X-Necrosha

X-Force #25

It was an okay finale, but felt pretty rushed. I liked how Warpath used the "Ghost Dance" from his heritage though. And I understand what Crain was trying to do with the art in this story but it was a bit too muddy and dark for its own good. Selene looked really cool though. Overall this story was mediocre, it had some good moments but was way too sloppy most of the time. Also, the future of the team looks very much up in the air after this and Second Coming.

Yeah... the X-Necrosha story arc really was NOT great. The strongest part of this book is the Bastion group, and that looks to be factoring into Second Coming.

As for the roster? Cable. Nuff said.

X-Force #25

The metallic warpaint James Proudstar hooks the Force up with was cool. Crain's art wasn't completely bad, providing some illuminating imagery, but lacking anything magnificent: it's the usual blue lights, gray hues and dark shadows. Even worse so, Kyle & Yost's script in this finale might very well go down as the cheapest written in 2010. Picture yourself reading it without any of the visuals. Clearly, anyone with a sense for good storytelling would tear the pages up to shreds, without the slightest hesitation.

Between the utter pointlessness of Messiah War and the rocky paths of X-Necrosha, events/crossovers/whathaveyou have absolutely decimated any momentum X-Force had previously gathered. Whatever happened to Wolverine and Domino's "Sex & Violence" arc? Much like the tales of Eli Bard's origin, Ghost Rider and Warpath's team-up, and X-23's further exploration, I thought this title would be great in establishing several mini-digs that mix and match the tenacious variety of the X-World's most violent mutants. Rather, the title got boggled down in event saturation and mindless cheese. And if it doesn't survive the aftermath of Second Coming, I wouldn't be surprised.

2/5 Bags&Boards -

I think that X-Force 25 had a good ending to Necrosha. The art was brighter and there was more ass kicking. This arc wasn't the best, but not horrible.

X-Force #25

I'm sorry, but I hated this. It was boring as hell, and I hate, HATE Crain's art. It's been even worse in Necrosha because of how dark and muddy it is. I can't tell who some people are and what is going on.

If this book is around after Second Coming I'm not going to be reading it. I think I read that Kyle and Yost are leaving anyway, but even if they were staying, as much as I normally love them, this book has sucked as of late. I'll stick around through the crossover, but then it's dropped.

I agree #25 was kind of a let-down. BUT! I feel like this only because the build-up was SO GOOD (IMO) and we needed a big ol' double-sized #25 to finish the story.

I wanted more clarity with what happened to Selene. And would've appreciated more of a wrap-up with other characters in the story, such as Eli Bard and Caliban. They are so good with epilogues and such...one of the those cliffhangers would've been nice. The story ended way to neat, though I did like Elixir's permanent skin change

All in all though, I'm still in love with Crain's art (sorry haters) and I'll be sad to see Kyle and Yost leave the book. I feel like they're plenty busy with Second Coming so maybe the final chapter of Necrosha got rushed a bit. oh well...

Dazzler One-Shot
Necrosha Aftermath

This was definitely a great book that focused on a pretty underrated mutant from the Marvel U. I know that a lot of people may not even know dazzler unless they read the Claremont books of old. She was missing from mainstream continuity for a long time and seemed like a charicature instead of a character often times. Realy, who wants to read a book that features an 80’s pop diva that turns sound into light? Dazzler was a character that debuted right after disco died and didn't get remotely popular until about the same time Madonna was getting big and Jem and the Holograms were invading Saturday mornings. She was gimmicky and relatively unimportant in a lot of ways. Really all that Allison Blair had going for her was the fact that she was a mutant. This is something that the writer definitely addresses in this book. Allison also defined herself as being a mutant. She figured that she had become a gimmick and the stories in this issue address that and is a great story that ads some more dimension to the character and develops her a little more for modern comics. McCann did an awesome job not only giving her character a much needed update, but also tackling some other loose plot threads that came out of the Necrosha event.

This book is divided into two stories that are very different. The first one is action packed, suspenseful, and a little funny (in a retro way) all at once. I even like the way that they illustrate the club scene with a series of Boom-Thumps as the defining ontomonapia in the opening. Dazzler is out on the town looking to reconnect with life and discovers that her sister is living, having safely teleported away from Necrosha by Blink. This is important because it lets us know that anybody that wasn’t seen dying on panel could be alive and we have a 616 Blink out there somewhere. In Wither’s dialog we also find out that she assumes Selene is dead. (I still doubt that an External/Goddess/Sorceress like Selene is actually gone.)

Leaving the club she finds a body slumped over in an alley and next thing she knows she is in a dressing room with one of her old costumes she is instructed to put on (roller skates and all) for what we discover is an orchestrated “fair well” performance on stage in Murderworld. That’s right Arcade is back in classic 80’s fashion. He has been hired by Wither to take out her sister. Arcade figures he should make some money for the performance while he is at it as well.

The fight scenes are great and we see McCann’s love for the character as he revisits her past adventures including her much forgotten time as a herald for Galactus. Then there is a ringer thrown into the mix as a failsafe thought up by Wither, and we are treated to more great battle scenes as this menace from Allison’s past confronts her. The power levels that we see illustrated by dazzler in this issue are amazing and well thought out and will even impress someone that didn’t pay her a mind in her best of days with the X-Men.

Moving on we get a look at the second story that leads to the relationship with Allison and her mother and sister and the way things played out and how important Allison’s role in Wither’s life should have been and should be. This was much slower than the first story but was still all used to move Dazzler to some much needed Growth.

Overall this was a great book for an underused player and is well worth reading.

4.5 out of 5 80’s Divas