Hero Realm!

X-Force #1

Written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost
Art by Clayton Crain
Review by Ryan Stevens

    Most people view the X-men as typical superheroes. People with special powers and/or abilities that use these gifts to make the world a safer place by battling evil people who also have powers and/or abilities that wish us harm. Like the stereotypical superhero, the X-men are righteous, just, for the most part morally sound, and do not kill.
    This book is not about the X-men. This book is about the X-men’s wetworks team, prepared to do the dirty work that our pals the X-men cannot do without compromising their position. E.g., kill.
    After the franchise-spanning story Messiah Complex, mutant kind is in quite a bit of turmoil. The X-men are leaderless due to Charles Xavier being shot in the head and without Xavier, things are a little shaky. Cyclops, acting commander of the X-men, has become a bit battle-hardened following Messiah Complex, and now believes some threats need to be taken out permanently. Enter: X-Force.
    The team is made up of vengeful, Rambo-knife wielding, native american James Proudstar, aka Warpath, the ever camera-shy Wolverine, his bonny young female clone X-23, and Rahne Sinclaire, aka Wolfsbane, who (get this) can transform into a werewolf. All of whom are very well versed in the concept of killing.
    Now, you may have realized that everyone on this team has the same power: sharp objects used to shove into thine enemy. But, hey, that kinda is their purpose.
    Regardless of the similarities in powers, there really is a good team dynamic here. X-23 is a methodical warrior, trained her whole life for this sort of thing. Warpath wants nothing more than fresh hot blood on his blades, so he owns up to his name. Needless to say, he may need some calming down, lest his own teammates get skewered. Rahne, easily the most religiously anchored of the group (and by that, I mean the only one who’s religiously anchored at all), was a bit under-used this issue, but oh well. Hopefully she’ll get the chance to shine later on, provided she doesn’t die.
    Wolverine is given the most interesting role, one he’s not very keen on: leader. Wolvie likes to fly solo, so not only being on a team, but leading one, especially this sort of team, is probably not his favorite idea. Not that it’s really up to him. Wolverine does have a very nice moment in the book, right before the team leaps into action ,where he tells the team members to rethink their position and go back home before it’s too late. “You do this, you’re not X-men anymore. You may be on the team…standing next to Beast and Angel and Iceman, but you won’t be the same…not after this.”
    Written by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, both of whom come from a long stint on the now-defunct New X-men book, have been writing X-23 for a long time now, so her characterization is naturally spot-on. As I’ve mentioned, Wolverine is also brilliantly used, and for the first time in quite a while, Warpath is a sympathetic figure, whom you can actually feel sorry for. Using Cyclops as a hardened realist who is willing to let his conscience sleep is actually a fairly organic move for the character, in light of recent events.
    Brilliantly illustrated by Clayton Crain, whose stylized art leaps off the page with pseudo-realism, this book is nothing if not brutal. The climax is bloody and violent like nothing you’ve ever seen in a non-MAX book. Warpath shoves a knife through one guy’s MOUTH. Yeah. That brutal. Don’t expect X-Force to play nice, or even kinda rough. These guys will rip your arms and beat you with them. And Crain’s art will show you in gory detail.
    Now, it’s pretty clear that this issue will spark a heated moral debate among fans. Good. That is exactly what a book like X-Force should do. Violent, relentless, and gratuitous are all words that can describe this issue. They’re also all words I like. While Wolfsbane was underused, and the blood was a little too gratuitous and unnecessary at times, if you want in your face action and Wolverine (because God knows you can’t find him anywhere else) being a team leader, pick up X-Force.

8 bloodied sharp-object obsessed mutants out of 10.