What do you think?
Rate this book
X-Force by Fabian Nicieza #6
X-Force: Phalanx Covenant
It's the incredible conclusion to Fabian Nicieza's definitive X-Force run! When the techno-organic Phalanx kidnap the X-Men and establish a foothold on Earth, X-Force must team with X-Factor and Excalibur to battle the aliens...but who or what is Douglock? And how will X-Force react to fighting alongside what appears to be their late friend Doug Ramsey? Then: Cable's sentient computer the Professor has been granted a physical body! So why is Cable getting sicker by the day? COLLECTING: X-Factor (1986) 106, X-Force (1991) 38-43, Excalibur (1988) 82
256 pages, Hardcover
First published August 20, 2013
About the author
Fabian Nicieza
2,043 books433 followersFabian Nicieza is a writer and editor who is best known as the co-creator of DEADPOOL and for his work on Marvel titles such as X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, and Robin.
His first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated SUBURBAN DICKS, a sarcastic murder mystery, is on sale now from Putnam Books.
The Dicks will return in THE SELF-MADE WIDOW, coming June 21st.
His first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated SUBURBAN DICKS, a sarcastic murder mystery, is on sale now from Putnam Books.
The Dicks will return in THE SELF-MADE WIDOW, coming June 21st.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 3, 2016
Been kind of Blah on this series so far but it really started to pick up toward the end of this book. Though it ended very oddly.
June 15, 2020
Collects X-Factor #106, Excalibur #82 and X-Force #38-43 (September 1994 - February 1995).
Did not feel so testosterone fueled as the previous couple of volumes but much of this was already covered in the X-Men Milestones: Phalanx Covenant graphic novel I read prior. This ends my commitment to the X-Force books and I am glad. I probably would not have gotten this far except I found this and the previous three X-Force volumes in one lot for cheap on E-bay a few years ago. The New Mutants were always a bit weaker than the main X-Men story line but it did not improve with the switch to X-Force in 1991.
Did not feel so testosterone fueled as the previous couple of volumes but much of this was already covered in the X-Men Milestones: Phalanx Covenant graphic novel I read prior. This ends my commitment to the X-Force books and I am glad. I probably would not have gotten this far except I found this and the previous three X-Force volumes in one lot for cheap on E-bay a few years ago. The New Mutants were always a bit weaker than the main X-Men story line but it did not improve with the switch to X-Force in 1991.
July 13, 2018
The Phalanx Covenant crossover was good, but it's annoying that Marvel hasn't collected the entire event in a while. After that, though, is some great character work for Feral and Warpath. And it ends with a big (but kind of saw it coming) reveal...and leaves you hanging. And the art is great. Tony Daniel's classic pencils are perfect for the series.
September 1, 2018
This was a good find, picked up the Premier Edition a while back and I just read it. Takes me back to the 90’s feel of a comic and definitely good canon to pick up. I enjoyed the story and the character development, now to relive some more 90’s X-Men/X-Force/X-Factor/Excalibur/Generation X!!
March 16, 2023
I loved Fabian's run on this book but MAN this was a terrible ending. I hated the decision to make Feral an evil villain when in reality all she was was an abused girl with trauma. This was such a shitty decision and left a really bad taste in my mouth
July 29, 2024
The 3 issues of the Phalanx Event were the lowlight of this collection in my opinion. The X-Force stories between that and the beginning of AOA pulled me in substantially more.
My version also has a different cover, but that's more a note for me.
3.5/5
My version also has a different cover, but that's more a note for me.
3.5/5
March 20, 2021
Gems include the debut of Prosh & the first X-Force & Generation X crossover. The eponymous crossover is very meh.
July 2, 2022
This volume and the one before it were uneven but there's still some great stuff here. I found the Phalanx Covenant event more legible than X-Cutioner's song which isn't saying much, but I appreciate that.
I'm sorry I never knew Dani shows up this much in X-Force otherwise I would have read these ages ago. Coming back to edit this review after reading the John Francis Moore run, there's a lot that serves as a great follow up to the teen books that shows the characters finding their place in the world. And some things that don't work as well too (:/ Magma)
The 90s aren't my favourite era of X-comics, but I appreciate that this is the most ethnically diverse that these books ever got and I am going to miss it when I start reading the very white 2000s comics. I think in recent times it's been forgotten how much that (very flawed) representation fueled their popularity and the comic's appeal to so many fans back in their heyday. Or at least this importance has been seriously downplayed in favor of the big metaphors and allegories, making them feel much more hollow when it isn't grounded with the reality of those other perspectives.
The 70s X-Men had an international team similar to the original Star Trek which really felt like a step up from the all white all American 60s line-up when it comes to representing outsiders, then the New Mutants built on that foundation with an even more diverse team. It seemed like a natural and obvious progression to keep building on that diversity through the 90s so it really feels like a huge let down that the 2000s New X-Men and Astonishing X-Men have the whitest lineups an X-Men comic had ever had since the 60s and so many books that came after them seem to follow suit.
I'm sorry I never knew Dani shows up this much in X-Force otherwise I would have read these ages ago. Coming back to edit this review after reading the John Francis Moore run, there's a lot that serves as a great follow up to the teen books that shows the characters finding their place in the world. And some things that don't work as well too (:/ Magma)
The 90s aren't my favourite era of X-comics, but I appreciate that this is the most ethnically diverse that these books ever got and I am going to miss it when I start reading the very white 2000s comics. I think in recent times it's been forgotten how much that (very flawed) representation fueled their popularity and the comic's appeal to so many fans back in their heyday. Or at least this importance has been seriously downplayed in favor of the big metaphors and allegories, making them feel much more hollow when it isn't grounded with the reality of those other perspectives.
The 70s X-Men had an international team similar to the original Star Trek which really felt like a step up from the all white all American 60s line-up when it comes to representing outsiders, then the New Mutants built on that foundation with an even more diverse team. It seemed like a natural and obvious progression to keep building on that diversity through the 90s so it really feels like a huge let down that the 2000s New X-Men and Astonishing X-Men have the whitest lineups an X-Men comic had ever had since the 60s and so many books that came after them seem to follow suit.
November 19, 2019
Nicieza's last volume is an improvement, probably because he spends so much time giving closure to his plots.
Life Signs (XF #38, etc.)> The heart of the Phalanx Covenant crossover, and it's cool giving it over to the three subsidiary X-teams: Excalibur, X-Force, and X-Factor. Unfortunately, all three issues are bloated double-sized issues, and the story doesn't stand up to it. So we get too many teams fighting each other and too many info dumps and only discover the destroy-the-Babel-Spire plot late on, bu which time we're pretty bored. (And somehow, despite those double issues, most of the characters get no characterization at all: we get some good interactions between Doug Locke and his former comrades and little more through three infinitely long issues.) Unfortunately, these stories overlap entirely with X-Men: Phalanx Covenant [3/5].
Prosh (XF #39). Professor/Ship turning into a bizarre humanoid is ... weird, though it makes some sense when seen as a coda to the Phalanx Covenant story. And, it also offers a nice conclusion and closure to some classic Cable elements [3+/5].
Cat Girls (XF #40-41). Feral and Thornn were among Rob Liefeld's most problematic characters: not particularly innovative (cat girls!) and then Feral seemed a pretty unrepentant killer. It's no surprise that Nicieza had abandoned them about a year earlier. Nonetheless, some closure was still needed, and that's what this arc provides, offering some great backstory on the cat girls, and really revealing who they were [4/5].
Gen X (XF #42). The casts of X-Force and Generation X were closely intertwined, and so it's great so see them interacting with each other. Emma and James considering their histories and the Hellions is obviously the height of this great issue, but it's also great to see Siryn and Paige and others interacting with their fellows [5/5].
Reignfire (XF #43). Finally, Nicieza tries to close out his Reignfire story before he leaves, revealing a future time-traveling Sunspot as Reignfire, which is a neat twist, though one that would eventually be spoiled by John Moore. (This issue also has problems with being non-conclusive due to the oncoming Age of Apocalypse.) [4/5]
Life Signs (XF #38, etc.)> The heart of the Phalanx Covenant crossover, and it's cool giving it over to the three subsidiary X-teams: Excalibur, X-Force, and X-Factor. Unfortunately, all three issues are bloated double-sized issues, and the story doesn't stand up to it. So we get too many teams fighting each other and too many info dumps and only discover the destroy-the-Babel-Spire plot late on, bu which time we're pretty bored. (And somehow, despite those double issues, most of the characters get no characterization at all: we get some good interactions between Doug Locke and his former comrades and little more through three infinitely long issues.) Unfortunately, these stories overlap entirely with X-Men: Phalanx Covenant [3/5].
Prosh (XF #39). Professor/Ship turning into a bizarre humanoid is ... weird, though it makes some sense when seen as a coda to the Phalanx Covenant story. And, it also offers a nice conclusion and closure to some classic Cable elements [3+/5].
Cat Girls (XF #40-41). Feral and Thornn were among Rob Liefeld's most problematic characters: not particularly innovative (cat girls!) and then Feral seemed a pretty unrepentant killer. It's no surprise that Nicieza had abandoned them about a year earlier. Nonetheless, some closure was still needed, and that's what this arc provides, offering some great backstory on the cat girls, and really revealing who they were [4/5].
Gen X (XF #42). The casts of X-Force and Generation X were closely intertwined, and so it's great so see them interacting with each other. Emma and James considering their histories and the Hellions is obviously the height of this great issue, but it's also great to see Siryn and Paige and others interacting with their fellows [5/5].
Reignfire (XF #43). Finally, Nicieza tries to close out his Reignfire story before he leaves, revealing a future time-traveling Sunspot as Reignfire, which is a neat twist, though one that would eventually be spoiled by John Moore. (This issue also has problems with being non-conclusive due to the oncoming Age of Apocalypse.) [4/5]
April 6, 2015
"I'll keep secret what kept this from... it's Prosh, Prosh kept it from being five stars."
Read my entire review on TheBookCloset
Read my entire review on TheBookCloset
February 19, 2022
Interesting, but this collection only includes just short of half of the Phalanx Covenant story, and more than half the TPB is unrelated to the Phalanx or the Phalanx Covenant storyline.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews