X-Force, New Warriors

X-Force 19-33

New Warriors 45-46

It has to be the art with Fabian Nicieza’s X-Force.  I like it significantly better when Greg Capullo is the artist.  The run from issue 15 to 25 is tons of fun, then immediately plummets in quality when Mat Broome and Tony Daniel start alternating pencilling duty.  

Is there anything about the writing that changed?  I did notice a change in the team dynamics around issue 14.  After Cable is separated from the team, X-Force starts behaving a lot more like a family.  They’re a lot more familiar with each other and they gel better as a team. Cannonball almost immediately excels in the leadership position, calling out strategies at the start of battles and making all the tough decisions.  Once Cable returns in issue 25, he literally and figuratively embraces this family idea as well, a massive shift from his Rob Liefeld days.

It’s a direction that makes sense - A team with so much history (the remaining New Mutants) that spends all that time together under stress (along with the new members) would naturally become a lot more tightly knit.  (Look at Easy Company from Band of Brothers.)  

They've all been through so much together.

The shift comes with the arrival of Capullo, then seems to lose its way again with his departure.  During his stay, things felt very focused - The team went through the X-Cutioner’s Song and formally split from the X-Men in a very nice regrouping issue 19.  They fight SHIELD on Graymalkin, rescue some of their teammates from the Externals, then wrap things up with the return of Cable and an encounter with Cable. All of it seems to happen over the course of 3 days, with one adventure flowing immediately to the next.  (They even comment on the lack of rest.) Implausibility aside, it all fits together in an elegant manner. And it looks spectacular. Despite the obvious improvements to his craft as Capullo’s career continued, this is still my favorite work from his portfolio. There’s nothing flashy in these pages, it’s just good.  

Okay, the costumes haven't aged well.  But the drawing is top notch.

OMG Shatterstar sword consistency!!!

Okay, one minor slip up in the first panel.  But still, so much better!

Great use of perspective.

I like how Rictor has a consistent "ready for action" stance with his hands.

Don't know what's up with this bondage posing.

Love the color scheme on Domino's costume.

And she beat Kate Bishop on hip holes by 25 years.

Magneto does the same thing to Wolverine later in the crossover, both are gruesomely memorable.

Greg Capullo is why I have a crush on Siryn.

Things get a lot less interesting once Broome and Daniel take over.  Aside from a fun Shatterstar/X-Treme two-parter, everything else is completely forgettable.  I’m considering cutting a bunch of these from my collection depending on how the next batch of issues go - if it’s a minor blip, I’ll keep them to have a contiguous run.  If much more of it sucks, I’ll be saying goodbye.

I've always been a fan of Adam-X's look, backwards baseball cap and all.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes for 19-25, No for the rest.

Would read again: Yes for 19-25, 29-30.  No for the rest

Rating: Pretty good for 19-25, Nice for 29-30, Boring for the rest