Issue(s): Warheads #4, Warheads #5
Cover Date: Sep-Oct 92
Title: "War worlds" / "Cat and mouse"
Credits:
Nick Vince - Writer
David Taylor / Stuart Jennett - Penciler
Cam Smith / Stuart Jennett - Inker
Garry Russell - Assistant Editor
John Freeman - Editor

Review/plot:
The Warheads' latest jump brings them to a world where a war is being fought between remoted controlled mecha units.

There's a little bit of a mystery because the people that the Warheads initially think are controlling the mechas are really hooked up to virtual reality helmets showing "pseudo war", and some are dead.

It turns out that this is all a scheme by the world's government to keep everyone in a perpetual war footing.

Of course, this is all of secondary concern to the Warheads, who are just there to collect technology for Mys-Tech. But they do manage to stop the war machines before they leave.

When the Warheads get back to the Mys-Tech base, we see a change in Mr. Grant now that he's been possessed by that demon shadow.

Meanwhile, during a training session, Feral accidentally kicks Shatterstar through a portal that has suddenly opened up.

The portal was opened thanks to the arcane symbols held together incorrectly and by bubble gum, as pointed out by Master Key. This was all part of an effort to automate the opening of portals by computer. And they've found that for the first time ever, they can trace the opening of a portal from one end to the other. The portal that opened up at X-Force's base in the Adirondacks ends in Glasgow. Warheads are sent to Glasgow to investigate. They find X-Force.

They get into a brief fight, but Misha zaps the Warheads away with her Voice.

And then things get weird.

Like, really weird.

Lady, you already ride around on a giant cat and turn people's weapons into lizards. Do you also have to have faces growing out of your neck?

The cat lady uses telepathy to read Stacy Arnheim's mind, and we see a bit from her childhood where she was playing with a Ouija board that suddenly floated up and killed her father. Somehow, that weakens the cat lady, so she doesn't eat her female prisoners yet.

Once you know that the American super-hero scenes are designed to be cut out, it's hard to un-see that. So the Warheads' brief fight with X-Force before Misha teleports them away seems really contrived, and the X-Force portion pointless. But at least they also get to fight giant cats.

And the cat lady even shows up again with the male members of the Warheads under her control.

But you can't help feel that this stuff isn't "really" part of the story.

Feral apparently has cat magic that she can use against the cats.

Unfortunately, cat lady takes it away from her.

She also turns the male X-Forcers into cat-men.

I don't know, maybe at this point the American hero stuff wasn't being stripped out, and this was part of the main story. It definitely should have been, because no one should be deprived of this.

While the cat lady is giving birth, the male Warheads recover, and they agree to join forces. Feral's cat eye lasers are unfortunately gone, but Col. Liger's gun has evolved to shoot eldritch energy, so he uses it to blast the cats. The gun gets more chatty after this, and it will be confirmed in the next story that it's gained sentience.

X-Force then go home, but not before Cable tries to recruit the Warheads for the war that's coming.

When they get back, Feral tries to see if the rest of X-Force have developed any empathy for how she has to struggle with her beastlike nature, but the answer there is a resounding, "No".

While the cat lady and the men were away, the female Warheads got away and studied the cat lady's spell books. And when cat lady gets back, Stacy uses a spell to destroy her "honeys".

The Warheads acquire a magic wand from the cat lady.

Misha is then able to use the Voice to teleport the Warheads home. The Voice also says that Stacy's latent magical abilities have been rejuvenated by these events.

And that's plenty of madness for one story. Next issue will involve Death's Head II.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: A footnote confirms that these events precede X-Force #11 (and they really take place before X-Force #6-10). Cable will reference these events in Motormouth and Killpower #6-8, so this takes place prior to that as well.

References:

• When Cable says that they need to go after Shatterstar, Cannonball snides that Cable wasn't so concerned when Sunspot left in New Mutants #99.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Hate to say this but...this story seems to make a better usage of Feral than CapWolf.

Serious Terry Gilliam vibes