X-Force, Vol. 3: Not Forgotten

X-Force (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Clayton Crain

Cyclops and Wolverine struggle to deal with the growing threats facing mutants while still keeping X-Force's existence a secret from the X-Men.

Warpath is out for vengeance, Wolfsbane is missing, and X-23 keeps cutting off pieces of Vanisher. But worst of all? One mutant's deadly actions will put mutantkind squarely back in the crosshairs of humanity.

Things were bad before, but they're about to get a hell of lot worse...

Collecting: X-Force 12-13, 17-20

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

120 pages, Hardcover

First published April 7, 2010

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Man, this was even better the 2nd time around!
X-23 is definitely the stand-out in this volume, and these were the books that originally piqued my interest in her.



My favorite panel is the splash page with her hanging in that room with her arm hacked off. So very cool!
I'm not really sure what that says about me as a human being, but I'm willing to live with it, regardless.




Not Forgotten starts off with a BANG! when the gang tries to stop the Leper Queen from killing Boom Boom. Seconds away from stopping her, Cyclops pushes the button and sends them into the future on a different mission to save Hope.
And Scott's place as the resident heartless douchebag for the X-men is solidified in that moment. It looks like I need to check out the stuff in Messiah War to find out what happened between that moment and this one:



Besides Boom Boom, the Purifiers also have two other mutant kids ready to (literally) explode at a U.N. meeting. The goal is to turn the crowd into martyrs in order to get everyone riled up and backing their anti-mutant agenda.
X-Force Assemble!
Huh. You're right. It doesn't quite have the same ring to it...



I really liked Rahne and her Asgardian werewolf boyfriend this time around, but I'm still not familiar enough with either of them to know much about their power set. But I will say that my money was backing the Frost Giants when they attacked the lovebirds.
Honestly, the fact that he was an Asgardian werewolf god probably should have clued me in to the fact that those giants were in more trouble than the two hairy people.
Live and learn.



I absolutely enjoyed every minute of this. From the artwork and the characters to the overall plot - it was all perfect!
The cast is pared down, you don't have to have a degree in Comixology to understand it, and it's not necessary to read other titles to understand what's happening in this one. I'd definitely recommend this title to anyone who is trying to dip their toes in the murky mutant waters.

For those of you reading on MU, this collects X-Force 12-13, 17-20.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great volume overall. It's hard to keep it going when inbetween there's a crossover. Luckily I read Messiah War.

So just as Logan and his X-Force pals save their targets they are transported to a different dimension. So then of course they deal with the Messiah War stuff, and when they come back. Well let's just say a ton of shit goes wrong. The X-Force team all begins to get split apart and it's their job to come back together. With X-23 being taken, Logan trying to save a ticking time bomb, and two werewolf people fighting Ice Giants shit is about to go down.

Goods: Everything to do with Logan, X-23, and agent Morales was great. The art seems to improve, or maybe I'm getting used to it, but the brutal fight scenes are great. It's amazing how insane and vicious everyone is and the ending really is building towards something bigger.

Bad: The stuff with Renee and the Ice Giants felt a bit out of place.

Overall this was great. Fast paced, sad, violent, everything I want in my comics just about. If it wasn't for the boring Ice Giant stuff this would be perfect. So going with great, a 4 out of 5.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great volume of X-Force; I didn't even mind that the Messiah War crossover interrupted it partway through. You could feel the characters' emotions come boiling off the page. The artwork was gorgeous. X-23 is really cementing herself in a position near the top of my favourite characters list.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastion's people - the Leper Queen and her Sapien League are using weaponised mutants to kill humans! X-Force have to save Boomer, Scourge and Hellion; but the first thing they do is lose X-23! More wonderfully overt over-the-top slashing, cutting and killing by the Black Ops X-Men team, finally putting the Force into X-Force! 8 out of 12.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still enjoying this series, but this collection is somewhat fragmented. Apparently, there are issues missing from the middle that are collected elsewhere. X-Force/Cable: Messiah War, maybe. I'm starting to get attached to X-23, so I might want to look up where she came from. I do like the way it looks, and I like the way it stands out from other X-books. The tension between Wolverine and Cyclops is really interesting to me. On the surface, it might seem hypocritical for Wolverine to be this bothered by being sent out on missions that, frankly, he might do anyways. But really, his problem isn't with the job being done, or that he's doing them. His problem is that the leader of the X-Men and, by extension, all mutants is sending him out to do it. That's a conflict that makes sense to me.

But man, I could have done without the Asgardian werewolf, or whatever he was. Something about that storyline was just weirdly uncomfortable to me. I'd much rather go back to the Leper Queen turning mutants into living bombs, thanks.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume of Uncanny X-Force, which featured top notch work by Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña, Esad Ribic and Phil Noto, is one of my favorite comics of all time. It is a series worth owning in several formats, whether in the original floppies, trades or digital. It is so good that sometimes I forget that an equally impressive run preceded it.

X-Force, by Kyle and Yost with art by Crain and Choi actually originated the black-ops wet works mutant team lead by Wolverine. The team composition had an emphasis on stealth and claws and it didn't shy away from the necessary bloodshed.

This volume picks up from where it left off when the team departed for another post-Apocalyptic future. I like how it made that event hijacking a solid plot point integrating it in the story. This volume is a great example that shows both Crain and Choi art as the two tag-team it as the main art crew for the series.

This is a great series to collect and I wish I had more than this trade on my library.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting before the Messiah War crossover event and ending after it, you would think this volume would be a bit of a mess. A whole X-Men event is set right in the middle of this book, breaking up the story. Yet, like issues that were apart of Messiah War, this has some of the best X-Force writing so far!

While X-Force started out as an overly edgy humourless bore, it has turned into a great X-Title. This volume in particular focuses on Laura, and despite me lacking a bit of knowledge about some of the characters she interacted with, the story was still very understandable. Which again, is impressive considering everything going on.

Unlike the previous volumes, this book has a lot of funny moments. I actually laughed out loud reading this a few times. Great action too. I’m not really an action fan myself, and usually the action I see is pretty boring and uninspired. Here? Great and beautifully drawn fight scenes.

By the far the best volume! Hope the quality remains this good!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This X-force run has been dope. This volume starts off with the Leper Queen kidnapping mutants, injecting them with some kid of virus to make their powers go ape shit and then they explode. This is to kill humans and blame it on the mutants. While this is going on, Cyclops has Beast making some time devices for the X-force to go into the future to look for Cable. This was really well written and paced out and Clayton Crain kills on art duty. The second half is more X-23 centric. After the events of Messiah War, X-23 is back in the now but is captured. This also was action packed and very entertaining watching Laura and an unlikely ally escape from the facility she was being held in. Mike Choi takes over on art for this portion and does an awesome job as well. Also seems like some seeds for Necrosha were laid at the end.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bastion unleashes the Sapien League and their creepy leader on the unsuspecting public. They're supercharging mutants to the point of explosion - not great. X-Force is on the job, doing the usual slashy/fighty stuff. Thrilling race against time, but that darn murky art. Then, Cyclops shows up and says "Get to the future for the Messiah War." Okay! I'll go...pick up a different book?

After that offscreen disruption, we turn to X-23, who has been kidnapped by her former handler with the goal of cloning her piece by piece (literally, as her arm is severed). The battle to free X-23 is pretty thrilling, though honestly she mostly frees herself. Really makes me want to read her origin story, as I suspect this all would have been more affecting if I knew who these villains/friends were...

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun in a sick way, pointless in another. I think we get the "black ops" team thing now, and the novelty of the clean-scrubbed X-Men brand getting some "ick" on it is wearing low.

Can't tell why, but I compare this to Dark Reign-era Secret Warriors or the underground Avengers (forget which one that was) and this seriously comes up short for me. Is it 2-dimensional characterisations? Or utterly black-on-black designs (like some under-budget horror movie that can't afford to light the cheesy effects)? Or maybe writing that moves the plot without making me care?

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is some amazing artwork. I really like the hard edge of this series. Wonder what happened to this creative team? Why is X Force now in the hands of Rick Remender? Oh well, gotta catch up...

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The initial 2-part story is another great & tense piece with beautiful art and big repercussions [9/10]. The conclusion isn't quite as exciting, but there's some nice focus on Laura [7/10].

[Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not think this is good. I don't plan on continuing this series. There's about 10 different plot threads going on at the same time, and it keeps adding more characters, and I've just stopped caring about all of it. Also, this volume is missing issues. It skips from 13 to 17, but that doesn't seem to matter too much. (Apparently X-Force time travels for X-Force/Cable: Messiah War, but they come back to right where they left off.) If you somehow made it through the first two volumes and are wondering if you should continue the series, I'd say skip it. I would recommend Uncanny X-Force, Volume 1: The Apocalypse Solution instead.

[salomé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toujours aussi bien. Il y a l’event Guerre du Messie au milieu qui interrompt l’intrigue mais c’est pas vraiment dérangeant car on reprend tout juste la ou on s’était arrêté.

Je suis très investie, surtout dans la storyline de Laura. C’est pas ma chouchoute pour rien. Par contre Wolfbane et son gars je comprends pas trop leur subplot, la x-force ils sont attaqués de partout entre H.A.M.M.E.R, Bastion, sans parler qu’ils reviennent tout juste du futur. Puis t’as wolfbane dans son chalet à la montagne qui passe des vacances avec son mec…?

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an unusual volume because the story was split. You had two issues of one storyline, then the story continued in another volume, then we came back for the last few issues here. But the story continues from where it left off pretty much, with X-Force battling the Purifiers. Very dark, but really good.

Overall this is another strong volume, and I've said it before, but this X-Force series is one of my favorite X-Men series ever.

[Rylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

x-23 more like best character ever

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

X-Force was the best x-book at the time. When it was cancelled, it was replaced with the next best series in all the other x-books. The art by Clayton Crain is amazing. It looks painted, but they may have been using digital effects to get that look. Half of the art is done by Mike Choi. His art is very clean, without the painted look.

The writers put the characters through the wringer. Just about all of them get either shot or cut up. It's kind of relentless the way everyone gets put through hell. And since this is the lead-in for the Necrosha storyline, nobody will be given a chance to rest up before getting messed up again. Makes me almost wish they would have an issue with just a little talking and relaxing. No, the hell with that, this book is all about the violence. Speaking of violence, this is probably the most violent collection that ever featured the X-Men. Blood and dismemberment is on almost every page.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense is the word for this book. I feel like I can easily stray into broken record territory in this review, so I am forced to keep this review very short. But the truth is I freaking love this series. The artwork is so clear and dramatic (and surprisingly bright (and fittingly so) for such a gritty storyline). It is such a great medium for this highly active story. The cliffhanger is intense, so you want to have Necrosha on hand when you finish this one. We soon realize that the resurrected Purifiers aren't even the biggest threat that the X-Force will face. Like they need more enemies. Oh well. Bring it on! They are up for the challenge. There is enough butt kicking in this series for any adrenaline junkie (I speak from personal experience).

If you want to see how hardcore the Marvel mutant universe can go, you need to check out these X-Force books.

Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite of the first 3 volumes, although this series is still amazingly good so even a slightly lower rating doesn’t mean it’s not a ton of fun.

The story continues to be some of the darkest moments for the x-men and x-force as they continue to fight against Bastion and the abduction of X-23.

I think my minor gripe with this one is the complete interruption midway through as it transitions to the “Deadpool and Cable” series as a crossover (included in a completely different volume), then comes back with issue 17 that relies almost solely on the consequences of that lengthy arc. I’m fortunate enough to have that collection so it’ll be on my reading least ASAP, but with it taking place smack dab in the middle of the mutants’ fight against the M.R.D., it’s a bit jarring.

That aside, the team of Kyle and Yost continue to keep this version of X-Force going strong, as does the inclusion of Mike Choi’s amazing artwork.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloody savage fun! Good-guy-Mutant-Death-Squad? It's about time! So many mutants have savage and deadly powers one would expect a little more bloodshed, I mean let's be realistic. Well the the blood does spray in this series, and it is a surprise! It is a surprise because until recently Marvel was so PC and PG. This story is dark and visceral and I dig it!

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than Old Ghosts and Messiah War. X-23 was awesome in this. Can't enough of her.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am I wrong in thinking this is really good blockbuster entertainment? The violence is cartoonish enough not to be nauseating and the action is exciting.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is hella good!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prelude to Necrosha and Laura gets kidnapped by the people who created her. Great art and even better story.

[Gareth Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

X 23!!!! Her story through and into this arc is great! High calibre character stuff and action with great art!

[Michael T. Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The core plot (for the first 3 or so issues) is about someone turning mutants into suicide bombers against their will, in order to drum up fear and launch new anti-mutant government programs.

But also, most of those first 2 issues are tied up with setting up Messiah War. And then we skip that, and come back to the story, but quickly resolve it, plus we get 2 issues of X-23 getting brutally tortured.

It's kind of a lot, and it's kind of busy.

Pros: The art is excellent. And Wolverine and Cyclops' arguments in this series really get into the meat of their different ideologies about the future of the X-Men (in ways that will really manifest later with Schism).

Cons:
A character death at the end of issue 2 (which is reversed one crossover later, in the next issue in the collection) is practically fetishized, it's so lurid and that's pretty gross.

We see an evil soldier about to do a sexual assault to a main character (the same one sort-of-killed above), that's not awesome.

Also, Rahne has a weird subplot where she basically has sex with a fellow fursona, and they hang out naked and furry for several issues. That's not problematic, but it is extremely weird.

[jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two issues of this take place before Messiah War and the other three issues after it. So, the first 3 issues deal with X-Force going after the Leper Queen and her Sapien League. New threats arise from the dead, literally. Many of mutantkind's long-banished enemies like Stryker and Graydon Creed, both rabid anti-mutant zealots, were revived by Bastion to fulfill his agenda. Creed runs for President trying to stoke the flames of anti-mutant hatred, which had striking undertones to many candidates today scapegoating minorities. To top it off, they're kidnapping mutants and injecting some sort of virus that makes their abilities uncontrollable to the point where they literally explode, killing hundreds of humans, all in an attempt to paint mutants as terrorists.
The last 3 issues are about X-Force doing damage control from their abrupt departure from the timeline. Laura is kidnapped by a shady organization in the process while the others are split up. Oh, and I did not expect to see Frost Giants in an X-Force comic!

[Ronan The Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

This is one of the best X runs period. Ultra-violent, with an adrenaline-pumping, dark ass story. The consistency is remarkable too. I can’t remember when an issue thus far hasn’t had me itching/wincing to get to the next one. X-23 is featured heavily and suffers and sacrifices and once again proves how human she is. Wolverine is great too, I enjoy seeing him in a leader role and really caring about the people he’s expected to protect. Cyclops, on the other hand, is a real POS. You could argue that he “has to be”, but still, he feels like an asshole. Everyone is written really well and has their own distinct voice, including the bad guys. Even some humor sprinkled in with all the savagery. The art is more of the same artists and looks consistently good, especially Mike Choi. Very cheesecake, but that aside it kicks ass.

One of the best X runs I’ve read thus far. Highly recommend.

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so brutal. “X-23 is a badass” is probably the most accurate synopsis you’ll ever get. She wastes people by the dozen, and suffers tremendously while still fighting ti survive. She rules.

The art is as brilliant as it was for the first two volumes.

It’s a little odd how little any if the characters mention Messiah War, which literally just happened... but whatever. It’s still a great story. The lack of Messag War references is probably a good thing for people who just want to read this title without feeling like they missed something.

I really love this iteration of X-Force. It’s better than any previous version. It really captures the grit and violence of having such badass mutants working together, and provides a pretty cool counterpoint to the X-Men.

I have nothing negative to say. This rules.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story gets a little jumpier, LOTR-style, following plots with characters not remotely near each other. Also, the Shared Universe Curse rears its head, and we get a whole segue into another limited series, which is shared with the readers of this volume only as a text page of exposition and Wolverine's terse revelations. The art changes back, so it's pretty again, but this is also the grisliest volume to date, and it seems kind of just blood for blood's sake. I think reading these back to back to back, quickly, is okay, but a long-term commitment is not what this title was looking for.