Customer Reviews

X-Force Volume 2: Final Chapter TPB

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4 star:		(4)
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This graphic novel, which reprints X-Force #121-129 continues to follow the story of X-Force, a band of mutants more committed to pursuing their own celebrity than doing the right thing. The only possible exception is their tortured leader, the Orphan, who is often treated as an outsider because of his morals.

**The first few issues introduce us to Lacuna, a beautiful young mutant who has the ability to slip in and out of time, a talent she uses for some interesting effects.

**Next is X-Force's entry in the "Nuff Said" month when all issues were silent. The story focuses on Doop and is most amusing.

**Then is Edie's turn in the spotlight, pointing out just a few of the reasons that U-Go Girl might be like she is.

**The second half of the graphic novel is one long story arch that brings in issues from previous in the series and throws some new spins on them. These issues were also published after 9-11, and the government has done a few interesting and questionable things in the name of liberty.

This graphic introduces a lot of new characters, and kills quite a few off. Being a member of X-Force means that your pink slip is likely to be shrouded over your coffin. There's also a very interesting mix of member relationships formed and broken apart in here.

If you like this graphic, it's not the last in the series, the series name simply changes to X-Statix.

Recommended, but not for readers under 13.

So here's the problem I always had with the X-Men: They were feared and hated by the world they were sworn to protect. Okay, so that makes for good angst, but was it that realistic? These days, it seems to me that anybody with any sort of special power wouldn't be reviled, he'd be a celebrity! He'd get music videos and endorsements and his picture on a cereal box! He'd be... well... exactly what Peter Milligan and Mike Allred turned X-Force into.

Before they took over, this was just another militaristic X-Men clone. Under them, it became something different. These are mutant celebrities, brought together mainly to become famous and get rich. (Another reviewer said they're a government sponsored team -- he's totally wrong. They're a commercial outfit).

Somehow, in this setting, they've managed to tell great character stories about the cult of celebrity and what it means to be a hero. This series continued as X-Statix, and it's still just as good.

Picking up where New Beginnings left off, X-Force: The Final Chapter collects the final issues of the Peter Milligan/Mike Allred X-Force before it would be re-launched as X-Statix (which has sadly just ended). Continuing the idea of a commercial based mutant team brought together to pretty much make money, the group is joined by the appropriately named Dead Girl, and introduced to the Spike and Lacuna. The book is surprisingly action packed and Milligan's storytelling is simply awesome, and his Doop story is worth the price of admission alone. Those used to the other militaristic team X-Men books or the old X-Force books may have a hard time getting into Mike Allred's art or the sheer absurdity of the story, but it's sure worth a look, and once it would get re-launched as X-Statix would this become something really special.

At 46 of age and after quite an history of reading comics, I just recently came back to the MARVEL Universe and the work of the ALLREDS (husband and wife I've gathered) sure helped. The stories are very good (MILLIGAN) but the drawings and colors are something else if you are into the "ligne claire" (Hergé, Jacobs, Clerc, Benoit and the like) as much as into Stan LEE. Last, but not least, to this day, everything I've hunted (on Amazon, where else?) and read by the ALLREDS has been top.

includes issues #121-129, the last issues of x-force (they change their name to x-statix b/c of copyright issues). as much fun as the first TPB with similar, relevant satire about 21st century commercialization, PC tiptoing, and pop culture but also with a surprising amount of really great characterization and emotion. introduces the spike (who causes tension with the anarchist b/c they're both black), and lacuna, a possible new recruit. dead girl joins, and there's a climatic event in space involving convicts who have been mutated. #123 is a mini-masterpiece, as doop has a surreal mini-adventure in its head in the span of one second.

Well, if you read "New Beginnings" than you're already going to get this, and if you haven't then you really should read that first. In any case, this was a spectacular volume with enthralling plots, that don't switch between humor and drama, but maintain both at the same time.

yes [strange] celebs .you don't see those words used together very much. this is the story of a government funded mutant supergroup. they must cope with prejudice and celebrity and supervillans