GENERATION HEX #1 - June 1997

Humanity’s Last Stand

Credits: Peter Milligan (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Bob Lappan (letters), Scott Baumann and Digital Chameleon (colors)

Summary: An outcast in the quaint town of Humanity, Jono Hex’s mutant powers surface the night his father is killed by the locals. Branded a “Malform,” Hex grows up in exile. He forms a band of Malforms and names them Generation Hex. His nemesis, Marshal “Bat” Trask, develops primitive robots called the Razormen to eliminate the Malforms. On the run, Generation Hex arrives in Humanity. Disguising his face, Hex earns the town’s trust and convinces them that a sinister group of Malforms is coming. Following his instructions, the townspeople disguise themselves as Malforms to avoid trouble. Soon, a group of Razormen arrives. Mistaking the citizens for Malforms, they murder the locals.

Continuity Notes: Jono Hex is an amalgam of Chamber and Jonah Hex. Generation Hex consists of Madame Banshee (Siryn and Madame 44), Johnny Random (Random and Johnny Thunder), Skinhunter (Skin and Scalphunter), White Whip (Emma Frost and Whip), Retribution (Penance and Firehair), and the Twins Trigger (Northstar and Walter Trigger, and Aurora merged with Wayne Trigger and Cinnamon). Marshal “Bat” Trask merges Bolivar Trask with Bat Lash.

Review: Generation Hex has my vote as the strangest concept to emerge out of Amalgam. Many of the Amalgam characters exist solely because their name is a play on words, but only a few of these characters starred in their own one-shot. Jonah Hex and Generation X are diametrically opposed concepts, so this comic easily could’ve turned out as a mess. It isn’t, though; it’s actually a very effective Western revenge story with some great moments of dark humor. While the genesis of the story might be the Hex/X pun, the amalgamations of the cast are anything but obvious. Everyone probably assumed that Superman and Captain America would be amalgamated when the event was originally announced, but who could’ve predicted a Random and Johnny Thunder amalgam? It’s ridiculous, in a good way, but it also works as unobtrusive fan-service. The story’s strong enough to be enjoyed without the insider references, so a Generation X fan who’s totally ignorant of DC’s Western heroes still has a lot to get out of this. And, as fate would have it, even though this was produced by DC, editor Frank Pittarese will be Generation X’s editor within the next year.

X-FORCE #81 - September 1998

Hot Lava

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales w/Guillermo Zubiaga (inks), Comicraft (letters), Marie Javins (colors)

Summary: While on vacation in Hawaii, X-Force is caught in a conflict between the Lava Men and Risque, Sledge, and Vanisher. They retrieve the mystical Heart of Pele, only to discover that “Risque” has been the goddess Pele in disguise. After Siryn destroys the Lava Men’s Firebringer weapon, Sunspot uses his powers to return the Heart to the depths of the volcano. Pele is made whole again, and thanks the team by granting them a peaceful vacation.

Continuity Notes: The Lava Men discovered the plans for the Firebringer in the ruins of ancient Lemuria. This foreshadows more Eternals continuity making its way into Moore’s run. According to Pele, she took Risque’s place after her partners stole the Heart. She learned of X-Force from Risque, and sensed that they were the “warriors of noble heart” she needed to return the Heart to its proper place.

Gimmicks: This issue has a free poster, in honor of Adam Pollina’s final issue of the title.

We Get Letters: In response to a reader’s comments about Locus’ race swapping: “As far as Locus is concerned, her new look is nothing more than a tan and a wacky new ‘do’”.

I Love the ‘90s: Sunspot tells Siryn that, being Irish, she should know how to “get jiggy with it.”

Review: It’s a vacation issue (literally), although Moore seems more interested in giving the characters a wacky adventure than conversation scenes. The plot has X-Force being forced into helping the Lava Men retrieve an item stolen from them by the Vanisher, only to learn that the Lava Men are pretty awful too. The odd combination of characters, from Silver Age Marvel to Jeph Loeb’s run to ancient Hawaiian folklore, works to the story’s advantage, and Moore as usual handles the cast well. Unfortunately, this marks Adam Pollina’s final issue. Pollina had one of the longest runs on the ‘90s X-books, and it’s to his credit that he stuck with the book for so long when he certainly had plenty of competing offers. I know he did some creator-owned material, and returned for the occasional one-shot or miniseries over the years, but I don’t know why he disappeared from monthly comics after this run. It’s a shame he never had a lengthy stint on Amazing Spider-Man or Superman.

GENERATION X HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1 - February 1998

Yes, Jubilee, There Is a Santa Claus

Credits: Joseph Harris (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Morales, Faber, Leigh, Wong, & Wiacek (inks), Comicraft (letters), Paul Tutrone (colors)

Summary: Generation X goes shopping on Christmas Eve, as the Orphan Maker invades the mall. Jubilee is left behind as the team is kidnapped. Nanny sends Orphan Maker back into town to abduct another mutant, but he kidnaps a normal child, Stephen, by mistake. Jubilee tries to grab on as he flies away, but lands on a nearby rooftop. Santa’s reindeer are on the roof, leading Jubilee to investigate inside. A mutant child, Matthew, has kidnapped Santa with his ability to force people to obey his commands. As Gen X escapes captivity and frees Stephen, Santa talks to Matthew until he falls asleep. Jubilee realizes that Santa could’ve escaped anytime he wanted, which stuns her since Matthew’s powers don’t work on mutants.

Review: I’m surprised there weren’t more Christmas specials from the X-titles during the ‘90s. Marvel did publish several holiday specials (intended to represent the entire line) throughout the decade, but given the glut of ‘90s X-product, I could easily see a Wolverine: Bloody Nativity bookshelf one-shot being released one December. Instead, the X-titles waited until the late ‘90s to exploit the holidays with a Generation X special.

The marketing hook for this story was the revelation that the Marvel Universe’s Santa is actually a mutant, which I remember creating a few eyerolls when the solicitations were released. Santa actually doesn’t play much of a role in the story; instead, it reads more like a standard Lobdell-era Generation X story that happens to take place on Christmas. Jubilee receives the bulk of the attention, as Harris utilizes her often-ignored status as an orphan. She feels lonelier than usual during the holidays, and given her habitual bad attitude, she’s not inclined to get into the Christmas spirit anyway. I like Jubilee as a character because, in spite of her past, she isn’t angsty or overly serious, so stories that focus on her as an orphan are tricky. The fact should be explored occasionally, but losing her parents shouldn’t define Jubilee. Harris, to his credit, is able to keep her in-character while exploring her feelings as an orphan. She of course finds solace in her friends on Christmas Day, which is how these stories are supposed to end.

The rest of the story revolves around a mutant kid, his bully, Nanny, the Orphan Maker, and Santa. Harris revives the Orphan Maker’s original, literal motivation (the one that frightened Toy Biz), which is a little intense for a Christmas special, but doesn’t allow him to actually finish the job. Chris Bachalo’s wonky redesign is still being used, but Pollina manages to handle it fairly well. Orphan Maker’s run-in with Santa is played for laughs, and it’s possibly the best use of the villain’s true identity as a kid yet. As for the revelation that Santa is a mutant, I’ve always thought it was silly, but see now that it’s only a small part of the story. I’m sure it’s been established in Howard the Duck or some other corner of the Marvel Universe that Santa is real, so I guess making him a mutant isn’t that big a deal. Santa Claus still shows up in some of those Mutant Handbooks, doesn’t he?

X-FORCE #80 - August 1998

The Fire Within

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Guillermo Zubiaga (background assists), Mark Morales (inker), Comicraft (letters), Gloria Vasquez (colors)

Summary: X-Force continues to fight Reignfire, and is eventually able to separate Sunspot from the protoplasmic entity by combining Siryn’s sonic scream with Dr. Joshua’s cannon. SHIELD takes Reignfire into custody, while Sunspot flies to DaCosta International’s San Francisco office. He agrees to stay out of DaCosta International affairs in exchange for a warehouse in the city. He flies the team to San Francisco, where they set up their new base. Meanwhile, Locus and Skids awaken on a mountain in Latveria. They’re neutralized by a mysterious figure.

Continuity Notes: Reignfire drops another hint about Meltdown’s past. Initially, it seems like another intimation that she used to be a prostitute (“I know what you did when you were a runaway, living on the streets of New York…scared…vulnerable”), but a new bombshell is dropped when he adds, “You don’t want to kill again, do you?”

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: DaCosta International’s secretary discusses going to a bondage club on a bad date during a telephone conversation.

I Love the 90s: Meltdown says she feels just like “those guys on Road Rules” when boarding the plane to San Francisco.

Review: The Reignfire storyline wraps up, and Moore uses the conclusion to segue into the book’s new status quo. Of course, even in 1998, an X-team moving to San Francisco wasn’t an original idea, as Chris Claremont briefly relocated the team there during his run. The circumstances that lead X-Force there are actually the highlight of the issue, as the DaCosta International board is convinced that Reignfire is coming to kill them. The reaction of the secretary to Sunspot casually walking in through the front door is priceless, and the cameo by the Heroes for Hire (the security team hired by the board to protect themselves from Reignfire) is a lot of fun.

The rest of the issue kind of drags, to be honest. Dr. Joshua’s motivation for injecting Project Nineteen with Sunspot’s blood is fleshed out a bit, and Moore gets some mileage out of Sunspot and Reignfire inhabiting the same body, but little else is going on. Moore’s also decided to include newspaper clippings that are slightly relevant to the events (like an ad for a psychic hotline as Moonstar tries to psychically disrupt Reignfire) throughout the story, which unfortunately doesn’t add anything. Moore’s plotting is already rather dense, so there’s a lot going on in each page. The added text of fake ads and news articles just makes the issue an even longer read, and often distracts from the action.

X-FORCE #79 - July 1998

Set My Soul on Fire

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales & Rob Stull (inks), Guillermo Zubiaga (background assists) Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Steve Buccellato (colors)

Summary: An employee of the Damocles Foundation, Dr. Joshua, steals a molecular disruptor cannon and heads for Las Vegas. His target, Reignfire, is holding X-Force captive with the help of his misguided flunky, Short Circuit. Proudstar frees the team, but in the ensuing fight, Skids and Locus disappear when their powers have a negative reaction. Dr. Joshua arrives with the cannon, which destroys Reignfire’s human form. Now disembodied, Reignfire swallows Sunspot in blackness and overtakes his body.

Continuity Notes: Short Circuit, who can cancel mutant abilities with his own powers, is a middle-aged man with a childlike intellect. His real name is given as Henry Wallinger, and according to Locus, he was a patient at the Weissman Institute before Reignfire freed him.

Through a series of flashbacks, Reignfire’s origin is revealed. He was Project Nineteen, a subject in Gideon’s lab suffering from “an unusual and slow physical deterioration.” While Sunspot was Gideon’s captive (circa X-Force #12-#15), Dr. Joshua transferred his blood into Project Nineteen for unknown reasons. Project Nineteen used the blood as a template to regenerate and emerged as a virtual clone of Sunspot. Exploiting their telepathic connection, Reignfire convinced Sunspot that he was actually Reignfire. When Cable “exorcised” Reignfire from Sunspot, he actually severed their telepathic link, which left Reignfire as an amnesiac for months. As for the possessed Sunspot’s claim that he had spent months in the future with Locus, Reignfire says this was a diversion he felt the team would easily believe, given the various X-groups’ history with time-travelers.

Miscellaneous Note: The title of this issue is a reference to an Elvis song. Guess which one.

Review: We’ve reached the origin of Reignfire, which is the point I seem to recall the internet consensus turning against John Francis Moore’s X-Force run. I’ve heard this story described as needlessly confusing for years, but it shouldn’t be too hard to follow for anyone familiar with the average nonsense fake science that’s often found in superhero comics. What really made fans angry, I assume, is the blatant rewriting of history the origin requires. Moore seems to have covered his bases continuity-wise, so we’re at least getting retcon explanations for all of the revelations, but X-fans (fandom in general, really) always hate having the rug pulled out from under them.

It’s obvious from Fabian Nicieza’s run that Reignfire was intended as an evil Sunspot from the future, and as cliché as that origin might be, the fans had already accepted the idea. When a writer promises the origin of Reignfire, you want to learn how exactly all of the time travel shenanigans occurred, and not see the entire concept dismissed as a misdirection. And yet, I’m okay with the left turn. Time travel really has been done to death by this point, and unless Nicieza had an ingenious twist in the works, I don’t see any compelling reason to stick to the original plan. Moore does address the time travel aspect in a clever way, and longtime fans even get to see a payoff to the “Gideon experiments on Sunspot” subplot from the early issues of the series. The new origin isn’t that great as a resolution to the mystery, as it involves the introduction of a new character the readers couldn’t have known about, but it does make sense within the (admittedly weird) internal logic of the series. Reignfire is a bodiless (presumed) mutant, he was injected with Sunspot’s blood, he mimicked Sunspot’s body, and now he can take it over. I’ve read worse. Seriously, I don’t think anyone can tell me Vision’s origin makes more sense than this.

X-FORCE #78 - June 1998

Burning Desires

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Steve Buccellato (colors)

Summary: Reignfire and Locus terrorize DaCosta International’s board members, before heading to Denver to attack Moonstar, who’s visiting her parents. In Boulder, the rest of X-Force visits Skids, who now lives as a normal college student. Inside a coffee bar, Locus kidnaps Siryn, but doesn’t notice when Proudstar sneaks into her teleportation portal. Soon, Reignfire targets Sunspot, killing the new friend he made while playing soccer. Skids joins the fight, and is transported to Las Vegas with the rest of the team. Only Proudstar remains free, as Reignfire plots X-Force’s death.

Continuity Notes: Skids can now expand her forcefields to cover more than herself. Reignfire, who now declares that he isn’t Sunspot, takes credit for the lawsuit that’s kept Sunspot from claiming DaCosta International’s money, and reveals himself as the shadowy figure that’s stalked the team for weeks. Locus is now colored with dark skin and given an “afro-puffs” hairstyle (as seen on ‘90s rapper Lady of Rage). In her initial appearances, she had tan skin and blonde hair, and was portrayed as something of a Valley Girl.

As a future letter writer will point out, the exposition in the issue is off. Cypher is shown in a group shot of the New Mutants that includes members who joined after he died. Skids makes a comment about always having to follow Xavier or Magneto's orders, yet she joined after the team broke away from the school. Holocaust is shown in his armor during the flashback to Rusty's death, which he wasn't wearing in that issue.

Review: After months of build-up, Moore finally begins to pay off the Reignfire subplot. My memory is that the eventual resolution wasn’t very popular online, and began the critical turn against Moore’s run. It’s hard to fault this specific issue, though, as it’s filled with character moments, the action ties into the story well, and you’re given a sense that a few of the long-running threads are coming together. It’s obvious this run is about showcasing the cast as teenagers as much as it’s about fight scenes, so it’s not surprising to see X-Force in a college setting. Moore’s still getting mileage out of the “X-Force is poor” idea, so the team is forced to stay in Skids’ cramped dorm room, leading to a mix-up in the shower between Siryn, Sunspot, and Meltdown. The romantic subplots are nurtured, as Meltdown declares that Sunspot was never her boyfriend and she isn’t even sure she wants a relationship, while Skids’ roommate Desmond makes a play for Siryn, and Proudstar barely seems to care because he’s convinced they really are “just friends” now. Sunspot’s past as a soccer (or “futbol”) prodigy is also revived, which serves as a continuity reference for the hardcore fans and an honest characterization moment.

Moore tries a trick of providing “X-Force Fun Facts” for each member, detailing their choice in breakfast cereal, favorite TV shows, and high school experiences. The Fun Facts also reveal pertinent back issue details, which helps to explain who Skids is, and why she’s so determined to live a normal life. Skids has barely appeared, if at all, since her boyfriend Rusty was killed in X-Men #42, so I’m thankful Moore hasn’t left her in obscurity. She’s forced to out herself as a mutant during the story’s climax, which in a standard comic indicates she’s about to join the team, but what’s fun about this run is that there’s barely a status quo, so many of the things that are supposed to happen, don’t. Skids is here because she has a past with the characters and some potentially interesting emotional issues; whether or not she joins the team in the future is irrelevant. She has a role to play in this issue and she does it well, and the ambiguity over her future is just a part of the series’ appeal.

X-FORCE #77 - May 1998

City of Lost Children

Credits: Joseph Harris (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Marie Javins (colors) Comicraft (letters)

Summary: X-Force makes a wrong turn into “Almost Reno,” Nevada. Nuclear testing in the 1960s has left the current generation with mutant powers, and many of the children are dying young. Mary, a young telepath, is targeted by SHIELD agents, and resists X-Force’s efforts to help her. Meltdown eventually has a civil conversation with Mary at the park and offers her hope for the future. Mary uses her powers to knock out the SHIELD agents, and X-Force leaves town.

Continuity Notes: Sunspot feels the locals are harassing him because he’s Latino. It’s my understanding from his original appearances in New Mutants that Sunspot is half-black/half-white. Perhaps he would still consider himself Latino because he’s from Brazil, but his ancestry doesn’t seem to fit the standard use of the term. (I’m reminded of stand-up comedian Louis C.K., who’s originally from Mexico, chastising people for assuming everyone in Mexico is Hispanic.)

Review: This fill-in story has two odd distinctions going for it. The first is rather obvious, as the logo has been replaced with a softer, non-traditional (for superhero comics) font. I have no idea why the logo was suddenly classed up for a fill-in story, but I guess the advent of computer lettering made it easier to try this kind of stunt. Although I never felt compelled to buy this issue in the past, the sudden logo switch did stop me in my tracks when flipping through the back issue bins, so I can’t deny it’s an attention-getter.

The other peculiarity is the fact that the regular writer later pens a sequel to this story. How often to do fill-ins get sequels? In the follow-up, John Francis Moore addresses one of the flaws of this story, the stereotypically eeeeviiilll SHIELD agents, while he ties the idea of “Almost Reno” into a larger story arc he’s developing. The portrayal of SHIELD is one of my major problems with the issue, as I dislike the way the organization is always depicted as the bad guy when it appears in other Marvel Universe titles (I imagine I’ll get into this again as Joe Casey’s Cable run develops). The other is the treatment of dusty little “Almost Reno.”

Assuming that these books are supposed to be about tolerance and judging people as individuals, why is it okay to have X-Force refer to the residents of the tiny town as “these people”? Why does Sunspot speculate that the citizens “probably don’t even wash their hands!” when the electric hand dryer in a public bathroom doesn’t work? Why is virtually every local a dimwitted, close-minded bigot? (For that matter, why did Siryn tell the team last issue to be extra careful about exposing their powers in Texas? Isn’t this its own form of discrimination and stereotyping?) There’s no immediate plot purpose for any of this, either, unless Harris is trying to stress that the locals are chasing away outsiders in order to keep their mutant kids a secret. If that was even what he was going for, the execution is pretty muddy. The children’s deaths are being reported by the media, so if this is a secret, it’s not being kept well. The residents just come across as indiscriminately nasty, and outright hostile towards minorities like Sunspot.

The story itself is typical of what you see in “quieter” fill-ins. The ending is a little lazy, as X-Force just leaves the girl behind, but I’ll cut it some slack since this was intended as a standalone fill-in. It’s not as if Harris could’ve inducted the girl into the cast, and I guess he did create a basic concept interesting enough for the regular writer to return to later. Meanwhile, Adam Pollina’s art is continuing its unique evolution. A letter writer notices that he’s sneaking Norman Rockwell references into the art, which leads the editors to reveal that Pollina’s spending a lot of time studying Rockwell’s work. How many comic artists are assigned to draw sleepy small towns and actually don’t dismiss the assignment as boring? The rustic setting could’ve easily been hacked through in a hurry, but Pollina cares enough to make the scenery graphically interesting. I also like his development of human faces, as some characters are given a stylized, cartoony look while others appear photorealistic. I don’t think Pollina lasts for too many more issues, and I don’t know why he’s rarely shown up over the years, but I’m glad he’s stuck around this title for so long.

X-FORCE #76 - April 1998

Bittersweet Reunions

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (story idea), Mike S. Miller (art), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Marie Javins (colors)

Summary: In Texas, Cannonball spends time with X-Force. When he walks in on Meltdown and Sunspot kissing, he flies away in anger. Meanwhile, Domino competes in one of Arcade’s fighting tournaments. Arcade pits her against Shatterstar, threatening to kill Rictor if the former teammates refuse to fight. Domino wins the battle, and decapitates Arcade’s imposter robot. She takes his client, Etienne Rousseau, into custody, revealing that she’s been working undercover for the UN all along. Elsewhere, Mojo and the real Arcade monitor the events.

Continuity Notes: When Domino steals one of Shatterstar’s swords, she feels as if it’s “fighting against” her. Shatterstar reveals that his blades are “charged with a bio-electric current to make them unwieldy to anyone but myself.” Mojo is adamant that Shatterstar is his property, although Shatterstar comes from a future Mojoworld, ruled by Mojo V.

I Love the ‘90s: Siryn wants another quarter to play “that Chumbawumba” song. Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s credit for this issue reads “Tubthumping.”

Review: The “Domino tries to prove she hasn’t lost her skills” arc continues, as Moore answers fan requests and also brings back Shatterstar for one issue. Even if editorial turned his origin story into an unholy mess (as Domino says here, his background is filled with “mystery and contradiction”), Shatterstar goes back to the very first issue of the series, and he shouldn’t just be forgotten about. Although Moore is flagrantly turning the book into a New Mutants reunion title, I’m glad he’s at least making an effort to acknowledge the more recent history. Meanwhile, the Sunspot/Meltdown romance subplot continues, culminating in Cannonball pitching a fit and running away, or flying away at supersonic speeds to be more precise. This storyline doesn’t really make any of the participants look very good, but it’s presumably all a part of Moore’s plan to make the cast more realistic teenagers/twenty-somethings. Still, it’s a little too soap opera-ish, or Real World-ish (before the show devolved into indiscriminate hookups between virtually every cast member), for my tastes.

X-FORCE #75 - March 1998

Convergence

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales and Company (inks), Comicraft’s Kolja Fuchs (letters), Marie Javins & Gloria Vasquez (colors)

Summary: X-Force arrives in Texas for the Colossal Man Festival. At the event, they run into Karma and Cannonball. Unbeknownst to Cannonball, Sunspot and Meltdown shared a kiss while dancing earlier. Moonstar and Warpath are soon ambushed by Selene, who uses Moonstar’s Asgardian blood to open a box that contains an ancient staff. They defeat Selene, but the staff is knocked inside the Colossal Man construct, which brings it to life. X-Force destroys the Colossal Man, as Cable proudly watches from the crowd.

Continuity Notes: Karma, who now has a pink buzzcut, says she’s found a doctor who can undo the damage done to her siblings in the Beast miniseries (even though world-class intellect Hank McCoy declared their transformation was permanent in the same series). The first hints that Karma is a lesbian are dropped, as she’s traveling with two females, one of them with the stereotypical butch look, and declares that Cannonball is “definitely not my type.” Warpath decides he doesn’t like his codename, which leads to him simply going by “Proudstar” for a while. A narrative caption says Sunspot became a mutant at fifteen, although his earliest appearances had his age at thirteen. More pedantry: Cable claims he’s been “keeping tabs” on the team since their road trip began, even though his solo series leaves barely enough of a gap for even this appearance.

Miscellaneous Notes: The Colossal Man Festival is an obvious riff on the Burning Man event, and the Colossal Man is inspired by its giant wooden “Man” statue. Selene’s mystic staff is called a “runestaff” which is apparently a reference to Michael Moorcock’s novels.

Review: John Francis Moore showcases his sympathy for the counterculture again, as X-Force spends time with their fellow “freaks” and parties at a hippie music festival. I probably wouldn’t go to Burning Man if you paid me, so the setting holds no interest for me, but Moore’s character work is still enough to make the book enjoyable. He’s perhaps trying too hard to emphasize that the young cast is still searching for their individual identities, to the point that Karma is now unrecognizable, but his work with characters like Moonstar and Warpath is great. My favorite scene in the issue has Moonstar using her powers to psychically draw out Warpath’s fading memories of his family. Taking a real concern, forgetting the little details of lost loved ones, and combining it with supernatural elements is one of the unique opportunities genre fiction allows a writer. It’s a genuinely sweet scene; the kind most of the other X-books just weren’t doing by the late ‘90s. More than ever, this cast feels like real characters, and it seems like Moore’s having fun telling their stories.

X-FORCE #73-#74, January-February 1998

Stop Motion

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Andy Smith (penciler), Mark Morales w/Scott Hanna & Sean Parsons (inks), Comicraft’s Kolja Fuchs (letters), John Kalisz (colors)

Summary: Warpath and Siryn arrive in Kansas, where they retrieve the envelope containing information on Project: Stepladder. They’re confronted by Edwin Martynec, who transforms into his feral form and takes them captive. To their surprise, Martynec has a Zero robot as an assistant. He reveals to Warpath that Stryfe was Stepladder’s secret leader, and the person behind the destruction of Camp Verde. Siryn and Warpath break free of their restraints, but Martynec injects Warpath with an amphetamine. Siryn knocks Martynec out, but is unable to revive Warpath. Meanwhile, Domino’s interference in a bank robbery attracts the police’s attention, X-Force travels with Richie Algeria to New Orleans, and Domino contacts the Hellhouse to find mercenary work.

Continuity Notes: Edwin Martynec first appeared in the X-Force Flashback issue. Officially dead since the Arroyo Labs fire, he now goes by “Martin Edwards.” He explains that Stryfe recruited him for Project: Stepladder to “genetically engineer his next generation of mutant disciples.” Some of the previous issues weren’t clear, but John Francis Moore is obviously going with the idea that Zero wasn’t a unique robot and is part of a series.

Review: Stryfe? Zero? X-Force had long abandoned this era of its history (and didn’t even feature Cable by this point), so it’s surprising to see Moore revive these characters. Revealing that Stryfe was behind the Camp Verde massacre clearly isn’t what the original creators had in mind, but I like the idea. Moore’s two obvious solutions for resolving the murders are to create a new villain as the culprit, or to tie it to an existing one. He combines the two ideas, revealing that Stryfe was involved in genetic engineering we never knew about and Camp Verde had to die to keep it quiet. Considering that Stryfe created the Legacy Virus, this actually isn’t a big stretch. The fact that the Liefeld characters were already considered kind of embarrassing by this point works to the story’s advantage. The revelation comes out of nowhere, but it works as a legitimate surprise and not cheap shock value. Moore also keeps up with the subplots, touching base with the rest of the cast and setting up a potential romance between Sunspot and Meltdown (Sunspot tells her that Cannonball’s lucky to have her while she’s writing him a letter). I’m disappointed Adam Pollina didn’t draw this issue, but Andy Smith’s art works fairly well. He’s thankfully improved since that Strong Guy Reborn one-shot.

Afterlife

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inks), Comicraft (letters), Marie Javins (colors)

Summary: In Hell, Warpath is attacked by Stryfe. Stryfe claims that he’ll be released from Hell if he delivers Warpath to Blackheart. As Siryn tries to revive Warpath, a valkyrie visits Moonstar and the rest of X-Force. She informs them that Warpath is wrongly being kept in Hell, and opens a portal for X-Force to enter the afterlife. Stryfe defeats the team, forcing Warpath to fight back and protect his soul from Stryfe. Blackheart lets the team go, revealing to Stryfe that this was all a plan to give him false hope of escaping Hell. Warpath’s soul returns to his body, as the rest of X-Force emerges with him in Martynec’s destroyed lab. Meanwhile, the mystery man tailing X-Force kills the mobsters harassing Richie Algeria.

Continuity Notes: Sunspot is using Spanish exclamations, which isn’t accurate since he’s from Brazil (a future letter writer points this out and the editors apologize). Blackheart taunts Meltdown, telling her that even her closest friends are unaware of the things she did while living on the street. These hints have shown up a few times before, usually with the veiled suggestion she might’ve been a prostitute.

I Love the ‘90s: Have I mentioned the Concert Connection ads before? This is a phone service that offers news on celebrities and musical acts such as Alicia Silverstone, Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, Dru Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Backstreet Boys. The ad lists three different numbers to call, with prices ranging from seventy-one cents a minute to $2.99.

Review: Even when Moore lays off on the subplots, he still crams a lot into one issue. This issue probably should’ve been a two-part story, but I guess he wanted to have the cast reunited in time for a new story in the seventy-fifth issue. Consequently, there are some good ideas here, but the hyper pace doesn’t give them much room to breathe. Blackheart tormenting Sunspot and Meltdown, forcing them to face the worst pieces of their souls, is exactly what you want to see when your heroes go to Hell. However, doing the scene in exactly three panels robs it of a lot of impact. And while I’m sure many fans were thrilled to see a nod towards Moonstar’s past as a valkyrie, if you’re not familiar with that continuity, the scene probably reads as “Who’s that woman on the winged horse? Moonstar was a what? They’re in Hell now?”

Even if some of the scenes go by too fast, Moore still uses the main story to advance a few of the ongoing storylines. After their confrontation with Blackheart, Sunspot comforts Meltdown and tells her that her past doesn’t matter. The superhero fight and romantic subplots also merge as Siryn reflects on her relationship with Warpath while she tries to resuscitate him. The two characters have had “the potential romance” storyline building since the start of the series, and while Moore isn’t rushing to have Siryn finally embrace Warpath, he is manipulating events so that Siryn might see Warpath as more than a friend. Warpath, who seems to be Moore’s favorite cast member, also fights some metaphorical demons in Hell and begins the “let go of the past and embrace life” part of his revenge journey. All of these ideas are incorporated into the main action story, which says a lot about Moore’s skills as a writer. I just feel that this probably should’ve been the double-sized anniversary issue, because the story needs more room.

X-FORCE #71-#72, November-December 1997

Previously in X-Force…Warpath was summoned by the mysterious Sledge to retrieve the Vanisher from a strange dimension. In exchange, Sledge gave Warpath info on reporter Michael Whitecloud, the one man who knows the story behind the murder of Warpath’s tribe. Meanwhile, following the events of Operation: Zero Tolerance, the remaining members of X-Force refused to assume false identities and parted ways with Cable.

Destination: Unknown

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Team X (inks), Comicraft (letters), Marie Javins & Digital Chameleon (colors)

Summary: X-Force is stranded in Minerva, Ohio after their car breaks down. While waiting for it to be fixed, they sneak into a hotel room for the night. In the parking lot, they rescue young Richie Alegria from armed men. Richie opens a suitcase filled with money and offers X-Force a job. Meanwhile, Domino learns that Zero Tolerance implanted a non-removable device in her brain that slows her reaction times.

Continuity Notes: Warpath has retrieved the Vanisher for Sledge, and been picked up by X-Force, in-between issues. While eating at a diner, Sunspot learns his credit cards have been cut off due to a lawsuit against his father’s estate.

I Love the ‘90s: Meltdown complains that she hasn’t seen Talk Soup in weeks.

Review: After finishing off a few of Jeph Loeb’s storylines, and dealing with a crossover, John Francis Moore begins to make the book his own. Based on interviews and some of the other comics he’s written, I know that Moore has an issue with authority figures and an appreciation for Beat writers like Jack Kerouac. Not surprisingly, once the crossover is done, he has the cast break away from their mentor, go on a road trip, and throws in a few counter-culture references (I assume Louise and Scooter, the two hippies who pick up X-Force in a van, are a nod towards some ‘60s thing I know nothing about). Moore’s already proven he has a handle on the characters, and he now places them in a situation Xavier’s brood rarely deal with -- they’re broke. The question of how they’re supposed to travel across country (or what their destination even is) makes for a fun setup and immediately separates the title from the other X-books.

Lies & Deception

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inks), Comicraft (letters), Marie Javins (colors)

Summary: In Chicago, Sunspot, Meltdown, and Moonstar protect Richie Alegria from the mob. When they learn the mob wants Richie to repay them, and that he lied about the mob targeting his father, they’re tempted to leave. Richie convinces them to stick around for a few days. Meanwhile, Siryn and Warpath travel to Nebraska to meet Michael Whitecloud. Whitecloud reveals to Warpath that a genetics program named Project: Stepladder is responsible for their tribe’s murder. He claims that proof of Stepladder’s involvement is in a bus locker in Kansas. Suddenly, Whitecloud’s head violently explodes. Elsewhere, Domino stops a bank robbery, as a shadowy figure follows X-Force’s trail in Ohio.

Continuity Notes: Michael Whitecloud says that he learned of Project: Stepladder from radiologist Lucius DeWitt. Whitecloud offered to keep him, and a Stepladder test subject named Gordon Thorpe, at his Camp Verde home. While Whitecloud was in town one night, Stepladder destroyed Camp Verde and planted evidence implicating the Hellfire Club.

Miscellaneous Note: The Statement of Ownership has average sales for the year at 155,261 with the most recent issue selling 131,282 copies.

I Love the ‘90s: Two of the Chicago mobsters are arguing over which actor is the best NYPD Blue star. Their boss comments that every goon has to have an opinion “ever since that stupid Tarantino movie.”

Review: Splitting the cast up tends to be John Francis Moore’s take on team comics, and he’s already working on four plotlines at the same time (the mob story, Warpath’s investigation into the Camp Verde massacre, Domino’s continuing subplot, and now there’s a shadowy figure that’s trailing the team). As I’ve mentioned before, I like it when a lot of things are going on at the same time, and a team comic gives you a unique opportunity to explore various plot threads without making the title too schizophrenic. On their own, none of these threads are overwhelmingly interesting, but when they’re added together, the book takes on a real momentum. The new characters, Michael Whitecloud and Richie Alegria, might just be there to help set stories into place, but Moore also manages to give them enough personality to feel real. Whitecloud is a drunken mess after years on the run from Stepladder, but rather than skipping over the obvious, Moore has the character muse “I don’t know which stereotype I became, the alcoholic reporter or the drunk Indian.” Richie Alegria was initially the mob victim, but this issue we learn he’s a lying con artist, who’s good enough to keep X-Force around even when they know he’s probably running a scam. Moore also gets credit for not only resolving the long-forgotten mystery of the Camp Verde massacre, but for using it as the catalyst for new material.

THE RISE OF APOCALYPSE #1-#4, October 1996 - January 1997

Hammer & Chisel

Credits: Terry Kavanagh (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales & Henry Candelario (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Chris Lichtner & Malibu (colors)

If you were wondering why X-Force had a run of terrible-looking fill-ins in late 1996, this is why. Taking one of the regular artists off his book and placing him on a miniseries was an unusual move, especially when you consider just how ugly Marvel was willing to allow these minis to look. I guess an origin of Apocalypse mini was considered important enough to justify a bigger-name artist like Pollina, although it seems like this still got lost in the sea of X-product Marvel unleashed in 1996.

The story opens five thousand years ago in Akkaba, a settlement near Egypt. The villagers have left a blue-skinned baby to die in the elements, but he’s rescued by Baal of the Sandstormers. Seventeen years later, the baby undergoes manhood rituals as En Sabah Nur. Nearby, a scholar named Logos informs Pharaoh Rama-Tut that Baal is mentoring the “child of destiny.” He sends Ozymandias to find the child, although Ozymandias just wants to kill him. The story ends with Baal taking En Sabah Nur to an underground lair, where a portion of Rama-Tut’s future technology is stored.

Linking Apocalypse to the old Fantastic Four foe Rama-Tut might seem forced, but if we’re supposed to buy Apocalypse as a world-class villain, I think he probably needs some connection to the “core” Marvel Universe. I’m not sure how consistent this is with Rama-Tut’s previous appearances, though, since Kavanagh doesn’t seem too concerned with keeping the details straight. Ozymandias was supposed to be a king in ancient Egypt, not an aide to Rama-Tut, and I could’ve sworn Louise Simonson established that Apocalypse spent his youth as a slave. I could be wrong, but I think previous flashbacks didn’t even show him with blue skin as a youth. Just judging this issue by its own merits, it’s a dull start to the story. Kavanagh does introduce enough action scenes to give Pollina something to do, but the stiff dialogue is often a challenge to endure.

Blood of the Father

Credits: Terry Kavanagh & James Felder (writers), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Chris Lichtner and Jennifer Schellinger & Co. (colors)

Ozymandias’ quest to find En Sabah Nur leads to a massive battle with the Sandstormers, which only Ozymandias survives. The battle creates a cave-in underneath their base, which is where Baal and En Sabah Nur were examining Rama-Tut’s technology. Both are nearly killed in the cave-in, but Baal stays true to his “survivor of the fittest” philosophy and offers his stronger son food to survive. Before Baal dies, he reveals that he was one of the villagers who discovered Rama-Tut after he arrived in this timeline (in fact, he named him Rama-Tut). Baal has held on to Tut’s “Eye of the Ages,” which predicted En Sabah Nur’s birth. En Sabah Nur is discovered by Rama-Tut’s vizier Logos, who has grown suspicious of Tut. Logos offers En Sabah Nur a chance to kill Ozymandias if he stops the wedding of Ozymandias’ sister, Nephri, to Rama-Tut.

The dialogue is still too uptight, but the story is more engaging. There is a novelty to seeing Apocalypse as a teenager, mourning the loss of the only person who ever showed him kindness. He’s also smitten with Nephri when he sees her for the first time, introducing an unexpected romantic element. Revealing that one of the peasants who discovered Rama-Tut (I assume a background character from one of his early appearances) went on to become Apocalypse’s foster-father is slightly absurd, but I like it. I do think revealing that Baal endowed Apocalypse with the “survivor of the fittest” philosophy is too much, though. It seems like Apocalypse should’ve developed this without anyone else’s influence, since it’s supposed to be his core motivation.

The Face of the Gods

Credits: Terry Kavanagh & James Felder (writers), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Christian Lichtner and Graphic Colorworks (colors)

And now we get to the slave era, as Logos sends En Sabah Nur to work undercover as a slave. Since Apocalypse is essentially an adult at this point, and this period doesn’t seem to last for more than a day, I question how well it fits into continuity, but at least some effort was made for consistency. When Ozymandias whips En Sabah Nur too hard, he falls from a great height. He sees a vision of the goddess Isis, which may or not be a hallucination. En Sabah Nur suddenly explodes with light and grows more powerful. The commotion draws the attention of Nephri, who decides to join En Sabah Nur’s cause.

I was surprised to see the Fantastic Four appear, placing this story at the exact time as Fantastic Four #19. Kavanagh/Felder tie the original Rama Tut story in with the wedding subplot, as Tut declares that Sue Storm will be his bride instead of Nephri. Logos is also placed into custody, as Tut has grown suspicious of him. Tut presents his captives Logos and Nephri to En Sabah Nur, and removes the mask that covers Nur’s face. Nephri recoils in disgust at that distinctive Apocalypse lip design, and because the story needs more of a justification to push Apocalypse over the edge, Tut kills Logos. En Sabah Nur tries to avenge the murder, but is quickly shot down by Tut’s future technology.

Rama Tut actually does seem like a logical choice to play the villain, as his future weapons can present a legitimate threat to Apocalypse. The duo of Tut and Ozymandias (who doesn’t seem to care that his sister is being crucified by Tut) make for a nasty combination, and the story has managed so far to present a believable interpretation of Apocalypse as a young man. He’s not at all villainous at this stage, but he’s driven by revenge and isn’t shy about using his powers, so it isn’t hard to see the direction he’s headed in.

The First Culling

Credits: Terry Kavanagh & James Felder (writers), Adam Pollina & Anthony Williams (pencilers), Mark Morales & Al Milgrom (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Christian Lichtner and Graphic Colorworks (colors)

As the story opens, Ozymandias leaves Nephri for dead in a snake pit. She’s rescued by En Sabah Nur, who’s seemingly risen from the dead. Nephri is still frightened of Nur, and when he tries to take her away with him, Ozymandias returns to reclaim his sister. She stands by her brother’s side (which is just ridiculous, since he left her for dead a few pages ago). En Sabah Nur is overcome with rage, declaring his new name Apocalypse. He grows larger for the first time, using his strength to defeat the army. Ozymandias escapes, but Apocalypse soon finds him deep in Rama Tut’s lair. Ozymandias tries to steal Tut’s future technology for his own power grab, but is thwarted by Apocalypse. After Apocalypse violently throws him into Tut’s “Memory Lock,” Ozymandias is overwhelmed with knowledge of the future. Apocalypse declares that Ozymandias will now serve him.

And what of Rama Tut and the Fantastic Four? Their story has played out off-panel. We only see Tut fleeing to the future as the Fantastic Four escape imprisonment. A giant explosion within the Sphinx, which the Fantastic Four assumed to be a booby trap, is actually Ozymandias crashing into the Memory Lock. Now that’s a retcon. I’m willing to defend the addition of Rama Tut to Apocalypse’s origin story, but I wish more was done with the idea. There’s no real reason for the story to be set at the very end of Rama Tut’s reign. While this enables a Fantastic Four cameo, it doesn’t add anything to the story, and in fact shortens the time Tut can participate in the events. I do like the origin of Ozymandias, though, since it explains how exactly he knows the future, and gets around the question of how Apocalypse could’ve endowed another character with powers this early on. The story concludes with Apocalypse visiting Nephri at the end of her life, fifty years later. She still rejects him, while he’s proud not to be a frail human. It’s a successful ending, providing closure and confirming the heartlessness of Apocalypse.

Anthony Williams, a routine X-office fill-in artist, finishes off a large portion of the issue. His style isn’t too dissimilar from Adam Pollina’s, yet this isn’t a perfect match. Pollina’s art has been more exaggerated than usual for much of the miniseries, as Rama Tut and Ozymandias were usually portrayed as barely human caricatures. Williams grounds the art closer to reality, and while this would’ve been helpful in telling Ozymandias and Rama Tut apart in the previous issues, it doesn’t match the established look. I’m not sure what role James Felder played in shaping the story, but thankfully the dialogue became less stilted and overblown after his arrival. Overall, it’s hard not to view this as yet another miniseries, but it does at least tell the story it set out to tell and has some fun along the way.

X-FORCE #-1 - July 1997

The Brothers Proudstar

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales, Jon Holdredge, & Al Milgrom (inkers), Marie Javins & Michael Higgins (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: John Proudstar leaves the Marines and returns home, where he’s greeted by his eleven-year-old brother James. John is saddened to learn his mother has cancer. Looking for a distraction, he takes James to a carnival. He runs into newspaper reporter Michael Whitecloud, who believes a conspiracy surrounds the camp’s cancer cases. James sneaks along as John and Michael infiltrate the Arroyo Medical Laboratory, where they discover Dr. Edwin Martynec’s experiments in radiation and cloning. Martynec morphs into a cat-creature and attacks. John fights back, but Martynec destroys the building to prevent the discovery of his research.

Continuity Notes: During the carnival scene, there are cameos by a young Meltdown, Ringmaster, Destiny and Mystique (Destiny is working as a fortune teller and Mystique is trying to convince her to put her powers to good use), and the ultra-obscure Chondu the Mystic. During a flashback, James Proudstar says he saw a fiery bird image in the sky after a helicopter crash, which he viewed as a totem. I don’t think Moore intended this to be Phoenix, since Jean Grey didn’t become Phoenix until after Proudstar had joined the X-Men and died.

Review: Even though this is a Flashback issue, John Francis Moore doesn’t allow the title’s ongoing storylines to stagnate. Although it won’t be apparent until later, many of these characters will resurface as it’s revealed that Martynec’s research is a part of a much larger story. The focus on the Proudstar siblings is also appropriate, as Warpath becomes a leading character in Moore’s run as the issues go on. Even though John Proudstar’s death was James’ driving motivation for years, this is one of the few stories that ever focused on their relationship and made his death seem like a tragedy. Moore’s plots tend to be dense anyway, but in fitting with the Silver Age aesthetic, each page is now crammed with even more story. Most of the pages have between six and eight panels, and along with the gratuitous cameos, Moore also works in an extra fight scene between John Proudstar and a tiger at the carnival. Adam Pollina has never drawn in this straightforward grid style before, but it doesn’t seem to hinder him at all. I skipped out on buying this when it was released, but this is a decent example of how to make the Flashback gimmick work.

X-FORCE #70 – October 1997

Transitions
Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Marie Javins (colors)

Summary: X-Force rescues their teammates from Operation: Zero Tolerance and flies away. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of OZT’s attack, Cable searches for Caliban in the tunnels beneath the X-Men’s mansion. Ozymandias emerges and temporarily shuts off Cable’s mind before he takes Caliban away. He leaves Cable with the mental suggestion that Caliban is in safe hands. In another dimension, the Vanisher realizes that Warpath was actually sent to help him. He tells Warpath to tell a story to the strange creatures in order to placate them. In Oklahoma, Domino is picked up by X-Force. Soon, Cable greets them in his own aircraft. They land in North Carolina, where Cable reveals his plan to have the team go underground. They refuse to assume false identities, which forces Cable to realize that the team no longer needs him. He leaves, which leads Meltdown to question what will happen next.

Continuity Note: Judging by what he does to Cable, I’d have to say that Ozymandias has pretty impressive telepathic powers.

Review: This turned out to be my final issue of X-Force. For some reason, this title stuck around my local newsstands for a few months longer than the other X-spinoffs, but by Fall 1997 it was gone. It’s a shame, since the book is better than it’s been since the late Nicieza run, and I would’ve liked to continue with it. This brings the title’s OZT crossover stint to an end, as Moore uses the event to justify the new status quo. It is a little rushed, but Moore thankfully keeps the characters true to themselves and doesn’t insert any false drama. The story has quite a few character moments, such as Meltdown’s temptation to kill Ekatarina Gryaznova while she’s unconscious, Domino’s flirtation with the truck driver who saved her, and the Vanisher’s revelation that he loved the sitcom Taxi. It’s a solid script, and Pollina’s art is up to his usual standards. I’m tempted now to track down the rest of this run on eBay.

X-FORCE #69 – September 1997

Roadside Attractions
Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Velasquez/Javins & Digital Chamelon (colors)

Summary: In Oklahoma, Domino is picked up by a truck driver. Her head is shaven and she’s disoriented after undergoing a mysterious surgery. Meanwhile, Moonstar, Siryn, and Sunspot plan their next move. Moonstar gets information from SHIELD that helps them track down Ekatarina Gryaznova, the Zero Tolerance operative who’s kidnapped the rest of X-Force. At the same time, Gryaznova makes a secret arrangement with a trio of scientists who want to experiment on X-Force. They’re soon interrupted by Moonstar, Siryn, and Sunspot, who chase the scientists away and defeat Gryaznova. Elsewhere, Warpath meets an other-dimensional being (who takes the form of his childhood cat because he doesn’t want to “overwhelm” Warpath). He takes Warpath to the man he thinks Sledge sent him to this world to find, the Vanisher. The Vanisher doesn’t want to leave the dimension, and orders its strange inhabitants to attack Warpath.

Continuity Notes: According to Moonstar, SHIELD resents being forced to work with Operation: Zero Tolerance and is open to undermining them. This is why Domino was unofficially asked to rescue Moonstar when OZT cornered the Mutant Liberation Front.

One of the scientists who examines X-Force used to work for Gideon, and claims that he’s one of the scientists who once experimented on Sunspot. The scientists appear to have some supernatural abilities, since they don’t seem to mind catching on fire as they escape. Their dialogue suggests that their presence ties into the eventual resolution of the Reignfire mystery, but I’m not sure how that played out.

Review: It’s more OZT stuff, but it is fun (I’m increasingly convinced that the botched ending of the crossover is mainly responsible for its low reputation). I’ve mentioned before that I have a soft spot for stories that split the cast up over various locations, and this is a nice example of a story that makes you feel as if a lot of things are going on at the same time. The OZT characters once again serve to set up the action scenes, but Moore also manages to give them more personality than they’ve had in most of their appearances. Gryaznova’s men gossip behind her back, while Gryaznova continues to secretly undermine Bastion. It adds a touch of realism and gives the characters traits outside of “anti-mutant human”. Pollina’s art isn’t particularly exciting during the OZT action scenes, but he really excels during the Warpath subplot. The alien dimensions and talking cartoony cat fit his style very well, and help to give the subplot a unique feel. This still feels like an issue of the Moore/Pollina X-Force, rather than generic crossover nonsense.

X-FORCE #67 – June 1997

Stand-Off
Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Steve Buccellato (colorist)

Summary: The Mutant Liberation Front invades a cancer research center in St. Louis. Wildside claims that the lab is actually a front for a government project that’s recreating the Legacy Virus. Agents from Zero Tolerance arrive, as a media circus grows outside. Domino, Sunspot, and Siryn disguise themselves as a TV news crew, and are spotted by Moonstar. She suggests bringing the news crew inside, claiming that it will keep Zero Tolerance at bay. The remaining members of X-Force wait in a van outside, and are soon dispatched by the Zero Tolerance troops. When the incognito members enter the building, they’re quickly recognized by Dragoness, who outs them. After a brief fight, the MLF realizes that the information Wildside was fed was a plant. Moonstone knocks Wildside out when he attacks one of the scientists, and reveals to the rest of the MLF that she’s been working undercover for SHIELD. Three of the scientists suddenly reveal themselves as a new breed of Sentinel, working for Zero Tolerance. Meanwhile at the mansion, Cable watches over Caliban. In the middle of the night, Ozymandias appears in front of Caliban’s sleeping body, telling him that he’ll have no choice but to return to Apocalypse.

Continuity Notes: Wildside, who is the MLF’s new leader, and Dragoness are now a couple. Tempo has rejoined the team, allegedly because she’s concerned about growing anti-mutant sentiment. Locus also appears, but abandons the team after Wildside slaps her for suggesting a retreat.

Sunspot is now able to change back into his human form, which he was unable to do during Jeph Loeb’s run (he claims going out at night helps, as his powers are fueled by the sun).

Cable recognizes that Caliban has “regressed emotionally”, which is the first time his out-of-character behavior in Loeb’s run is mentioned on-panel. Cable wonders if there’s a connection between Archangel regaining his feather wings and Caliban’s recent regression. I have no idea if this was ever resolved.

Review: The MLF returns to the title, and Moore makes good use of the characters. I’ve mentioned earlier that the MLF seemed to be dismissed too quickly, probably because they’re so closely tied to the Liefeld run. I think they work fine as pro-mutant extremists, and Nicieza’s addition of Moonstar and Feral to the team gave them the potential to reach the level of “archenemies” for X-Force. It’s too bad the team was virtually ignored after Nicieza left, because there’s nothing inherently wrong with the concept. I’m not sure how familiar Moore was with these characters before he took over the book, but he seems to be working in a lot of things that longtime readers wanted out of the title. Caliban isn’t just out-of-character anymore, it’s now a plot point. Risque’s mystery is resolved, and the Camp Verde storyline is revived. Moonstar isn’t in limbo anymore, as she returns and her MLF arc is actually resolved. Things actually happen, which automatically sets the book apart from most of the other X-titles of the era. Pollina’s art also brings some stability to the series, although it seems like he only provided rough breakdowns for much of the issue. The final few pages have some bizarre anatomy and inconsistent linework, which are problems he seemed to have conquered by this point.

X-FORCE #66 – May 1997

Tragic Kingdom
Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Marie Javins & Team Bucce! (colors)

Summary: Caliban tracks Risque down to the Wackyworld amusement park in Florida. When he finally catches up to her, he has another seizure. Risque considers leaving, but turns back to offer help. The remaining members of X-Force soon arrive and grab her. She agrees to take them to Warpath, who is in Detroit. Meanwhile, Warpath finally awakens. He’s greeted by a freakish looking man named Sledge, who shows him footage of Michael Whitecloud, a member of his tribe who was believed killed in the Camp Verde massacre. Sledge offers to hand Whitecloud over to him, if he’ll return a favor. X-Force soon arrives with Risque. Warpath refuses to speak to Risque and walks away from her. Elsewhere, Domino is recruited by G. W. Bridge to help an undercover SHIELD agent. She’s shocked to learn the agent is Dani Moonstar.

Continuity Notes: Risque claims that she owed Sledge because he helped her out of a “bad situation”. Blob and Mimic are working for him because he “provided…the means” to help them better control their powers. Sledge has the technology to block Cerebro, in case you were wondering.

I Love the ‘90s: The title of this issue is a reference to the No Doubt album, which was huge during this time.

Review: This is an entire issue dedicated to selling Risque as a character, and while Moore does create a sympathetic portrayal, I don’t recall Risque really taking off (she was eventually killed off off-panel by Grant Morrison). The extended chase scene with Caliban takes up a lot of space, but it remains entertaining and comes across as more than just time-killer. With the exception of a horrendous interpretation of Caliban on page two, Pollina produces some very impressive artwork that helps to sell the story. He does a great job with the cartoony figures from the theme park, which is something most superhero artists probably wouldn’t be able to pull off. The story doesn’t fully resolve Risque’s mystery, but it doesn’t feel like too much of a cheat. Moore is at least advancing the Risque subplot and using it to transition into a story about the Camp Verde massacre, a mystery that predates even X-Force #1. And, the long-running Dani Moonstar plotline is also advanced. The book finally has a forward momentum, which is nice to see.

X-FORCE #65 – April 1997

Lower East Side Story
Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Adam Pollina (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Marie Javins & Team Bucce! (colors)

Summary: Risque and Warpath continue to spend time together. Siryn walks in on them kissing and realizes that she is jealous. After Warpath and Risque leave for the city, Siryn and Shatterstar train in the Danger Room. They’re interrupted by a beautiful piano solo. They head to the living room, where they discover Caliban playing Chopin. When he realizes he’s being watched, he suddenly has a seizure. Meanwhile, Warpath and Risque are attacked at a nightclub by Mimic and Blob. After fighting them off, they escape to an apartment owned by Risque’s friend. Risque gives Warpath a drink filled with tranquilizers. When he collapses, she reveals that Mimic and Blob are after her for not completing her job, which was to kidnap him.

Continuity Notes: Risque tells Warpath that her real name is Gloria Munoz. According to the letters page, her father is Cuban and her mother is Seminole. It’s also revealed that her implosion powers only work on inorganic material.

Review: This is the true beginning of John Francis Moore’s run, and it isn’t bad. Virtually the entire issue is dedicated to resolving a dangling plotline from Jeph Loeb’s run, yet it doesn’t read like the halfhearted conclusions you often get when one writer finishes up another’s story before he moves on with his own. Moore has a nice grasp on the characters and he’s able to make the scenes that reestablish Warpath’s relationship with Risque come across as more than just exposition. In an era when writers often didn’t finish their own story arcs, it’s refreshing that Moore actually bothered to offer X-Force readers a genuine conclusion to someone else’s ongoing subplot. Adam Pollina returns as artist, after too many issues of subpar fill-ins. All of his figures and layouts look dynamic, and even though his oversized rendition of the Blob is ridiculous, I still like it. Now, he truly looks freakish instead of just fat. It’s too bad it took so many issues to get to this point, because this book had been struggling for a while.

X-FORCE #62 – January 1997

Human Nature
Credits: John Dokes (writer), Kevin Lau w/Adam Pollina (pencilers), Andrew Pepoy w/Norman Lee (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Leeann Clark (colorist)

Summary: Shinobi Shaw has kidnapped Nga Coy Manh and Leon Coy Manh, the siblings of former New Mutants member Karma. Shaw’s scientists are experimenting on them, hoping to find a way to neutralize the mutant x-gene (which will give Shaw power over other mutants, including his father). X-Force infiltrate Shaw’s base and are confronted by his henchmen, Clear-Cut and Mindmeld. While Clear-Cut duels with Shatterstar, Mindmeld forces Domino into Caliban’s mind and Meltdown into Sunspot’s mind. The team is taken into custody, as Domino and Meltdown’s unconscious bodies are taken away for experimentation. After Spiral takes Nga and Leon away, Shaw reveals that he knows Clear-Cut is a double agent. Mindmeld possesses him, which inadvertently returns Domino and Meltdown back to their own bodies. Domino uses the key Clear-Cut slipped her to free the others, and the team soon destroys Shaw’s headquarters and frees Clear-Cut. After escaping, Clear-Cut tells the team that his debt to Cable is paid.

Continuity Notes: Final Fantasy rejects Clear-Cut and Mindmeld appear for the first time. Clear-Cut claims that Shaw didn’t detect the mutant gene in his body because not everyone with special powers is a mutant (he has a magic sword that spontaneously appears, which is apparently his power). I’m assuming that his past with Cable has never been revealed. Mindmeld, who is outright androgynous, can possesses minds and transfer them to other bodies. Domino refers to Mindmeld as a she, but Meltdown refers to her as “Mr. or Mrs.”.

Spiral shows up for literally one panel to take the Coy Manh kids away, which is presumably a setup for the Beast miniseries that’s mentioned on the last page.

Review: Did you want more filler? I know I did. There are a few decent ideas here, but the story’s cluttered with too much nonsense and bad artwork. Kevin Lau returns with more of that generic manga look that gives virtually every character the same face and body type. I have no idea if Mindmeld is supposed to be androgynous, or if Lau just draw an extremely effeminate man and the writer decided to have fun with it. Adam Pollina is credited as co-artist, but none of the actual drawings look like his work. Some of the page layouts and poses on the final pages are definitely his, so I’m assuming he provided some last minute layouts, or very rough breakdowns.

The basic idea of the story has potential; a one issue story that has the cast trapped in one another’s bodies while an inside agent tries to stop Shinobi Shaw is fine. However, there are too many characters in the story, and no one is properly introduced. The mutants Shaw is experimenting on didn’t have to be Karma’s siblings (who were long forgotten at this point, although the story acts as if they’re recurring supporting cast members), unless this story only existed to setup the Beast mini in the first place. Clear-Cut and Mindmeld are treated as if they’re established characters that we’re already familiar with, and Spiral shows up with no explanation of who she is or what her connection to Shaw is supposed to be. Even if you’re already familiar with all of the continuity elements, the story still comes across as needlessly convoluted. This is the stereotypical “too complicated” X-story, the type that critics used for years to condemn the entire line.