Uncanny X-Force #7 – Review

by Rick Remender (writer), Esad Ribic (pencils), John Lucas (inks), Matt Wilson (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: X-Force fights their way through Deathloks and the World in their mission to take out Father.

The Review:  While this is probably the best issue of this arc, it still doesn’t quite match up to the previous Apocalypse Solution though, admittedly, that may be due to just how awesome that arc was.  Something about this Deathlok/World centered arc doesn’t have the same sense of energy and uniqueness.  I think that may have something to do with this arc’s reliance on prior continuity, drawing on Grant Morrison’s X-Men work and such.

With that said, Rick Remender nonetheless does do some really cool character-work this month that makes up for much of this.  Surprisingly, much of this comes from Deadpool.  Remender has really done surprising work with Deadpool, making him a more realistic character that isn’t just a caricature of himself.  The Deadpool that Remender gives us here is a compelling, complex character that has quite a lot going on (including a weird mix of pride and self-loathing) beneath that jokey exterior, regardless of how many screws he has loose.  Remender gives us little peaks beneath the hood, both through Deadpool’s clash with Fantomex and Father’s hypnotic words to Wade that reveal a great deal about this character.  This Deadpool isn’t just the comic relief, he’s also a tremendously interesting character.

Fantomex comes off well this month also, particularly due to the hostile relationship he has with Deadpool, with the two trading highly personal barbs.  Through one another’s words, both characters expose each others’ unique and troubled psychologies.  The result is dialogue that isn’t only a joy to read, but dialogue that also illuminates both characters involved, makes them both more nuanced, and makes them both much more interesting to the reader.  Wade’s emphasizing the contest between he and Fantomex to not be the most reviled and disrespected member of the team is a really cool new component to the team’s dynamic and, at issue’s end, Remender reveals just who’s winning that contest in a very subdued and haunting fashion.

Uncanny X-Force #6 – Review

by Rick Remender (writer), Esad Ribic (pencils), John Lucas (inks), Matt Wilson (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: Fantomex fights to keep the World safe from superpowered Deathloks, but will X-Force bother to save him?

Review:  In some ways, this latest installment of Uncanny X-Force is a disappointment.  A big part of what made Rick Remender’s title, for me, so special was the team dynamic and the relationships among this small band of five.  Yet, this month, instead of an X-Force book, we get, for the most part, a Fantomex/Deathlok team-up with action scenes all over the place.  That’s well and good, Fantomex is as fun as always and the action scenes are drawn in exciting and intense fashion by Esad Ribic, but it’s not the book at its best.

That being said, amidst this Deathlok story, there are some really cool ideas.  For instance, what would a world look like without superheroes?  According to Remender, pretty damned awesome.  The future these Deathloks come from is one without superpowers and, as such, it’s a utopia.  It’s a really neat move by Remender, as seriously, how many times have we seen a burning, future dystopia due to a lack of heroes?  It’s one of the most well-worn plot points in superhero comics and for Remender to reverse this entirely is not only brilliant, but it also puts X-Force into yet another moral conundrum.  After all, in fighting the Deathloks, they are preventing a lot of deaths, but they’re also possibly stopping utopia from being reached.  And when Remender reveals just who hope is pinned on and who the rebel is in the future, well yeah, that just makes that conundrum all the wonkier.

Interestingly though, the opening scene of the book is probably the strongest, even though it has nothing to do with Fantomex, Deathloks, or the World.  It’s a conversation between Psylocke and Captain Britain that is really well-written and a great piece of introspection for the character, showing Betsy’s increasingly tragic situation regarding her role in X-Force.  The twist at the end of this scene is wonderfully sad, even pathetic, and the whole scene shows Remender’s strengths as a writer.

I think this fantastic opening may also play a role regarding my comparative disappointment with the Fantomex/Deathlok stuff.  All the bluster and action just felt a little shallow compared to this awesomeness.  That being said, Fantomex is pretty darned funny and is as charming as ever, so the comic never drags.

Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine #1 – Review

“All We Want Is The World And Everything In It” by Jason Aaron (Writer), Esad Ribic (Pencils), Tom Palmer (Inks), and Matthew Wilson (Colors)

“A Good Man” by Jason Aaron (Writer) and Udon Studios (Art)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Jason Aaron is easily the best Wolverine writer at the moment, so any comic that features two stories by the guy is an automatic purchase in my book

The Story: The first part of The List – Wolverine is, essentially, a Marvel Boy and Wolverine team-up story that quickly turns into a Marvel Boy and Fantomex team-up story. Both duos try to shut down a sentient facility known as The World before Norman Osborn is able to gain control of it. The second part of The List – Wolverine is a character piece that explores if or how Logan is a “good man” despite his past.

What’s Good: I’m a fan of the buddy comedy. Especially if the buddy comedy I’m enjoying happens to have a healthy dose of action in it as well (…and doesn’t involve Brett Ratner in any way). I mention that because Jason Aaron absolutely nails the action-packed buddy comedy vibe with his first The List – Wolverine story “All We Want Is The World And Everything In It.” It goes a long way towards making up for the fact that the story is really a Wolverine story only in the sense that it features Weapon X/World stuff that Grant Morrison established quite some time ago.

Now normally, I’d be quite disappointed that Wolverine plays second fiddle to a couple of lesser known characters in his own book, I’m not, however, because Jason Aaron’s character work is so damned strong. The banter between Noh-Varr and Fantomex takes advantage of each character’s personality (the arrogant alien and the shady, yet slick weapon) and it makes the odd pairing work far better than you might expect. Add some great Wolverine dialogue, toss in a few scenes featuring a seething, power-hungry Norman Osborn and you’ve got a strange story about a sentient building/emotional brain that is a whole hell of a lot of fun to read.

Esad Ribic’s pencil work is fluid, loaded with emotion, and quite distinct. Ribic handles all the action exceptionally well and adds an extra bit of humor to the script thanks to his knack for drawing just the right expression for the situation. While I was initially disappointed that Ribic’s work wasn’t painted like it was for the cover or the excellent Marvel Knights mini-series Sub-Mariner: The Depths, the pencil work quickly grew on me.

Jason Aaron’s second story, “A Good Man,” isn’t nearly as fun as the first, but it certainly makes an impact thanks to a few nice touches I’d rather not spoil. By having Wolverine stop to help someone in need while trying to stay ahead of a group that’s chasing him, Aaron effectively softens a character that you know is going to have to get his hands bloody before it’s all said and done. In addition, by having a religious theme, “A Good Man” serves as a nice compliment to the ending of the first story, even though it is totally unrelated.

What’s Not So Good: While I can’t consider it to be a negative since it went with the story and the characters, I have to mention that some people are probably going to be a bit sensitive to the pro-atheism dialogue that’s written into “All We Want Is The World And Everything In It.” Also, I have to mention that the religious stuff throughout the book isn’t exactly subtle. The topic of religion tends to be a touchy subject all around and when it’s handled in a heavy-handed way as it is in both stories (“A Good Man” also touches upon religion quite a bit), the audience is bound to be divided by it.

Speaking of “A Good Man,” I’m still trying to figure out why someone thought it’d be a good idea to have Udon Studios handle the artwork for the story. While I like Udon’s work quite a bit, the studio’s style just simply doesn’t fit Jason Aaron’s fairly subdued character study. Disconnect between story and artwork can bring down any comic.

The only other negative left to mention is that Esad Ribic’s work is occasionally a bit too exaggerated. The exaggeration fits the tone of the story in a way, but Ribic goes a little overboard here and there. While the level of emotion on display is impressive at fitting and impressive most of the time, a few panels just look silly.

Conclusion: Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine is worth picking up as long as you don’t mind that Wolverine takes a back seat to others for most of the comic.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny