12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #15

Here we go, Greg Capullo! 

And man, does the art take a turn for the better! Capullo is a respected artist and huge draw now, but this is one of his earliest assignments, so he’s nowhere near as polished as he is on Batman. That said, there is no denying the immediate improvement in storytelling and anatomy that he brings.

Capullo gets to show off with a couple nice fights, too. Deadpool vs. Cable works out pretty well, with Deadpool rocking some Spider-Man poses as he throws down with Cable. I can’t say I understand why Cable wants to go punch-for-punch with DP, except that it looks cooler and more “comic book-y.” 

Capullo is the best X-Force artist (so far) at drawing women too. Domino looks fantastic. Without her metal facemask and in some conveniently torn clothing, she looks fantastic. As a more mature reader, I question why her pants now look like a thong and how she got a conveniently placed hole on the chest of her costume, but I’m sure younger Timbotron didn’t mind.

The other fight goes by a tad quicker, but still shows off the team’s powers nicely, Crule suddenly re-enters (almost like a movie skipping back a few seconds) and comes after Cannonball once again. I swear, it is like a few panels of last issue just get erased and Capullo gets to do them over with his better pencils. Is that possible? 

This time, Cannonball barks out some orders, setting Shatterstar and Feral after the close-quarters combatant. It’s pretty neat seeing Cannonball treated like an effective team leader. Sam Guthrie was one of my favorites when I was younger, and THIS is how I liked seeing him. Confident and battle-trained, he’s much cooler than he was in the earlier issues. More importantly, with Cable gone, there is actually a role for Cannonball to play. With Cable around, Cannonball barely deserved a few lines of dialogue. Now he’s making decisions and recruiting his best friend Sunspot back onto the X-Force roster.

Man, do I like Siryn. Her costume is so dynamic and cool; I can’t help but like her. That under-arm cape is tremendous! And while Liefeld made his mark drawing Shatterstar and Feral, Capullo is no slouch. Both characters look really nice in these pages. I remain stunned that Shatterstar’s padded facemask can look so neat under so many artists’ pencils! Crule, though? He’s awful. From his name to his generic look, I’m remembering why I blocked this storyline from my memory all those years ago.

This GOOD comic is back to being art-driven, but now it is being served by Fabian Nicieza’s plot and pacing. This is the best it has been since I started re-reading.

Tomorrow, we see how the X-Force team responds when placed into an X-crossover…

12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #14

We are in uncharted waters here, folks. I chose this issue to review because I thought it was the debut of dynamic penciller Greg Capullo. (You may have heard of his Batman work? Or Spawn?) But it turns out Capullo only did the cover, and the interior pencils are by fill-in penciller Terry Shoemaker. 

Shoemaker’s art is fine, but it is a bit cartoony. It’s brighter than Liefeld’s crosshatched work in the first issues. I think I see some Chris Batista-like details in the faces, and Larry Stroman’s style in the figure work. So a book that launched to feature the artist is saddled with a workmanlike fill-in, but clearly the art-driven direction of the book is taking a back-seat.

Fabian Nicieza is still writing, and things have cleared up nicely. The book opens with Cable and Domino infiltrating Tolliver’s estate while Cannonball and the rest of the team take on SHIELD. This era is clearly part of the confusing Externals plot, a storyline I have worked hard to block from my memory. The silly-named Crule shows up to kill Cannonball at the end of the issue, because… I think the Eternals are sort of like Highlanders? There can be only one… (maybe?) The main team doesn’t have much time to decide on their future plans. There is some talk about a long-term plan for the team without Cable’s influence, but they can’t really decide on a plan before Crule’s arrival.

I remember being very surprised by the other big development in this issue. When Domino and Cable get inside Tolliver’s home, they find Domino tied up against the wall. That’s right; the Domino who has been appearing in this book since the New Mutants days is in fact Vanessa, Deadpool’s sometime girlfriend. The real Domino has been captured and tied up for all this time. I do appreciate that Cable seems to zip through Tolliver’s other flunky at the close of the issue, setting up a big Cable/Deadpool throw down for next month. Of course, Deadpool seems to kill regretful Vanessa as he arrives, so it isn’t all fun and games.

While the art isn’t as fun as the early issues, the plot does move along more smoothly. Having Nicieza plot and script his own stories does seem to have improved the pacing of the issue. This is still only a FAIR comic, but it is getting better as the pacing and story improve. 

12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #2

Kane! Weapon X! With the power to shoot his hands and feet off like a broken toy! I can’t remember if he had more powers, but those are the only ones he uses in this issue. The opening pages are as dynamic as the premiere issue, but man, the overwhelming RED on the page makes it hard to enjoy. I know you can’t change someone’s costume design, but having Deadpool and Kane throw down just makes for an overall sense of red bleeding over the entire page.

In fact, I’m not sure if it is the coloring or printing errors, but this book is full of problems. Boom Boom’s awful costume is mis-colored on one page. Cable’s face is pure yellow in on another. The quality control on this one wasn’t too high, I think.

Rob Liefeld’s pencils are not as tight as in the first issue, and the anatomy on some of his figures seems more off than normal. I don’t expect realism in comic art, but I’m pretty sure that Warpath has three elbows per arm in one panel. In fact, a lot of the cast doesn’t look great here, with the grimacing and wincing through the roof. BUT, Liefeld still makes Feral and Shatterstar look tremendous. I wonder if Shatterstar was his favorite? That padded mask actually looks cool to me!

In issue 1, Fabian Nicieza really throttled back the caption boxes. They are back with a vengeance here. Kane in the opening sequence, and Feral in the back, the dialogue is heavy and obvious, not the best I’ve seen from the writer. He does do a nice job with Deadpool’s dialogue though. It’s so weird seeing the character show up in this comic as a villain. He’s working for “Tolliver,” who I don’t even remember!

The main plot isn’t a barn-burner. GW Bridge wants Kane for his anti-X-Force team, and Feral loses control and guts Cannonball while on a training exercise. I’m much more excited about the cliffhanger; Black Tom Cassidy has kidnapped Gideon and Sunspot. PLUS, Tom has just rescued the Juggernaut from a non-corporeal state.

This AVERAGE issue isn’t quite as fun as issue 1, but I’m anxious to see the team go after the Juggernaut. 

Deadpool v3: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly TPB

Well color me impressed. After two fairly lackluster stories in this volume of Deadpool, Gerry Dugan and Brian Posehn really up their game in volume three. They play on some of the classic Weapon X and Deadpool tropes of missing memories, confused pasts, and anguish that reaches into the present.

In this volume, we’ve seen strange secret agents kidnap DP for mysterious purposes. It turns out that rogue geneticist Butler is working for the North Koreans. He’s been kidnapping DP and learning from his super powered healing factor for years. It seems that not only is North Korea asking for Butler to create his own mutants, but Butler himself has a sister (?) that he is trying to save from cancer, just as Wade Wilson was saved all those years ago.

The story is good, but not excellent as it opens. Butler kidnaps DP, gives him a bit of a fantasy world to sleep in while the current research happens, but ‘Pool breaks out and starts to wreak havoc. He meets up with some disfigured “artificial” mutants; poor folks who have been tortured and threatened into compliance. Deadpool finds a couple more Weapon X’ers, and the three of them start getting some sweet vengeance.

Dugan and Posehn have always had a nice voice for Wade Wilson, but man, do they nail Wolverine and Cap. Cap is a strategic leader, always saying the right thing, even getting good effort and some degree of loyalty from Deadpool. Wolverine is a killer, like DP, but he understands Cap’s position too. When Deadpool questions some of Cap’s decisions, Wolvie has the perfect answer. Cap doesn’t hang around for killing because he’s needed elsewhere, but Cap is under no illusions of what kind of people Wolvie and DP really are. It’s a great scene, one of the many that really impressed me. I’d like to see these guys do more with the greater Marvel U.

Scott Koblish wasn’t always this good either, right? Heck, maybe I’m thinking of something else, because a quick Google search only shows solid work. I’m impressed by the art in this trade too. The main characters all look great, especially the disfigured, tragic X-Men copies. The art makes me care for these guys after only a page or two; the emotion is so clear on their faces, I’m invested immediately.

This is the best Deadpool story in Marvel now, and really, a fun story overall. It messes around with Wade’s already confusing past, but that doesn’t keep it from being a GOOD comic. 

Thunderbolts v1: No Quarter TPB

It really bums me out that we lost Jeff Parker’s fantastic take on the Thunderbolts, and all we got was this.

Now admittedly, that’s an unfair comparison; I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve read from Parker, while Daniel Way’s hits are far rarer for me. (I’m pretty sure he did a Sabretooth limited series that I enjoyed…)

Anyway, on to this book. The main theme of this book seems to be Marvel characters that wear black or red and enjoy killing. Venom and Punisher even give themselves costume updates to make sure that they are only wearing black and red. That just doesn’t seem like too good of a unifying theme for a team, does it?

The Red Hulk puts the team together to deal with a past sin; General Thunderbolt Ross has more ties to gamma radiation than we ever expected. He gets Punisher on board through a pretty fun coercion angle, and Venom just signs up for a senior officer. Deadpool and Elektra are mercs; I can’t imagine it was too hard for them to get involved.

The plot involves a South Asian island called Kata Jaya. The red Thunderbolts head there to take out the current dictator and his muscle, Hulk villain Madman. I’ve been reading Hulk comics for a long time, and I must admit that the Leader’s brother never really made an impact on me. Sorry!

That brings me to my favorite aspect of this collection: the Leader. Daniel Way clearly has some affection for the Leader, an while the villain doesn’t exactly set the world on fire in this first collection, it is clear that he has set himself up for a return as a big bad. The scene where Punisher finds out he is on the team is laugh-out-loud funny.

Steve Dillon has drawn so many classic, emotionally resonant Punisher story, I kept finding myself being jarred out of this story. Dillon’s Punisher is the “real” Punisher for me now; the character lives and breathes under Dillon’s pencils. It probably isn’t fair to compare Jason Aaron and Garth Ennis’ classic out of continuity tales with a Marvel U-based adventure book, but the book just feels wrong. That bite of satire, the extra gut punch of violence… it is missing.

So a team of killers working on a generic mission in a setting none of them belong in. AND, this is Marvel’s follow-up to one of my favorite runs of all time (Parker’s Thunderbolts). That makes this an EVIL choice for the next chapter of this storied franchise. 

Deadpool v2: Soul Hunter TPB

Just to catch you guys up from the reboot of this book last summer; Deadpool’s Marvel Now series has tongue planted firmly in cheek as he opened the series fighting the re-animated bodies of the dead American presidents. This included fighting Ronald Reagan on a space station and William Taft in a bathtub. So Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn haven’t exactly been aiming for drama. This is meant to be a fun, irreverent book.

The status quo heading into the second trade is an update to Wade’s weird voiceovers. He’s got a co-pilot in his head, deceased SHIELD agent Preston is now wandering around in Wade’s mindscape; able to both see what he’s up to in the real world, and explore the depths of Wade’s memories during downtime.

Through the use of an inspired “inventory issue,” Deadpool gains a new nemesis in Vetis, a demon with big plans. Vetis has been storing stolen soul power in his victims for decades, now he wants Deadpool to go and “collect.” Naturally, this involves Wade killing a lot of people.

The plot is largely secondary here; there more to facilitate some interesting team-ups and give the core cast time to make jokes. Iron Man (circa Demon in the Bottle) and Daredevil get some panel time, but the biggest guest appearance is the Superior Spider-Man. It is interesting that Otto Octavius’ take on Spider-Man has so much less patience for Deadpool than Peter Parker. Parker always makes concessions and often looks the other way; Otto does not.

Of the core cast, Preston, Ben Franklin, and the inept wizard who raised the presidents make for a good supporting cast. Deadpool only works when he’s got people to bounce off of; Duggan and Posehn know that and make it work. They also introduce some potential game-changing back story for the future.

The artwork from Scott Koblish and Matt Hawthorne is professional. I’m not overly familiar with either guy, but I can’t complain. They had big shoes to fill since the departure of Tony Moore, but the art is fine.

While I enjoy Deadpool in team books, I rarely love his solo series. This is no exception. This is competent and it has real laughs. I think fans of Deadpool’s lighter side will really dig this. But for me, this is definition of a FAIR comic. 

Deadpool #4

This was a weird comic. It felt like Brian Posehn and Gerry Dugan had a nice focus going for the first half of the book. While some big name presidents like Andrew Jackson and JFK go down pretty easily, it had to happen. Not every Dead President can fit the boss-villain role. (I will say the lack of They Might Be Giant jokes for James K. Polk did bum me out!)

It seems Abe Lincoln is one of the main villains, he gets half the issue to himself. (Well, he has a small cheering section of ineffective presidents). I like that it is so easy to get Honest Abe involved in an MMA match. The villains’ plans have been hilariously vague, so seeing them gather followers and get distracted makes a lot of sense.

I would have thought Adrian Van Lundgren was a real MMA fighter. He gets a pretty important role both before and during DP’s fight with Honest Abe.

Tony Moore seems to be having a good time with the book. He gets to draw DP dressed up like Marilyn Monroe while he takes out JFK (Wade’s favorite president). He also draws Posehn into the big splash page, so I’m sure there are more cameos that I’m missing. I also like that Wade’s new president slicing sword has provided Moore with a whole new type of zombie gore for the printed page.

And President Taft flies around in a bubble bath. That too.

Fair

Deadpool #3

Now what the heck is going on here? 

I really liked issue #1, found #2 to be boring, and now I’m liking issue #3 again. Are the writers (Gerry Dugan and Brian Posehn) switching off or something? Seriously, the jokes are back to the quality of issue one. I actually laughed out loud a few times while reading this one. 

Comedy will only get me so far in reading a book, and another improvement comes from the involvement of Dr. Strange. He’s still wearing that weak get-up from New Avengers, but Strange is fully in his element here. His dialogue stays true to character while still getting in a few zingers, helping him to fit in a Deadpool comic.

 

Slowly but surely, Deadpool is working his way through the dead presidents. Abe Lincoln and George Washington return to bedevil our hero, and they escape again too. I guess they must be the recurring villains in this weird comic!

Tony Moore must be ticked to draw this version of Dr. Strange. Surely that’s a disappointment for folks other than me! I do like the design of the occult SHIELD logo on the Necromancer. That certainly seems like a good lead-in for an ongoing plot. Moore also continues to excel on the gore. When Gerry Ford takes a header into a propeller, you know the quality on that viscera is going to be high. 

Fair

Deadpool #2

Well. Perhaps my feelings about being Deadpool-ed out were correct. Didn’t the first issue just come out a week or two ago? It seems while I do appreciate the character, I seem to like him best in small doses. 

This isn’t a BAD issue; I just wasn’t as taken with the charm and silliness as I was in the first issue. Adding Ben Franklin as a hormonal spiritual adviser is amusing, and I can’t help but laugh at the broad presidential caricatures from Gerry Dugan and Brian Posehn. The problem is this is starting to feel long and it has only been two issues. 

I know Wade has a healing factor, but is there a reason he just jumped out of the SHIELD ship as he arrived at the zoo? I will say the whole elephant thing led to some good jokes at the close of the book. 

Tony Moore’s artwork is still strong, although he’s definitely better at drawing guys than he is at ladies. His women of the Marvel U dream at the opening looked OK, but nowhere near as strong as his slapstick and violence later in the book. 

Fair

Uncanny X-Force: Dark Angel Saga (part 2)

The story is very complicated, involving Archangel’s plan to re-create the Earth with the Celestial lifeseed. (Fortunately, we’ve got Deadpool openly mocking the plot every chance he gets.) Another strong point of the story is the tremendous line-up of villains. The new Horsemen from Uncanny X-Force team up with the surviving members from the old X-Factor days, plus Dark Beast. You simply can’t beat Archangel as the big bad, too. He’s charismatic and falsely sincere in an enraging way. He’s got all the power and status of Apocalypse, but Remender establishes it in only a few issues. This is masterfully plotted.

Remender even leaves the book in an interesting place. I’m not sure which of the AoA X-Men are even still alive, but we know that the alternate Nightcrawler is going to stick around. I sort of hope some of the others make it too. The AoA Earth needs them!

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Remender is blessed with some absolutely fantastic artist. Mark Brooks handles the Age of Apocalypse issues, and his ability to reinvigorate those great 90’s design really makes it work. I mean, I knew I loved the alternate Iceman and Sunfire, but who knew that silly Gambit looked that neat? Or that AoA Jean Grey looked that great throwing her powers around?

And when did Jerome Opena get this good? Didn’t he work on Punisher and Moon Knight? He was OK then, but his art is stunning now. His work on Genocide (formerly known as Holocaust), Dark Beast, and the other Horseman is wonderful. And Psylocke’s ridiculously “ass-y” evil costume? Great design and very comic-y all at once.

I'm going to go ahead and say it: This is a new X-Classic!

Excellent

Uncanny X-Force: Dark Angel Saga (part I)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Have a heaping helping of X-Force!

I posted a review of Deathlok Nation recently, and I gave it a “Good” rating. Well, if that one was good, then this one is Excellent. Rick Remender takes his time with a long narrative that spans ends of the Earth, centuries of time, and alternate worlds. Everything from the Age of Apocalypse to Jason Aaron’s Deathlok to Grant Morrison’s The World has some time in the sun.

The book opens with the aftermath of Archangel’s ascendance in Warren Worthington’s mind. It seems Archangel was destined to take Apocalypse’s place should the X-villain die. Warren has lost the battle and now Archangel is taking his place. X-Force wants to try and help their fallen buddy, so they enlist the Dark Beast. The former horseman of Apocalypse sends the X-team to the Age of Apocalypse to join up with the surviving X-Men to grab a Celestial Life Seed. Of course, Dark Beast can’t be trusted, but I still relished the chance to see all these characters again. Jean Grey, Magneto, Rogue, Gambit, Silver Samurai, Iceman, Sunfire, and Nightcrawler make up the core of the team, led by former Exile Sabretooth. By the end of the story, it seems like only a few of these guys are still standing.

I found it interesting that Deathlok is wearing an “X.” He’s a full on member of X-Force in this one. Wolverine is the dour leader, and Psylocke the protagonist struggling with her feelings for her former love. Deadpool absolutely steals the show as the comic relief. I was shocked how many times I actually laughed out loud at the dialogue ol’ Wade was spouting. That said, I don’t think any comic fan can read this story and not fall in love with Fantomex. I always thought he was fine, but seeing him take charge of the team, fall in love with Psylocke, and kick all kinds of butt… you have to love him.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Deadpool #1

I bought this one on a whim. I figured my infatuation with Deadpool was surely done (although Rick Remender’s take in Uncanny X-Force had me doubting even that.) Then my local store commented that they had only two copies left, and if I wanted to read it, I should grab one. So I did. To no one’s surprise, it’s funny and entertaining.

Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan pack this thing with more puns per square inch than even the JLI. Seriously, I know Deadpool is a joker, but man, this thing is just packed with puns, wordplay, and silliness. Even the core plot is a bit of a lark; a SHIELD agent trying to heal the country has resurrected all of the dead Presidents of the United States. The problem is, they are all super-powered and evil. After a ridiculous headline focusing on Cap taking down one president, SHIELD brings in Deadpool to do the dirty work.

It’s no surprise that Tony Moore kills it on art. He’s a gore-master, and Deadpool’s main power is getting blown to bits. I really enjoyed Deadpool’s debut bursting out of the guts of a gross monster. Moore’s SHIELD agents look a lot more realistic than the ones starring in all the other Marvel books these days. They look like office drones squeezed into blue sausage casings; it’s hard to take SHIELD too seriously with this look. I'm going to need to brush up on some of my presidents, though, I didn't recognize everyone at the close of the book.

I may have to stick around for awhile.

Line of the Issue: FDR to Deadpool: You have nothing to FEAR – Except me! Here’s a New Deal – DIE!

Good

Back-Issue Review: Uncanny X-Force #6-9 (2011)

I’m starting to see why everyone speaks of Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force in such glowing terms. AND this storyline is a big help in understanding the current Descendants arc in Secret Avengers. (Don’t you love it when creators pull their ongoing villains and plots from one title to another?)

Remender wastes no time in these issues. The heroes face down a group of cyborg-ed Avengers, evil robot versions of themselves, and a classic X-Men villain. Not to mention the ongoing subplot dealing with Archangel’s horrific dark side as created by Apocalypse.

I really get the impression that Remender likes these characters. Wolverine is a tough guy, and Deadpool and Fantomex fill that role too. (Although Fantomex actually benefits from some nice character and background development too. This is, by far, the most I’ve ever liked the character.) Psylocke and Angel fit in on the team too, but judging by the villains and subplots, Remender is really enjoying peeling back some layers and upgrading the characters. Seeing Betsy try to help Warren navigate his memories is particularly effective. It’s not just old characters; Jason Aaron’s Deathlok sort of joins the team during this arc, too. He fits in better than I would have expected!

Billy Tan’s art is a bit cleaner than Jerome Opena’s. Both artists work well on the material, but even Deathlok looks sleek when Tan draws him. His Jim Lee-inspired armor on Psylocke is awesome too. And who can resist such a classic looking take on the long-time X-foe in issue 8?

Good

Back-Issue Review: Uncanny X-Force #5.1

The fact that I’m so into comics should tell you that I have a hard time letting go of my childhood. When a comic features favorite villains FROM that childhood? Well, that’s when I get very happy about my four-color hobby.

Uncanny X-Force #5.1 is a free giveaway on the Marvel App. I’ve had it for awhile now, but finally cracked it open. Yee haw! My first Comic was Uncanny X-Men #205 featuring Lady Deathstrike and Cole, Macon, and Reese from the Hellfire Club. Rick Remender must have a soft spot for the same characters, because this issue is all about the Reavers, the cybernetic gang of baddies from the late 80’s early 90’s (a gang that features the four characters listed above).

It’s interesting watching the X-Force team interact during this issue. Wolverine and Psylocke (the British version) were core X-Men at the time, but Angel was busy over in X-Factor, so he doesn’t have quite the history that his teammates do. Fantomex and Deadpool don’t really need the history, neither gets a ton to do other than show up and look cool for a few seconds. Very quickly the story breaks down to Wolverine vs. Deathstrike and Angel and Psylocke vs. the Reavers. The Hellfire commandos factor in later, but they don’t seem to offer much of a challenge by themselves.

This is a hell of a fight between Wolvie and Lady Deathstrike. Her vicious plan is in character, but she seems to take a lot of pleasure in the straight-up gutting she brings to Wolverine. Remender even keeps her alive at the close of the issue; too much potential in her to take her off the board like the does the other Reavers. Of course, they are robots and cyborgs, so I’m not too worried about them being gone forever either.

Rafael Albuquerque is a DC talent, so I’m not used to seeing him draw Marvel characters. He does a nice job with the exaggerated features on Lady Deathstrike especially. (It probably helps that she looks so much like a vampire from American Vampire.) He does a nice job taking the original designs by Barry Windsor-Smith and Marc Silvestri and letting them stand, but putting his own blocky spin on them.

This is a fantastic value as a free comic. Heck, I would have paid for it!

Good

Uncanny X-Force #1-4

I’ve been hearing good things about the breakneck action in Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force, but I held off because I enjoyed Chris Yost’s take so much over the past few years. Then Comixology had a nice 99 cent sale and I figured it was time to sample. I’m quite happy I did.

It seems Apocalypse is back on the scene, reincarnated or recreated in the body of a young boy. His old associate Ozymandius is pulling strings to make sure this kid grows up to be the Darwinian manipulator we all know and love. Apocalypse also has four new Horseman and a new sentient Ship, making his team a sort of “best of” from his old flunkies. (Although weren’t the Dark Riders his group too? A bunch of generic 90’s baddies, I think.)

After the larger cast in the last series, Remender whittles the lineup down a fair amount. X-Force is now Wolverine, Archangel, Psylocke, Fantomex, and Deadpool. There was no real “forming the team” moment, but I’ve seen so many origin stories, that is certainly fine with me. The team seems a bit awkward, with Fantomex pining for Psylocke, but she’s gotten back with Archangel. And Deadpool just annoys everybody.

The new Horseman are nice and tough, with some original powers. The upper hand gets mixed up quite a bit, as the Horsemen are darn capable of causing serious damage to the X-folks. In fact, the new Famine drains Archangel so badly that Deadpool is forced to empty his pockets to feed him (Pop Rocks and soda), then slice flesh off and feed it to the angelic guy. Pretty dang gross, and now there are two cannibals on the X-Men (since Wolverine ate his own flesh in the early issues of Wolverine: Origins).

I should mention this fight is happening on the surface of the moon. Pretty dang cool. The entire storyline is visually stunning, with Jeremy Opena exhibiting a level of skill I had no idea he possessed. This is a beautiful book; the characters don’t look like perfect cartoons like so many comics, they are lumpy and a bit imperfect, but wonderfully rendered. The designs on the new Horsemen are unique but very iconic. You know which Horseman is which as soon as they use their powers.

Regarding digital comics, the colors really pop and I found the navigation between splash and regular pages to be flawless.

I really enjoyed this opening arc, and I’d love to read more of the series. But $3.99 per issue is steep, and I can’t justify a 16 or 17 dollar trade for four comic books. Let me know if you spot an X-Force sale on Comixology!

Good

Amazing Spider-Man; Return of the Black Cat TPB

This trade, like many of the recent Brand New Day collections, is actually a compilation of a few different Spidey stories. Not surprisingly, the quality and my enjoyment varies wildly depending on the creators and characters involved.

The first story is the best, featuring the Black Cat slinking back into Spidey's life. She's a sexy flirt, and poor Spidey can't get anything done when she's around. Her bad luck powers are bad enough, but she won't let him concentrate on anything but her! It is quite fun seeing some things work out OK for the web-slinger, and Joe Kelly and Mike McKone do a great job giving villain Diablo enough to do while still keeping the focus on the Black Cat.

The second story left me a bit cold. The concept was strong, and Marc Guggenheim brings back his Raptor the dinosaur man character from a few issues ago. Kaine plays a big role too, since the whole story hinges on a misunderstanding from Ben Reilly's actions in the past. The problem is that I certainly wasn't clamoring for more details on Reilly's employment while he hid out and lived the life of a clone on the run. If anything, I would have liked more Scarlet Spider goodness. The whole exercise just seemed a bit pointless, especially considering where Raptor ends up. Marc Checchetto's art is pretty, though.

The last story is a one-off featuring Deadpool. I'm so over-saturated on the character, not even Joe Kelly's return to his pet character can help me. The "yo Momma" climax is original, I'll say that, but, jeez, I just can't take any more Deadpool!

Fair

Hulk v4: Hulk vs. X-Force TPB

I don't think anyone is going to be won over by volume four of Jeph Loeb's sublimely ridiculous Red Hulk. Loeb tries to inject some pathos with Rulk's ongoing thoughts in some caption boxes, but I practically skipped them. The key to enjoying this book is turning off your brain and smiling (maybe drooling a little) as a ton of Marvel characters knock each other around while spouting tough smack-talk.

If you want to see (in order of my interest) Wolverine, Thundra, Domino, Archangel, Doc Samson, Punisher, Silver Sable, Red She-Hulk, Deadpool, Warpath, X-23, and Elektra all smash each other up, this book is for you. If you want all the ladies in that list to lost a lot of their clothes, this comic is for you. I almost have to compare this to a loud action movie where you laugh and clap along with the explosions and punching. This is the Crank 2 of comics.

Speaking of the art, I loved Ian Churchill's Ed McGuinness impression. The bonus material in the back shows how Churchill transformed his pencils to look like the bulky style that has been this book's norm. He still makes sure to draw all the guys huge and the ladies busting out of their tops, but it's all so cartoony, you can't take it seriously.

Lord help me, this is just dumb fun, but it's Good.