X-Force

X-Force 34, 37, 39-43

Well, more of it sucked, so I will indeed be excising a good chunk of the X-Force issues that come between the Greg Capullo and Adam Pollina runs.  Tony Daniel, while not sucking, hasn’t gotten good yet. He isn’t strong enough to carry Nicieza, who’s really running out of steam on the tail end of his tenure on this book.  His issues are tons of exposition with some tired action scenes tossed in from time to time - Rictor talks about his family in issue 34. Gideon and Absalom talk about the Externals in 37.  Prosh (The Professor/Ship AI given physical form) talks about his existence in issue 39. (This one I’m keeping, it’s not too bad, and even slightly moving.) Thornn and Feral bemoan their tragic childhoods in an interminable two-parter.  Warpath questions his place on the team in 42, and things finally wrap up in 43 before the Age of Apocalypse kicks off. (Some nonsense about Sunspot being Reignfire, a stupidity that Jeph Loeb promptly dismisses at the start of his run an issue later.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No (Yes for 39)

Rating: Boring (Fine for 39.  Cutting everything but.)

X-Force 44-48, 50, 52-56

Ah, the Loeb/Pollina X-Force.  I have really fond memories of this time, mainly on the strength of Pollina’s one-of-a-kind pencils.  His sinewy, slightly distorted figures greatly appeal to me.

They’re beautifully grotesque (or grotesquely beautiful), and though I stopped buying before Pollina stopped drawing, I’m working on collecting his full run.  I don’t know how much I have left to go, this read will most likely renew my chase. Past me has already ripped any non-Pollina issues out of my archives, hence any gaps after issue 44.  

Loeb starts things off nicely with a strong “taking stock” quiet issue.  He dispenses with the Reignfire nonsense, moves Sam over to the X-Men, gets rid of Rictor (reinforcing speculation about Shatterstar’s sexuality) and adds Caliban for some odd reason.  He also starts the Boomer/Sabretooth subplot that runs through the next handful of issues. (I’m not really a fan of it, Tabitha’s acts pretty stupidly about it. But it leads to her Meltdown transition, which leads to one of my favorite full-page shots ever, so it isn’t a total waste of space.)

Pollina loves drawing Mucha backgrounds in his romance shots:

La Trappistine

And Domino in a deep lunge:

Don't see how this is an effective battle pose.

Nicieza added a new feeling of team chemistry and competence during his Capullo issues.  Loeb now levels X-Force up to the next tier, giving them an added efficiency and ability to their effectiveness in combat.  They’ve been together long enough to fight extremely well together, living up to their moniker as a force to be reckoned with.  It’s best exemplified by their assault on the SHIELD Helicarrier in issue 55.

They're everywhere!

The art made these issues a joy to read, and the stories ain’t bad either.  I clearly ran out of patience at some point, but I can’t remember why. I suppose I’ll be finding out soon enough.  

Some other pages I loved:

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good