Details: Currently ongoing. More information can be found at https://www.marvel.com/comics/series/27564/x-force_2019_-_2020
Score: 7/10
Of all the X-Men books currently in print, this book probably has the most meaningful story. All the other books feel like asides or slices of life of the new mutant nation. This book feels like it has a point to it.
As per the other current X-Men books, all the world’s mutants have united and formed their own nation. Threats have arisen to attack this new nation and a covert hit squad is needed to take those threats out. Enter X-Force.
I like that from the very start, the stakes are high. The story starts with the assassination of Charles Xavier. Thanks to the resurrection protocols, they can bring him back, but that an assassination like this was even possible endangers the entire nation. Wolverine then assembles a group of capable mutants to hunt down the enemies responsible.
What’s interesting about this book is that the members of X-Force are mangled and resuscitated constantly. Quentin Quire in particular has become a recurring joke where he usually dies off in the first few minutes of every mission.
Other than Quentin, there is some exploration into the implications of resurrection and the effect on people psychology. When you resurrect, you can have some of your most painful memories erased, enabling a more stable mind. Some character elect not to resurrect because they’d rather keep their scars than forget them. There’s a lot of interesting musings like this.
Mostly though, the plot revolves around threats that endanger the entire nation. Whereas the other books offer a small slice of the new mutant society, X-Force deals with national threats that endanger every mutant. It’s a nice change from the other X-Men books. Also, the tone here is more serious, which is nice since the other books are more humorous most of the time.
Overall, X-Force is good. If you want to keep up with the new X-Men status quo, X-Force is a good book to do that with.
