Uncanny X-Force #14

The Story: 
Flashback: Dark Beast seems to have freed Archangel from his imprisonment in Cavern X, and allowed him to fully become the new Apocalypse. They fly to the North Pole, to Akkaba's main underground base. It appears that the Horsemen of Apocalypse have returned from outer space somehow. Archangel refuses to be called Apocalypse and distinguishes himself through a very informal rule of Clan Akkaba. He visits Autumn Rolfson, the former Famine. She shows him her son, Genocide (he is alluded to being the son of Apocalypse, so that would make him the 616 version of Holocaust of the Exiles). Genocide is eager to serve Archangel in his M.O. 
Now: X-Force and Archangel face off. Dark Beast quickly takes down Fantomex with some reverse-misdirection tech and Wolverine makes the first move to kill Archangel. Genocide reacts by blasting the @%^# out of Wolverine, incinerating a good 50% of his body. Betsy starts mouthing off Archangel, while he tries to be all pacifist-like. Deadpool starts to annoy him, so he has Famine take Deadpool out. Psylocke single-handedly taken on all 4 horseman plus Dark Beast, taking out War and Famine quickly, and weakening Dark Beast with a well-placed sword slash. She goes for the kill on Archangel, hesitates, and misses his heart by a few centimetres. While this is all going down, Deadpool sneakily manages to free Deathlok, who was wrapped up in Death's magic carpet. Wade pops smoke and hey all flee for E.V.A. Deathlok is highly reluctant to leave the fight, but Betsy refuses to leave Archangel. E.V.A takes off with Fantomex, Deadpool, Deathlok, and the near-death Wolverine inside. Deadpool surmises that they're screwed. Back at the Akkaba Metropolis, Betsy tries reasoning with Archangel, who seems pretty beyond redemption. He flies off for this town in rural United States with Genocide in tow. He drops Genocide in the middle of the town and tells him to blow up.  
 
The Good: 
This series is getting better and better. In a way, I kind of hope that Warren stays as Archangel for a while yet, because his character is almost kind of scary. He's a genocidal maniac like Apocalypse, but with all the class and manners of a wealthy businessman. The last pages of the comic were especially awesome, as things seem pretty bleak for our heroes. These last pages are where in a movie you would have the epic doom-and-gloom music. The art is absolutely gorgeous, full of emotion and detail. Rick Remeder has done obsene things with these characters, and not 18+ obsene, I mean EPIC OFF THE WALL THINGS. We're 14 issues into Uncanny X-Force and basically every single issue has been related to the same story, Apocalypse. The death of En Sabah Nur in issues 1-4, Fantomex cloning him in issues 5-7, Amahl Farouk rising in issue 8, and Archangel's rise in recent issues. And yet the series has only gotten more and more interesting. 
 
The Bad: 
There is only one thing that I can complain about, is that I would like some new members to join X-Force. However, we know that the Age of Apocalypse Nightcrawler is going to be joining X-Force in December, which is exciting, and it seems that Deathlok is officially part of team, but perhaps Age of Apocalypse Sabretooth or Silver Samurai can join, given that they both have strained relationships with Wolverine, which could create a new dynamic for the team.  
 
The Verdict: 
I should start a tally of how long Uncanny X-Force has been awesome, and see if it ever ends. I certainly hope not. You can't really pick up the series anywhere over here, but I sure am greatful that I picked up issue 1 in September. Awesome!