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.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Avengers the Children’s Crusade #5 – This kinda came out of left field.  In a week that had several highly anticipated #1 issues from Image and the launch of Marvel’s newest event, who would have thought that an issue 5 out of 9 would be the best of the week?  How did Heinberg do it?  Well….for starters, he is eschewing typical Act II slowness.  This issue was action packed as the Young Avengers first fight with Doom and then bounce around the timestream with Iron Lad and then it ends with a kinda big character making her big return to the Marvel U.  It also doesn’t hurt to have Jim Cheung doing some just beastly art.  Every page is outstanding from an art standpoint and it shows what happens when you give an A-list artist 2 months to work on something.  This will be a real masterpiece when it is done.

Most Anticipated: Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #2 – For all hullaballoo about a couple of Image #1s this past week (and a couple of them were quite good), Butcher Baker #1 beat the pants off of them, so I can’t wait to see what Joe Casey and Co. do for an encore in issue #2.  Sure, it probably won’t match the shock value of seeing Dick Cheney and Jay Leno as part of the right-wing establishment trying to talk retired superhero Butcher Baker (a Comedian clone) out of his Charlie Sheen-esque retirement, but I’ll still bet there are some goodies in this issue.  You know one thing: There won’t be any punches pulled!

Other Picks: Unwritten #24, Infinite Vacation #2, Amazing Spider-Man #658, Lil Depressed Boy #3, Black Panther #517

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Secret Six #32 – While all the buzz was understandably about Fear Itself #1, and it was pretty good, I can’t deny the awesomeness that was this week’s issue of Secret Six.  It was the perfect blend of dark drama, darker comedy, and intricate team dynamic.  In other words, it’s everything that makes Gail Simone’s series so special.

Most Anticipated: Journey into Mystery #622 – I’m a Thor fan.  I’m a Kieron Gillen fan.  I love books centered on the bad guy.  Journey into Mystery offers all of these things, plus the awesome artwork of Doug Braithwaite.  That’s enough to leave me very excited.  I fully expect this to exceed Gillen’s Thor run, which was already pretty solid.

Other Picks: Infinity, Iron Man 2.0 #3, Uncanny X-Men #535, Uncanny X-Force #7, PunisherMAX #12, THUNDER Agents #6, Birds of Prey #11, Batman and Robin #22, The Flash #10, Amazing Spider-Man #658, New Avengers #11, Secret Warriors #26