The original X-Force team is a far cry from what it is today, but the team still has its fans. Over the years its come to be known as the covert ops team of the X-Men line, often boasting a darker premise than other books in the line, but in the ’90s it was more of a sequel book to the New Mutants. The title hadn’t completely carved out its niche yet, but there’s lots to love in this book and this cast of characters. X-Force Epic Collection: Armagedon Now collects the latter half of the title (before it becomes Milligan and Allred’s X-Statix team) and for fans of these characters and this run, it is a must-have to collect.
The trade starts with issue #85, which is the continuation of a previous story. This part of the run is all John Francis Moore’s tenure on the book and this issue has Angel Unzueta on art. Jesse Bedlam, the newest member of the team, is still getting his story fleshed out and he, Dani, and Sam get the help of Jennifer Kale to free their friends from the control of Pandemonia. It’s so quintessentially late-’90s X-Men, from the setup of the title to the art, and I don’t mean that in a bad way — there’s a certain charm to it.
Starting with issue #86, the team revisits a town they previously ventured to. They were told this town’s mutants were the result of nuclear testing that had occurred nearby and it’s always interesting to me to see how X-Men lore evolves over time and to remember there was once a time this idea of being born from radiation as opposed to just the idea of being born with the x-gene was actually kind of normal for these books. The team does discover that they were lied to and that the mutant kids were in fact part of a eugenics experiment by the Aguilar Institute. The truth further unravels to reveal that the Damocles Foundation intervened as part of their mission to ensure the survival of humans, deviants, and eternals. The plot exposition reveals that after the Cold War, the town paid the price for the nuclear testing at the time and as a result, people who could once bear children no longer could. The Damocles Foundation wanted to “undo the reproductive damage caused by high levels of radiation” and began “genetic engineering too introduce the human x-factor chromosome” and “the deviant equivalent” to the children. But the mutant characteristics began killing the children, as X-Force realized. X-Force makes a stand to protect the children and not place them in the Damocles Foundation’s care.
This chapter starts Jim Cheung’s tenure on the book, arguably one of the better artists on X-Force Volume 1. I actually wish he got to draw more of it because he brings a certain flavor and liveliness to the book that’s welcomed. The highlights of this section are mostly the team dynamic because these characters just feel like best friends or siblings and their banter is adorable. The team dynamic of X-Force is just the feel-good side of comics I love. There’s a lot about this plot that feels lost to time and out of place but the incorporation of Eternals and Deviants in X-Men stories is even more interesting conceptually now with the hindsight goggles of Gillen’s Eternals and Judgment Day to go off of.
Issue #87 starts the arc that this run is probably known best for (or at least, I’ve always associated Moore’s run with this portion of the story). It starts off five years ago with Jesse’s brother, Chris, turning down Emma Frost’s offer to be a Hellion. It reveals that he and Tarot had a close relationship and later on in the present day, Jimmy sees Tarot and is shaken. One thing I really appreciate about this is how it centers the Hellions story here on Jimmy and his experience and feelings given all that happened to his class. X-Force is a great Jimmy book for how he emerges as a leading man and how the writing delves into his character and how these stories have shaped him. Jimmy and Terry always have good chemistry and throughout this run (and the issues prior to this trade), they’re certainly a pair you root for. Even now I find myself wishing these two would share paneltime again and maybe finally get their chance to be together. After all, they were doing this back and forth for around 90 issues.
Sam puts his differences with Tabby and Roberto aside after they began a relationship behind his back and Tabitha meets up with her father again. One thing I love about these old comics is that everyone gets a bit of time in the spotlight and there is a degree of interest on the writer’s part in each of these characters’ stories. I often lament in some of the modern books (like X-Men or Excalibur/Knights of X) that certain characters never get any exploration or spotlight. And that’s not an issue you have in books like this, which gives you an opportunity to get to know and love each cast member.
The New Hellions are finally unveiled. Alison Crestmere was such a goofy saga for Magma and that’s not really Moore’s fault since it was happening on other books at the time and he had to adapt what was merely canon, but I can’t read her Alison era without laughing a little. Magma’s just always seemed like such a directionless character, especially in comparison to the other New Mutants.
The New Hellions plot continues until issue #90, which ends with X-Force’s victory at a cost: Feral slashed Siryn’s vocal chords and she can no longer speak or use her powers.
Siryn is one of my favorite characters in Marvel and I’ve come to relate a lot to certain elements of her story. This arc is the story that writes her out of X-Force and issue #91 is her farewell issue. X-Force #91 by John Francis Moore and Tommy Edwards is a masterpiece — I don’t use that word lightly, but it’s a phenomenal, beautiful issue that may just be my favorite in the entirety of volume 1. Moore handles Theresa’s story with such poise and it’s equal parts heartbreaking and beautiful. After she loses her voice, she feels as though she’s lost a part of herself and Theresa’s always loved flying and the freedom that came with it (and singing) so to be without it is devastating to her.
She almost relapses and as she begins to spiral in her misery, her friends frantically search for her. Theresa’s monologue and narration here is just perfection and Moore displays a strong understanding and empathy for someone in her position. As Theresa holds the bottle of liquor in her hands and thinks to herself that she won’t let it get out of hand this time and it’s “just to make the hurt go away”, she stops herself. She takes herself to an AA meeting instead and we know she can’t speak at it. She then writes Jimmy a letter and tells him she almost threw away two years of sobriety but stopped herself. She tells him she’ll be okay but she needs time to heal and is going off on her own.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more incredible sendoff for a character that I love.
Issue #92-100 start to meander a little and you can tell this is the portion of a long running run that’s just starting to lose its steam.There’s still plenty to love, particularly with the team’s dynamic and interactions with each other, but there really aren’t more of those moments like issue #91 that make you sit back and say “wow.” I have to wonder how much of this run was altered last minute by the news of Milligan and Allred coming in to take the reins of the title and transforming it to X-Statix soon because Theresa gets written out then teased to return (more on that in a minute) then Roberto gets written out momentarily just for him to be reintroduced to the team as well.
Because of the Reignfire situation earlier in the book, Roberto is branded a terrorist and in hot water with the government, forcing him into a situation where he decides to move back to Brazil. At first glance it’s going to write him out just as Theresa was written out issues prior, but we actually start to see him in Brazil. It’s here that the Damocles Foundation returns as Roberto and Selene tackle that story.
Issue #99 has a sideplot that shows Theresa, still without her voice, getting possessed by an evil necklace (I wonder what the overlap is between this and ’90s X-Factor‘s evil necklace plot with Havok/Polaris/Malice). This seems to tease the idea of Theresa getting her powers back through this, but it’s literally never touched on again and she isn’t seen again, which makes me wonder what the original plan was for some of these plots that wrap up a bit strangely. Theresa gets her powers back in a Wolverine comic later with the help of Deadpool and there’s no mention of this strange necklace so I think it’s safe to say this was retconned out.
There’s a lot of weird things that happen with Dani’s powers in this whole run and not all of it feels necessary, but I’ll never complain about her being front and center to a story. Issue #100 is another Dani issue and she does have some great moments in this run (hell, in this whole book’s last 100 issues).
Armageddon Now includes X-Force annual 99 and X-Force/Champions Annual 98 outside of the main run as well. Annual 99 is written by Fabian Nicieza instead of Moore and it’s an iconic issue particular for Rictor and Shatterstar fans since since its the famous Mexico issue. Knowing that Niceiza always wanted to imply Shatterstar was gay and had feelings for Rictor and how X-Factor (2006) would later canonize that Rictor and Shatterstar had a secret relationship for years, Annual 99 always has such a fun rereadability. With the hindsight of future canon in mind (and knowing Nicieza is queercoding Shatterstar’s feelings in particular), X-Force Annual 99 and the Mexico trip feels like a point in their relationship where they definitely dating by this point. It’s such a fun and important issue for Rictor and Shatterstar fans and I’m glad it’s in this trade.
Of all the times I’ve read and reread the original X-Force, I’ve actually never read X-Force/Champions Annual ’98 until now. This issue is written by Tom and Mary Bierbaum and drawn by Terry Shoemaker and like Annual ’99, this book is one of the highlights for the trade overall for me. It’s such a fun issue and once again, the team dynamic is incredibly fun to read. I always love crossover issues with teams like this because it allows for the characters to interact with a new cast of characters and do something out of the box. It’s a fun issue and I’m glad this one is in the trade as well.
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