"X-Force"

Favorite Comic Hero or Team of 2011

The art, crazy settings, variety, and unpredictable outcomes are just some of the reasons comic fans flock to their local shops, bookstores, or (now) digital apps and online retailers but it’s the actual characters who drive all of it. 2011 was about as big of a year as the comic book industry can have; relaunches, events, epic battles, deaths, resurrections and more, and the force behind all of them…our favorite characters.

Our favorite hero(s) category includes any individual hero, character, or team during 2011.

Favorite Marvel Comic Books of 2011

Marvel didn’t need a relaunch to make 2011 one of it’s biggest and craziest years in recent memory. From it’s Civil War-sized event in Fear Itself and the perhaps-better-than-Fear-Itself-event in X: Men Schism the universe has seen a shake-up of the ages; the split in the X-Men camp, the new Ultimate Spider-Man, the real Spider-Man as a new FF member, Wolverine traveling to hell and back (literally), the “death” of just about every character imaginable and the new breath of life from characters like Punisher, Daredevil, Venom, and Hulk…the list can go on and on…it was a big year.

Our favorite Marvel books category includes any comic book series from 2011.

Lady Shiva Vs. Shatterstar [Fantasy Battle Tournament]

Stepping into the ring today is the genetically engineered gladiator from the Mojoverse versus the deadly killer from the League of Assassins. The fans have been polled. Their votes have been recorded. Let the battle begin.

Cover of the Week: July 7, 2010

Every Wednesday I pick my favorite cover from all the comic books that came out during the week. Today’s pick goes to David Finch’s X-Force #28 Variant

Pure action.

David Finch has created one heck of a cover here, capturing my attention from the moment I saw it. Immediately my eye is directed to where the action is, the raw emotion from both characters intensifies it and the out-of-place background helps exemplify it. Interesting that yellow, a warm and calming color, is used as the backdrop for such an intense moment. It works though. And without knowing much about this story, or reading this title, I’m already emotionally involved in the story, hoping Cable can hold the rock and save the young girl’s life and wondering where it came from; and that’s what I love about action-themed covers: they have the ability to emotionally involve you in the characters without even cracking open the issue. Heroic and sexy poses are great, but I’m much more interested in Cable if he’s screaming his head off and struggling to stay on one knee. And having someone of David Finch’s talent always helps too.

Side note: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I’m in no way trying to criticize Milo Manar’s talent but what hell is going on in the cover of X-Women #1 (Click title for picture)? This is one of the most awkward covers I’ve seen in a long time.

Other Honorable Mentions (click title to see cover):

Godland #32, Death Of Dracula #1, Scalped #39

X-Force #26 Review

X-Force #26 is chapter 5 of the ongoing X-Men event second coming. Second coming has been the first major X-men event is years and so far it’s been one big action movie. Hope is the first mutant born after the whole genocide of the mutants back in 198.  She was sent into the future with the protection of Cable ( It reminds me so much of the Terminator maybe it’s the time travel but I’m just waiting for Cable to come walking into the door with sunglasses.). The time has come and Hope has decided she wants to return. Scott and the rest of the X-Men have been tracking Hope and Cable to bring them in. Unfortunately they aren’t the only ones. Bastion and his crew( yes I said Bastion which brought me back to the 90′s immediately) are trying to find them so they can eliminate any chance mutantkind has of progressing.

It starts off with Hope escaping the scene with Rogue and Nightcrawler. Before they left Rogue absorbed everyone’s power. She has wolverine’s claws, Colossus ‘ armor skin, and Psylocke’s psychic powers. Nightcrawler’s job is to teleport them hundreds of miles until they reach the mutant island. The other main X-men including Wolverine and Cable are there to distract the smiley faced baddies. There is a great shot of Wolverine leaping through fire at a gas station. That describes the vibe of the comic. It’s action packed and it doesn’t stop delivering the over the top feel.  The Hope gang take a second to breath because all this teleporting is very hard on Nightcrawler’s body. That wasn’t a very good idea because Bastion shows up by himself in crazy mech form. Nightcrawler and Rogue take turns getting torn apart by Bastion. Hope tries to help but the two keep her from involving herself. The two give him a good fight but they pale in comparison to his unlimited Robot powers. I just felt like the fight seemed a little unbelivable because these two X-Men have been part of huge battles with far worse villains but here they couldn’t really defend themselves. I knew Bastion was a strong guy but he’s been working out in the gym lately. This whole time I was thinking why hasn’t Nightcrawler teleported yet? He could’ve done it this whole time but he decided the best option was to fight Bastion? Wasn’t the first plan if they actually confronted anybody was to let Rogue distract them and let the others teleport away? I guess in the heat of the moment he forgot his only power.

SPOILER ALERT ! – If you haven’t read this issue do not read the last paragraph! If it doesn’t bother you to ruin for yourself go for it. Just letting you know now.

After the two are defeated and Hope is the only one left Bastion turns to her and says “You can not be allowed to live.” He reaches for her and right when he does Nightcrawler teleports into his arm. Nightcrawler just isn’t having the best day especially with his teleporting powers. I have to point out though the shot of this action is very well done. You can feel Nightcrawler’s dedication and empathy towards Hope. You can also see the dead cold stare of Bastion. He grabs Hope and teleports out of them. This was a very touching scene but I was thinking to myself Rogue’s still there. When they get to the island Nightcrawler still has Bastion’s arm in his chest. This proving that the blue devil that has been a staple in the X-Men for years has died. I understand that with these events that most of the time someone will die. They do this because it makes the situation heavier and adds an authenticity to the story. I just feel it wasn’t needed. It’s upsetting to see one of the best X-men thrown away for an event. Overall though this was a solid issue and if you’re reading Second Coming I defiantly suggest picking this up. Second Coming has been a good read but I hope they aren’t going down the road of the simple way out like how this issue seemed to go.