Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

Uncanny X-Force #5.1

By Dan Horn
March 22, 2011 - 22:13

Uncanny X-Force has been an interesting title to say the least. At times, it's generic Rick Remender, which, mind you, is astounding story craft. At others, as we begin to see in issue five's "Deathlok World, Chapter One", the story takes on a more surreal, literary form which rivals some the greatest bizarre comic works ever. This issue is perhaps a bit more of the generic Remender variety, but don't let that dissuade you from picking this one up. As I stated earlier, Rick's standard issue is still some great stuff.

I really enjoy how Remender plays with the team dynamic. Everyone has a role, and every battle is like a game of chess. There's always a decisive strategy, and then a counter-strategy involved in the story's plotting. It's always cool to see these characters powers used in adverse ways. If I had one complaint, though, it would be that Fantomex seems ridiculously overpowered. But then, of course, he's the guy who can't really be trusted at the moment, so maybe his supremacy isn't such a gift to the team as much as it is a liability.

Not only are powers' potentials explored really well in Uncanny, but team interactions, their loving and loathing of each other, are played off perfectly. The characters are for the most part rounded out very well. And no one writes a crazy Deadpool like Remender, not even Lapham.

It's really incredible to see the layered foundation Remender is laying here early on. Warren was already a schizoid, which hasn't yet been fully explored in Uncanny, but events like Fantomex's cold-blooded action creating an irreparable rift in the team, and this issue's Lady Deathstrike "upload" left me grinning and saying, Rick's got something huge planned for this series. Even the stand-alone issues are driving us toward something much larger than what we've seen so far, and "so far" has already been mind-blowing.

I'd also like to think Rick stole the line about Deathstrike's pontificating diatribes from one of my early reviews of his Punisher (decide for yourself here). Maybe I give myself too much credit, but you can't blame a guy for recognizing his own semantic handiwork. I'll let it slide this time, Remender. I'm kidding of course. But seriously...

On to the art: Uncanny X-Force has thus far been a rare title that's handily evaded the interim artist curse, displaying consistently impeccable layouts, finishes, and colors with every issue. I thought Opena's stuff couldn't be topped, and then Ribic and Lucas with issue five made me eat my own words. With this issue, it's astonishing to see Rafael Albuquerque put his virtuosic craft to use on a super hero book. Albuquerque channels all of the darkness, depth, and cartoonish-ness of the best 2000 AD artists. It's a hard balance to maintain, but Rafael's style never falters. I'd love to see him do more work like this outside of American Vampire, even though I'd hate to see him take too much time away from that book.

Rating: 8.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12