Rick Remender AND Phil Noto you say? Well, let’s check in with our merry band of mutant murderers to see how it is in the dark side of the fight for mutant survival. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson: “We all gotta get murdered sometime!”
Do they in fact, kill it? Better check that cut!
Written by Rick Remender
Illustrated by Phil Noto
- Wolverine, Deadpool And AoA Nightcrawler Go On Mission To Kill AoA Iceman!
- What’s Left Of X-Force Returns From Otherworld!
Uncanny X-Force, since its inception about a year and a half ago, has consistently been one of the best X-Books out there, and might even be one of the best Marvel books out there. Remender and his merry band of artists have built a complex tale that has never felt forced. Ever y arc has grown organically and at a frenetic pace, much like Wade Wilson’s enhanced healing factor. This issue is no different.
In what serves as an epilogue to the previous arc in Otherworld with Betsy’s family problems, as well as a standalone issue where AoA Kurt takes on his nemesis from the Age of Apocalypse Universe: Bobby Drake (which, side note, Bobby the ultimate dick? Still jarring to consider.), tying up loose ends from the other universe hopping mission the team had in the recent past, over during the already -classic Dark Angel Saga. What ensues in the issue is a low down dirty fight that is one of the toughest things to actually witness. However evil and cruel this alternate Iceman might have been, AoA Kurt is as cruel as he is, driven by revenge against the man that sold him and his family out during Apocalypse’s and Weapon Omega’s reign of terror.
It’s definitely not a fight for the light hearted. Remender’s script combined with Noto’s tight pencils made the fight of the century not Cyclops vs. Captain America, but Kurt vs. Bobby. On the flipside, Betsy dealing with the fallout of Jamie’s death was the emotional turmoil that perfectly complemented the physical slobberknocker mentioned before.
While the book has Logan as the leader, this book has arguably been the Psylocke and Fantomex Show. Both of them have gotten the glut of the character development. Betsy has had a rough time since the book started, and she’s become stronger because of it. She has never been a weak “lamp” who might as well be boobs on a stick; she is in control of her destiny and makes the hard choices that others may not be able to make. Now she’s living with the fact that she has nearly killed the man she loved (in Archangel) and REALLY killed her brother Jamie to save the world. Everything she’s dealing with is understandable and perfectly in character. Right now you could say she’s the strongest female character in the X-Books, surpassing even Emma or Storm.
The other de facto lead, Fantomex, has gone through just as much as character building as Betsy, albeit in different ways. When the series started, he could not care less about his teammates, and even went so fast as to shoot a child in the head to prevent them from becoming the future Apocalypse. Sure it culminated in Warren becoming the new Apocalypse, but we all make mistakes, right? However, since then, he’s become Logan’s right hand man in leading the team, and becoming one of the most empathetic characters in the book in the process. Would the “Apocalypse Solution” Jean-Philippe have cared about how Betsy was doing after all the stuff they’ve been through? Not in the slightest. But here, he’s the shoulder she leans on, and is her confidant. This is some of the best character progression in a long time.
Furthermore, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the man, the myth, the legend: Phil Noto. This book is some of his best work to date; everything in this book is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Whether it’s slightly disturbing (the aforementioned battle between Drake and Wagner), the team trying to take on a giant Iceman, or Betsy and Jean-Philippe sharing a tender moment, it’s just incredible to look at from beginning to end. Noto’s trademark subtlety is evident on every page, in every panel. No one is cartoonish, they’re just people. Believable people with fantastic lives.
Continued belowThere are some coloring issues in the later parts of the book, but it’s nothing that detracts from the overall beauty of the book. I may have originally wanted Jerome Opeña to come back as soon as possible (which he is, next issue), but not I’m begging for a Noto run on this book, or any other X-Book for that matter.
In short, yes, they are once again killing it. If you’re not reading this book, I don’t know what to tell you, other than “fix that soon.”
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
