Review # 166: "X-Force/Spider-Man - Sabotage"

The X-Force/Spider-Man crossover "Sabotage" has a special place in my collection. I feel it is my duty to preserve it for future generations so they can see everything that was wrong with comics in the early 90's.

Giant Size Review # 4: 90s X-Men ("Bishop's Crossing," "X-Cutioner's Song" and more)

I've gone on record before about how I'm not the biggest fan in the world of the writing during the Nicieza-Harras-Lobdell (NHL) era of the X-Men. While they had their flashes of brilliance, most of their work is far too wordy, is shallow (disguised as deep) and compromises a lot of the action on-page.

Review # 119: "Cable and X-Force - 'This Won't End Well' and 'Vendettas'"

When I bought the first collection of "Cable and X-Force" I noted that the series had potential with its character choices and was worth getting on the ground floor with. As Dennis Hopeless' run comes to a close, I feel like the elevator broke down.

Review # 85: "Cable and X-Force: Dead or Alive"

"Cable and X-Force" is a great series provided you don't care about plot. The second volume is an entertaining read despite its lack of tension while character interaction continues to be a hoot.

Review # 74: "Necrosha"

"Necrosha" is an underrated story that is a victim of bad timing. Resurrected by former Hellfire Club Black Queen Selene using a corrupting techno-organing virus, friend and foe alike are brought back from beyond the grave to attack the X-Men on Utopia. Selene, meanwhile, readies to feed on the souls of millions of dead mutants massacred on the island nation of Genosha years prior, which would transform her into a God. It's a violent, vile, gripping tale with two very well done parallel stories and a complex backdrop that touches on decades worth of material.

Review # 65: "X-Force/Cable - Messiah War"

"Messiah War" is a big, fat slice of the 90s served up in 2009. X-Force. Cable. Bishop. Stryfe. Apocalypse. It's an over-the-top romp with big guns, cannon fodder and a lot of interior monologue. However, it learns from the past by not getting trapped in 90s mistakes. The stories don't drag, the villains don't state the obvious and both sides fight each other without trying to compete on a debate team.

Review # 58: "X-Men - Messiah Complex"

After what seemed like an endless wave in the 90s, massive crossovers had fallen out of favour at Marvel. They'd become bloated, overly contrived and generally a pain in the ass for collectors. They just plain needed to go away for a while. So they did. The X-Men franchise, which had been the centrepoint for most company crossovers, abandoned the concept for close to a decade. Series like Grant Morrison's "New X-Men," "X-Force/X-Statix," Joss Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men" and Peter David's "X-Factor" stuck to their own stories, and the line enjoyed a creative renaissance.

Review # 45: "Uncanny X-Force - Final Execution"

It's time for Rick Remender to kiss "Uncanny X-Force" goodbye as Marvel moves him over to their flagship title of Marvel NOW!, "Uncanny Avengers." "Final Execution" offers a satisfying conclusion to his run, ending on a high note after the misstep that was "Otherworld."

Review # 44 - "Uncanny X-Force - Otherworld"

I don't envy anyone who has to follow up a story as great as "The Dark Angel Saga." After such an incredible climax, perhaps the best course of action is to take things in a slightly different direction. That's what Rick Remender does with "Otherworld," as Fantomex is abducted by the Captain Britain Corps (which includes Psylocke's brothers Brian and Jamie) to pay for his actions at the end of "The Apocalypse Solution" and Betsy and X-Force launch a rescue mission.

Review # 43: "Uncanny X-Force - The Dark Angel Saga"

"The Dark Angel Saga" may very well be the best X-Men story so far this century, and rivals the drama seen in the tale its name is inspired by.

Review # 42: "Uncanny X-Force - Deathlok Nation"

"Deathlok Nation" is a tricky story for me to review. I was originally going to include this with "The Apocalypse Solution," as it's very much an extended epilogue. But it just didn't seem to fit, so here it is on its own.

Review # 40: "Uncanny X-Force - The Apocalypse Solution"

Marvel was on to something when it re-introduced X-Force as a hit squad during "Messiah Complex." While Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost did an admirable job putting together a team that was very much a callback to the Cable era, only under Wolverine, what Rick Remender did in the pages of "Uncanny X-Force" took it to the next level.

Review # 24.1: "The Top 10 X-Men Teams of All Time"

And now for something completely different: a countdown! There's little doubt the X-Men are the greatest superhero team of all time. But which incarnation? This is my attempt to rank the absolute best, based on chemistry, character growth and story strength in a completely unscientific process. Here we go!

Review # 20: "Cable and X-Force: Wanted"

"Cable and X-Force" is a sleeper hit in the making. Crawling from the ashes of Avengers vs. X-Men, it has Cable leading a new team that - at the start - seems to have committed a terrorist act. With recent members of Cyclops' X-Men as part of the group, it's not a situation that bodes well and has the Havok-led Uncanny Avengers at their door. In a Tarantino out-of-sequence style, "Wanted" outlines why the "attack" actually happened and how the new X-Force came to be. As you might expect, Cable's motivations weren't what they seemed. Sounds like fun. Unfortunately, at first, a lot of people didn't think so.