor did send Rictor in undercover. But, by then, they were all involved in the whole Mutant Messiah thing. However, now they've broken in to SHIELD, and retrieved the head of Bastion. That's when Scott decided it was time to do something. He had Wolverine put together a harder, and more lethal, X-Force and sent them after them. The problem I see now is, while X-Force is making headway, at the same time the Purifiers seem to be putting together their own little strike-squad. The first step was Bastion. But now, they've gotten the Leaper Queen, whoever she is, they're going after Magus, they've dug up Creed, whom they seem intent on resurrecting, from a DC cemetery, and it sounds like they'd bring Stryker himself back to life if they could. At the end of the issue, we see that Bastion has taken all these people and infected them with the techno-organic virus that is Magus. His new "board of directors" consists of Graydon Creed, Donald Pierce, Stephen Lang, Revernd Stryker, the Leper Queen, Cameron Hodge and Bolivar Trask. All known mutant haters, and people who have gone to great lengths to try to surpress what they saw as an "outbreak". So the lesson we seem to be learning here is that if 2 opposable forces meet, and one has obvious superiority, innevitably the other will find a way to rise to the challenge. But, at the same time, there may be some conspiring going on within this group. It appears the Matthew Risman, the leader before Bastion came on board, is not ready to relinquish all power without at least trying some subterfuge. I'm not sure why, but when Bastion instructed Matthew and Reverend Craig to eliminate Rahne . . they said they did . . but obviously they haven't. She is in a weakened state . . they did do something to her, but . . they didn't kill her. However, they've told Bastion that she's been eliminated. Now X-Force has retrieved her, and they have her back at Warren's Aerie in Colorado. I guess they're going to try to get Elixir to heal her. But I thought Warren could do that too? I guess we'll have to wait until next issue to find out what the final verdict is. Actually, now that I think about it, she may not be alive . . she may just be infected with the virus also. Interesting! I like what Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost is doing with this story. Lots of intrigue, and action and drama. And obviously Clayton Crain's artwork is off the charts. I like the concept of this book and the characters. My only question is, after issue 6, when they come to some kind of resolution with the Purifiers, what will be the next threat they're pointed at? And the one after that? I'm just kind of worried about the longevity of the current line-up. But . . it's early. Probably to early to worry to much. So we'll just ride the ride, and see where we go from here. Enjoy!