The Good
I may have mentioned it before but it's great having different types of X-titles in the Marvel Universe. While Brian Bendis is doing his own thing in ALL-NEW and UNCANNY X-MEN and Jason Aaron is covering the activities at the school in WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, Sam Humphries is setting things up for a new X-Force team.
This isn't your typical team. Psylocke and Storm took on a mission as a way to occupy themselves from other things in their lives. Wolverine sent them to help out Puck, who was on a case that was revealed to involve a new mutant and Spiral. With Bishop on the scene, everything got incredibly more complicated.
The X-comics could always be a tricky read with all the different characters and continuity concerns but you can easily jump into this series without needing to worry about what else is going on with the mutants. Humphries is crafting an interesting plot involving Bishop and his use of Fantomex and his clones makes it all much more intriguing. As the story progresses, there are hints and set ups for other events that get you more excited for what's to come. And bless him for acknowledging Psylocke's career before she discovered she was a mutant in a brief flashback scene.
Ron Garney has always been a favorite of mine. He's already established his feel on this book in creating new but familiar looks for the characters. The glimpses of Adrian Alphona's art adds to the excitement as well.
The Bad
We are seeing more of the story unfold but three issues in and we still don't know what Bishop is up to or what his motivation is. We have no idea where he's been since we last saw him or why he's in his current state. This is obviously something that will be addressed next issue but with that hanging over and the sudden disappearance of another character towards the end of this issue makes you wonder what exactly is the nature of this team. Who are the members?
There was a scene involving an airplane in mid-flight. The way a couple passengers depart and the way another was observing them felt a little too bombastic.
The Verdict
With each new incarnation of X-Force, the writers manage to make us get over how much we loved the previous series. Sam Humphries is carving out a nice little corner of the X-universe for himself and Ron Garney is doing a great job in establishing the look of it all. We're still waiting on answers about Bishop but we are seeing more pieces of the puzzle. If you've ever been concerned about not being able to keep up with the multitude of X-titles, UNCANNY X-FORCE is a book you can easily slide into. The action is heating up with each issue and there's no telling what's coming in the next.