"Uncanny X-Force" is one of the subversively smartest books Marvel puts out right now. Hidden under the veneer of 90s glam cool characters and edgy hyperviolence beats a heart that is exceeding its limit. Remender has been handed a lethal mutant team and instead of revelling in the glee of excess, he instead has turned his focus inward to see how a group of heroes kill, why they kill, and what happens after they kill. If only all action comics were created with such intellect and intricacy. Read Full Review

This book really isn't for all readers - the story is following some dark, twisted paths, and we're never quite sure why some characters are involved with this team - but it's a series loaded with surprises as it explores the dark underbelly of the Marvel Universe. Read Full Review

A fantastic issue of a fantastic comic. Give it a go. Better still, even if you've not been reading from issue 1, this is a very accessible place to jump on. Read Full Review

Luckily, I was more impressed by the artwork than I expected to be. Billy Tan's recent work on New Avengers and Thor was plagued by goofy character anatomy and a general sense of inconsistency. Here, his work is greatly smoothed out and softened thanks to the colors of Dean White. Remender himself has said that White's continued presence on the series lends a sense of regularity despite the rotating pencilers, and it's easy enough to see what he means here. At first glance one might not notice much of a difference from Jerome Opena's issues. Granted, Tan's panels are more static and lacking a bit of the energy seen in Opena or Esad Ribic's work, but the book remains clean and attractive to the eye. Read Full Review

Still, there's a magic, a nostalgic effervescence, transmitted from these pages, a look back at how cool and action-packed superhero comics can really be under the right circumstances. Uncanny X-Force remains exuberantly white-knuckled while peppering in keen introspection and character development. This is perhaps the first instance I can remember since I was a kid marveling at Jim Lee's artwork on X-Men that I've felt someone has achieved such a consummate X-book. Uncanny X-Force highlights the team's idiosyncratic loves, hates, companionship, distrust, drama, and violence in an incredibly accessible and transparent fashion. Despite any diminutive drawbacks any one issue faces, this is hands-down the best book Marvel is publishing right now. Read Full Review