Synopsis
After most of their members are brutally killed while trying to save the lives of a boy band, a team of mutants deals with life in the public eye in this black comedy satirizing superhero comics.
Notes on This Title
Despite being a superhero comic from Marvel, this title depicts graphic violence and gore, and is inappropriate for younger audiences.
The first thirteen issues of this series were published as X-Force #116 – 129.
Awards
None.
Reviews
“Abandoning the Comics Code allowed the creative team to explore more mature content in this series, and while that means a significant increase in sex and violence in the first issue, these elements aren’t gratuitous. The opening scene of Axel “Zeitgeist” Cluney having a threesome with two models while watching footage of the team’s most recent mission reveals the perverse thrill he gets out of seeing the violence committed by and against his fellow mutants, and the gory brutality of the cliffhanger ending sets incredibly high stakes for the rest of the series. The creators want to shock readers, but all the shocks have an important narrative function.” (Source: The AV Club)
“After #116 came out, the focus was on the fact that a Marvel comic book had not only rejected the Comics Code, but done so in order to show things like Zeitgeist, his pelvis removed with the grace of a wild boar attack, whimpering his last word as U-Go Girl holds up the parts of his torso that aren’t soft red mush. Even after this opening grand guignol, X-Force was never keen to keep its characters terribly alive — like good b-list pop stars, once they’d had their hit single, it was time for them to go away. Perhaps the smartest character in the entire run was Lacuna, a mutant girl who could “move between moments,” who turned down a membership offer and instead began hosting a TV show where she used her powers to spy on celebrities’ private lives. It’s worth noting that she lived happily ever after.” (Source: Multiversity Comics)
Interviews
Comics Bulletin: “Peter Milligan: Rediscovering Nemo, Feeling X-Statix and More“