Well, that felt rather pointless.
The main gist of this series (and Milligan and Allred's preceding run on X-Force) was to tear apart the notion of celebrity, to expose it for the useless endeavor and celebration of offensive excess that it is. The other point, though, was super-hero satire, demonstrating that the sort of violence that unfolds regularly in super-hero comics would actually have far more permanent consequences than it's portrayed to have. This issue is about both ideas, but the latter moreso. Unfortunately, it's not the most compelling of reads, as the cover and opening sequence give away too much and the ending, insteading of mocking cliches, embraces one.
The members of the X-Statix have decided to retire, to live the good life. They're rich, and famous, after all. They don't need to run around doing the super-hero thing anymore, but a wealthy employer hires them for one last mission, billed as low-risk. The young mutants opt to take on one final job, just to sweeten their already sweet little nest eggs. It's no big deal, right? It's just a bunch of human gunmen holed up in mansion. They pose no threat, right?
Right?
Well, of course they pose a threat. There'd be no story otherwise. Milligan's message is far from a subtle one: greed leads to one's downfall. The heroes believe themselves to be untouchable, above the petty concerns that regular folks have to worry about. The analogy crash-and-burn celebrity stories is clear. It's also been quite a while since the core ranks of the team suffered a major loss, which was one of the things that set the book apart in the super-hero genre. Well, Milligan bids these characters good-bye in this issue with great finality.
The art here is capable and boasts Allred's oddball appeal. The artist's depiction of the critical wounds the characters sustain isn't all that convincing. I expected something a little more over-the-top, more gut-wrenching. But for some reason, this is set in a world where there's little blood, where characters blow up, not bleed out.
The morals of the story are clear. Greed is bad, as is a life of burning (but quickly fading) youth. What didn't seem right about the story was that two of the heroes embrace the stereotypical cowboy ending. They go out fighting, no matter what the odds. Machismo wins out of intelligence. It's a ridiculous cliche, and it doesn't work here. One could argue that Milligan is saying that might doesn't always make right, but the ending is ultimately unsatisfying.
