Uncanny X-Force #3 – Review

by Rick Remender (Writer), Jerome Opena  (Penciller)

The Story: After a brief batch of origins for the Final Horsemen of Apocalypse, we watch our X-Force team as they simultaneously regain the upper hand against our villains and lick their wounds.  Apocalyp-kid struggles with ordering our heroes’ death, showing that he may not be all bad yet.  Oh, and Deadpool pitches a tent, Archangel eats junk food and Psylocke deals with a romantic suitor.  Really.

What’s Good: Remender opens the issue with one-page origins for each of the new Final Horsemen that were introduced in the previous issue and boy, is it a good idea.  One of my favorite things from the last installment was this new team of baddies and to immediately get the skinny on them here was something I didn’t know I wanted, but I’m really glad I got.  To make it even better, each of these new villains has an interesting tale to tell and as a result, this opening sequence doesn’t feel like an information dump but rather an entertaining aside.  Sticking with the villains for another minute, while it’s certainly not too surprising that the writer decided to have Apocalypse’s usual cold-bloodedness tempered by now residing in his younger, more innocent host, I don’t hate the move.  If anything, this adds a bit more drama and uncertainty to X-Force’s mission to assassinate him.  I’m sure the whole “Would you kill Hitler as a kid” dilemma will rear its ugly head and I’m trusting Remender to bring something new to the table in that respect.

In the heroes’ corner, the script allows for plenty of great moments in regards to our intrepid travelers.  Psylocke and Fantomex in particular get to enjoy quite a few ingenious moments, whether it’s Psylocke finding clever telepathic ways to give X-Force a respite from the pain they’re experiencing or using the love her presence inspires in the horseman War to find a way past his mental defenses.  Fantomex’s illusion casting was also a nice touch which made for plenty of surprise reversals, but I do have to confess to not remembering this ability of his from previous appearances.  Maybe I’ve just finally hit the limit of my comic book fact recall.  Actually, Remender and Opena deliver so many great little moments in this issue that I could be here all day giving them praise. I will however, make special mention of two more, though:  Deadpool’s character-centric tent gave me a good chuckle and Death’s perfectly devious attack on Wolverine via his adamantium skeleton gave me a good wince.  Throw in the badass cliffhanger and you have, well, a frankly near perfect issue.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: 27 #1 – This was really unexpected.  The solicitations made it sound like more of a band book, but I was hooked as soon as we saw the protagonist try to get his powers back by going to an eerie  dungeon/lab for a bizarre ritual involving a “scientist” who was disturbing, tattooed and naked.  How desperate would you have to be to let that dude do anything to you?  Runner-up: Lady Mechanika #1

Most Anticipated: Velocity #3 – It’s a shame this isn’t coming out more regularly, but it isn’t to be missed when it does show up.  The story is pretty good, but Ken Rocafort’s art is the main attraction for me.  He’s on my “buy whatever he draws” list.  Dude is really, really good.

Other picks: Amazing Spider-Man #650, Chaos War #4, Atomic Robo: The Deadly Art of Science #2, Strange Tales #3, Uncanny X-Force #3

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Fables #100 – A landmark collection packed with content, this was more graphic novel than single issue.  Best of all, it paid a lot of attention to building up for the future.  Here’s to another hundred issues!

Most Anticipated: Amazing Spider-Man #650 – I’m loving Big Time.  The sheer amount of comic book that you get for $3.99 is awesome, the art is awesome, and the story is all kinds of fun.  Hell, it’s not even a story anymore: each issue is just a giant chunk of Peter Parker’s madcap life.  That’s more than enough reason to get pumped every two weeks.

Other Picks: Batman & Robin #18, Brightest Day #16, DMZ #60, Green Lantern #60, Superman #706, The Unwritten #20, Wolverine #4

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Red Robin #18 – Red Robin was really fun. I enjoyed it and recommend it. Red Robin, hunting bad guys. In Russia. Tricking people. What more do you want?

Most Anticipated: Batman and Robin #18 – This book has: Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, and a lady with a hole in her head. Lunatic Gotham, written by Paul Cornell. I’m going to be reading this first.

Other Picks: Green Lantern #60, Batman #705, and…despite issue #15’s sucktastic performance, I’m still buying Brightest Day #16, although my tolerance for further crapulence from this series is gone.

Joe’s Top Picks

Best of the Past Week: New Avengers v2 #7 – Bendis’ relaunched New Avengers title has been missing the mark a bit with me since it started earlier this year, but he and Stuart Immonen have gotten right back on track with this action-less epilogue to the first story-arc.  Lots of people complain about the writer’s wordy comics, but it’s that fact that drives this issue to great heights.  By the time I finished this, I was reminded why I love the New Avengers: because it feels less like a super-team and more a clubhouse for Marvel greats to get together and interact.  New Avengers #7 had that in spades and I loved it.

Most Anticipated: Uncanny X-Force #3 – There are a lot of contenders for the most anticipated this week.  While it was tough trying to decide which of them to pick, it came down to a knock-down, drag-out brawl between X-Force and Thunderbolts.  I have to admit, X-Force might have won based solely on my love and addiction to the X-Franchise.  Remender is writing the best X-Men title on the market right now, and Opena is making every last bit of it look beautiful.  Can’t wait for Wednesday!

Other Picks: Thunderbolts #151, Avengers Academy #7, Amazing Spider-Man #650, Brightest Day #16, Green Lantern #60, Wolverine #4, X-Factor #212, Supergirl #59, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #5