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Summary: Stop Watching Me!!! : Marvel Mutant Celebrities?!?
Review: "X-Force: New Beginnings" is one of the most unexpected re-launches in the history of comics! Not since Wonder Woman's non-costumed adventures of the late 1960's and Grant Morrison's surreal version of the Doom Patrol in the late 1980's has such a memorable and dramatic change affected a monthly comic book. Instead of the standard, clichéd depiction of Marvel mutants as vilified, hunted and persecuted, Milligan presents a team of celebrities whose adventures (and private lives) are the subject of constant scrutiny by the media. These stories are presented as satire; Milligan pokes fun at super-hero clichés and our societal infatuation with celebrities. His narrative is complimented by Allred's retro-1960s art style which pays homage to Silver Age comic books. This graphic novel will not appeal to the average Marvel fan-boy, but should have wide-appeal for fans of alternative comix, Vertigo comics and Allred's own "Madman Comics." Finally, a Marvel comic that is cool, hip, multicultural and polyamorous! And, of course, don't forget Doop!
Rating: 
Summary: Believe the Hype!
Review: I finally gave in to the temptation. After years of being burned by X-Books revamps that turned out to be more of the same-old-shizznit, I vowed to never be suckered in again. So I resisted all of the hype and rave reviews. Until the release of X-Factor: The Final Chapter made the temptation too great. I snapped up Final Chapter and it's predecessor New Beginnings. Now I'm haunting E-Bay looking for any other issues I'm missing. As bad as it is getting burned by a dud retread book, it's totally cool to discover a new take on an old theme.... Writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred deliver a brand-new X-Force, a kind of corporate Super-Hero group owned by a petulant young millionaire. Milligan sets up a status-quo, rips it apart, sets it up again, rips it apart.....By the end of the book, the team is totally different from the one we met a mere five chapters ago. I can't say I developed an affinity for any of the characters, but I sure did want to see what happened next. It's like a bad car accident. You don't want to look, but you can't help it. Artist Mike Allred's clean, cartoony style adds to the books overall grotesque effect. The aftermath of the distastrous "Boys 'R' Us" rescue would not have been half as stomach-churning if it had been rendered in a realistic art style. The new characters run the gamut from the bizarre to the ridiculous, with the pinnacle of weirdness being the silent Doop, who looks like a flying turd; Doop floats around the team's battles filming them. (S)he (?) also has some kind of weird friendship with X-Man Wolverine. Marvel's new Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada has another winner on his hands. Give X-Factor a try, and you'll be hooked.
Rating: 
Summary: should have kept the old beginning
Review: I just really couldn't get into this. The characters aren't sympathetic. I'll admit the story is original, though not real great. The mutants aren't all that interesting--neither look or power wise. Wolverine makes a brief appearance, though nothing spectacular. This just didn't draw me in the way X-books usually do. I wish they hadn't changed it.
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Summary: Milligan + Allred = Genius!
Review: It's about time that Peter Milligan is getting some serious attention. Milligan should be considered as one of the best writers of the past decade or so. His original, captivating work on Human Target, Enigma, Shade, Skreemer, Extremist, Minx, etc. is some of the best out there. Since only some of it is available in collected TPB's, I'm very happy to see that X-Force and X-Statix are all getting released as multiple books. And whoever thought of teaming Milligan with Allred is a genius! Allred's work, especially with his own Madman title, is fun, quirky, and bright. Teamed with Milligan, Allred appears to add some lightness to Milligan's darker style of storytelling. This is not your typical Marvel superhero stuff. Some readers, expecting a standard good vs. evil, heroes and villains duking it out tale, may be disappointed, or even disturbed by the behavior of X-Force and the world in which they live. The characters are raw and edgy. As the story develops, X-Force's reluctant leader, The Orphan, endears himself to the reader with his ability to steer through the surrounding chaos, keeping his idealistic sense of good intact. The Orphan is a character, and leader, worth cheering for. As his relationship with Edie develops, as well as his relationship with the rest of the team, the basis for the good vs. evil conflict becomes better defined, in a very refreshing way. Congrats to Milligan and Allred for creating a fresh exciting look at the traditional superhero universe.
Rating:
Summary: Milligan + Allred = Genius!
Review: It's about time that Peter Milligan is getting some serious attention. Milligan should be considered as one of the best writers of the past decade or so. His original, captivating work on Human Target, Enigma, Shade, Skreemer, Extremist, Minx, etc. is some of the best out there. Since only some of it is available in collected TPB's, I'm very happy to see that X-Force and X-Statix are all getting released as multiple books. And whoever thought of teaming Milligan with Allred is a genius! Allred's work, especially with his own Madman title, is fun, quirky, and bright. Teamed with Milligan, Allred appears to add some lightness to Milligan's darker style of storytelling. This is not your typical Marvel superhero stuff. Some readers, expecting a standard good vs. evil, heroes and villains duking it out tale, may be disappointed, or even disturbed by the behavior of X-Force and the world in which they live. The characters are raw and edgy. As the story develops, X-Force's reluctant leader, The Orphan, endears himself to the reader with his ability to steer through the surrounding chaos, keeping his idealistic sense of good intact. The Orphan is a character, and leader, worth cheering for. As his relationship with Edie develops, as well as his relationship with the rest of the team, the basis for the good vs. evil conflict becomes better defined, in a very refreshing way. Congrats to Milligan and Allred for creating a fresh exciting look at the traditional superhero universe.
Rating:
Summary: This isn't your older brother's comic book...
Review: It's much more than that. It's Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Survivor, The Real World, pop culture, media manipulation, drug addiction... This book is about people that have sold their souls to become rich and famous. They're heading toward rock bottom, but as long as they're still in the spotlight, who cares, right? Right? When these characters start to question where they've been and where they're going, you'll see that this isn't a comic book, it's a novel. In full color. With lots of nice pictures. Read it, and share it with your friends.
Rating:
Summary: They ruined Rob Liefeld's book!
Review: Let"s get one thing out of the way:
Rumor has it, when X-force 116 came out, Rob Liefeld sent a copy of X-force 1 to Peter Milligan with a note reading " To Pete- Thanks for ruining my book" Or somesuch. And I agree wholeheartedly. He and the Allreds took Liefeld's vision of a pro-active attack force of mutants, and turned it into something good.Something worthwhile, something enjoyable, something (not entirely, but still very close to) original, but more importantly than all that, they turned X-force into a book untainted, or even remotely touched by Rob Liefeld's sense of "...anatomy, huh? Plot...what?" comic book making. So in the sense that X-force is a great book now... than yes. Peter Milligan and Mike & Laura Allred have completely wiped themselves on Liefeld's toy catalog...er... book. And God bless them for it.
They(I shall refeer to the creative team as They, for it truly reads like a very Team effort book)took the basic premise of the X-men, and said "...what?" So they made up something new. The Fantastic Four originated the Superheroes-as-celebrities idea ( as far as i know...) They simply improved upon it. Full of not-overly-complex conspiracies;especially loved how the characters are so cunniving they openly admit to plotting against each other, and subtle " how does this Art fit in so perfectly?"-style art, X-force is really one of the few Pop(as in popular, not Warren Ellis' Three issue "love 'em and leave 'em "POP"-comics format) that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth towards America's love of celebrity, and what that can drive people to do.
I totally agree that They destroyed, nay, desecrated Liefeld's book, and I can't thank them enough for it. After all, where else is a superhero nicknamed "Mr. Sensitive" going to play Russian Roullete after a SUCCESSFUL mission, because in this game, if you succeed, the world is your oyster to crack open and eat as you see fit, but if you fail.... you die. And they have Doop.
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Summary: OH, THIS IS WEIRD...
Review: Of all the graphic novels I've read of late, this was far and away the most compelling and intriguing. I'm still wondering why. I didn't identify or sympathize with any of the characters. The story itself is kind of thin. Heck, even the heroes mutant abilities are the most far-fetched and silly yet. And Mike Allred's art is in direct contrast to the John Byrne/Jim Lee school of conventional wisdom of bulging biceps and powerful pecs. In large measure, I think it's the sheer AUDACITY and courage it took Marvel to publish this book. I thought Grant Morrison was turning the X-Men concept on its' ear. By comparison with what Milligan and Allred are up to on this title, he's...well, it's still pretty great, but think of Morrison as Bruce Springsteen - original within the traditions he sets to follow and expand - to Milligan and Allred's Tom Waits - bizarre, deconstructionist, and startilingly unique. This book was designed to draw a line in the sand. You'll either be completely absorbed in it or just be totally offended and turned off by it. One way or the other, you'll walk away with a strong opinion, but either way you'll be aware of a whole perspective and possibilites that maybe previously you weren't. And that's what art is all about.
Rating:
Summary: OH, THIS IS WEIRD...
Review: Of all the graphic novels I've read of late, this was far and away the most compelling and intriguing. I'm still wondering why. I didn't identify or sympathize with any of the characters. The story itself is kind of thin. Heck, even the heroes mutant abilities are the most far-fetched and silly yet. And Mike Allred's art is in direct contrast to the John Byrne/Jim Lee school of conventional wisdom of bulging biceps and powerful pecs. In large measure, I think it's the sheer AUDACITY and courage it took Marvel to publish this book. I thought Grant Morrison was turning the X-Men concept on its' ear. By comparison with what Milligan and Allred are up to on this title, he's...well, it's still pretty great, but think of Morrison as Bruce Springsteen - original within the traditions he sets to follow and expand - to Milligan and Allred's Tom Waits - bizarre, deconstructionist, and startilingly unique. This book was designed to draw a line in the sand. You'll either be completely absorbed in it or just be totally offended and turned off by it. One way or the other, you'll walk away with a strong opinion, but either way you'll be aware of a whole perspective and possibilites that maybe previously you weren't. And that's what art is all about.
Rating:
Summary: X-Force gets overhauled
Review: Since Joe Quesada became Marvel's new Editor in Chief, many of Marvel's long running books have either taken new directions or have gotten completely overhauled. Writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred were enlisted to give X-Force a facelift just like Grant Morrison had done with New X-Men, and they've done a very commendable job. Towards the end of the X-Force I grew up with, it had become a series of re-hashes and the characters just weren't that likeable anymore; thanks to Milligan we get an interesting core of new characters who aren't here to help save the world or fight for mutantkind, they're here for one reason: to make money. This new X-Force is actually more believeable than some X-Men stuff, I know if I had awe inspiring powers and abilities I'd be exploiting them to make a quick buck. Allred's artwork is decent at best, but it's more of an acquired taste. This new X-Force is an interesting read, but I myself do miss the days of Cable, Cannonball, Boomer, Siryn, Warpath, Shatterstar, Rictor, Sunspot, and Feral, and heck, even Caliban and Domino just a bit. All that aside though, this is a good read that does become a bit addicting after a while. Soon after Milligan and Allred began they're run, X-Force was re-titled X-Statix due to copyright issues.
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