Customer Reviews

X-Force, Vol. 2: Old Ghosts

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although there is quite a lot of good stuff going on with the X-Men/mutant books right now, X-Force is without a doubt the best of the best of the current X-books. X-Force is basically the X-Men's black-ops hit squad, operating in secret from the other X-Men to take out the greatest threats to mutant-kind by any means necessary. The storyline is downright addictive, and the artwork (computer-generated) is truly sublime.

Virtually every anti-mutant hatemonger from the past, present and future has united in a grand scheme to exterminate the few remaining mutants on earth. This conspiracy seeks to add a lethal biological weapon to their already impressive arsenal of social and political influence, money and lethal technology to further their mission of genocide. As if this wasn't a big enough threat for X-Force to tackle, the team is wracked with internal problems as well as now having to shift their attention from the anti-mutant conspiracy to threats brought about from multiple mutant foes from the X-Men's past, not to mention the giant demonic bear rampaging across the lands once inhabited by James Proudstar's tribe.

I must admit, when I first saw volume one of this series I brushed it off as just another X-Men spin-off that would fade in time. However when I thumbed through it on a later visit to the comic book store I was intrigued, and before long I was absolutely infatuated with the ingenious, gripping storyline and the astonishing artwork. I loved it so much I got on line and preordered this, the 2nd volume, as soon as I had finished the first. However, X-Force is very graphic with the ultra-violence and definitely NOT FOR KIDS!

Somewhere Charles Xavier is spinning around in his grave. Or to be more accurate, since the old prof is still breathin', he's spinning in his wheelchair. Or he would if he ever catches a whiff of what Cyclops has been up to, what with Scott Summers effing around with Xavier's big shiny dream of racial harmony between man and mutant. Things haven't gotten any rosier for mutants in the 616. There are threats to mutants out there that colorful superheroics simply won't fix, and so Cyclops adapts by re-establishing X-Force, and this is a meaner, deadlier incarnation. Tapping Wolverine as field commander, X-Force is Cyclops' black ops kill team, sent out to do the dirty work that the X-Men could never do. In fact, part of the mission statement is that the X-Men could never know about X-Force, not even Summers' telepathic girlfriend Emma Frost.

What does it say about me that I vastly prefer this darker and more savage bunch of mutants over the other X-Men teams? X-Force assembles the X-Men's most accomplished and relentless trackers and killers, and so you immediately think of Wolverine and X-23. But it's bloody brilliant of Kyle and Yost to throw in Warren Worthington in the mix, that goody-goody, wishy washy, wussy rich playboy. But the writers return Warren to his badasss ways, back to being the blue-skinned, metal razor-winged Archangel, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. Back in the day, Warren in this guise became my favorite X-Man, and it's a thrill seeing him like this again, driven psychotic with the need to test everyone to see if they're fit to survive (and, yes, this homicidal urge extends to his teammates). Warpath is another member, except that in this arc he's off on his own, visiting his brother's grave and fighting off the Demon Bear, and it's probably good (and awfully convenient) that the Ghost Rider stops by, because Warpath was en route to being walloped into bloody Apache pulp. Rahne Sinclair, a.k.a. Wolfsbane, is also in the picture, although she's a member more by virtue of just being around. No surprise that Wolfsbane doesn't really have the proper mindset for the violent wetworks stuff that X-Force gets into.

It's bemusing that Logan would end up being the steadiest voice of reason in this bunch. Everyone else is pretty much too messed up in the head. X-FORCE Vol. 2: OLD GHOSTS collects issues #7-11, and we get an early sense of the team dynamics as Wolfsbane (brainwashed) and Archangel (homicidal) are both triggered into a murderous rage and try to off each other. Brilliant. Meanwhile, Cyclops has a new mission for the team, and off they go hunting down a dodgy character called the Vanisher. The Vanisher is a teleporter who had just stolen a vial of the Legacy Virus, and it's a signpost of how bent this team is that the Vanisher soon becomes its newest member. Right after Domino becomes its newest member. But while Domino pretty much comfortably slips into membership, the Vanisher has to be blackmailed, to the tune of an inoperable tumor induced in his brain, thanks to Elixir. That is friggin' hard-core, yo.

Somewhere in the background, that mutant hating cyborg Bastion is working it, having revived some of the X-Men's dead enemies (Cameron Hodge, Graydon Creed, etc.). In issue #11, setting the stage for the then upcoming Necrosha saga, we get the dark origin of Eli Bard and we see just how far back he goes with Selene.

The action is brutal as our guys treat clones of the Marauders like veggies, chopping and slicing and dicing and pretty much reducing places into blood-soaked abattoirs. Writers Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost must have had a blast writing this series and playing with these hard mo-fos. It's fascinating to see X-Force performing with the safety off, and I get a kick out of Domino's being impressed with how deadly this new team is and her quick reflections on Warren and Laura (and, by the way, X-23 is all kinds of awesome). There are even moments of dark humor peppered in, and perhaps the most amusing bit is the integration of the painting of The Scream over Elixir's head as Laura casually tells him that Cyclop's next logical move is to waste him (because Elixir can't keep a secret). The art, by the way, is lovely, courtesy of Mike Choi, Alina Urusov, and Clayton Crain. Crain is still champion at crafting muddled but beautiful artwork. I don't know that X-FORCE is the best mutant comic book going around currently, but it surely presents the most irresistible premise. Off come the kid gloves, uptight morality can go hang.

x-force is my personal favorite new series. love every character on the team, love seeing cyclops and wolverine butt heads constantly over following duty vs following honor. Loved the artwork by clayton crain in the earlier vol, for this one they brought on the team of choi and oback which i've been a fan of since target X23. Really slick panels with great details. Love watching the angel's fight with turning into the archangel and wanting to kill everyone (to see who's "strong" or "weak"). great vol highly recommend reading it.

The new X-Force, is a well writen dark story encompassing a wide range of adult issues. Topics like genocide, torture and abuse find a home in the usually family friendly Marvel Universe, targeting an adult audience by adding adult themes to fan favorites. X-Force exists in a world much more like our own, filled with moral choices and human weakness, the characters are forced to compromise between their ideals and the savage realities of hate and intolerance.

The idea of this book--that the X-Men, dedicated to bridging human-mutant relations and creating peace decide to form a squad of assassins (that'll really make humans trust them!)--never made sense. However, as many people who disliked the idea as much as me were won over by what they called "tight writing", I decided I'd give the book a shot too.

I'm not seeing the appeal.

For a start, the book's plot runs on the theory that our heroes are very, very stupid. X-Force knows they can't trust the Vanisher, a long-time villain--so they ask for his help on a mission, and surprise! He betrays them and a big action scene results. They know their teammate Angel is emotionally unstable--so they put him in a stressful position and surprise! He snaps and big action scene results. They know their teammate Wolfsbane is programmed to kill a friend of theirs--so they put her face to face with her target with inadequate protection and surprise! She tries to kill him and a big action scene results.

Notice a pattern?

Meanwhile, there's no characterization to help the silly, contrived story along. Aside from moments of, "Waah, I'm so lonely--oh look, a bad guy to beat up!" and "Hey, I like killing more than I thought I would--oh look, a bad guy to beat up!" there's nothing to distinguish one character from another. They're all boring and colorless, interchangeable with any Action Movie Hero(tm). How Kyle and Yost took some of the most interesting characters in the Marvel Universe and made them into cardboard, I'm sure I don't know. In fact, the story goes out of its way to avoid making the characters interesting. A scene of Warpath going home to talk to his dead brother's spirit turns into...him beating a bad guy up. We never get a moment of talking, except about beating the bad guy up.

To sum up: this book is pointless, boring, and badly written, a series of silly coincidences strung together to leap to the next action scene. I'm giving it two stars because the art is actually quite lovely. I just don't care enough about the book as a whole to appreciate it.

This was great continuation of the story of vol. 1. Love X-23 and Wolverine. I believe they are the heart of the team even though X-23 has to struggle with her past. Reading about X-23 and what she goes through is similar to Wolverine in a way. Great action from cover to cover.

I want more comics like this from Marvel. Dark and interesting, full of back history and action. Too bad Yost and Kyle's run ends during Second Coming. Choi and Oback make one heck of an art team.

This book slowly moves the overall plotline along but that only really happens in the last chapter. The rest of the book is about the Legacy Virus and it just seems like a pointless plot device to have a fight with clones of the Marauders which I was not impressed with at all. The art is a good bit better and good seeing the badass Archangel coming back. It's a decent enough book but it just seems as though this series isn't reaching its potential.

I'm an X-Men fan from the 90s and I heard this book would be perfect for me. Wow, that couldn't be more wrong. There was little to no exposition so I was lost for huge chunks of the book. New readers, like myself, even though I do have some knowledge of the charcaters involved, are in for some head scratching. The art is too dark and makes it hard to determine exactly who and what is in each panel. Yes, grim thinkgs take place in the book, but the art can't be to hard to figure out what is happening. Overall, a big disappointment.

Love it...This is hardcore and I think it's just awesome. Definitly pick this up if your a fan of x-men or MAX Comics. Even though this book is not under the MAX brand it is really close. Great evolving story line that just keeps getting better.