Uncanny X-Force 15: Review and Spoilers

So Archangel's evil plans are well under weigh. A town in Montana has been completely wiped out, the stage set there for he and his minions to restart evolution and for Jerome Opeña to really show off. Besides the impressive artwork, I found quite a bit more to enjoy. I found Deathlok interesting for the first time ever- even though I generally don't like it when characters happen to save the day by going all murderous psychopathic all over people. Of course this means I find the very existence of a kill squad among the X-Men disagreeable- even repugnant in less capable hands. Rick Remender continues to show the characters still have consciences that are somewhat functional. I look forward to seeing where this will go, and how it will lead to the big lineup changes in the upcoming months.

That also ended up being one of the drawbacks. Despite cramming thirty million years of surreal alternate evolutionary history in one book, the plot moved a bit more slowly than I would have liked. And one line had me wondering when Fantomex started listening to Danzig.

But enough about that. Onto the real reason I bought this book. I'm partial to extras, though I believe the tenth anniversary of 9-11 warrants more than a reprinted short story in the back of Uncanny X-Force, which perhaps isn't the most appropriate book to have a 9-11 tribute in the back. I'll go into that more in my next "Comics for Causes" entry but I digress.


Marvel Comics first released A Moment of Silence in the fall of 2001 to support the Twin Towers Fund. This collection of four short stories details a few different perspectives on 9-11 silently, as the title suggests, with no dialogue or caption boxes to get in the way of what we're supposed to see. "Moment of Truth," by Bill Jemas, Scott Hanna, and Mark Bagley, with Hi-Fi on colorist duty and lettering by Sharpefont's PT could be effective either way. But all we need to know about Tony Savas, a true hero of the Port Authority as well as of this story, is written in an introductory panel and a two sentence epilogue. The art tells the rest of the story clearly, and the pacing is perfect, building up to the point when he made a decision that sealed his fate- and probably helped save countless lives. This extra brought a lump to my throat, brought to mind how heroes are supposed to be written better than too much fiction these days, and proved to be a poignant highlight to my reading experience.