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X-FORCE #122
"Lacuna Part Two: Larry King Has the Flu"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Mike Allred
Colors: Laura Allred
Letters: Mike Allred & Blambot
Editor: Axel Alonso
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
X-Force continues to be a wickedly funny read, parodying super-heroes and pop culture while also providing some of the most intriguing characters available in the X-Universe. The characters are aware of their media manipulations and the fact that they're playing roles more than being heroes, and the readers are let in on the jokes as well. The book is a mixture of 60s pop art and modern independent comics, and it's the last thing you'd expect to find in a comic like X-Force.
The introduction of new team members is a time-honored story for super-heroes, so of course we get a twisted version of it for X-Force. Rather than seeing how the
team members fit in, we see how the old team members react to the newbies. Given
how often a new character has stolen the spotlight in comics, television and
other serial fiction, I found it interesting that Tike and Edie are both aware
of the dangers that the new characters pose to them. I'm also glad to see that
the changes that were a staple of the first storyline don't stop here, with new
characters being introduced and the threat of death always hanging over any of
the main characters.
We're also starting to get a
little more into the heads of the various main characters, which is nice. The
revelations about Tike show us that he has as much of a front as Guy or Edie,
and I'm loving the attempts to fit in by Phat and Vivisector. Pairing these two
off has given both of them more of an identity, and their attempts to fit in to
the controversial high profiles of the rest of the team have provided us with
some high comedy as well.
The artwork by the Allreds
also continues to impress. I especially love the way Laura Allred's colors play
off of Mike Allred's simple and clean layouts to give the whole thing a retro
and simultaneously non-mainstream feel. The opening sequence with Tike feels
more like Love and Rockets or a comic strip than a super-hero comic, and I loved
the bright and shiny feel of Lacuna's home life, which obviously makes her
miserable. In addition, the book is loaded with style and sex appeal, from the
fashionable outfits that everyone wears to Edie's talk show debut to the
conversation that Edie and Guy share at dinner.
I'm rapidly running out of new stuff to say about X-Force each month, but I'm not
loving it any less. Though the subject matter and approach is familiar rather
than new now, the self-aware sense of humor and distinctive approach makes it
one of Marvel's best books.
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