Cable & X-Force: This Won't End Well TPB

I've got to admit, Salvador LaRocca's art goes a long way for me. It doesn't take much more than his art on a couple of classic characters like Colossus and the Avengers for me to be entertained. Even when the core plot of the book is weak, and the conflicts seem a tad manufactured, strong art and a few nostalgia call-outs can make a big difference. When guest artists come in with wildly varying styles? That blurs my focus a bit. Could LaRocca already be heading out for his X-Men OGN while this book was going?

So this is the big reveal. We find out just who has been manipulating Cable's powers, giving him flashes of "future-sight." Dennis Hopeless makes a good choice; our masterminds have good intentions and are inherently trustworthy, so it is difficult to get too angry at them.

Hopeless has a nice handle on his cast, particularly the budding romance between Colossus and Domino. Both are favorites of mine. Seeing them paired off, while unexpected, leads to some nice character moments throughout the collection.  I also appreciate that there could be reasons for Forge's out-of-character behavior while under Warren Ellis' pen in Astonishing X-Men. Having old time supporting characters like Boom Boom and the Reavers show up just makes this feel more like an X-Men comic.

I am fascinated by the appearance of the Uncanny Avengers. Often in comics, a team will seem more like a "real" entity when they show up as antagonists or guest stars in another comic. That isn't the case here. I've read every single issue of Uncanny Avengers, yet when they show up to take down Cable, and Havok shouts out "Avengers Assemble!" I'm still not buying it.

Three trades in, and that's still how I feel about this team. Hopeless and LaRocca have been telling stories about them for a dozen issues now, yet the team still feels forced together. It feels like the group was built by a group of editors dividing up characters, not by the natural progression of the story. This book feels like summer camp. They made different friends and hung out with different folks during the summer, but you know they are all going to shift back to their old alliances and teams when the story is done.

This comic is FAIR; more consistent art could have bumped it to GOOD.