From Claremont to Claremont, Episode 2d - X-Force & Spider-Man: Sabotage

From Claremont to Claremont: An X-Men Podcast

Episode 2D

Spider-Man #16 (November, 1991)

"Sabotage, Part One"

By Todd McFarlane

Special Assist - Rob Liefeld

Colors - Greg Wright

Letters - Chris Eliopoulos

Edits - Danny Fingeroth

Cover Price: $1.75

X-Force #4 (November, 1991)

"Sabotage: Part 2"

Plot/Art - Rob Liefeld

Balloon Stuffer - Fabian Nicieza

Letters - Rosen & Eliopoulos

Edits - Bob Harras

Cover Price: $1.00

We can't stand it... we know you planned it!

We gonna (try) and set it straight... this Liefeld/McFarlane-gate!

Welcome back, friends - to the eXtreme corner of From Claremont to Claremont where Chris (@Charlton_Hero) and I take a look at X-Force!  This time out, it's a (literally) sideways two-part crossover with Todd McFarlane's adjectiveless Spider-Man title - in which, well - basically nothing happens, but the Toddster winds up quitting Marvel forever!  We'll talk all about that, and a whole lot more in this very episode!

Also: Mr. Bailey sits in for the dread (and x-tended) "Pod-File" segment including the Marvel Bullpen Cool-o-Meter for November, 1991!

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From Claremont to Claremont, Episode 1h - Marvel Comics Presents #85-87 (1991)

From Claremont to Claremont: An X-Men Podcast

Episode 1H

Marvel Comics Presents #85-87 (October, 1991)

"Blood Hungry, Part 1: First Scent"

"Blood Hungry, Part 2: Two Scents"

"Blood Hungry, Part 3: Three Scents"

"Life During Wartime, Part 4: Fire in the Hole"

"Life During Wartime, Part 5: True Colors"

"Life During Wartime, Part 6: Sacrifice"

"Just Friends, Part 1: Professor!"

"Just Friends, Part 2"

"Just Friends, Part 3: If This is Tuesday, it Must be Belgium"

"... The Dude in the Really Rad Armor!"

"Take Me Out to the Bomb Game"

"To Touch the Darkness"

Writers - Peter David, Marcus McLaurin, Marie Javins, Scott Lobdell, & Eric Fein

Pencils - Sam Kieth, Dwayne Turner, Rob Liefeld, Jae Lee, Ron Wilson, J. Adam Walters, & Ron Wilson

Inks - Sam Kieth, Christopher Ivy, Jose Marzan Jr., Tim Dzon, Sam de la Rosa, & Harry Candelario

Colors - Glynis Oliver, Marcus McLaurin, Mike Thomas, Mike Rockwitz, Fernando Mendez, & Kevin Tinsley

Letters - Clem Robins, Rick Parker, Todd Klein, Dave Sharpe, & Diana Albers

Edits - Mark Powers, Terry Kavanagh, & DeFalco

Cover Price: $1.25

No matter what the year is, Wolverine's adventures could never be kept to the handful of titles he was being featured in... and so, Walt Kneeland (@waltkneeland) and I are including his Marvel Comics Present exploits as part of this project!

This time out, we're featuring all three MCP issues cover-dated October, 1991 - which see Wolverine's first tangles with Cyber and also features adventures from other X-Men (and X-Adjacents) Beast and Firestar!

--

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From Claremont to Claremont, Episode 1d - X-Force #1-3 (1991)

From Claremont to Claremont: An X-Men Podcast

Episode 1D

X-Force #1-3 (August-October, 1991)

"A Force to be Reckoned With"

"The Blood Hunters"

"Battlecry"

Writer/Artist - Rob Liefeld

Script - Fabian Nicieza

Letters - Chris Eliopoulos

Colors - Brad Vancata & Joe Rosas

Edits - Bob Harras

Chief - Tom DeFalco

In this very special segment of From Claremont to Claremont, Episode 1 - Chris and Chris cover not one... not two... but, the first three issues of X-Force!  They also work their way through a certain temperature-taking thing that Marvel used to add to their Bullpen Bulletin Pages... the Coolometer!

All that, and Mr. Bailey shares with us his history as an X-Fan!  It's a great time as always, we hope you'll join us!

--

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From Claremont to Claremont, Episode 3d - X-Force #5 (1991)

From Claremont to Claremont: An X-Men Podcast

Episode 3D

X-Force #5 (December, 1991)

"Under the Magnifying Glass"

Plot & Art - Rob Liefeld

Script - Fabian Nicieza

Letters - Chris Eliopoulos

Colors - Brian Murray & Renee Witterstaetter

Edits - Bob Harras

Chief - Tom DeFalco

Cover Price: $1.00

Welcome back to Episode 3 of From Claremont to Claremont: An X-Men Podcast.  Today Chris Bailey (@Charlton_Hero) and I take it to the X-Treme... and (in theory) meet an all-new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!

Also: The "hook" for the episode continues, as Mr. Bailey shares with us the "Soundtrack of his Life"!  It's a great conversation, and we hope you all enjoy!

--

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Major X-Lapsed, Episode 7 - Major X #0 (2019)

Major X-Lapsed, Episode Seven

Major X #0 (October, 2019)

"All Along the Watchtower, Parts 1 & 2"

Writer/Plot/Pencils - Rob Liefeld

Script - Eric Stephenson

Inks - Liefeld, Adelso Corona, Cory Hamscher

Colors - Romulo Fajardo, Jr. & Digital Broome

Letters - VC's Joe Sabino & Comicraft's Troy Peteri

Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski, Powers, Harras

Cover Price: $4.99

On-Sale: August 7, 2019

(middle bits originally from Wolverine (vol.2) #154-155 (September-October, 2000)

Six issues just wasn't enough, was it?  Anyone else up for another romp with the Major and M'Koy?  Well... uh, howsabout we spend this final episode of Major X-Lapsed talking about a two-part Wolverine story from the year 2000 instead?

That's right folks - we're spending all but eight pages of this $5 zero issue looking at a story that appeared in Wolverine (vol.2) #154-155 (September-October, 2000) - featuring characters who haven't been seen since!  As for those other eight pages... well, they might just cause an X-Istential crisis... we're going to meet a whole lotta bucketheads... who we'll probably (hopefully?) never see again.

Whatever the case - Major X-Lapsed is now complete... I want to humbly thank everybody who has hung on for this weird little seven-week sidebar!

--

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Major X-Lapsed, Episode 6 - Major X #6 (2019)

Major X-Lapsed, Episode 6

Major X #6 (August, 2019)

By Rob Liefeld

Inks - Liefeld, Cory Hamscher, Adelso Corona

Colors - Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Letters - VC's Joe Sabino

Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski

Cover Price: $3.99

On-Sale: June 26, 2019

Today we wrap up the Major X miniseries proper... and, well - I wish I could say we've got a lot to talk about... but, we don't!  We will see some Deadpool-on-Deadpool action... and our big-bad will get taken down by the Care Bear Stare.  I will also rail on about inconsistencies in the depiction of our titular character.

Just one more episode to go... if we're bad enough dudes and dudettes to see our way through!

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Major X-Lapsed, Episode 5 - Major X #5 (2019)

Major X-Lapsed, Episode Five

Major X #5 (June, 2019)

Writer - Rob Liefeld

Pencils - Brent Peeples

Inks - Adelso Corona

Colors - Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Letters - VC's Joe Sabino

Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski

Cover Price: $3.99

On-Sale: June 12, 2019

Nobody's favorite show is back to cover the penultimate issue of the 2019 Major X miniseries - and boy, it's getting tough to stay positive.

Today, we get some body-swapping... a Sentinel dogfight... and an appearance by the current-year (pre-HoXPoX) X-Men.  It's... well, it's something.

--

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Major X-Lapsed, Episode 4 - Major X #4 (2019)

Major X-Lapsed, Episode Four

Major X #4 (July, 2019)

Writer - Rob Liefeld

Pencils - Brent Peeples

Inks - Adelso Corona

Colors - Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Letters - VC's Joe Sabino

Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski

Cover Price: $3.99

On-Sale: May 29, 2019

It's issue four... and it's another fight-scene.  I might actually have to listen to this episode myself, since I can barely remember what happened here.

Major X has somehow married some of the worst aspects of two generations of comic book storytelling - it is as shallow and vapid as many books of the early 1990's, while being decompressed to the gills like so many "current year" comics.

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Major X-Lapsed, Episode 3 - Major X #3 (2019)

Major X-Lapsed, Episode Three

Major X #3 (July, 2019)

Writer - Rob Liefeld

Art - Whilce Portacio

Colors - Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Letters - VC's Joe Sabino

Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski

Cover Price: $3.99

On-Sale: May 1, 2019

Major X-Lapsed rolls on, right into the midway point of this sorta-kinda baffling miniseries.  This time out, we catch up with some old friends from a strange two-part turn of the century story from the pages of Wolverine and discover the "birthplace" of the X-Ential.  We also get three extended fight scenes, plenty of cryptic dialogue... and thankfully, very little in the way of Atlanteans!

Also: Your humble host kvetches a bit about how quick comics are touted as being "sold out" (such as these Major X issues), despite the fact that there are still stacks and stacks of these things at every brick-n-mortar comics retailer coast to coast.

--

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Major X-Lapsed, Episode 2 - Major X #2 (2019)

Major X-Lapsed, Episode Two

Major X #2 (June, 2019)

Writer - Rob Liefeld

Pencils - Brent Peeples

Inks - Scott Hanna

Colors - Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Letters - VC's Joe Sabino

Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski

Cover Price: $3.99

On-Sale: April 17, 2019

Because absolutely nobody demanded it...

... Major X-Lapsed returns with its second installment!

Today, I have far less fun with Issue #2 of Major X... which, rather than remaining a fun retro romp through the early '90s - starts taking itself a bit too seriously.  We've got Atlantean politics to deal with... and that's just the beginning!  I don't know about y'all, but Atlanteans are right up there with the Inhumans in the list of characters I couldn't care less about!

I'd love to hear everybody's thoughts on this series... good, bad, or indifferent - please don't hesitate to reach out!

--

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Major X-Lapsed, Episode 1 - Major X #1 (2019)

Major X-Lapsed, Episode One

Major X #1 (June, 2019)

Words and Pencils - Rob Liefeld

Inks - Liefeld, Adelso Corona, Dan Fraga

Colors - Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Letters - VC's Joe Sabino

Edits - Bissa, White, Cebulski

Cover Price: $4.99

On-Sale: April 3, 2019

Who's ready to party like it's 1991?

Welcome, friends to the first spinoff program to X-Lapsed - Major X-Lapsed!  That's right, today we're going to be covering the somewhat divisive little ditty from the somewhat divisive Rob Liefeld.  I'll probably be doing one of these a week for the next several.  If you're expecting this to be a half-hour of me bashing this first issue of Major X... well, you're probably going to be a little bit disappointed.

As someone who came into the comics fandom in the early nineties... this comic is more comfort food to me than anything.  "Popcorn Comics", which is sometimes exactly what the doctor ordered...

--

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X-Force #3 (1991)

X-Force #3 (October, 1991)
"Battlecry"
Plot/Art - Rob Liefeld
Writer - Fabian Nicieza
Letters - Chris Eliopoulos
Colors - Joe Rosas
Editor - Bob Harras
Chief - Tom DeFalco
Cover Price: $1.00

Happy Friday, everybody... boy, has it been a week!

This week, the wife and I spent... what felt like many days worth of hours shopping for a new car.  Oof.  Not something I enjoy, nor am I very good at.  I'm quick to "fall in love" with a car... and, also... I have this odd sympathy for salespeople who work solely on commission... especially when they're nice.

A nice salesperson could quote me $1,200 a month for 72-months on a car worth 15k... and I'd think they were being honest with me.  On the other hand, a jerk salesperson can quote me something $5 more than what I'd told them was my best offer... and I'll tear their head off, and threaten to do worse.

That's why the wife handles all'a that.  I just get to sit there and look either peaceful or menacing... whichever the situation calls for, I guess... while she makes the deal.

The problem this week was... we only dealt with some very nice people.  I'm not good at "walking away" from a deal... where the wife has just amazing levels of restraint, and a calmness that would give an angel a bit of pause.

I dunno how she can do it, but the entire negotiation process is like a sport to her.  Me?  Every time the salesperson leaves us alone for 20-30 minutes to "talk with their manager", my blood begins to boil just a little bit.  The other day, we were left to sit in this dude's office no less than ten times, while he "worked hard for us", chipping away at his manager... and we still walked out without a car!  He got a bit snippy at the end, as though we were wasting his time... even though, we were the only customers in the joint for the entire five hours we were there.  Guess we kept him from some valuable Facebookin' or something.

Had to tell him I didn't appreciate his tone... and that I felt it best that I left the room so I wouldn't have to hear more of it... which kinda freaked him out.  I felt kinda bad... but, by this point I was exhausted.

Anyhoo, long story... well, still long... but not as long as it could be, we wound up buying a new ride... and, it's a beaut.  Looking forward to keeping it for ten years... just so I don't have to darken a dealership's door for a decade or more.

Wow, been awhile since I've written a pre-ramble!  Whoo... that felt good.  And now... X-Force!

--

It's now Day Three of the standoff at the World Trade Center, and we open with Siryn, in probably one of the more iconic Liefeldian poses we're going to see here.  Oh, who are we kidding... they all are.  Here, she's got a very wide gap betwixt her legs... and it looks like, rather than having a full head of hair, she instead has a mane.  And... maybe we spoke too soon, in just turning the page Siryn somehow looks even more Liefeldian.  Her hair... almost appears sentient... it's almost as though Rob messed up on her face a few times, and rather than erasing his mistake, he just drew hair over it.

Anyhoo, Siryn gets pummeled by Juggernaut... yet keeps coming back for more punishment.  Finally, she's shot in the gut by her Uncle, Black Tom Cassidy.  The sound effect here is, well... unique: SHEECHAKT.

Terry recovers, but has second thoughts about hopping back in the fray.  Lucky for her, the cavalry is just about to arrive!  An X-Force air-craft floats overhead... inside, we see Cable and Domino... the former is wearing some insanely strange armor.  Like, this armor looks like it's been equipped with insect-mandibles or something, it's very strange... and, thankfully, not something we see Cable wearing very often... if ever again!

Meanwhile, inside one of the Twin Towers, Sunspot and friggin' Gideon are looking on at everything that's going on... with Bobby getting a bit frustrated that they haven't been able to make their move just yet.  Black Tom and Juggernaut enter the scene looking... uh, quite a bit off-register.  Cain is at least two-times as wide as he is tall.  Worth noting, he refers to Gideon as "pansy-boy"!  I wanna say, Gideon might have some awful taste in hairstyles... but his fashion game ain't half bad!  I could see this untucked red vest over a button up shirt actually looking pretty good in the real world!

Back outside, Siryn enters the X-Force Scout Ship... and she is greeted by Cable and the Florets!  Cable suggests they work together if she's in the mood to "kick the crud" out of something.

They hover for a bit more to devise a gameplan... which amounts to sending their biggest guy hurtling toward the biggest other guy in the book.  And so, Warpath hops out the Scout... and plummets into Juggernaut.  It's awesome that they get the opportunity to exchange pleasantries amid the freefall!  James konks into Cain... sending them both tumbling off the top of the tower!

Then, X-Force leaps from the Scout Ship headed for Black Tom's guards!  This definitely feels like overkill... and we soon find out that it is.  The human guards are absolutely no match for the muties.

Back inside, Black Tom... uh, stretches?  It looks like he's really getting refreshed here, it's like he'd just gotten out of bed.  Actually, though, he's just flourishing amid some pontification.  Finally, Gideon's had enough of whatever Tom has to say... and he and Bobby rush 'im!

Gideon winds up getting blasted by Black Tom's boom-stick, and Bobby just winds up getting his butt handed to him!  Black Tom isn't the fella to mess with!  We almost wonder why he even bothers calling in the Juggernaut... ol' Cain is nothing more than a liability!

Anyhoo, Tom doesn't get long to celebrate his victory... as, Cable barges in and shoots Tom in the side!  Almost seems unsportsmanly, dunnit?  Should we mention again just how pants-on-head ridiculous Cable's armor looks?!

Back outside, Proudstar and Juggernaut continue punching one another.  We can see that Cain is holding a detonator... we might assume he's been holding it the entire time, which... if so, I gotta say, he's got some awesome muscle and impulse control.  He just took a header off the World Trade Center, and didn't crush the thing!

Look at that weird edit on the remote device... looks almost like someone just pasted a triangle over the art.
Wonder what they might've been trying to cover up here?

The big guys continue to beat one another about the head and shoulders, when who should appear but... the Amazing Spider-Man!  Yes, Spidey swings through the scene, and rather than get between a proverbial "rock and a hard place", decides to head topside in order to check in on the hostage situation.

But then... BOOM!  There's an explosion in the Twin Towers!  To be continued... in the pages of Spider-Man #16?!

--

Well, that's an oddly prescient final page... which might give ya a bit of pause.  It's, honestly, probably the only thing even worth discussing about this entire issue... as it's more or less just a twenty-some page fight scene.  I mean, that's exactly what it is.  Flip through this sucker and count how many pages are occupied by great big panels of heroes and villains lunging toward one another (or the reader).  There are quite a few of 'em!

I think, if this issue had a legacy (which, I mean... it's X-Force #3, ain't nobody reflecting fondly on this stuff)... it would have to be that explosion in the last page.  Two years after this issue came out, there would be a bombing at the World Trade Center... and a decade later, the buildings wouldn't even be standing anymore.  This is the sort of thing that I feel like Marvel might want to edit out of "current year" reprints of this story... though, I cannot say with any confidence or certainty that they have.  I suppose I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Other than that... sadly there just isn't all that much to say about this issue.  Sure, I could spend the next six paragraphs talking about low-hanging fruit like pouches, feet, and teeth... but, I'll leave that for the true comics scholars of the internet.  This was an ehh issue, nothing to fall in love with... though, not a whole lot to get mad at either... unless you're the sort of person who might get mad that Marvel published a story where the World Trade Center gets attacked ten-years before 9/11... and, trust me... there are people like that.

Overall, a skippable story in a vacuum... but, if you're reading the first handful of issues of X-Force, you probably won't regret the four-and-a-half minutes you devote to issue #3.

--

Letters Page:

--

Coolometer!

X-Force #2 (1991)

X-Force #2 (September, 1991)
"The Blood Hunters"
Plot & Pictures - Rob Liefeld
Script - Fabian Nicieza
Letters - Chris Eliopoulos
Colors - Brad Vancata
Editor - Bob Harras
Chief - Tom DeFalco

In my time as a comics fan and collector, I've seen many books fluctuate in value... go from "wall books" to "quarter-bin books"... and vice versa.  I don't believe, however, I've seen one as... I dunno, value-bi-polar as this issue.

X-Force #2 boasts the second appearance of Deadpool... which actually meant something back in 1991... and once again, means something today.  However, for much of Deadpool's existence, not a soul cared!  I feel like I was the only idiot buying his ongoing, fearing a cancellation notice month after month.

Jump back to the 2000's... and X-Force #2 was "just another Liefeld quarter-book".  This was a book you could find by the foot in any quarter bin in the land... comic shops couldn't give this one away!It's insane that now, since the mainstream (and comics fans alike) have decided to care about Deadpool, that it's once again a sorta-kinda coveted issue.  If I knew then, what I know now... well, I probably still wouldn't have bought a grip of 'em.

Now, if only some of these people gave half a rip about Deadpool back when Joe Kelly and/or Christopher Priest were writing him... he might actually be a character worth reading today!

Does anyone have any other "rags to riches" tales of comics valuation?  I can think of a few more, but this one takes the cake (much of the Infinity Gauntlet miniseries is up there too)!  Lemme know in the comments!

--

Last issue, ol' front-butt, G.W. Bridge suggested that they were going to need to enlist the aid of Weapon X in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s pursuit of Cable.  By the sound of it, you might've thought this meant we were going to be getting a Wolverine guest-spot... but, not so fast kemosabes... that ain't our guy.  Our guy... is Garrison Kane.  We meet him at the Port Menier Shipyards on Anticosti Island in Quebec.  He's there to track down another target... a certain Merc with a Mouth.

Kane gets the jump on Deadpool, and the two tussle over the course of way too many pages.  Wade makes with the snark, while Kane internally monologues Madonna lyrics.  We learn here that these two have some familiarity with one another... because, anytime a mysterious new character arrives on the scene, he's sure to know (and be known by) anybody who's anybody.

After repeatedly punching Deadpool in the jaw, Kane gets kicked into a stack of crates.  Weapon X rebounds by... literally firing his left fist back at the baddie.  When the hand reaches its destination... it wraps itself around Deadpool's throat!

Just then... G.W. Bridge makes an appearance!  While Wade wriggles on the ground, Bridge pitches Kane with the S.H.I.E.L.D. gig.  Garrison thinks on it for a moment... because, naturally he and Cable go way back... but ultimately turns Bridge down.  During this prolonged chat, however, Deadpool manages to get away.

We next shift scenes to the Adirondacks, where Cable has concocted a training exercise for X-Force.  The gimmick for this go-round is: Everyone vs. Feral.  The kids scoff at the one-sidedness of this event... however, Cable instills that they'd really oughta not take this so lightly.  The first Forcers to head into the woods are Sam and James.  Feral gets the jump on Cannonball while he's cannon-balling, and manages to "steer" him right into Warpath's chest.  Whoops... there's two down.

Next up, Feral runs into Boom Boom... who brags a bit about her new wrist-gimmick "launchers" for her time bombs.  Feral slips behind Tabby and points those very same blasters right at Cable!

Then... the ultimate showdown: Domino's boobs vs. Feral's feet!  This results in yet another win for the Cat-Girl...

But then... Shatterstar.  Oh boy, Shatterstar.  This goofball comes in and soliloquizes about how killing is "what he is"... to their credit, they both manage to keep a straight face long enough to face off.

In the distraction, however... Cannonball blasts into the scene, crashing into Feral, and smashing her into a nearby tree!

Feral responds by... eviscerating poor Sam!  Well, that's what supposedly happens here... though the art can't get all that explicit.  Sam looks... well, mildly discomforted?

Cable, realizing this training exercise has gone a bit too far, blasts Feral with one of his crazy guns... just kayoing her.

We shift scenes over to the World Trade Center, where Black Tom and his gal-Friday, Arianna have assembled an interdimensional locator and teleporter atop one of the towers.  Tom claims he can't wait to see his ugly friend again.

Back in the mountains... Sam wakes up, looking pretty good for a dude who just had his guts torn out.  He asks Cable what he's going to do about Feral... but, the main man hasn't a clue.

We wrap up back at the WTC... where, the teleporter starts to glow... and, once we turn the book sideways, we learn that Black Toms "pug ugly friend" is... the Juggernaut!

--

With everything we know about Todd McFarlane's departure from Marvel a couple of months after this, I'd like to draw your eye to the scene wherein Cannonball is eviscerated.  Scroll back up a couple beats in case you missed it... because, the way it was depicted, you very well might have!

In that scene, Feral goes... well, feral... and slices Sam's belly and guts open.  In the panel, however, it just looks like she tore his outfit a little bit.  If not for X-Force's reaction, we'd never know that this was a near-mortal blow.  Now, usually, I think I am a proponent of the "less is more" school of thought when it comes to gore and violence... which, is why I didn't think much about "missing out" on Todd's panel of Shatterstar running his knife through Juggernaut's eye in Spider-Man #16.  It was unnecessary shock and gore (shock and gaw?)... which only served to darken the issue.  The panel we got instead (again, from Todd), told the same tale, but in a way where we didn't have to actually see the blade go through Juggy's eyeball.

The fact that Todd would choose to draw the scene the way he (initially) did, says quite a bit.

• He wasn't used to people telling him "no"
• He could get away with a lot
• He was looking for a way out of Marvel that also gave him the creative "high ground"

and, most importantly for this analysis...

• He damn sure wasn't reading X-Force!

Had Todd been reading his peers' work, he would have definitely seen this very "Rated-PG" (at worst) take on disembowelment, and would have (hopefully) realized what you could and, more importantly, could not get away with when working alongside a book with an "X" in its title.

That all having been said... this Sam/Feral scene could have used a bit more explicit gore.  I'm not talking about seeing Cannonball's small intestine dragging on the ground... but, I dunno... maybe show a little bit of blood?  I knew this story before revisiting it, and was still a bit lost as to the import and gravity of Sam's injuries!  This goes to show that sometimes, even when it comes to gore, less is... less.

For the rest of the issue?  The Deadpoolishness was, ehh, okay.  He's still very much a Spider-clone (not that one) here, with his banter and design.  It didn't help matters that he was sharing the scene with some of the most boring characters of the era in Garrison Kane and "ol' Front-Butt" G.W. Bridge.

The Sunspot and friggin' Gideon bits trot on... and our big reveal is the return of the Juggernaut.  I can't remember if this was underwhelming at the time... but, nowadays, it seems as though: if Black Tom shows up, chances are the "big reveal" will be the Juggernaut bursting onto the scene as well.  No surprise then, no surprise now.

The art is... exactly what you want it to be.  If you want to defend Rob's work, you can.  If you want to mock it... well, I've got good news, there's plenty for you here as well!

Overall, a decent enough issue, heavy on subplots... several of which, will unfortunately go nowhere due to the Image X-odus the following year.

X-Force #1 (1991)

X-Force #1 (August, 1991)
"A Force to be Reckoned With"
By Rob Liefeld, except for...
Words - Fabian Nicieza
Letters - Chris Elipoulos
Colors - Brad Vancata
Editor - Bob Harras
Chief - Tom DeFalco
Cover Price: $1.50

Alrighty, two things before we start today.  First, Blogger still sucks... but, I suppose that's not really "news".  Second, and most important, as of yesterday we're officially back in the studio putting together the third episode of From Claremont to Claremont: An X-Men Podcast.

From the feel of it, this episode could easily be fifteen-hours long... lots of conversation, a few "side books" are part of this go-round, and I think I've come up with a pretty fun "hook" for the co-hosts to have a good time with.  I'm hoping to have it done by the first Saturday of July... but, really, it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't quite hit that target.

That said, since a) Blogger sucks and won't let me upload images, and b) I'm in an FCTC kind of mood... I'm going to revisit something I put together for the first episode of the show... a look into the first issue of X-Force.

You're welcome... and I'm sorry.

--

We open in Antarctica, where our new team is in hot pursuit of the Mutant Liberation Front.  Upon realization that the MLF base is right underfoot, the New Teen Titans X-Force bursts in to proactively take the fight to the baddies.  Ya see, that's what X-Force is all about: being proactive... at least this early on.  The team has a real "take no prisoners" approach, and we look on while Cable, Cannonball, Warpath, Boom Boom, Domino, Shatterstar, and Feral beat up some generic bad guys.  Before long, some... er, "name" (or, at the very least "named") villains show up.  It's Forearm, Kamikaze, Wildside, and Reaper.  Woof.

It's established pretty quickly here that X-Force ain't nothin' to mess around with.  Shatterstar squares off with Reaper... and, get this... cuts his left-hand clean off!

Cable (somehow) gets attacked from behind by Forearm.  I thought X-Force were being attacked from the front... but, whattayagonnado?  Maybe the characters in the book were just as bamboozled by the bad perspective and anatomy as the readers are?  Whatever the case, Forearm's got Cable in a bear-hug, which gives Warpath the opportunity to make the save.

As all this is going on, we check in with Cable's target... the man called Stryfe.  We also have to turn the book sideways to fully appreciate this two-page spread.  Stryfe informs... Thumbelina that it's time for them to bug out, and instructs his diminutive assistant to contact the one called Zero.

Back at the battle, Feral faces off with Wildside... probably because they have the same hairstylist.  I mean, seriously, they have the exact same haircut... even down to the weird curly bang-whisps!  Feral reaches into Wildside's mouth and snaps his jaw.  Ya see?  Ya see?  X-Force doesn't screw around!

Cable calls Feral off before she can kill the MLFer (X-Forcers can only kill in self-defense... not for sport!)... to which, she suggests... if they let him get away, he might just be the one who nails them in the end.  Ya know, that's not the worst argument.

Just then, Zero pops onto the scene... soon joined by Stryfe.  Cable empties his laser blaster pistol thingie in the bad guy's direction... which makes me wonder why (and when) he put down his over-sized Liefeldian super-rifle.  Zero opens a portal and Stryfe slips through... however, not before setting the entire joint to self-destruct.

Cable orders a "Bodyslide by Six", which blinks the the X-Forcers out to their escape craft.  On the flight home, they discuss the skirmish they had just survived... Tabitha seems more preoccupied with how fashionable their outfits are.

We shift scenes to some office building... probably in New York City.  Here, Sunspot and friggin' Gideon are "training" for their next corporate raid.  I don't think they fully grasp how corporate raids go, but whatever.  Gideon appears to have taken a mentor role in Roberto's life... hopefully, that doesn't include hairstyling tips, because... yeesh, Gideon's hair has mystified me for thirty-years now!  It never looks the same!  Sometimes there's this weird mullet below his weird ponytail... sometimes it's gone... it's just all-around unpleasant to look at.  Which, I suppose, makes it a pretty good fit for this book!  Anyhoo, they've got a meeting at the World Trade Center... which we'll be getting to in a bit.

Back in Antarctica we meet... oh boy, G.W. Bridge.  He's a S.H.I.E.L.D. guy (or at least S.H.I.E.L.D.-adjacent) and he's trying to track down... and bring down Cable.  He looks kind of like when you twist an action-figure at it's torso, so it's butt is in the front?  I mean, he's just a complete mess of a visual.  He informs an underdressed-underling to contact Nick Fury about the Cable sitch.

Speaking of Cable, we rejoin him at X-Force's base in the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York.  He's performing some maintenance on their jet when he's approached by Cannonball.  Sam chats him up a bit, trying to pry out any information about his past.  Cable is a bit hesitant, but shares the story of a friend he'd lost to Stryfe and the Mutant Liberation Front.  A man called Tyler... who was almost like a son to our man.  Artwise, we get a very weird visual of Cable sitting on air while shooting his over-sized gun.  The chat is interrupted by Domino, who informs Sam that he's late for some training.

Once Sam's out of sight, Cable starts using his telekinesis to quickly grab some tools and complete the repairs on the jet.  Domino questions how much longer Nate's going to keep his powers a secret.  Cable basically tells her not to worry about it.

We next shift scenes to the World Trade Center, where Sunspot and friggin' Gideon are about to pop in for a meeting.  Once seated, they're introduced to another interested party in the corporate hoo-ha, a man by the name of Black Tom Cassidy!  Lemme tell ya, Cassidy knows how to dress for success!  Anyhoo, Berto instantly recognizes Tom as Banshee's evil cousin.

Tom sits at the conference table and informs everyone present that they are now his hostages.  Hmm... maybe it's me that doesn't understand how corporate raids are done?

We wrap up back with ol' front-butt, who just cleared his Cable-quest with Colonel Nick Fury.  After being given the "a-okay", Bridge suggests that it's time to call in... Weapon X!

--

Sometimes you just want a popcorn movie, right?  I mean, this is a book that gets a lot of flack for being among the vaunted "worst comics evaaaaar", but... I gotta say, it's really not that bad.  When I think of "worst ever" comics, those are stories I would never want to read no matter what my mood.  Things like Superman: Grounded or Heroes in Crisis.  There isn't a frame of mind I could possibly be in to make me want to read that garbage again.

But, this?  Yeah... I could totally see myself sitting down and having a good time with it.  I read the first few issues of Youngblood every year (which, I suppose might say more about me than anything), so I can definitely appreciate "extreme" early 90's comics cheese.  I think there are a lot of people who can... whether they'd actually admit to it online or not (gotta keep up appearances as a "comics scholar" on the Twitter, right?), is another story altogether.

So, whatta we got here?  It's sorta like the "Patient Zero" of Marvel Mutantdom in the 1990's.  We've got angst, we've got violence, we've got horrendous hairstyles, weird armor, and odd articulation, we've got secrets... and a whole bunch of threats coming from all angles.

Now some of the things that stand out to me from this issue (not including the New Teen Titans swipe that opened the issue) were the mysteries surrounding Cable, and the "mission statement" of X-Force (as compared to the rest of the X-Family).

Cable being shrouded in mystery from... well, just about every angle... really spoke to me as a fan of 90's comics.  We didn't know Cable's origin, where he came from, who he was... heck, we didn't even know his powers at this point.  This was like the "bread and butter" of 90's comics.  These mysteries would bubble along, dropping a breadcrumb here and there to keep the readers interested and motivated to continue following along.

Sure, this sort of thing quickly became overdone and incredibly "tropey".  There were only so many times we could meet a brand-new character, who somehow had this elaborate history hanging out with all the coolest mutants.  It's like, in order to legitimize the new characters, the writers had to slide in this bit about "Yeah, [new character] and Wolverine went on such-and-such a mission together that had a profound impact on both of their lives... only Wolverine never bothered to mention it to anybody yet."  Still though, in small doses, I really dig it.

Might be a case of "rose-colored glasses"... I dunno.  The sort of speculation that would surround new characters was so much "richer" before the internet was mainstream.  There were some crazy theories about new characters... I mean, Cable himself was assumed to be connected to Magneto, due to a) his hair color, and b) the fact that he TKed a wrench in this issue.  Today, if there were any questions (well, if there were any new non-derivative characters introduced in mainstream comics anymore), some goofball would just relentlessly "tweet" at the writer... who would then give some chuckleheaded reply ruining the mystery for everyone.

The X-Force "mission statement" was... nice while it lasted, I guess?  Their whole gimmick was that they'd be the "proactive" X-Team... they wouldn't wait around for the bad guys to strike, and instead hit 'em head on.  This doesn't last long... not far into the run, X-Force is rendered into "just another X-Team", reacting to the bad guys (usually while lamenting the fact that they're supposed to be the proactive team).

Overall... this issue, well... it is what it is.  You probably already know whether or not you like this one... it's Rob Liefeld at his Rob Liefeldiest, which for some might be a pro or con.  It also might be a "private pro" and "public con"... remember, we gotta keep up appearances as sophisticated fans of serialized sequential art!

I'd say, if it's been awhile since you last looked at this... maybe give it a peek... and, while it's cool to poke fun at it, maybe don't try so hard to hate it.