The Good

Thought those revenants were just minor psychic baddies? Think again. There's a reason Bishop is part of an Order dedicated to hunting them, and there are reasons for The Order's interesting protocols.

The X-Force team battles their revenant selves this issue, immediately caught at a disadvantage due to the revenants' outward positioning as stronger, more powerful, and better-coiffed versions of each member of the team. Fighting with yourself is hard enough, but when it's a version of you that you inherently think is better? Insanity. Luckily, our team is savvy and self-aware, and they sort out how to handle these shadow-selves, learning some important secrets about Bishop while doing so.

Anti-Bishop is surprising, but also makes complete sense. He also spurs a myriad of what-might-have-been thoughts, but I think since we're used to Bishop being angry, wild, and a little bit out-there, the reverse would almost be chilling. He's a wonderful subject for the voiceover "letter," and it's fascinating that Bishop still sees him as a part of himself, even as a friend. More food for thought: how similar are Anti-Bishop and Anti-Storm, and will Storm regard her revenant the same way as Bishop does?

As if the revenant situation weren't complicated enough, we get a twist (pun intended) when Spiral comes in to reveal the true nature of the Revenant Queen. Naturally, that's something we'll have to wait until next issue for, but knowing that there's more to the story makes the revenant situation all the more interesting. It's been hinted that she's someone we'll recognize, since she exists in the present timestream and Spiral knows her, so this will be a reveal to look forward to.

The Bad

It's clear that only Storm killed her revenant, but only after the fact (since the others were not invited to join The Order). Those battle sequences looked pretty final, especially Psylocke's, and while the revenants needed to be subdued for things to progress, the aftermath is a little bit muddy.

The Verdict

Bishop can be a wildcard character, but when his arcs are good, they're amazing. This one seems to be shaping up along those lines, with a compelling cross-timestream story and a solidly threatening psychic villain. I'm loving the action-packed direction this arc is taking, especially after the more emotionally-centered preceding story, and I can't wait to find out the real story behind the Revenant Queen.

Looks nice.

I'm glad I picked this up. I wasn't interested in this book until I decided to try when issue 10 came out. It was my most anticipated book this week, actually. I always liked Bishop in the cartoon but I was never able to find him in any comics until this one. I was never a big Storm fan either but I actually like her character in this book. I just overall really liked this issue, and the last one and I can't wait for issue 12.

Was Dark Psylocke's scream meant to be an ode to Futurama? Because I immediately thought of Nixon's signature jowl-y yell when I saw it.

Maaaan have the wheels fallen off of this book.

Isn't it totally obvious that the Revenant Queen is meant to be

Really don't like Sam on these books. Hated his arc in The Ultimates and really not feeling his UXF run. I reminded myself that Rick isn't on this book anymore just so I don't look forward to his storytelling. I just can't make myself read this anymore. Been dropped for me. *shrugs*

To clear something up bishop killed pucks revenant unknown about psylockes

Isn't X-Force supposed to be the x-team that does ethically challenging missions that other x-men should probably be kept in the dark for? If so, this run seems to be missing the point thematically, though the arcs have been alright. Nothing has blown me away so far and the roster for the team is and their reasons for being there are kinda coming together now but have been extremely cloudy throughout the series.

What I find interesting is the referencing to the character's past and background; Storm's being a Goddess becoming Morlock Leader and ex-Queen of Wakanda, the low blows seemed relevant to the characters as a whole. I liked Psylocke battle and it made sense to overcome her dark side because she reveled in her deadly skills. Anti-Bishop was awesome. The revenants are original. Spiral in the X-man costume seems cool.