I don't know why I don't see more people talking about Peter Milligan and Mike Allred's run on X-Force and X-Statix. It was incredible! I just finished it and I had to make a post about it. It's the best superhero team book I've ever read! - No joke. So as for the premise, it's basically about a famous team of mutant superheroes whose main goal is to achieve fame and fortune.
It has original and compelling characters (mutants such as U-Go Girl, The Anarchist, Vivisector, Venus Dee Milo, and my personal favorite Mister Sensitive); great dialogue and character development; superb art; and it's totally unpredictable from a story standpoint. Team members actually die, which is really saying something for a superhero title.
Death adds to the story because the lineup is constantly changing. We get to continually meet new characters as well as the book keeping the "no one is safe" mentality. It really invests you in the story not knowing if your favorite characters will make it through a story arc or not.
But it isn't just a bit morbid, it's also hilarious, even sad. I got so invested in these characters that when certain things go inevitably wrong, I can't help but feel for them. To me that's the essence of great storytelling: creating a world that the reader can immerse themselves in and characters they can empathize with. Between Allred's lively pencils and Milligan's exemplary dialogue, this comic hits all the beats.
X-Statix carved out it's own little self-contained corner of the Marvel universe in the early 2000's. Apparently the reason why such creative freedom was allowed with this book was because this was when Joe Quesada came on as Editor-in-chief. This was when Marvel was trying something new with the X books and the result was Grant Morrison on New X-Men and this gem here. Obviously Morrison's run is well known, but this run is so undeservedly under the radar.
Anyway, check this title out if you haven't. It's seriously awesome. This X-Force/X-Statix run is even collected in an Omnibus if you're interested.
Log in to comment