Review- UNCANNY X-FORCE VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SOLUTION

UNCANNY X-FORCE VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SOLUTION (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Uncanny X-Force Nos. 1-4 and a selection from Wolverine: Road To Hell (cover dates November, 2010- March, 2011)

Writer: Rick Remender

Artists: Jerome Opena (UXF 1-4) and Leonardo Manco (W:RTH)

My friend, co-conspirator, fellow OCD sufferer, and enabler, Ferjo Byroy, requested that I read and review this before he told me what he thought of it. I agreed, so he loaned me his copy for review purposes. Rick Remender is a name that keeps popping up in comics circles these days, but I have only read one or two other things that he's done. He seems solid enough, and has a good handle on the artform. The artwork in this book is just beautiful. Leonardo Manco, a personal favorite of mine, handles the chores on the Wolverine: Road To Hell one-shot, while the rest of the book is done by Jerome Opena, who is also a tremendous talent. I am unfamiliar with his work, as I would have surely remembered it. 

Now, the story itself deals with a reborn Apocalypse being raised by Ozymandius, and X-Force making an attempt on his life. For those of you not familiar with the X-Men Universe these days, X-Force is the black-ops team that does the dirty work. Of course Wolverine is on this team, just like pretty much every other team in the Marvel Universe these days. So is Deadpool, and this is where I started groaning a bit as I read it. I can't stand Deadpool, as he is everything that was wrong with '90s comics in one package. The “kids” love him though, so humour this old fogy for the next paragraph.

I was half tempted to go back and re-read this book without reading any panel that Deadpool is in. I think that it can be done, as his interaction with the team is done mostly over comlink. If it were my copy, I could take a marker and just cross off the panels featuring him in them. I don't find him to be funny or kewl.

Like the previous Clayton Crain X-Force title, this heaps on the ultra-violence to satisfying results. While I like the golly shucks, superheroes don't kill people era of comics, this stuff is fun too. I won't go into too many details here, but I found the resolution to be a nice twist. I really enjoyed Apocalypse's new Horsemen. I always cringe at ninja Psylocke, and have yet to forgive Chris Claremont or Jim Lee for crapping up my beloved British telepath from Captain Britain. She has had more crappy appearances than good ones.

The verdict? I liked it...to a point. There are things that I really disliked about it, but nice artwork can make these pills easier to swallow. I won't be running out to buy this, but Ferjo could probably twist my arm to review the rest of the run.

The OCD zone- Standard Marvel Premiere Edition hardcover fare.

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