Uncanny X-Force

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force 1-3

A placeholder story that isn’t fun enough to merit its existence.  (A fanatic plans to kill a bunch of people with a huge bomb. X-Force has to stop him, blah blah blah.)  Simone Bianchi’s art isn’t bad, but not good enough to keep around.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Uncanny X-Force 10-19

The Dark Angel Saga is officially eight issues long, but the issues around it read as unofficial bookends.  It’s a long arc. Warren Worthington III finally goes full evil as his Archangel persona completely takes over, almost twenty-five years after Apocalypse implanted those metal wings and turned his skin blue.  X-Force, desperate for answers, enlists the AoA Beast in his capacity as Apocalypse expert. He takes them to the AoA universe (apparently he has a portal for it) to track down the goober that’ll save Warren. (I just watched Into the Spider-Verse again last night.  Going to see if “goober” becomes a permanent replacement for “McGuffin.”)   The team meets up with the remaining AoA X-Men and Wolverine gets thrown out of sorts after meeting the alternate Jean Grey.  Fight fight fight, and X-Force returns to their reality with the goober. Upon their return, they’re ambushed by Dark Beast, Warren, and the Horsemen from earlier in the run.  Also, Jerome Opena returns for five more issues!

Nice showdown setup.

Love Psylocke kicking ass.

The screaming bullet's a cool touch.

More fight fight fight as Archangel enacts his plan to reboot evolution on Earth (or something).  The AoA X-Men show up to help, Fantomex unleashes Kid Apocalypse to help, and Psylocke end up killing Warren with the goober.  A lot of stuff doesn’t make sense - How did AoA Blob and Iceman make it to the 616 universe? How did Warren get resurrected at the end with no memories?  (Probably something to do with the goober.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Uncanny X-Force 20-24

From there, Remender pulls the team into the Otherworld arc, where Captain Britain and his crew put Fantomex on trial for killing the former Kid Apocalypse.  (Apparently he gets no points for cloning a brand new replacement to atone for the murder. The motivations for that are also confusing - Fantomex raises this kid to prove that nurture can create a hero out of him, but he expressly killed Apocalypse in the first issues because he believed the nature to be too strong to make that child redeemable.  Don’t get it.)

Anyway, lots more fighting in Otherworld, which as far as I can tell is Marvel’s version of DC’s Gemworld, a fantasy-type place that’s got bright colors and an aesthetic that leaves me cold.  It’s around here that I’m starting to lose patience with the title. All the fighting would be fine if the reasons behind it weren’t so lackluster. Though thinking more about it, it’s a general bad reaction to Remender’s writing.  It’s never resonated with me in any positive way. It leaves me feeling muddled and blech inside, like I’ve been slogging through emotional mud. The only thing that got me this far is the Opena art. On this story, new artist Greg Tocchini isn’t bad, but he’s not enough to tip the scales.  Depending on how the rest of the series goes, the Otherworld saga may not make the cut.

For all my bitching, I do like how the story ends.  Psylocke realizes that Jamie Braddock, her brother, must die in order to save the Omniverse.  When Captain Britain can’t bring himself to do it, Psylocke mind controls him into performing the assassination.  Their final exchange pokes a neat hole into Brian’s hollow journey on the high road.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Disliked