Uncanny X-Force #14

Wait a minute... Didn't I just review an issue of this series last week... *checks blog*... I did!! Last Friday as a matter of fact! Wow, Marvel is sure pumping out the issues of this series, aren't they?

Uncanny X-Force #14:

Summary: We begin things here with Dark Beast and Archangel(who has been possessed by Apocalypse... or something like that) looking back at Archangel's ascension to Apocalypse's spot. While it seems Archangel is fine with being the new Apocalypse, he isn't the angry, monologuing Apocalypse, he's a more kinder, gentler Apocalypse, as shown by his actions towards Dark Beast, Ozmandias and the original Famine. Archangel meets with Famine 1 and requests a meeting with her son, a guy who looks(but doesn't act) like Holocaust from the Age of Apocalypse. It turns out this “Holocaust” is actually named Genocide, and Archangel happily welcomes Genocide into the fold. From there we head back to the present, where Archangel and his forces have ambushed X-Force in Cavern-X just after they returned from the Age of Apocalypse with the Life Seed. Archangel wants the Life Seed, Wolverine refuses to give it to him, so naturally a fight breaks out. Wolvie makes a bee-line for Archangel and slashes him across the chest, which leads to Genocide blasting away half of Wolverine's body. Famine(the current version) takes care of Deadpool, while Psylocke manages to make her way past War and Dark Beast, getting a clear shot at Archangel. Knowing what she SHOULD do(kill Archangel), Psylocke throws her sword at her lover, but deliberately misses the killing blow, proving unable to kill the man she loved when the chips were down. By this point, Deadpool manages to reach Deathlok(who was supposed to be guarding Cavern-X) and unties him from the binds Deathlok was placed in, before Pool tosses a smoke grenade, which allows X-Force to collect their injured and retreat to EVA. As the team takes to the air, Deathlok warns the team that with the Life Seed and the World, Archangel would have power enough to kill thousands of people. Still hoping to convince Archangel that he was making the wrong move, Psylocke jumps out of EVA and tries to talk some sense into Archangel. Archangel takes Psylocke back to his headquarters under the North Pole, but insists that he was doing the right thing, informing Psylocke that he intended to undo the damage the Scarlet Witch had done with her “No more mutants” spell by resetting evolution. Psylocke asks Archangel to elaborate, but Dark Beast contacts Archangel and tells him it was time to start their master plan. To that end, Archangel and Genocide head to small town and Archangel gives Genocide the order to annihilate it. While Archangel watches the explosions from above the town, Psylocke sits alone at Archangel's base, Dark Beast studies the Life Seed and X-Force look after their injured leader.

Thoughts: This comic was pretty interesting... I was a bit thrown by the whole, “Kinder, gentler Apocalypse” thing that Archangel was doing, but as the issue progressed, I found it less jarring. The battle between Archangel's forces and X-Force was well written and well drawn, as the battle easily could have gone either way, X-Force COULD have won had Psylocke stabbed Archangel through the heart, but her inability to do so cost X-Force the battle, the Life Seed and the World. With that said, I'm not condemning Psylocke for not killing Archangel, Wolverine should have known better then to have put her in such a position in the first place. The end portion of this comic was what interested me the most though... It SEEMS(and I could be WAY off) that Archangel intends to somehow use the Life Seed(and possibly the World) to restart the mutant gene, which was destroyed/severely damaged by the Scarlet Witch at the end of House of M. That would make sense in a way, as Apocalypse has always been about the strong surviving, and has always believed that mutants were stronger than humans and were the next step up the evolutionary ladder. See, with a plan like that, I actually WANT Archangel to achieve his goals! It's been WAY too long since that House of M/”No more mutants” nonsense, and I'm ready for Marvel to undo it. I've been fooled before, but here's hoping Archangel DOES manage to do what nobody else has been able to do these past 5-6 years, restore mutantkind to it's former glory.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Deadpool had me absolutely rolling with his lines here.