Uncanny X-Force #13

Next up on the Marvel reviewing carousel is Uncanny X-Force, the series that is bringing me back to my all-time favorite comic book story, the Age of Apocalypse. Last issue we found out that AOA Wolverine had become the new host for Apocalypse. I'm gonna bet this issue gives us a whole mess of Wolverines hacking and slashing each other.

Uncanny X-Force #13:

Summary: We start this issue off with Fantomex, AOA Gambit, AOA Sunfire(the only version that's ever been relevant), and AOA Rogue entering the base of the Celestials in order to get their hands on the Life Seed that promised to cure anybody from the corruption of the Death Seed/Apocalypse. Fantomex and company manage to arrive at the Life Seed, but are a bit distressed to find only one(they were hoping for two, one for X-Force and one for the AOA characters). By the time Fantomex is able to procure the Life Seed, the heroes are confronted by a massive Celestial drone. Gambit tells the rest of the team to run for EVA, while he made a last stand to hold the drone off. The team reluctantly leave, and AOA Gambit is apparently killed, although his sacrifice allows the rest of the heroes to escape. Back to the main event, where Wolverine is holding the corpse of Kirika, AOA Wolvie's daughter, who was murdered by an Apocalypse possessed AOA Wolvie... Confused yet? You will be! AOA Wolvie stands over Wolvie and Kirika, which leads to Wolvie going berserk and attacking his corrupted counterpart, while the rest of X-Force and the AOA X-Men try to fend off AOA Wolvie's Black Legion lackeys. AOA Wolvie and company manage to do a pretty good job against the heroes, as AOA Wolvie searches AOA Jean Grey out. AOA Wolvie tells her that he's actually doing a good thing, and that by eliminating the weaker humans, he was helping usher in a stronger race that would be deemed worthy by the Celestials, thereby saving humanity. After his spiel, AOA Wolvie asks the love of his life, AOA Jean, to join him. After a moment of thought, AOA Jean turns him down, so AOA Wolvie knocks her out and teleports away with her. While AOA Wolvie and his top lackey, AOA Storm, prepare AOA Jean for the Death Seed, which would turn her into AOA Wolvie's Death Horseman, Wolvie grabs Gateway and tells his team, X-Force and AOA X-Men alike, to get over to him so they could take the battle to AOA Wolvie and rescue AOA Jean. Before Wolvie heads off, he's met by a shadowy character who agrees to go along with him... Hmm, who could our mystery character be? With that, Wolvie and all of the heroes drop in on AOA Wolvie, so AOA Wolvie kills them all, finishing up with Wolverine himself... Or does he??? It turns out Fantomex was the shadowy figure, and that he misdirected AOA Wolvie into thinking that he had killed everybody, when in actuality, Wolvie and his team managed to rescue AOA Jean and wake her up. The AOA X-Men continue their futile battle against AOA Wolvie, which causes Wolvie to decide to join in. Fantomex and Psylocke try to dissuade Wolvie from that idea, since they needed to return to their dimension with the Life Seed to cure Archangel of his Death persona. Wolvie still refuses to go, so AOA Jean tells Wolvie that the fight against AOA Wolvie wasn't his, but was hers, at which time she shoves X-Force through Gateway's portal and back home... Or do they go home?? This issue ends with X-Force landing right in front of an Apocalypse possessed Archangel, as well as the Four Horsemen.

Thoughts: Man was this issue a tough one to review... I don't think I've ever typed the letters “AOA” that many times before in my life! Although my review was probably as confusing as hell to get through(sorry about that...), I really enjoyed this comic. It read a lot smoother than it reviewed. So we move from a world where Wolverine had become Apocalypse, to a world where Archangel had become the Big A. I'm not quite sure if the team made it back to the 616 Marvel U or if they actually got shunted to some alternate dimension, although I'm leaning towards the alternate dimension idea. I find it kind of hard to believe that Archangel became possessed by Apocalypse, escaped captivity, gathered the Four Horsemen, AND managed to get a few other villains over to his side as well. Could I be wrong? If history is any indicator, yes, I suck at making predictions, but regardless, this was a great comic, with more greatness hopefully on tap for the next issue.

Score: 9 out of 10.I sense impending Wolverine on Wolverine violence!