''Uncanny X-Force'' was a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

ongoing series In comics, an ongoing series is a series that runs indefinitely. This is in contrast to limited series (a series intended to end after a certain number of issues thus limited), a one shot (a comic book which is not a part of an ongoing series), ...

published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. Created by writer

Rick Remender Rick Remender (born February 6, 1973) is an American animator, comic book writer and television producer who resides in Los Angeles, California. As a comic book creator, he is best known for his work on ''Uncanny X-Force'', ''Venom'', ''Captain A ...

and artist

Jerome Opeña Jerome Opeña is a Filipino people, Filipino comic book artist best known for his numerous collaborations with writer Rick Remender. Early life Opeña was born in the Philippines, and spent most of his childhood in Taiwan, where his father worked ...

, the first volume of the series continued the story of

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

and his

X-Force X-Force is a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in ''New Mutants#New Muta ...

team from the series ''

,'' vol. 3. The title was relaunched after issue #35 as part of the

Marvel NOW! Marvel Now! (stylized as Marvel NOW!) is a comic book branding for the relaunch of several ongoing comic books published by Marvel Comics, that debuted in October 2012 with new #1 issues. The relaunch also included some new titles, including ''Un ...

relaunch event, and the new volume features

Psylocke Psylocke is the name of two connected fictional Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The first character to use the Psylocke moniker, Betsy Braddoc ...

and

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

leading a new team of "outcasts and scoundrels". The second volume was one of two X-Force ongoing titles, along with ''

Cable and X-Force ''Cable and X-Force'' was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that began in February 2013, as part of Marvel NOW! The series finds Cable awakening after '' Avengers vs. X-Men'' and on the run with his new team of X-Force from ...

''.

Publication history

''Uncanny X-Force,'' vol. 1, was launched in October 2010 to replace ''

'', vol. 3. This new series features members of the previous X-Force team, which was to have been shut down by

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

leader

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

due to the existence of the team having been previously exposed and now operates without him knowing. Being lead by

, the squad features new team members

Fantomex Fantomex is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is commonly associated with the X-Men titles. Fantomex first appeared in '' New X-Men'' #128 (August, 2002) and was created by Grant Morr ...

, and

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...

. According to Remender, "This is a group of characters that have had their souls stained by evil forces in the past, a common thread connecting them. They've already made the hard compromises in the past; they've all taken life." The title had a three-issue " Fear Itself" tie-in mini-series, written by Rob Williams, with art by Simone Bianchi. The relaunched ''Uncanny X-Force'' is written by Sam Humphries and pencilled by

Ron Garney Ron Garney is an American comic book writer/artist, known for his work on books such as '' JLA'', ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Silver Surfer'', ''Hulk'', '' Daredevil'' and ''Captain America''. Career Garney has worked on '' JLA'', ''The Amazi ...

, and features a

led team with an initial roster of

, Puck, Cluster and

Simon Spurrier Simon "Si" Spurrier (born 2 May 1981) is a British comics writer and novelist, who has previously worked as a cook, a bookseller, and an art director for the BBC. Getting his start in comics with the British small press, he went on to write h ...

and illustrated by Rock-He Kim and Jorge Molina. It features a team of Cable, Psylocke, Fantomex and Marrow.

Plot summary

Volume 1

The Apocalypse Solution

The first mission of the new team is an assassination job to kill

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

, reborn in the form of a child and being indoctrinated by

Clan Akkaba Clan Akkaba is a fictional cult appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The cult has appeared in X-Men comic books and was created by Frank Tieri and Clayton Henry. The Clan is composed of the descendants of the mutant ...

on their Moon base. After defeating Apocalypse's Final Horsemen and getting to the young Apocalypse, no one on the team can summon up the courage to kill a child. When the group resigns to bring the child back with them and to reeducate him, Fantomex fires a shot in the child's head, killing him.

Deathlok Nation

Fantomex discovers there's something wrong with

the World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, as a presence calling itself Weapon Infinity has started manipulating the timestream within. Fantomex is attacked by a group of

Deathlok Deathlok (also referred to as Deathlok the Demolisher) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Astonishing Tales'' #25 (Aug. 1974), created by Rich Buckler. At least three subs ...

cyborgs based on the Avengers who apparently want to kill him and take possession of the World. With the aid of a rogue Deathlok unit the team travels inside the World and faces Deathlok versions of themselves while Deadpool kills the architect of Weapon Infinity, the enigmatic Father, erasing the attacking Deathlok strain. The rogue Deathlok joins the team and Fantomex is revealed to be growing a clone of the child Apocalypse deep inside the World, unbeknownst to the rest of the team, watched over by

Ultimaton Uatu Ulik Ultimaton Ultimaton, also known as Weapon XV, is a living weapon created by the anti-mutant supersoldier program Weapon Plus. The character was created by Grant Morrison and Chris Bachalo, first appeared in '' New X-Men'' #143 (Au ...

The Dark Angel Saga

Warren's "Archangel" persona continues to grow stronger, leading X-Force to seek advice from

Dark Beast Dark Beast (Henry Philip McCoy), also known as the Black Beast, is a fictional Supervillain ;appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as an alternate reality evil version of the X-Men's Beast. In t ...

, a former servant of Apocalypse. The evil Dr. McCoy proposes that the team accompany him back to his lab in the alternate

Age of Apocalypse "Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comic ...

universe, where he can retrieve a "seed of life" to counteract the "seed of death" that is driving Warren mad. Once they reach the Earth-295, Dark Beast betrays them and cuts them off from their universe, leading X-Force to seek the help of the AoA's X-Men. They eventually acquire a new Life Seed and use Gateway to return home but discover they are too late as Archangel has completely overtaken Warren. Using the Life Seed to fuel the World, Archangel plans to extinguish all life on Earth and reset evolution, enlisting

Ozymandias "Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's co ...

, Dark Beast, the Final Horsemen, Autumn Rolfson and her son

Genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

, as well as the AoA Iceman and

Blob Blob may refer to: Science Computing * Binary blob, in open source software, a non-free object file loaded into the kernel * Binary large object (BLOB), in computer database systems * A storage mechanism in the cloud computing platform Mic ...

in his army. X-Force is initially outmatched until the timely arrival of the AoA X-Men evens the odds, while Fantomex reluctantly releases the young clone of Apocalypse to fight Archangel. Although the clone (now calling himself "Genesis") is unable to defeat him, the fight gives Psylocke an opening to stab Archangel with the Life Seed, killing him. Angel later appears, seemingly fine, but it soon becomes clear the Life Seed removed any trace of both Archangel and Warren inside him. Wolverine sends Genesis and Angel to the

Jean Grey School for Higher Learning The X-Mansion or Xavier Institute is the common name for a mansion and research institute appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The mansion is depicted as the private estate of Charles Francis Xavier, a character in X ...

.Uncanny X-Force 11-18

Otherworld

Fantomex is abducted by

Captain Britain Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in ''Captain Britain Weekly'' #1 by writer Ch ...

and the

Captain Britain Corps Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in ''Captain Britain Weekly'' #1 by writer Chr ...

to be put on trial in

Otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld ...

for his murder of the Apocalypse child. Psylocke is also abducted. Wolverine, Deadpool and the Age of Apocalypse version of Nightcrawler attempt to rescue them both but land in the middle of a battle against a demon which wishes to access the base of the Captain Britain Corps so that it can spread its influence across the multiverse. When Fantomex is sentenced to death, Psylocke saves him and betrays her brothers. However they are then ambushed by a man known as the Skinless Man, who seeks vengeance against Fantomex after he was flayed alive due to Fantomex's thieving. He cuts off Fantomex's face but is stopped by Psylocke; eventually it is revealed that the demon is a future incarnation of

Jamie Braddock James Braddock Jr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The elder brother of the twin superheroes Brian and Betsy Braddock, he is a mutant possessing the ability to manipulate reality in a variet ...

. Captain Britain is unable to kill his brother, so Psylocke possess him and kills Jamie to prevent his demonic ascension.

Final Execution

When

Daken Daken (; birth name: Akihiro) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Daken was created by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon and first appeared in '' Wolverine: Origins'' #10 (March 2007). ...

returns from the dead, he plots to destroy X-Force by creating a new incarnation of the

Brotherhood of Mutants The Brotherhood of Mutants (originally called the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, sometimes referred to as BoEM or B.O.E.M) is a fictional team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as being devot ...

with Mystique, Sabretooth, the Skinless Man, the Blob of Age of Apocalypse, the Shadow King, and the

Omega Clan The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated A ...

. In their first attack, they capture Genesis ( Evan Sabahnur) in to order to train him to become evil and the new

. They then ambush X-Force, the Skinless Man kills Fantomex (tearing his heart out), destroys Cavern X, and kills Gateway. As his last act, Gateway saves X-Force by teleporting them to a dystopian world ruled by X-Force, who, because of their policy of killing threats before they can harm anyone, now kill innocents who have a possibility of becoming criminals. Horrified, Psylocke attempts

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

but is saved by the future version of herself. Upon X-Force's return to the present, they capture Mystique and argue over whether or not to kill Evan. During the commotion, Deadpool infiltrates the Brotherhood's base to try rescuing Evan but is stopped by Daken, the Blob and Omega Black; he is then brought in front of Evan and tortured by Omega Black. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler betrays X-Force to get his revenge on Blob; he incapacitates EVA (now sentient after Fantomex's death) and Wolverine. Nightcrawler kills Blob by teleporting a shark inside of him and letting it eat him from the inside out. Following this, he is confronted by EVA for his betrayal. Shadow King shatters Psylocke's mind after she refused to kill him but trapping him in the empty shell of Omega White instead. Daken tries to drown his father (the only way of killing someone with a healing factor) but Wolverine is saved by Deadpool. Deadpool tells him to stop Evan, who has donned the Apocalypse armor and is running rampant. Evan nearly kills Mystique and the Skinless Man; in retaliation for his brutal murder of Fantomex, Deadpool kills the Skinless Man. Mystique is saved by Nightcrawler, and Wolverine is forced to confront Daken as Sabretooth escapes. In the battle, he ends up drowning Daken because of a message given to him by the dystopian future version of himself – that Daken will kill the

students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

if he is allowed to live. In the end, Deadpool tells Evan that to him, Evan is a symbol that anyone, no matter who they are, can be redeemed. X-Force helps AoA Nightcrawler assassinate AoA Iceman. Wolverine and Betsy, with EVA, head to a meeting with Deadpool, who has improperly programmed a duplication machine to bring Fantomex back to life. Because Fantomex had three brains, he is resurrected as three different people: Weapon XIII, an evil version of himself; Fantomex, a mischievous but good version of himself; and Cluster, a good, female version of himself. Psylocke pursues a relationship with Fantomex at the end of the story.

Volume 2

Let It Bleed

Psylocke is expelled from Wolverine's School, so she and Storm go on a mission with Puck to hunt down

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

returns from the future possessed by the White Owl Demon and hunts Ginny. Storm and Psylocke attempt to cure Bishop, but the demon possesses Ginny. Weapon XIII kidnaps Fantomex, so Cluster seeks help from Psylocke.

Torn and Frayed

Pyslocke and Cluster travel to

Madripoor The Principality of Madripoor or Madripoor is a fictional island located in maritime Southeast Asia appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, mostly associated with stories from the ''X-Men'' series. Based on illustrations, it ...

to hunt Weapon XIII. Weapon XIII uses his power of misdirection (which Fantomex and Cluster not longer possess) to confess his love to Psylocke. She agrees to stay with him only if he allows her to kill Fantomex, who betrayed her during a heist at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. During a heated battle she decides to free Fantomex and stun Weapon XIII, stating that she is done with all three of them. Psylocke then rehabilitates Bishop, but they are attached by the White Owl. Storm, Puck, and Psylocke are captured and have revenants, or evil clones, made of them. Bishop is eventually able to free them and are confronted by Spiral, who explains that she is trying to save Ginny and wants X-Force to help her. Bishop also realizes that the White Owl is actually

Cassandra Nova Cassandra Nova is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, Cassandra first appeared in ''New X-Men (2001 ...

The Great Corruption

The White Owl unleashes the revenants upon Earth after sacrificing a telepath named Philip. The White Owl can only be stopped by the death of a telepath, so she kidnaps Psylocke. The White Owl revives a revenant based on Psylocke original body before she transformed into her Japanese body. X-Force eventually overcomes the revenants and Psylocke sacrifices her revenant in order to stop the White Owl. Later the team breaks up since Bishop is upset that Storm erased several of his memories. Hope Summers, who is with Cable's X-Force team, tracks him and tries to kill him. Cable attempts to stop the battle but is kidnapped by his evil clone

Stryfe Stryfe is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero team X-Force. He is a clone of Cable. Publication history The character was created by Louise Simo ...

, who unlike Cable is still an Omega-level telepath. The two X-Force teams initially clash, but reconcile. They build a tracking device, then track down Cable and defeat Stryfe. Storm returns the X-Mansion and the two teams combine.

Roster

Volume 1

Volume 2

Creators

Writers

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 1 #1–35 (October 2010–December 2012) *

Sam Humphries Sam Humphries (born March 16, 1977) is an American comic book writer located in Los Angeles. Between 2018 and 2020, he co-hosted ''DC Daily'' on the DC Universe streaming platform. Early life Humphries was born in Annapolis, Maryland and grew ...

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 2 #1–17 (January 2013–February 2014)

Art

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 1 #1–4, #14–18 (October 2010–January 2011, August–December 2011) * Esad Ribic: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 1 #5–7 (February–April 2011) *

Rafael Albuquerque Rafael Albuquerque (born April 12, 1981) is a Brazilians, Brazilian comic book creator primarily for his artwork on titles such as DC Comics' ''Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle'' and as illustrator and co-creator of ''American Vampire''. Though primarily ...

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 1 #5.5 (March 2011) *

Billy Tan Billy Tan Mung Khoy, commonly known as Billy Tan, is a Malaysian comic book artist. Early life Billy Tan was born in Malaysia and moved to the United States when he was 18, in 1989 to study business at the University of Kentucky. He began workin ...

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol.1 #8–10, 19.1 (April–May 2011, March 2012) * Mark Brooks: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 1 #11–13 (June–August 2011) *

Greg Tocchini Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory (given name), Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled "Gregg (surname), Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple peopl ...

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 1 #20–23 (March 2012–June 2012) *

Phil Noto Phil Noto is an American painter and comic book artist who is known for his work on such titles as ''Jonah Hex'', ''X-23'', ''Uncanny X-Force'' and, more recently, '' Black Widow''. His work on ''The Infinite Horizon'' (a modern retelling of ...

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 1 #24, 26–27, 31–34 *

: ''Uncanny X-Force'' vol. 2 #1–17 (January 2013–February 2014)

Cover art

* Esad Ribic: ''Uncanny X-Force'', vol. 1 #1–18 (October 2010–December 2011)

Collected editions

Volume 1

Volume 2

References

External links

X-Men comics on Marvel.comComics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards
*
Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender Analysis Podcast (Audio, 2016)
{{X-Comics 2010 comics debuts X-Men titles