X-Force #84 Review

I can't help but rave. Jim Cheung's art is something I've fallen
in love with. He makes the team look like the young yet experienced
people they are. He fleshes them out so that they don't look anorexic,
and they appear in better conditions to fight. There is just something
in the way he draws them that makes X-Force look more alive.

The story is good in this issue. Arcadia, Ulysses and Cannonball are
hiding in a mine. Arcadia looks at a picture of Sam's friends that's in
his wallet. Sam gets a little peeved at her lifting the wallet off him,
but they are attacked by the arrived Deviants. Sam expresses a desire
for backup and Arcadia asks if his friends are mutants. Scene switches
over to San Francisco. It seems that Jesse's old friends decide to leave
him with X-Force. Jesse has asked the team if he can stay with them, but
they naturaly don't trust him yet. Domino vouches for him and before any
further protests can be raised X-Force(minus Domino and Jesse) are
wisked away to appear in Kentucky. It seems that Arcadia granted Sam's
desire for backup and brought his friends to them. Ulysses is a little
mad at Arcadia for using his powers and Sam blasts out to point out the
enemy to X-Force while promising to explain later. X-Force is used to
this sort of thing from Cable and get right to it. Unfortunately they
don't do very well. The Deviants knock out most of the team and then go
into the mine after Arcadia. Ulysses fights them as they taunt him for
turing "soft". Cannonball and Meltdown recover conciousness and creates
a distraction so Cannonball can grab this lance from one of the
Deviants. Working together with Meltdown they turn things around.
Arcadia crystalizes the fallen Deviants and wants to smash them to
oblivion with the lance but Dani stops her and Arcadia turns her powers
on Moonstar. Her body turns to this weird shimmering blue. Cannonball
demands to know what she has done, but Arcadia doesn't know because her
powers don't always work the same. Ulysses stops Arcadia by sedating her
and Dani returns to normal. Ulysses explains that Arcadia has the power
to transmutate reality but can't always shut it off. So the team
understands finally that Ulysses is not only protecting Arcadia, but
trying to protect everyone else from her powers. Ulysses and Arcadia
leave on The Sword's(what the Deviants were calling themselves) ship.
Sam decides that he belongs with X-Force in a way that he will never
belong to the X-Men and feels much more comfortable with them. The
action closes with someone reporting to this grey dragon-like man that
Arcadia got away and X-Force was involved. He says that they must either
recruit X-Force or eliminate them...

I enjoyed the story. Arcadia was pretty cool and I love the ending
because it reminds me of the book in the old days were the closing
scenes hinted at the near or more distant future. I think X-Force is
finally being done right again. The team does well without Cable and the
creative team has just the right take on these young mutants.

X-Force #84 Review

"...By the Sword" I can't help but rave. Jim Cheung's art is something I've fallen in love with. He makes the team look like the young yet experienced people they are. He fleshes them out so that they don't look anorexic, and they appear in better conditions to fight. There is just something in the way he draws them that makes X-Force look more alive. The story is good in this issue. Arcadia, Ulysses and Cannonball are hiding in a mine. Arcadia looks at a picture of Sam's friends that's in his wallet. Sam gets a little peeved at her lifting the wallet off him, but they are attacked by the arrived Deviants. Sam expresses a desire for backup and Arcadia asks if his friends are mutants. Scene switches over to San Francisco. It seems that Jesse's old friends decide to leave him with X-Force. Jesse has asked the team if he can stay with them, but they naturaly don't trust him yet. Domino vouches for him and before any further protests can be raised X-Force(minus Domino and Jesse) are wisked away to appear in Kentucky. It seems that Arcadia granted Sam's desire for backup and brought his friends to them. Ulysses is a little mad at Arcadia for using his powers and Sam blasts out to point out the enemy to X-Force while promising to explain later. X-Force is used to this sort of thing from Cable and get right to it. Unfortunately they don't do very well. The Deviants knock out most of the team and then go into the mine after Arcadia. Ulysses fights them as they taunt him for turing "soft". Cannonball and Meltdown recover conciousness and creates a distraction so Cannonball can grab this lance from one of the Deviants. Working together with Meltdown they turn things around. Arcadia crystalizes the fallen Deviants and wants to smash them to oblivion with the lance but Dani stops her and Arcadia turns her powers on Moonstar. Her body turns to this weird shimmering blue. Cannonball demands to know what she has done, but Arcadia doesn't know because her powers don't always work the same. Ulysses stops Arcadia by sedating her and Dani returns to normal. Ulysses explains that Arcadia has the power to transmutate reality but can't always shut it off. So the team understands finally that Ulysses is not only protecting Arcadia, but trying to protect everyone else from her powers. Ulysses and Arcadia leave on The Sword's(what the Deviants were calling themselves) ship. Sam decides that he belongs with X-Force in a way that he will never belong to the X-Men and feels much more comfortable with them. The action closes with someone reporting to this grey dragon-like man that Arcadia got away and X-Force was involved. He says that they must either recruit X-Force or eliminate them... I enjoyed the story. Arcadia was pretty cool and I love the ending because it reminds me of the book in the old days were the closing scenes hinted at the near or more distant future. I think X-Force is finally being done right again. The team does well without Cable and the creative team has just the right take on these young mutants.


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