X-Force - Sex and Violence #2 and #3 - Marvel

Don't get me wrong . . I loved this book. But . . it really was not much more than one big fight scene. The premise is . . basically, Domino had taken on a job for the Assassins Guild. Well . . to her credit, when she initially took the job . . she didn't know it was for the Guild. Anyways, as is usual for these types of missions . . she wasn't given all of the information. So when she goes to steal a shipment that belongs to the Hand . . thinking that it's guns, or drugs, or something . . she's surprised to find out that it's actually a shipment of young Asian girls. Well this crosses the line for even Domino's sensibilities, so . . she takes the truck, leaving her goons behind, and returns the girls to the nearest Japanese embassy. So now the Guild feels that she's betrayed them. And the Hand thinks that she's stolen from them. Also, along the way, she discovers another secret in the truck that she uses to spirit away the girls. She finds it loaded with money. About $240 million worth. Apparently this money belongs to the Guild. Although, I can't really imagine somebody leaving a truckload of money sitting around someplace. So . . knowing that she's got the Guild and the Hand after her . . she goes straight to the man that she thinks can best help her . . Wolverine. Needless to say, they work their way through the Hand and the Guild . . leaving many corpses in their wake. But it isn't until they actually get to the Bayou . . and confront Belladonna . . knowing that the Hand is right behind them . . that the rest of X-Force eventually gets involved. To Wolverine's credit though . . he tried to give Belladonna a choice. 'Here's the deal . . you leave us alone, and we let you live! And the money? It goes to charity . . all of it!' After watching them take on her own warriors, as well as the Hand's, Belladonna notices . . 'Wait a minute. You're not the X-Men. The X-Men don't kill.' Anyways, I thought it was all a bit predictable. I didn't feel like Craig Kyle or Christopher Yost introduced anything really new here. Basically, I felt, it was a story to keep X-Force busy until their new series starts. However, if you're an action and violence junkie . . this is the book for you. And there are a couple rather intimate scenes with Logan and Neena. Hence the name . . 'Sex & Violence'. You didn't think they put it there just to draw your attention? Did you? Anyways, to me it would've been just another average book except the artwork of Gabriele Dell'Otto was amazing. The covers are beautiful. So imagine another 24 pages of the same stuff in each issue. It was actually pretty sweet lookin'. So overall . . I liked it. This is a great bunch of characters. But I can't wait until the new series so we can see what Fantomex and Deadpool bring to this group. Not to mention Psylocke. I'm looking forward to it.

Wolverine #88 - Marvel

Again . . unfortunately, I didn't really like this book. First of all . . I think this whole Franken-Castle thing is a bit insane. I mean . . I can understand why Daken killed Frank . . I guess. But to think that someone went to the trouble of putting him back together? That part kind of stumps me. Anyways, for whatever reason . . they did. And now he's carrying on his mission looking like a reject from a Bela Lugosi movie. Or maybe a Terminator movie. And now, for some reason, he thinks he can hunt down and take on Daken. The guy who killed him and chopped him up. I don't see it happening. Daken and Frank duke it out for most of the issue, until their fight puts them in the way of a mother and child. Then we see a little bit of the old Frank shining through for a second. That's when he uses the distraction to disappear into the subway tunnels and lose Daken. Although I'm sure if he tried Daken could find him . . from his scent alone. The other problem I have with this one is that, obviously, I don't follow any of the Punisher books, so . . I won't be picking up parts 2 and 4 of this story-line. And . . I don't really care. But I do want to get the last few issues of this series. Anyways, this story is by Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu, with art by Stephen Segovia and Paco Diaz. The did look pretty good. I just didn't get into the story all that much. Oh yeah, and the beautiful cover is by Simone Bianchi.

X-Force: Sex and Violence #1 - Marvel

This issue opens up the story and sets the stage. Basically, Domino had done some work for the Assassin's Guild . . without actually realizing whom she was working for . . that put her in direct conflict with the Hand. This all happened a while ago, but . . this day the Guild has decided that it's time to come after Domino and settle their debts. So, of course . . she comes running straight to X-Force. I mean . . who else is she going to go to. Anyways, her story is . . they hired her because the Hand was running guns through the Gulf. This was the Guild's territory, so they weren't very happy about that. So, as she's doing what she's told she finds out that the Hand is actually trafficking in human slaves . . young Asian women. So she cuts her losses. She leaves the Guild hanging, and . . she takes the Hand's shipment of girls and gets them out of the bayou. The only problem is . . Domino isn't being completely above board with her story. Later she and Logan are attacked by the Guild. They make pretty short work of their soldiers. However, they've brought an enforcer with them, and he says he's come for payback. 'NEENA!! Where's the money!!' Apparently Domino stole a little more from them than just the girls. This was another cool X-Force story by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. I guess this will fill in for the interim until they get their new title . . and new team. Josh is here to help them this issue, but really he's about the only one we see. I thought it was a good story . . or beginning to one. We'll see how the next 2 issues play out. Also, Gabriele Dell'Otto did an incredible job with the art. What is it about this book that brings out the best in it's artists? Anyways . . I can't wait to see what happens next.

X-Force #28 - Marvel

Reading this book, I'm kind of morose knowing that it'll shortly be coming to it's conclusion. But I'm sure that doesn't mean that we won't see these characters in action again . . soon. Probably just not under this banner. Anyways this is the final chapter of Second Coming. Well, except for the Second Coming #2 issue, and the last issue of the Hellbound mini-series. But basically . . this is it. At the end of the last chapter we saw Cable coming through the portal from the future. As I suspected it was because of the techno-organic virus. But not Doug's. It appears that Cable let his own run rampant through is system. Anyways, they all make it through . . hurt and damaged. But shortly after Hope sees Cable blow up in front of her. The only thing left is his arm. Which really pisses her off. So when Bastion attacks, she takes it all out on him. Which apparently triggers her powers. We don't know exactly what they are, yet, but . . it appears that she's got some kind of energy manipulation. She can expel it from her hands, her eyes, and it looks like in the form of a shield or barrier. Long story short . . she takes down Bastion, which then takes down the dome over San Francisco. At the end, when the Avengers and the X-Club come to see what's happened, she's floating over the Golden Gate Bridge . . probably adjusting to her powers, and . . everyone else is just standing in awe looking at her. We can pretty much tell from this story how everything is going to turn out. But . . I'm guessing that Second Coming #2 will provide the definitive answers, setting the stage for the future of the X-Men. I thought it was a good issue. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost did a good job with the story. And Mike Choi's art looked fantastic. I would say he's gotten as good, or better than Clayton Crain. But that's a discussion for another time. I'm going to be sad to see this book go. But . . I'm also excited about what the future has in store for all of these characters. I'm sure there definitely won't be a lack of entertainment or excitement.

X-Force #27 - Marvel

This was pretty much an all fight issue. Last issue the entirely of Utopia, and part of San Francisco, was encased within a giant energy bubble. The center of the bubble seemed to be on the Golden Gate Bridge. Where there also was a smaller one. While the big red bubble stopped the X-Men from getting out, and anyone else from getting in to stop them . . the smaller bubble seemed to be a teleport spot. And at the end of the last chapter they got a glimpse of what was coming through after them . . Nimrods . . advanced super-Sentinels from the future. I don't know how Bastion got ahold of these, but . . he was sending them in to kill the X-Men. That's why the first 10 pages of this book are nothing but fight scenes. It appears that many X-Men have been hurt, and maybe even a few killed, but we don't know all the details yet. After that there's a lull in the battle, but it appears that the Nimrods are just gathering their forces and they expect another wave at any time. While the portal was open, the X-Men were able to scan inside and see just exactly what they were up against. According to all readings . . the scans overloading after the reached 170.000 Nimrods. So basically . . they're screwed. But Scott has one last hope. With Cable's time-jumping capabilities, he decides to send him and the rest of X-Force into the future to try to stop the attack before they come back. They want Doug to interface with the tech and shut it down. And again, this is the first time most of those gathered here have even heard to X-Force's existence. There's one more problem. Scott has basically signed their death-sentence. Cable only has one more jump available to him. So by sending these guys into the future . . there's no guarantee that they'll be able to find a way back. And just as they leave . . more Nimrods begin coming through. This was a very intense issue by Craig Kyle, Chris Yost and Mike Choi. And Mike did a fantastic job on the art. The only thing I'm kind of iffy about is this whole 'stuck in the future' thing. I mean . . the Nimrod's can come back, so the obviously have the technology. So if Doug is successful and does take control of them, then . . he also controls their tech. Right? So . . if they can come back, then they'll obviously be able to send the X-Men back. It doesn't seem all that earth-shattering to me. Of course . . they still have to get past those 170,000 Sentinels to make their plan work, so . . I think I'd be more worried about that. I still enjoyed the book though.

X-Force #26 - Marvel

There's a reason why the variant for this issue is call the RIP Variant . . an X-man dies. By the time of this post, if you haven't read this, or head the news, I'd be really surprised. So, I don't feel like I'm really spoiling anything. But just in case, if you can show some restraint and not scroll down to look at the other cover, then I'm really not. Right? Anyways, This issue is the next chapter in the Second Coming storyline, Chapter 5, and everyone is trying to save Hope. Or at least try to get back to Utopia. The cool thing I liked about this issue is that Bastion finally gets his hands dirty. He downloads his program into a robot, of some kind, and goes out into the field to join the fight himself. And when he's arguing with Rogue about Hope, I actually believe that he thinks he's trying to do what's best for humanity. 'The child is a clear and present danger to humanity, and will be terminated. We have seen you. We have seen what you become. What the world becomes because of you. And we cannot allow you to live.' In the process to save her, Rogue and Kurt have been put on the front lines. Rogue attacks Bastion, while Kurt attempts to get Hope to safety . . to continue their trip towards Utopia. However, just as he ports in to grab her and take off . . Bastion sticks his arm out a wraps it around Hope's neck. But because of the angle in which Kurt comes in . . he comes in right between them. Bastion's arm goes straight through his chest. Kurt prays and makes one final jump to Utopia . . with Hope in hand, and taking Bastion's arm with him. However, once landing . . he doesn't last very long. This battle has just gotten very personal for the X-Men. But for Bastion . . he doesn't seem overly concerned. With the current events Bastion know exactly where all of the X-Men are, and . . he knows exactly where Hope is. 'She escaped. Inconsequential. Proceed with the secondary plan.' That doesn't sound good. Anyways, while all of this is going on, Peter is concerned about his sister Illyana because she recently been taken back to Limbo. That part of the story will be continued in the Hellbound mini-series. I thought this was a great issue. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost did a good job with the story, and Mike Choi's art was incredible. In some ways I think I like his art better than Clayton Crain's. They're both just as realistic, but Mike's is much clearer and easier to follow. But that's just my opinion. Also the covers by Adi Granov and David Finch were beautiful. I just hope, pun intended, that when we find out what Hope's secret is . . I hope it's worth all of this. Can you imagine how Scott would feel if it turns out that she actually is the menace that some of these guys are claiming? Or Cable . . for his 20 years of wasted time? Well . . you'll have to stay tuned to find out what the real deal is. By the way . . RIP Kurt . . you deserve the rest.

X-Force #25 - Marvel

Well . . this issue wraps up Necrosha. More or less. To me . . it all seemed a bit anti-climatic. Selene is ascending towards god-hood, but the X-Men have an obligation . . and plan, to bring her down. All they need is the knife that John Proudstar has in his possession. And the only person that can get it from him . . and use it, is his brother James. In the process, Josh takes out Kevin. Which he really didn't want to do, so . . he's pretty upset. Anyways, basically, the rest of the team distracts Selene, and James put the dagger in her heart . . literally. But this whole experience . . seeing all their old friends and enemies brought back to life, has really taken it's toll on this team's members. When all's said and done, Vanisher and Dom have taken off on some form of vacation. James, after seeing his brother cross over, has made his peace and is out. Josh is gone too. He's upset about what happened, and he's having some problems with his power. Logan doesn't feel that Rahne should've been there in the first place, and he doesn't want Laura involved anymore either. So basically . . all that's left is Logan and Warren. So . . who's going to be in the next issue? Also, when Selene was absorbing all the souls of the mutants that she had resurrected, apparently some of them had plans of their own and escaped off the island. I can't say I blame them, but . . the X-Men don't know who disappeared and how many of them there are. Also, I'm guessing because of the techno-organic virus . . Cerebro can't be used to find them either. So, I guess they're just going to have to wait until they decide to pop up. Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost wrote this story. My only real complaint is that it seems like the only purpose of all of this was to shake up the team, and to put some more threats out there on the horizon . . in the form of resurrected mutants. And I'm guessing, since Selene is no more . . although she has been resurrected before, so . . maybe she's not as dead as we think she is . . I'm guessing that the mutants with the virus are pretty much left to their own devices. Since Selene altered the virus, I'd assume that even Bastion doesn't really have any control over them anymore. But all of this has to be put behind us for now because Second Coming! also starts this week. Anyways, as usual, the art by Clayton Crain was great. Overall I enjoyed the issue. It's just . . it seemed kind of a wimpy ending. But maybe that's just me.

X-Force #24 - Marvel

It appears that this whole story . . or at least it's conclusion, is going to revolve around James Proudstar. Eli Bard returns to Genosha this issue with the blade that Selene needs for her ascension. Apparently, that's the tool that she uses to kill all of these souls that she's raised. And in turn, they increase her power until she becomes a Goddess. He also brought James back with him. As a reward, Selene grants him the sweet silence of death. But . . in response to their teammates abduction, the X-Men arrive shortly after. The conversation between Josh and Porter is interesting. The Vanisher doesn't want to stick around, but he wants the tumor removed. Josh informs him that he already did that when they were in the future. Any problems he has now is because he's dying of Syphilis. Also, when Josh aligned the DNA between Rahne and her baby, it appears that she got some of the baby's strength out of the process. She's become incredibly strong, and her skin can probably resist bullets now. Anyways, they jump into the battle with all these undead mutants. Their plan is to kill Selene and rescue James. As it turns out, their battle with all these risen souls is playing right in Selene's hands. She begins the process of absorbing every soul on the island. However, just before that happens, Johnny tells James, 'Once Selene begins to feed, her power will grow. She will leave no soul on this island alive. But she will not stop. Her hunger will only grow. Selene will consume this world, leaving only ash in her wake. And then she will feed on the spirit realm itself. She is the darkness, James. You must stop her. Stop me before I kill you. Find a way.' Just then Vanisher pops in and saves James. However, Blink's powers hurt him. But he still manages to pull out the rest of X-Force just before Selene begins her feeding frenzy. But I'm not sure that he's going to survive much after that. They end up deep underground somewhere. And James tells them that Selene is a god now, but . . he's going to show them how to kill her. This story-line is finally going to be wrapped up in X-Force #25 . . next month. I think it's an interesting story-line, but I also think that the real point of all of this is what's going to happen afterwards. What happens to the souls that Selene has brought back but weren't on the island during the feeding? But once X-Force takes her out, and she no longer has sway over them . . what happens then? Will they go back to the way they were, or will they still be undead versions of themselves? I'm not sure who all is out there, but we do know that Destiny escaped from the island before all of this happened. I would imagine that there's others. So . . even though next issue wraps up Necrosha, I think we still have a long way to go with the after-effects and repercussions. This was another great issue by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost and Clayton Crain. But I think the best is yet to come.

X-Force #23 - Marvel

I really enjoy this book. I think Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost are doing a great job with the story and these characters. And I absolutely love Clayton Crain's art. However, having said that . . I do have one minor problem. Because of Clayton's style, and the darkness of his art . . shadows and lines and such, sometimes it gets a little hard to tell some of these characters apart. To differentiate between them sometimes becomes a little obscure. Sometimes I'm kind of guessing at who's who. I still enjoy the book and the story . . the ultimate outcome of the action of the characters. But . . I often have to go back and look things over after I've read it and know how it's going to come out. But . . maybe that's my own problem. I don't know. It just seems that on this book he uses an incredibly dark style. Anyways, a lot of stuff happens . . and a lot of important information comes out this issue. Eli Bard and his group have attacked Genosha, basically because they were sent to retrieve the knife that Warpath took with him. Once they get it though, they return to Genosha with the knife, and . . they take Warpath with them. Scott decides to send X-Force there to deal with it, but Emma defines their priorities. 'Let me make this as clear as I can, Logan. You need to kill her. Her and everyone that attacked us . . even Kevin. That's the only way this will end.' Anyways, during all of this, Hrimhari has called Loki to help him save Rahne and his child. Loki gives him a choice, "I need a soul for a soul. Therefore, I need your soul in return for another. You can save one or the other but not both.' However, Hrimhari tricks Loki and asks her to save Josh Foley, Elixir. In return, Josh saves both Rahne and the child. But Hrimhari is gone. 'Tell Rahne I love her . . and tell her . . tell her, I will find a way back to her.' Also during the fight, it looks like Lil' is killed. Wither gives Logan some serious pain. And Blink does a lot of damage. It looks like she rips Warren apart from the inside out . . even though later Domino notices that it looks like his wings are already growing back. And Blink also messes up Mercury. Although I'm sure she'll reform sooner or later. Oh yeah, and Onyx seems to have been dispersed into so much rubble. We've seen Rockslide reform himself, but . . can Onyx do it also? This Necrosha story-line seems to be moving along rather slowly, but . . it is entertaining. I still think it's got that Night of the Living Dead kind of feel to it though. However, we are nearing the end. It looks like X-Force #25, in March, will be the final chapter. So between this book, and Legacy, we have about 4 more issues to go. Then we'll see if there's any real lasting effects on the X-teams or their characters.

X-Force #22 - Marvel

Selene's plan isn't going exactly as planned. When they got to Genosha, she thought that she's simply raise 17 million mutants from the dead, build her city, and then ascend to the status of a Goddess. Of course she's have to suck the souls out of all of them to do that. Anyways, after raising the deceased on this island, she soon discovers that only about 1 million of them still have their powers. For some reason the rest of them have been shut of . . Selene can feel them like a memory. Even though most of these people died before M-Day. So . . now she doesn't have as many mutants at her disposal, but . . she's still got 16 million slaves. I'm sure it's still enough souls for her ascension. She was just looking forward to the mutant ones. She likes the taste better. She also has another problem. In order to perform the ritual, and cast the spell, she needs her blade that she entrusted to Eli. However, when he raised the Apache tribe from the dead, their souls, or bodies, were protected by spirits. Long story short, he used the blade to fight them back, but before he could retrieve it, it had disappeared. When he went back for it, he found out that James had gotten it. So now . . it's in the possession of the X-Men. The X-Men are already fighting all kinds of resurrected mutants, friends and foes alike. And they don't seem to be making much progress. They're really put off when Selene's inner circle shows up, courtesy of Blink, to retrieve the sword. But Eli may have to find some sanctuary. He's the one that lost the sword, and Blink ratted him out to Selene. So if the X-Men no longer have the sword . . they're supposed to leave Eli among the dead. Anyways, some other developments . .Bobby's not doing very well . . Warren is having some problems with his wings . . and . . Rahne is pregnant. But . . it's not human or mutant. And whatever it is . . it's killing her. The wolf prince goes off and calls Hela to the island. But that may have been a mistake. She doesn't appear to be very happy about it all. It was an ok story. I know these guys have been resurrected through sorcery and the techno-organic virus. But . . to me . . it just seems like they're all fighting a bunch of zombies. I thought we already did the zombie-Marvel thing. I guess now we're doing it with a twist . . and maybe some lime and salt. Anyways, it's an interesting story if for no other reason than I'd like to see how it all comes out. Either this is going to drastically change the X-Men . . and all it's various franchises, or . . maybe this will all lead into whatever set of circumstances need to occur to reverse M-Day. We still have a few more chapters and a couple of months to go. By the way, this issue was brought to us by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost and Clayton Crain. The back-up story about Hope was brought to us by Duane Swiercyznski and Steve Dillon. We basically just see Hope and Cable interact, but . . she is probably in her early 20's now. And . . at one point we see a glimmer of the Phoenix force in her eyes. Hopefully this story will develop further in Cable's own book. Anyways, we don't see X-Force specifically this issue. But . . we do see a whole lot of X-Men.

X-Force Annual #1 - Marvel

This ended up being another great Annual. It was different from the normal X-Force book . . kind of. But that's ok. Robert Kirkman brought us more of the humorous side of Wolverine's personality. But to me, the best part of the book was that Jason Pearson was the artist. I first got turned on to Jason's work during the incredible series Body Bags. If you haven't read it though, it wasn't a Marvel book, it was Dark Horse. It was a really, really fun series . . both in story and art. Anyways, back to the book at hand. The story starts out like any other X-Force mission. Wolverine is infiltrating a Hydra base, and this time he's doing it solo. How does he get in? They fly overhead and drop him from an airplane. Hilarious stuff. He's after a specific agent. We don't know why or who, but when he finds him he has to fight his way out. He starts out all stealthy . . 'No killing, no claws until I find the one I'm looking for.' Yeah! Right! That lasts about 20 seconds. So when he attempts an exit with the guy, basically he has to fight almost everybody on base. But many bullets and bruises later he makes his way to the roof for the extraction. There's a couple of story twists after that. First, the reason they extracted this guy was because his daughter was dying. She needs a bone-marrow transplant in order to survive, but he never would've done it had they asked because she's a mutant. Second, he's actually a General. Hydra is on them in the hospital almost immediately because he has a radioactive isotope in his blood so Hydra can trace him no matter what. And finally, since Hydra is there and ready to take him back, he doesn't have time to give a proper sample . . so he holds his arm out. He looks at Wolverine and says, 'You've got about 3 seconds before I change my mind.' Wolverine takes out his claws and removes about a foot of his arm. As Wolverine watches Hydra take him away all he can say is, 'Damn. That's hardcore!' It really was. Like I said . . not your normal X-Force story, but . . it was still cool. I liked the twists and the scene between the General and his daughter at the end . . and his estranged wife. It was comical, hardcore and touching all at the same time. Not something you'd necessarily expect from a Wolverine story. There's also a Deadpool back-up story. In it Wade gets involved with LOA when the resurrected Acolytes come after her for information about Magneto. It appears that Selene wants him returned to Genosha, but Cortez wants to get a little payback first. Anyways, long story short, Wade tries to kill them . . piece by piece, but soon finds out that he can't. They won't die. That is until LOA accidentally phases through them. There's something about her that turns them into so much dust. I'm sure we'll see some more about this in the Necrosha story-line. It was your usual half-witted Deadpool story . . full of comedy. This chapter was by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost and Carlo Barberi. I thought it was a funny story. Plus . . it gives the X-Men a weapon to use against the undead that Selene is sending after them. Well . . that and Doug Ramsey. But that's another story entirely.

X-Force #21 - Marvel

Ok . . this whole thing all started when Bastion came across the techno-organic virus. Eli Bard was there with his when he discovered it, and together they used it to raise from the dead a whole slew of the X-Men's enemies, including Donald Pierce and the Leper Queen. Now, after all this time, Bastion is discovering that even though he's brought these people back, with the help of the TO, they still retain their own minds. They follow Bastion's orders, but . . if they're strong enough they can fight back. Also, the whole time he's been manipulating things from behind the scenes . . we've never really found out what he's up to, or his ultimate goal. And now he's escalated those plans because of Selena's unwarranted involvement. Anyways, Eli eventually left Bastion and took the TO with him to Selena. She altered it with some mysticism and is using it to raise dead mutants. Apparently she thinks that with enough of a following she'll be elevated to the status of Goddess. She's already immortal. What does it matter how many followers you have after 1000's of years of life? They're all just going to fade and go away anyways. Last issue ended with her and some of her followers arriving on the isle of Genosha. It wasn't hard to guess what her plans were. Eli cracks the ground and all the dead souls on this lost island begin coming back to life. The Cuckoo's sense this on Cerebra, and by the end of the book the population has risen to 1,652,106. That's a whole lot of people under her control. Even before that her plan was already showing cracks. Last issue Destiny already went off on her own to give Blindfold a warning. And this issue . . this issue Selena has to stop her attack on the X-Men, by the Hellions, to send them after Doug Ramsey who no longer seems to be in her control. Normally I don't think she'd sweat losing one follower, but . . I think she has some specific plans for him. So . . does that pretty much give you the lay of the land? So far all the X-Men have done is react to all of this. I don't even know if they really know what's going on here. But they better get up to speed quick. Anyways, I thought this was a pretty good issue by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. And I absolutely love Clayton Crain's art. My only complaint was that during some of the X-Men's fight scenes, the panels were so dark that it was a little hard to tell sometimes just who was fighting who. The dialogue helped sort it out, but . . it just seemed like things were a little more shaded than they needed to be. But that's just me. Really . . I can't wait to see where this story goes next.

X-Force #20 - Marvel

Ok . . I have to admit . . I like this book too. Maybe not as much as X-Factor, but . . I still like it. I know the X-Men aren't supposed to kill. I know that's not what the 'heroes' do. But . . you have to admit . . it's kind of nice to see these guys take on the 'bad-guys' sometimes with reckless abandon. It's got to be a little liberating for them to fight a 'bad-guy' and they're not sure willing to do, or capable of. If nothing else it would make the playing field a little more even. Anyways, last issue ended with Agent Morales and Laura trying to get out of the facility. Laura knows that she's the only one that can take out the guards, but . . she's one arm short. So she has to even the edge. She loads her trigger scent into the sprinkler system and then sets it off. As she makes her way to the director of the facility, she's on a killer rage the whole way. Just as she makes her way to his office, Kimura tells him to flood the system with water. I don't know why she bothered though. When Kimura gets there, they fight about Laura and she takes him out herself. She could've saved herself the bullet. Anyways, Morales shows up to help Laura and they both get out. During the interim, Morales booby-trapped every flammable part of the facility that she could find. But Kimura still survives. She warns her over Morales' radio that she'll never stop and that she's coming after everyone . . starting with Megan. Shortly after, Domino and Wolverine show up and they take Laura home. Meanwhile, Warren and James have made it back to Warren's house in time to see the destruction caused by Rahne and her friend. They don't know what happened, but soon Hrimhari approaches with Rahne in his arms asking for their help . . specifically Elixir's. And, on the final page, we get a quick glimpse at Necrosa . . specifically Doug Ramsey. I love what Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost are doing with this book. This is how X-Force should've been . . a long time ago. They just never took that final step. Also Mike Choi's art, and cover, is spectacular. But don't worry. We'll see Clayton Crain soon in the Necrosha one-shot. It's only a few issues away.

X-Force #19 - Marvel

Ok, to answer that last question in the blog about the New Mutants . . it appears that Eli Bard has infected Doug Ramsey's grave with the techno-organic virus. Which is why, I guess, he's not there anymore. Wasn't Doug also infected with Warlock's techno-virus? I'm wondering how these 2 will interact. Anyways, most of this issue is spent by Agent Morales trying to get Laura out of the Facility's custody. She was captured by them last issue . . or maybe it was the issue before . . and Kimura immediately began interrogating and torturing her. Last issue ended with her cutting off Laura's arm with a chainsaw. The question is . . why is Agent Morales trying to save Laura? She's convinced that Laura is a stone-cold killer, so . . why is she so bent on getting her out of here? Anyways, Laura's convinced that Kimura is cutting off parts of her so that they can use her DNA to create more like her. She can't allow that, so she gathers up her discarded parts as she leaves. That's more than a little strange. But while trying to escape, Morales gets a little more information about how the Facility has controlled Laura. And when they end up in a lab, Laura has to explain how her training can be triggered by scents. She explains it as Morales almost drops a rather large vial of the stuff. Meanwhile on the other fronts . . Rahne and her boyfriend seem to have beaten the frost giants. I'm just wondering what that was all about. Bastion is keeping an eye on the Leper Queen. Even though she's dead . . supposedly . . he doesn't want the X-Men to get a sample of the techno-virus that he had put inside of her. He doesn't think that the X-Men can decode it, but . . he doesn't want to take a chance. Elixir is still out of it, but . . it seems as if his body, or his DNA is rebooting itself. He'll probably be ok. But it's gonna take time. We also find out, from watching Selena, that it appears as if . . Destiny, Irene Adler, is still alive. I think Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost are doing a good job with this book. I like the stories, and the direction these characters have taken. My only complaint this issue is that the story seems a little muddled up. Although . . I think there's a problem with the way this issue was put together. I think some of the pages are out of order. Anyways, as usual, Mike Choi and Sonia Oback do a stellar job with the art. I noticed that X-Factor is changing back to it's original numbering with issue #200. Do you think X-Force will be next? We'll see.

X-Force #18 - Marvel

Man, X-Force and some of the mutants that were captured by the Leper Queen really took a beating last issue. X-Force saves them all, and ends up killing the Leper Queen, but . . in the process Laura got captured. They saved Tabitha, but she still ends up getting carted away by HAMMER. However, Warpath is quickly there to help her escape. At the end of last issue, Josh had healed Hellion and was beginning to work on Surge when she exploded. We, and the rest of X-Force, expect the worst. However, we find out that Hellion was awake just enough to use his TK to funnel the exploding energy out into space. All 3 of them survived, but they're all knocked out and need time to recuperate. However HAMMER did get away with arguably the most dangerous one of all . . X-23, Laura. We find out this issue that Kimura is back and seems to be working with HAMMER. At the end of this issue, as Laura drifts in and out of consciousness, we see that Kimura plans on taking her apart . . piece by piece. Literally. She's already taken her arm off with a chainsaw. Anyways, we also see that Rahne and Hrimhari are trying to escape from the attack by the Frost Giants. We still don't know what this is all about, but . . they seem to be willing to make a stand and live or die together. It seems like this whole thing is happening to give Rahne the focus that she needs back. We also have a scene that sets us up for Warlock's return in New Mutants. Caliban, Eli Bard and Wither have all gathered at Doug Ramsey's grave in Westchester. It appears that they all have some of Warlock inside of them and are trying to give it back. Even though it'll probably kill Caliban. As Caliban is hugging Doug's tombstone, he says "He is here. This is the first, my master. Now . . now it begins." And Wolverine has finally come back to tell Scott how their mission in the future went. He's on edge. He's not happy about the mission but he's really upset because of Laura's capture. Next issue, I think they'll probably begin the hunt. I like the job that Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost are doing here. By the way, when we're in the cemetery, we see a tombstone that says 'Kyle Yost'. I thought that was funny. Anyways, I like the darker edge that they've given this series, and when they show what these characters are willing to do, and how their actions affect them. Yes this team is different than the X-men. But each of these characters making difficult decisions, and are living with the choices that they've made. That kind of baggage is going to leave them 'darker', and more introverted than the rest of the X-men. The problem I see though is that eventually they'll probably get to the point where they trust no one else but those on their team. They know that 'they' would die for each other. At least to me, it seems like that would be the natural progression. I guess we'll have to wait and see. In the absence of Clayton Crain, Mike Choi and Sonja Oback are doing the art. It looks tremendous. It seems that Clayton needed a bit of a break anyways. So I'm glad to see that Mike is keeping up the stunning quality. Overall, I really enjoy this book . . and these characters.

X-Force #17 - Marvel

The only problem I have with Clayton Crain's art is that he puts so much into it . . he can only do so many issues before he needs a 'break'. Luckily, on this book, when that happens he's filled in by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback. They do a style very similar to his . . it's not as gritty, but . . it still has that 'painted' look to it. I like it that more and more artists have been going this direction. It's really taken the artists limits of the medium, in leaps and bounds, into the future. Anyways, this issue Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost begin a 'new' storyline . . or, at least, a new chapter of the last one. Now that the 'gang' has returned from the future, they are just as embroiled in turmoil at the UN because they have to try to save the lives of Surge and Hellion. They are both the next victims in Bastion's little plan to make it look like all mutants are unstable. He's injected them with the Legacy Virus and has them 'primed' near the UN for maximum effectiveness when their powers overload. This'll be the third or fourth attack where he's manipulated events with some unsuspecting mutant. But his whole goal is to 'stoke the fires'. Which is why he's preparing to do all of this at the same time that he's got Lang and Trask addressing the UN security council. They are proposing that a separate program is set up to police mutant activity around the globe. "Today is about humanity standing united in the face of terror . . mutant terror. We present . . the Mutant Response Division. Combining next generation Sentinel technology and the best soldiers humanity has to offer, the MRD will police mutantkind across the world. With support and funding from the UN, the MRD can take the fight to mutant terrorists wherever they are, in any nation. With our technology, they will not be able to hide." But, like I said, meanwhile Logan and crew, especially Elixir, is out on the street trying to stop the attack and save Nori's life. But we're not sure if they can do both. At the last minute Warren takes her to the air, but Domino . . from a mile or so away, sees a huge electrical surge in the air over the UN on the final page. Oh yeah . . and when Laura landed, she kills the Leper Queen who is holding Boom-Boom hostage. And . . Rahne and Hrimhari have problems of their own. They're enjoying a moment of romantic bliss back at the Warren's aerie when the house is attacked by . . Frost Giants. So, this is a new chapter, but . . there's still a lot of unresolved issues that are carried over from the last part . . actually, from before they went into the future. There's a lot going on, and right now it seems as if everyone on the team is in some kind of danger. This is an intense book . . I'll give it that. I feel like were stuck on the verge of the whole 'mutant/human' war thing that we had running through the X-books in the 80's and early 90's. I know that it's inevitable with these characters . . and mutants in general, but . . we've been down this road before. The only difference I see this time around it that most mutants . . 'good' or 'bad' . . are all in the same camp this time. It should make it easier for them to fight back, as the won't be fighting each other at the same time, but . . it also makes them, in general, a more specific target . . easier to aim at. I'm not sure yet if they're better or worse off this time.

X-Force #16 - Marvel

This issue wraps up our Messiah War story-line. Well . . maybe 'wraps up' is to broad of a stroke. There's always going to be some loose threads left hanging around. Especially when it comes to characters like Apocalypse and Stryfe. Anyways, the time traveling thing was a point of confusion for me. They go past the point of no return, because Laura can't bring herself to put Kiden out of her misery. She's the one that's creating the time anomaly. Remember in the Nyx series when she could stop time and move around? Anyways, finally Domino shoots her in the head, but the devices had already tried to pull them back but couldn't. So with Archangel bringing back Apocalypse, and him becoming rejuvenated by the Celestial city . . he's finally the one that takes down Stryfe. But in the process, he also sees the potential in Hope. "You are special child. I can feel your strength. You are worthy to host the Apocalypse." But Archangel talks him out of it. Since he save Apocalypse's life, he trades him a life for a life. "Take the girl. I have time. I am infinite. But know this . . we will meet again, when the girl is ready. Remember, Cable, emotion is weakness. And if you do not teach her this before I return for her . . it will be her undoing." Also he doesn't kill Stryfe. "Pathetic wretch . . always searching for a purpose in life. Now I give you one, the greatest any being could have . . to be my vessel!" The ending was a bit confusing for me. I thought they all went back, but apparently they just jumped to some nearby buildings in New York City. I didn't quite understand all of that. And then Laura starts cutting off their time-bands to send them back. But it appears that that band was left behind, only the individual transported. So does that mean that they left some time devices in the future? Like I said, that whole part was all a little confusing to me. But other than that, I did like Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost's story. Although there are still a lot of loose threads. However, Cable comes out next week so . . I'm sure we'll find out then where he and Hope ended up. I enjoy Clayton Crain's art, however . . this issue and last didn't seem up to his usual high standards. The whole thing seemed a little rushed. Of course he's done a lot of work in the last few months. Maybe he just needs a little time off. Anyways, overall I enjoyed the book. We'll just have to wait until next issue to see what's on the plate for this team in the future. And . . are Domino and Vanisher going to stick around? Or not?

X-Force #15 - Marvel

I really like this story-line, but . . with this issue in particular, not to much was accomplished. At the end of last issue, Stryfe took off his helmet, and Hope thinks that he is Nathan. Bishop and James have both let their guard down, so now Stryfe knows that Hope is important. He just doesn't know why. It was interesting though that when he scanned her, he found that she had no powers. Anyways, Stryfe is trying to kill Bishop and Warpath. Bishop is trying to kill Hope. And the rest of the X-Men are trying to kill Stryfe. Oh yeah, and Apocalypse wants Warren to kill him. Or maybe Warren just wants to kill him. I'm a little confused about that one. When Apocalypse sensed that Warren was near, he called out to him. But we don't really have a clear understanding as to why. We just see that he's very weak right now. Anyways, when the issue ends it looks like everyone's down except for Stryfe. The X-Men took a good shot at it, but . . Stryfe grabbed Elixir and forced him to heal him. But in the cave, Warren couldn't kill Apocalypse. As much as he hates him, there's also still mercy in there. And even in his Death form, there's still humanity present inside of Warren. However, since he's been spared, Apocalypse decides that it's time for them to go and kill Stryfe together. This issue, really, was just a big slug-fest between all the various factions of this little encounter. There were a few tidbits of information thrown out there, but they were sparse and cryptic at best. I hope in the next issue of Cable the story has a bit more momentum. Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost wrote it, and Clayton Crain does the art. I love Clayton's style, but . . there were some panels near the end of the book that look like they were thrown together rather rapidly. I think the guys gonna need a rest after he finishes this story. So, overall, I liked the book. There just wasn't a lot accomplished as far as the story goes. Bummer!

X-Force #14 - Marvel

We still don't now what Hope's secret, or power is, but . . I think she's the key to this whole thing. In the last chapter, Wolverine and X-Force have jumped into the future to come to Nathan's aid. However, the future they've come to is also where Stryfe is currently residing. Bishop found him, shortly after he found the sleeping god Apocalypse, and used Apocalypse to entice him to travel with him. Together, they supposedly took Apocalypse down. Now Bishop has offered Stryfe Nathan, his biological brother . . sort of. So this issue is mostly about the battle between Stryfe, Nathan and X-Force. The only ace-in-the-hole that Cable has going for him is that Stryfe still doesn't know about Hope. He's counting on Bishop not telling him either, because that would also disrupt Bishop's plans. So they're fighting Stryfe while trying to keep Hope safe. Wolverine has tasked James with that responsibility. "No matter what happens . . you're in charge of that kid. Not me, not Cable . . you. Your life, our lives . . none of it matters. You keep her breathing, you hear me?" The issue ends with Stryfe holding most of them captive, and . . Warren takes off to the Adirondacks to find a barely alive Apocalypse. "I never believed Death would come for me . . . but I'm so pleased it's you . . . my last and greatest Horseman." Wow! That's a lot of stuff to swallow for one issue. Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost do the story. Clayton Crain does the art. As usual, it's a fantastic issue. I'm not sure how all of this is going to wrap up, but . . I have a feeling it's going to be a doozy. I can't wait for the next issue of Cable.

X-Force/Cable: Messiah War Prologue #1 - Marvel

I actually thought this was a pretty decent book. Really, it's just setting up the groundwork for the upcoming Messiah War story-line. But it looks like it's going to be one heck of an event. We find out this issue that the stranger that Bishop meets up with in the bar is actually . . . . wait for it . . . Stryfe. But, was that really a surprise to anybody? I didn't think so. I think we could all see that one coming from a mile away. However, from Bishop and Stryfe's talk, it looks like we may be seeing Apocalypse again. X-Force, Wolverine and his merry band, have gone to the future to help out Cable. The year 2973 to be exact. Cable tells them they've walked into a trap, and shows them a city. "Holy $#@&. HIM?!" The only question I have is, is it Stryfe's or Apocalypse's? I would guess Apocalypses, but we don't know for sure yet. The other interesting part of this story is Bishop's skewing of events when he's talking to Stryfe. Stryfe agrees to help Bishop, but not because of Nathan's involvement . . he says he doesn't care about Cable anymore . . he decides to help because Bishop is offering him Apocalypse. That's really the only thing that gets his interest. But the story that Bishop's told Stryfe is exactly the opposite of actual events. He portrays Cable as the one destroying the future. So I'm wondering what'll happen when Stryfe finds out that he's been lying to him. Another interesting twist is when X-Force finds out that Deadpool is still alive in this distant future. He seems a little crazier than normal, but . . I would imagine that would be expected from living alone for so long. Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost write this book. I'm not sure if they'll be doing the whole Messiah War story-line, but . . the did this chapter. Mike Choi and Sonia Oback do the interior art, and . . it's simply incredible. If you're a follower of Cable's, your definitely going to have to check out this story that will be bouncing back and forth between Cable's book, and X-Force. Personally, I think it's a natural match-up of characters. This should be a heck of a story-line. And maybe we can finally find out what the threat is that Hope actually poses. It's been implied for quite a while now, but we don't know the specifics. Keep your arms and legs inside of the car at all time . . the rides about to begin.