Review: Uncanny X-Force #11

Thirteen years after he was brought to the Marvel 616, Dark Beast finally returns to The Age Of Apocalypse — and he is not alone! Wolverine, Psylocke, Deadpool and Fantomex, reluctantly follow the vile Beast into the heart of darkness. There, they search for the one thing that will stop Angel from ascending as the heir of Apocalypse — The Celestial Life Seed. But this will be no easy task! They must traverse a horrific version of their own world, led by someone they cannot trust, someone that can betray them at every turn. Someone that will eventually push them to face-off against people that seem all too familiar — the X-Men!

Explosive action rocks Remender’s tale of questing warriors! Not only are the battles epic, they are iconic as well. Classic Wolverine vs. Sabretooth stories have nothing on this one and the Nightcrawler vs. Deadpool fight was awesome — if not plain hilarious! But this wasn’t just page after page of all out slugfest, it was a well crafted, exciting tale, laced with some treats for all those die hard X fans. I personally appreciated the reference that Psylocke and AoA Sabretooth know each other, a great nod to Chris Claremont’s run on Exiles!

Remender has a way of getting to the core of a character and find their true voice within a tale. Wolverine’s overlaying monolog was some of the best characterization I have read in a very long time, especially for a character that is in so many books. Although some say Deadpool and Fantomex are just carbon copies of one another, they truly are not, and Remender gives them both unique styles and voices to prove that. Not only was the writing of the highest caliber — so was the art. Mark Brooks and the mood altering colors of Dean White, converge on a spectacular display of artistic ability. Brooks pencils were visionary and gave the tale a crisp brutality that bedazzled the eyes. The open layout of the world of Apocalypse was utterly outstanding and gave the perfect feeling of lost hope and dread. It is definitely worth the cover price all by itself!

Uncanny X-Force continually churns out both amazing art and stories. If all the X books took a cue from Remender and crew, it would be a comic book Nirvana! In a week that saw the “Big Two” pushing each other around for top billing on summer events, they seemed to forget about the best book on the shelves — Uncanny X-Force!