ZOMG Uncanny X-Force!
ZOMG Uncanny X-Force is AMAZEBALLS!!
It is so ridiculously awesome and mind-blowing, that I have to resort to interwebz speak and caps lock to describe it’s epicness. Like, for real. I will, however, try to talk about this comic like a rational human being instead of an LOLcat.
I know I’m late to the party with this one. People have been raving about Rick Remender’s tale of the X-Men’s covert assassination team for close to a year now. And with very good reason. Call me a late bloomer, it just took me a bit more time to get where everyone else has been.
I checked out Uncanny X-Force pretty early on. There was a ton of buzz right out of the gate. So I grabbed issue three, thinking I could just jump on. It didn’t quite work for me. I can’t exactly say what exactly it was, but from this one issue, the story just wasn’t resonating with me.
My second attempt was issue five-point-one, part of Marvel’s campaign to get people interested in a title with self-contained single issues. I really dug the one-shot for X-Force, so I decided to pick up the next issue, which was part two of a storyline that (I think) pulled from the previous arc. All I know is that there were zombie-robot thingies, some French dude’s mom died, and there were lots of explosions.
At this point I was thinking, “maybe this book just isn’t for me.” And I was kind of OK with that. I mean, I tend to go for brighter action/adventure stories. Dark and twisty killing squad is not typically in my wheel-house. So I settled on letting this title go.
Another six months of fervent internet buzz and my rapidly increasing X-Men obsession drove me to pick up the first Uncanny X-Force trade at my comic shop a couple weeks ago. And that’s when everything clicked into place.
So last week I grabbed all the issues of the current “Dark Angel Saga” story and just devoured them. I’d finish one issue and audibly squee. I’d finish the next and “AAAH!” Then “GAAAHH!” Until finally “GAAHKJWOERJSGKLJGAK” and I fell out of my chair.
Because this comic is amazeballs.
Maybe it doesn’t lend itself to “just jumping on” but my god this story has such a fantastic build to it that it’s worth the bin-diving to catch up. Remender and artist Jerome Opena (and Mark Brooks) have a pitch-perfect sense of pacing, tension, and character. And Dean White’s colors brilliantly set the tone for the comic. The story and the art move together with clockwork precision, and the fast-paced narrative leaves you needing more. Quite simply, Uncanny X-Force is a perfect package of a comic book.
Deathlok, Ali! They’re called Deathloks!
I know that NOW! :)