X-Force (2008 Series) #3

April 22, 2008

Quick Rating: Poor
Title: Angels and Demons Part 3
Rating: Parental Advisory

More old foes begin to surface…

Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Art: Clayton Crain
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: John Barber
Cover Art: Clayton Crain
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Bastion has made an attempt to recover the remains of Magus, the Technarch sire of former New Mutant Warlock, whose technological remains are inert at the bottom of the ocean. Meanwhile, Wolverine, Warpath and X-23 plan their assault on the purifiers, hopefully with the rescue of Wolfsbane as a bonus.

I felt a perk of hope when I saw Magus show up at the end of last issue, but then Nova brought back Warlock himself to great effect and, I’ve gotta be honest, my enthusiasm for the Technarch’s appearance in this book dwindled. Bastion’s plan isn’t really engaging me either – it seems to be, simply, “round up people who’ve killed a lot of mutants.” I guess if you’re planning to exterminate the mutant race this is a good way to start, but looking at the list of villains assembled here, I’m starting to realize that the X-villains who’ve actually killed the most villains are – for the most part – some of the least interesting villains they’ve ever faced. Warpath gets the internal monologue for most of this issue and, frankly, it’s pretty tedious, ponderous, dry stuff.

Clayton Crain isn’t quite on the top of his game either. The book constantly shifts between gory, almost horror-esque scenes and shiny, polished sci-fi. Either of them would be okay by themselves, but together, it’s too jarring a transition.

Three issues in, this book has really failed to grab my interest.

Rating: 3/10

X-Force (2008 Series) #2

March 4, 2008

Quick Rating: Average
Title: Angels and Demons Part Two
Rating: Parental Advisory

At war with the Purifiers!

Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Art: Clayton Crain
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: John Barber
Cover Art: Clayton Crain
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Sent to destroy the Purifiers and their leader, Matthew Risman, the new X-Force is going to have to hack their way out of Hell. Fortunately – y’know, claws and knives. Hacking is pretty much what they do.

I’ve got seriously mixed feelings about this book. The core premise still doesn’t make much sense to me. It’s a covert ops team that exists to give the X-Men plausible deniability for nasty jobs, but the leader is one of the most recognizable mutants on Earth and they’re all wearing X-Men insignias. If the job here is to be secretive, they suck at it. Basically, this book is an excuse to have as much violence as possible in an X-title. The resolution to last issue’s cliffhanger is as clichéd as it gets, and Cyclops’ reaction to Rahne’s situation is totally out of character.

On the plus side, the ending of this issue is intriguing, promising the return of an old baddie from the classic New Mutants series that – to the best of my knowledge – has been dormant for quite some time. And as it’s an enemy that isn’t going to get beaten by stabbing it to death, there’s at least the potential for this team to grow. In fact, it’ll either have to grow, or the story won’t make any sense at all. Plus, Clayton Crain does some darn good artwork.

There’s potential here, but I find myself skeptical as to whether it will be realized.

Rating: 5/10