Thursday, October 7, 2010

Uncanny X-Force #1

I think I'm genetically disposed toward buying first issues of X-Men-based comics. But even with that, I go into this first issue of Uncanny X-Force with low expectations.

What I expect from this issue is lots of grim and gritty action, a dark tone and lots of death and destruction. If anything, the issue was a bit toned down from that.

It's certainly dark. This team is (essentially) a Black Ops team working to bring down the big menaces as quickly as possible.

The team is led by Wolverine (natch) and includes Psylocke, Deadpool, Archangel and Fantomex, all dressed in their darkest (and virtually colorless) costumes.

Written by Rick Remender, the story centers around the team's efforts to track down a newly-resurrected villain, which brings them in conflict with a powerful entity - and each other.

But for a first issue, here we get mostly setup and very little actual story advancement. The issue's big reveal is mostly an anti-climax, and the story mostly centers about introducing the characters and sending them up against some (mostly) lame bad guys.

The art by Jerome Opena is solid, with some great layouts, good character designs and fun action scenes - but it is overwhelmingly dark and grim, and a few panels are a bit tough to make out.

So will I buy future issues? I might go one or two more issues to give the team a chance to get their "sea legs" - but I hope future issues have a bit more story packed in there.

Grade: B

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