Odd Effort
Okay, Marvel UK, you got me. The 90s X-Force team makes an appearance in this book (and the next) so I will dutifully buy it. That was the plan, I'm assuming. The problem is that this is not a good jumping-on point for readers. At all. For those readers who are very much like me that buy this issue for the Cable and Domino (Copycat) appearance, we don't know what is happening. Also, we don't know the characters or what each person is capable of. I read this issue by way of skimming.
One good thing is that the writer got X-Force right. The relationships seem to be on par with the team's own book. Bringing in Cable's group looks like a real attempt at showcasing the team. The art was also kind of cool. A lot of the Marvel books at the time had a very stylized look to set each series apart. Warheads has more of a gritty feel to it, which seems to match the content.
What warrants the two stars comes down to the story telling. A lot of assumptions are made. The Warheads are on a war-torn planet and magically know that the opposing sides are simply keeping the war going so as to keep the government in complete control. They also magically figure out that virtual reality devices are being used on the populace as a way to propagandize the people. ("Magic" is an odd word for me to keep using since the series deals with magic fused with science.) Maybe my lawyerly learning is too much for this series. I want to see facts. What proof allows you to assume the war is fake? Also, what happened to X-Force? There was a weird mumbling by a Warhead member and then suddenly X-Force was gone. There was no "zap" to show us something happened. X-Force was simply missing by the next panel.
All-in-all, it was a very odd read. I'm hoping the next issue ties some of these threads together. If not, I may be hesitant to read the eight other Marvel UK titles Cable makes an appearance in.