X-Force

For X Force, the WWII Chinese military division assigned to U.S. Army General Stilwell, see X Force.
X-Force

Cover art for X-Force, vol. 3 #1
Art by Clayton Crain
Group publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance New Mutants #100 (April 1991)
Created by Fabian Nicieza
Rob Liefeld
In-story information
Type of organization Team
Agent(s) Current Members:
Doctor Nemesis
Domino
ForgetMeNot
Marrow
Psylocke
Hope Summers
Former Members:
Archangel
Bedlam
Bishop
Boom Boom
Cable
Caliban
Cannonball
Colossus
Cyclops
Cypher
Deadpool
Deathlok
"Domino"
Elixir
E.V.A.
Fantomex
Feral
Forge
Hepzibah
Moonstar
Nightcrawler (AoA)
Prosh
Puck
Rictor
Shatterstar
Siryn
Spiral
Storm
Sunspot
Vanisher
Warpath
Pete Wisdom
Wolfsbane
Wolverine
X-23
Roster
See: List of X-Force members
X-Force
Series publication information
Schedule Monthly
Format (Volume 1)
Ongoing series
(Volume 2)
Limited series
(Volume 3)
Ongoing series
(Volume 4)
Ongoing series
Genre
Publication date (Volume 1)
August 1991 – August 2002
(Volume 2)
January 2004 – March 2005
(Volume 3)
April 2008 – September 2010
(Volume 4)
February 2014 – Present
Number of issues (Volume 1)
129
(Volume 2)
6
(Volume 3)
28
Creator(s) Fabian Nicieza
Rob Liefeld
Collected editions
Counter-X ISBN 0-7851-3304-6
Famous, Mutant & Mortal ISBN 0-7851-1023-2
X-Force and Cable: Legend Returns ISBN 0-7851-1429-7
Angels and Demons ISBN 0-7851-3552-9
Old Ghosts ISBN 0-7851-3821-8
Not Forgotten ISBN 0-7851-4019-0
X-Force/Cable: Messiah War ISBN 0-7851-3157-4

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 #100 (April 1991) and soon afterwards was featured in its own series called X-Force. The group was originally a revamped version of the 1980s team, the New Mutants.

X-Force's first leader was the mutant Cable. An offshoot of the X-Men, X-Force takes a more militant and aggressive approach towards its enemies compared to the X-Men.

Publication history

Publication

The X-Force series was successful in the early 1990s, but its popularity waned after Liefeld left, which caused Marvel to implement several reforms to the title from 1995 until 2001 with varying degrees of success. Low sales on the X-Force series eventually prompted Marvel to revamp the title in 2001 with a new cast in the form of a group of self-interested young mutants who were gathered together by a corporation to become media stars and used the name X-Force. X-Force was canceled with #129 and relaunched as X-Statix, which coincided with a similar rebranding of the team in the story. After X-Statix was canceled with #26, Marvel reunited the original X-Force team for a six-issue 2004 limited series plotted and drawn by Liefeld.

In 2007–2008, during the Messiah Complex crossover, a new version of the X-Force team was formed with Wolverine leading a more militaristic black-ops branch of the X-Men. This squad would form the basis for a new X-Force series starting February 2008 by writers Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, plus Clayton Crain as the artist. The series came to a conclusion in September 2010 as part of the Second Coming storyline that ran through various X-titles. The title was then relaunched in October 2010 as Uncanny X-Force with Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña as the creative team and Wolverine, Psylocke, Deadpool, Archangel, Fantomex, and E.V.A. as the initial roster.[1]

The Uncanny X-Force series ended at issue #35 in 2012 and was once again relaunched as Uncanny X-Force vol. 2 as part of Marvel NOW!, with a new team led by Storm and Psylocke, written by Sam Humphries. A concurrent X-Force book written by Dennis Hopeless, Cable and X-Force, was released at the same time, bringing Cable back into the X-Force fold. The two series ended in 2014 after a crossover between the two titled "Vendetta". A new X-Force (vol. 4), was launched featuring a black-ops squad composed of Cable, Psylocke, Fantomex and Marrow, written by X-Men: Legacy writer Simon Spurrier.[2]

X-Force Volume 1: 1991-2001

Liefeld period

X-Force was created by illustrator Rob Liefeld after he started penciling The New Mutants comic book in 1989 with #86. The popularity of Liefeld’s art led to him taking over the plotting duties on the book. With help from writer Fabian Nicieza, who provided the dialogue for Liefeld’s plots, Liefeld transformed the New Mutants into X-Force in New Mutants #100, the book's final issue. Liefeld and Nicieza launched X-Force in August 1991. Rob Liefeld obtained the name for the series from an unknown artist at a convention a few months prior to its release. With the aid of a multiple-variant poly-bagged card, the book sold a record 5 million copies, and remains the second highest selling American comic book of all time, surpassed only by Jim Lee's X-Men book that same summer with 8 million copies. The original line-up of the team included Boom Boom, Cable, Cannonball, Domino, Feral, Shatterstar and Warpath. In later issues, X-Force's roster would include Siryn, Rictor and Sunspot.

The main opponents of X-Force during its first year were the terrorist Mutant Liberation Front, led by Stryfe, a masked mutant with a mysterious link to Cable. Early issues also featured the wise-cracking mercenary Deadpool, the immortal Externals, and a new version of the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Propelled by Liefeld's art, X-Force became one of Marvel’s bestselling comic books immediately after its debut. The series rivaled The Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men in popularity, particularly with the adolescent demographic. Toy Biz responded to X-Force's popularity by introducing an X-Force action figure line alongside its X-Men action figure line. Liefeld illustrated the series up to #9 and stopped plotting it after #12 as Liefeld had become increasingly frustrated that he did not own the characters he created and that his art was being used on a variety of merchandise while he received little royalties. Along with six other popular Marvel artists, Liefeld left Marvel Comics in 1992 to form Image Comics.

Mid-1990s: Nicieza and Loeb

X-Force continued with Nicieza writing and Greg Capullo illustrating. Nicieza, who also wrote X-Men, vol. 2, helped plot the X-Cutioner's Song storyline that overlapped into most X-Men related books in the fall of 1992. In that story, Stryfe frames Cable for an assassination attempt on the X-Men’s founder Professor X, leading to a clash between the X-Men and X-Force. The crossover boosted Cable's popularity, despite the character's apparent death in X-Force #18, leading to his own solo series being launched in 1993.

After X-Cutioner’s Song, X-Force continued under Nicieza and Capullo, and later pencilled by Tony Daniel. Having temporarily lost their leader, X-Force attempted to develop an identity of their own. The team gradually developed into a dysfunctional family after Cable's return in #25, and the title regularly combined soap opera plot threads, such as romance and Siryn's alcoholism, with violent action. Nicieza fleshed out previously unknown elements of each character's history, including Siryn's family in Ireland,[3] Rictor's in Mexico,[4] and Cannonball's in Kentucky,[5] as well as the mysterious origins of Shatterstar.[6] This period also saw the reintroduction of characters from the group's New Mutants days, such as Rusty and Skids,[7] Danielle Moonstar,[8] and Cypher and Wolfsbane.[9] A long-simmering sub-plot about Reignfire and the disappearance of Sunspot came to a climax just as the book went on hiatus for the Age of Apocalypse crossover event in 1995.

Due to falling sales, X-Force emerged from the Age of Apocalypse event with a new creative team of writer Jeph Loeb and illustrator Adam Pollina, who significantly revised the team with issue #44. Loeb introduced new team uniforms, had the team move in with the X-Men at the X-Mansion, and placed emphasis on character-driven stories with fewer fight scenes. Rictor quit the team and Cannonball joined the X-Men. Caliban, a super-strong albino mutant who possessed the mind of a child, joined the team. Loeb's stories included revelations about Shatterstar’s origin and the transformation of Boomer (formerly Boom Boom) into the more aggressive Meltdown. Fan response was generally positive.

Post-Cable period

In 1997, writer John Francis Moore, portrayed the team as carefree walkers exploring the open road and had X-Force break away from Cable and the X-Men. The roster of that incarnation was Meltdown, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath, and Danielle Moonstar.

In 1998, Moore and new artist Jim Cheung had X-Force move to a new headquarters in San Francisco, returned Cannonball and later Domino to the team, and added Bedlam, a mutant who could disrupt electronic equipment. However, towards the end of this run, sales on the title began to fall drastically.

Writer Warren Ellis, who was known for his dark, cynical style, revamped three books, (X-Force, Generation X, and X-Man), as part of the Revolution revamp of the X-Men series of titles in 2000. Ellis' stint on X-Force, co-written by Ian Edginton and illustrated by Whilce Portacio, saw Bedlam, Cannonball, Meltdown, and Warpath become a covert ops superhero team under the leadership of Pete Wisdom, a British mutant and former intelligence agent who could shoot burning blades of energy from his fingers. Sales remained about the same despite the changes in creators.[10]

Cancellation and replacement

In early 2001, the X-Force title was completely reimagined by writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred, who replaced the existing incarnation of the team with an entirely different group of mutants using the X-Force name. In X-Force #115, Bedlam, Cannonball, Meltdown, and Warpath all appear to die in an explosion, though all subsequently return. The next issue, #116, saw the introduction of a new, sardonically toned X-Force consisting of colorfully dressed and emotionally immature young mutants put together and marketed to be media superstars. X-Force was canceled with #129 in late 2002 and replaced with the retitled X-Statix series in late 2002.

In 2004, Marvel released a new six-issue X-Force miniseries, once again plotted and illustrated by Liefeld, with dialogue by Nicieza, that gathered many of the characters featured in the first X-Force, to critical panning yet decent sales. Some controversy arose from Liefeld's insertion of over ten pages from previous unpublished comic books (Weapon X and Cable: First Contact) with word balloons edited to make them fit the X-Force storyline. It was subsequently followed with a four-issue prequel X-Force: Shatterstar miniseries.

X-Force Volume 3: 2008–2010

A new X-Force ongoing series was launched in February 2008, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost and drawn by Clayton Crain.

Cyclops forms a black ops incarnation of X-Force that uses lethal force to permanently deal with threats against mutants. Warpath, Wolfsbane, Wolverine and X-23 form the starting lineup, with Angel, Domino and Elixir joining soon after. Yost had at one point stated that Deadpool would join the cast to bring more diversity to the team, but this did not happen until after his run and the launch of Uncanny X-Force. This team does battle Red Hulk and his team, consisting of Deadpool, Punisher, Electra and Thundra, as they try to hunt down Domino.[11]

Uncanny X-Force

Main article: Uncanny X-Force

X-Force was replaced in October 2010 with Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña.[12][13] This new series introduces team members Psylocke, Fantomex, and Deadpool. 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."[14]

The title had a three-issue "Fear Itself" tie-in mini-series, written by Rob Williams, with art by Simone Bianchi.[15] As of Issue #34, 31 characters were killed and 14 of them were from the "Age of Apocalypse" timeline.

Marvel NOW!

As part of Marvel NOW!, two new X-Force series would replace Remender's Uncanny X-Force. Prior to their announcement, the two titles were teased by a single word and the book's creative team: "Wanted" with Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larroca and "Killers" with Sam Humphries and Ron Garney. "Wanted" was first revealed to be the brand new "Cable and X-Force"[16] with "Killers" later revealed to be a relaunched "Uncanny X-Force."[17]

Cable and X-Force, written by Dennis Hopeless and penciled by Salvador Larroca, featured Cable on the run after awakening from a coma in the post-AvX world. Harkening back to the early days of the original X-Force, Cable would lead an outlaw X-Force team consisting of Domino, Colossus, Forge, Doctor Nemesis and Boom-Boom, whose missions of stopping huge tragedies before they happen puts them at odds with the newly formed Uncanny Avengers, led by Cable's uncle, Havok.

The relaunched Uncanny X-Force was written by Sam Humphries and penciled by Ron Garney, and featured a Psylocke-led team with an initial roster of Storm, Puck, and Cluster. They would be joined by Spiral and Bishop as they sought to locate a psychic mutant girl who had been kidnapped.

X-Force Volume 4: 2014

As part of the "All-New Marvel NOW!" campaign, a new volume of X-Force was launched in February 2014, replacing Cable and X-Force and Uncanny X-Force vol. 2. It features a team of Cable, Psylocke, Fantomex, Dr. Nemesis, and Marrow, written by X-Men: Legacy writer Simon Spurrier.[2] The title has ended with 15 issues.

Plot summary

Volume 3

Angels and Demons

The team's first mission has them investigating the theft of Bastion's head from a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. The trail leads back to the Purifiers, led by Matthew Risman and the mysterious Eli Bard. They attach Bastion's head to the body of a Nimrod unit, to use the revived Bastion in their "holy war" against mutantkind. Bastion retrieves an offspring of the technarch Magus from the ocean floor and revives several deceased X-Men villains, including Cameron Hodge, Bolivar Trask and Graydon Creed, by infecting their corpses with the Technarch Transmode Virus. The virus allows Bastion a degree of mental control over the revived corpses. He also infects two living subjects with the virus: Donald Pierce and the Leper Queen.

During X-Force's raid on a Purifer base, Risman holds Wolfsbane hostage. While Wolverine calls for the team to stand down, X-23 decides Risman is bluffing and activates a concealed detonator that sets off a series of powerful explosives. The explosion brings most of the base down around them, but Risman is able to escape with Wolfsbane during the chaos. Wolverine later admonishes Laura for being so reckless with the lives of her teammates and for allowing Rahne to be kidnapped. After interrogating and killing numerous Purifiers, X-Force finds Rahne held in a warehouse, barely alive. Angel retrieves Elixir to heal Rahne, who wakes up soon after. Laura then catches the scent of Elixir's and Angel's blood, and runs off to help them. She reaches the room just in time to see Wolfsbane standing above Angel with his severed wings in her jaws. While in the Purifiers' custody, Rahne had been brainwashed by her deranged father, Reverend Craig, causing her to go berserk at the sight of an angelic figure. Wolfsbane savagely attacks Laura before handing over Angel's wings to the Purifiers.

Elixir heals both his and Angel's wounds, then discovers that Angel's wings aren't organic and can't be regrown. Angel transforms into Archangel, complete with metallic wings. Archangel wounds Wolverine and X-23 before taking off toward the Purifiers' base, sensing his old wings. Meanwhile, the Purifiers use samples of Angel's stolen wings to develop techno-organic wings for their soldiers, giving them similar abilities to Archangel. The group of Purifiers given wings is dubbed "The Choir." X-Force pursues Archangel to the Purifiers' base and slaughters most of The Choir, while Risman discovers Eli Bard absorbing the Technarch offspring into his hand. X-23 kills Risman with a headshot, and briefly fights Eli. Eli overpowers her, but is prevented from killing her when Warpath stabs him, causing him to flee. Wolverine takes on Bastion, who deems the threat posed by Wolverine "unacceptable" and retreats. Afterwards, X-Force finds Archangel unconscious and in human form, complete with feathered wings. Wolverine informs Cyclops of the turn of events, and Cyclops asks which of X-Force's targets should be next.[18]

Old Ghosts

Once X-Force regroups at Angel's Aerie, they test the reactions of Rahne and Angel to one another. Rahne reverts to full feral form upon seeing Angel, who responds by transforming into Archangel. Wolverine and Elixir restrain Wolfsbane while Cyclops talks down Archangel, who has trouble controlling his Apocalypse-like mentality while in his transformed state. Laura calls in the Stepford Cuckoos to erase Elixir's memories of X-Force, to help them remain covert. Before they do so, Angel informs them of a live telecast featuring Graydon Creed, who claims an L.M.D. was assassinated in his place and publicly denounces mutants once more. Cyclops assembles X-Force, including Elixir, and unexpectedly declares the Vanisher as their next target.

It is revealed that Scalphunter, a former Marauder, contacted Cyclops about a break-in at an old lab of Mister Sinister that held an altered version of the Legacy Virus. While in pursuit of the Vanisher, the team runs into Domino, who joins forces with them to recover the Legacy Virus. After cornering Vanisher and inducing an inoperable brain tumor (courtesy of Elixir) to ensure his cooperation, Vanisher reveals he lost the virus while escaping from a horde of Marauder clones that were awakened after the death of Sinister. X-Force returns to the lab and kill the cloned Marauders inside. Domino retrieves the virus, only to be confronted by The Right's shocktroopers, who have come to take the virus for themselves. X-23 is injected with the virus while doing battle, and runs toward a nearby molten vat to destroy herself (thus destroying the virus). Elixir catches Laura as she jumps, and uses his healing powers to purge her of the virus, declaring that his purpose in X-Force is to ensure no more of his friends will die. With Vanisher in tow, X-Force returns home.[19]

Meanwhile, Warpath returns to his tribe's reservation at Camp Verde to visit his brother's grave, but discovers the empty graves of his entire tribe before being violently attacked by the Demon Bear. Just as he's about to be killed, Warpath is saved by Ghost Rider, who offers to teach him how to kill a demon. After engaging the Demon Bear in battle once more, Ghost Rider realizes the demon is reacting to pain caused by a dagger embedded in its body. Once Warpath removes the dagger, the demon is revealed to be the spirit guides of Warpath's tribe, corrupted by the black magic of the dagger. These spirits grant Warpath a vision that reveals the history of the man responsible for digging up the graves of his tribe: Eli Bard. Warpath returns home and tells X-Force what the spirits showed him, which ends with the revelation that Eli is using the Technarch Transmode Virus to revive dead mutants as an offering to his queen, Selene.[20]

Soon after, Beautiful Dreamer mysteriously dies after losing control of her powers and killing hundreds of civilians. Cyclops realizes this was likely caused by the mutated Legacy Virus, and assembles X-Force to deal with the situation. Cyclops also reveals he's in the process of tracking down Cable, and gives each of them a time-travel device that will be remotely activated when Beast determines Cable's exact location in the timestream. Fever Pitch loses control of his powers soon after, resulting in a similar massacre. While escaping the explosion, Archangel spots the Leper Queen and informs Cyclops. Once Boom Boom, Hellion and Surge are kidnapped, the Stepford Cuckoos use Cerebra to track them down. Hellion and Surge are injected with the altered Legacy Virus and teleported out just as X-Force storm the Leper Queen's base. As Wolverine questions the Leper Queen, Cyclops informs him that Cable has been found and X-Force is being sent after him. Despite Wolverine's protests, Cyclops activates the time-travel devices, sending X-Force forward in time before they can kill the Leper Queen.[21]

Messiah War

See also: Messiah War

X-Force is involuntarily sent to the future to retrieve Cable and Hope. The landscape is a barren, ravaged area, and the team quickly encounters danger. Apocalypse has been defeated, and Stryfe controls this future. X-Force and Cable struggle to save Hope from Bishop and Stryfe.

Not Forgotten

Not Forgotten takes place directly after X-Force's return to the present. X-23 emerges from the timestream just in time to save Boom Boom from being killed by the Leper Queen. Seconds after she kills the Leper Queen, both she and Boom Boom are taken into custody by agents of H.A.M.M.E.R. At the United Nations, Hellion and Surge are rescued from the Sapien League by Wolverine, Archangel and Elixir. Boom Boom is freed from H.A.M.M.E.R. custody by Warpath, while X-23 is returned to The Facility. She wakes up to find her left arm severed by Kimura, wielding a chain saw. Before she can cut off the right arm, Kimura is shot by Agent Morales. Agent Young is revealed to be a member of The Facility that infiltrated H.A.M.M.E.R. to acquire the intel that Morales had on X-23. When Young tries to recruit Morales into The Facility, she rejects his offer by beating him unconscious. In the present, X-23 and Morales make their way to a Facility lab that holds mass amounts of the chemical trigger that forces X-23 to kill. While inside the room, X-23 cuts the claws out of her severed arm and gives them to Morales for safekeeping. She lights a Molotov cocktail of sorts which sets the sprinkler system off. The Facility soldiers finish cutting through to Laura just as Kimura realizes the sprinklers are spraying the Trigger Scent everywhere. X-23 goes feral and kills all the soldiers in her way. She gets to the Facility head's office just as the sprinklers start spraying water, washing away the scent. Kimura manages to club Laura from behind and then kills the Facility head, planning on framing Laura for it. Agent Morales arrives and sets Kimura on fire to distract her while she and Laura make her escape. Morales reveals she rigged the place to explode and they get out in time. The rest of X-Force arrives and takes Laura and her severed claws home, leading into the events of Necrosha.

Necrosha

Main article: Necrosha

X-Force is involved in the battle against Selene's resurrected mutant forces on Utopia, until Cyclops sends them to Genosha to kill Selene.

They arrive at Necrosha and manage to rescue Warpath, who then leads them in battle against a god-like Selene, and manage to kill her using an old ritual of Warpath's tribe. Wolverine tells Cyclops that Warpath, X-23, Wolfsbane and Elixir are out of the team, but Cyclops insists that X-Force will be needed more than ever in the time ahead.

X-Men: Second Coming

Main article: X-Men: Second Coming

X-Force is joined by Cable and Cypher on a time-traveling mission to stop an invasion of Nimrods sent from a possible dystopian future. As Cable only has one use remaining on his time-traveling device, it is believed to be a one-way suicide mission. After they complete their mission and Cable sacrifices himself to return X-Force to the present, Hope's mutant powers emerge and she destroys Bastion. After the battle, Logan is confronted by Storm about X-Force. She tells Logan that he never should have involved James, Rahne and Laura, and Logan tells her that he never wanted them involved, but doesn't regret what they did. Logan tells Laura that she's out and to figure out what she wants from life. Afterward, Logan discusses the future of X-Force with Cyclops, who decides to disband the team. Logan meets with his new team a short time later, consisting of himself, Archangel, Fantomex, Psylocke and Deadpool, deciding to run a new X-Force team without the knowledge of Cyclops or the other X-Men.

Volume 4

Dirty/Tricks

The new X-force consists of Cable, Marrow (who despite losing her powers during M-Day is repowered using a psychic headband), Psylocke, Fantomex, and Dr. Nemesis. They are investigating an explosion in Alexandria that put Hope Summers into a coma and find a new mutant nicknamed Meme, since she can only communicate through computers, as her body is comatose. They discover Russian billionaire Yevgeny-Malevitch Volga is behind Alexandria explosion and the kidnapping. He has been kidnapping mutants and supercharging them with kinetic energy and making them into human bombs. While in Paris, they pretend to kill a mutant that can read the minds of cats, so the French secret mutant forces, Le Bureaus Discret, will come to investigate, then they kidnap Le Necrogateur, a mutant that can read the minds of the deceased. Using his powers they find Volga's headquarters and that Volga found a mutant that can teleport between dimensions. Threatening the death of his family, they force the teleporting mutant to bring back a powerful weapon from Earth 1287, that creates super soldiers but greatly decreases their lifespan. During the attack on Volga's base Marrow discovers that she was pregnant during M-Day and volunteered to get her powers back, but at the cost of her pregnancy. She has a mental breakdown and X-Force is captured. It seems all is lost when Cable is super-charged and blown up by Volga. It turns out that Cable was present at Alexandria and it was him and Hope that caused the explosion when he was supercharged by Volga's henchman. Hope mimicked his powers and the chemicals caused her to fall into a coma. Cable survived the explosions since he wasn't really there—Dr. Nemesis keeps Cable locked in stasis and creates a clone of him everyday and uploads his memories. The Cable and Dr. Nemesis attack Volga's base again and teleports his supercharged henchmen into outer space and then Volga seems to commit suicide by super-charging himself and killing the Cable clone again, but Marrow creates a bone shield to protect the team. Volga's spirit survives the explosion and another Cable clone emerges from the X-Force base to mourn over Hope, who was able to manifest herself in a digital avatar by copying the powers of a brain-dead mutant, Meme. Psylocke is able to discover the switch with her psychic powers, but promises Hope that she won't tell Cable.

Hide/Fear

Cable and the X-Force are barely survived their ordeal with Volga track a team of British special forces into the desert. The team is tracking terrorists know as the Quaddees. It turns out Volga sold his tech to both the British and the Quaddees. X-Force begins abducting the team, but are attacked by Pete Wisdom, Meggan, and Excalibur from MI13.[22] Soon the Quaddees kidnap one member of the team, so the three groups decide to work together. Psylocke is able to find out that the super-powered British Special forces team will all die soon from Volga's tech, so the team sacrifices themselves so MI-13 and X-Force can escape. They also learn that there's a secret organization called the Yellow Eye spying on all mutants,[23] who also kidnapped Domino.[24] This series also retcons multiple X-Men backstories with the introduction of ForgetMeNot. His power is to immediately be forgot by anybody who speaks with him and to be completely unnoticed by people around him unless he acknowledges them. Only Xavier knows of his existence—even setting a psychic alarm clock to check in with ForgetMeNot every hour to remind him somebody remembers him. He hangs around the X-Mansion repelling attackers and saving the X-Men multiple times, without them realizing it and blaming it on dumb luck or deus ex machina.[25] Dr. Nemesis, using an algorithm based on blurs in camera footage and missing toilet paper at the X-Mansion creates a teleporter to bring ForgetMeNot to the X-Force base on an abandoned SHIELD Helicarrier. The team has great difficulty catching ForgetMeNot, since whenever he hides they forgot about him then take a coffee break, where a prereorded video by Dr. Nemesis plays reminding them to find ForgetMeNot. This turns into a viscous cycle, almost like a time loop, until ForgetMeNot realizes that he was brought here to trick the Yellow Eye spybots (which look like tiny gnats) into allowing himself to be tracked, place a reverse tracking beacon on one and then the drone will forget him immediately and not self destruct. This plan works; however, Fantomex then kills ForgetMeNot. Stating that he knew about him all the time since he has three brains and nanobots in his brain. Fantomex says he does it because he is evil and bored. The ships cleaning bots sweep away ForgetMeNot's body and Dr. Nemesis forgets speaking with him and assumes he figured out how to track the spybots on his own.[26]

Ends/Means

The team attacks the Yellow Eye base, but during the battle Meme/Hope Summers hacks into Fantomex's consciousness, thanks to his nanobot brain, in order to learn why he broke up with her. He then reveals that he knew Hope Summers was posing as Meme. He then betrays the team and plans to use the Yellow Eye tracking technology to find his missing clones (Cluster and Weapon XIII).[27] Luckily, it turns out Domino was brainwashed by the Yellow Eye, but Meme was able hack into her and free her. She then shoots Fantomex in the head. [28]It turns out Yellow Eye is actually Mojo, who reveals that Meme is actually Hope Summers to the rest of the team. Cable debates using the Yellow Eye Technology, but Psyclocke wants the facility destroyed. They don't have time to debate since a second clone of Cable was already at the facility with Dr. Nemesis tracking Volga during the prior fight. The team doesn't have time to debate the morality since Fantomex was able to recode Volga's super virus code when he died and E.V.A. reloaded the virus to give her unlimited superpowers. [29]However, since his mind is still mechanical Meme hacked into him making him think he killed the team, while they actually escaped. [30]Back at the base Cable tricks Fantomex into fighting him, but is actually getting Fantomex to destroy various spy agencies and evil organizations. ForgetMeNot also reveals himself to Hope Summers and explains that the original Meme is still alive and saved him by transferring his consciousness and then repaired his body with the ships clean up bots. He reveals that Meme is actually dying, and once she dies Hope will not be able to copy Meme's powers and communicate with the team using her hacking powers. [31]After Meme dies, ForgetMeNot reveals himself to the team and asks Marrow to touch Hope's body, then Hopes copies Marrow's healing factor and is able to temporarily heal herself enough to play a video showing how Cable has been manipulating the team. ForgetMeNot then pushes Psylocke into Hope, who then copies her psychic powers and reveals to the team her troubles childhood and how despite Cable saving her life by traveling between dimensions, she has outgrown him morally and doesn't look up to him. Marrow them kills the Cable clone. Hope also revealed the their location to Fantomex, who is on his way to kill them. [32]The team doesn't think they have a chance at stopping him, but Hope has a plan that will only work if they act as a team. Domino and Psylocke distract Fantomex while ForgetMeNot sneaks up to him and teleports him to Hope, who copies his super-powers, as well as the entire teams. She releases all the Cable clones against Fantomex. [33]Hope, using Dr. Nemesis's super intellect, then figures out that Fantomex doesn't believe he is imperfect, but reveals to him that perfect requires cracks and inadequacies and perfection is really being a team. Fantomex cannot comprehend this and has a mental breakdown. Psyclocke them uses her mind blade to scramble his mind. The team then later reveals they "fired" Cable from the team.[34]

X-Force Roster

Volume 1

Issues Characters
#1–2 Boomer, Cable, Cannonball, Copycat (as Domino), Feral, Shatterstar, Warpath
#3–14 Boomer, Cable, Cannonball, Copycat, Feral, Shatterstar, Siryn, Warpath
#15–24 Boomer, Cannonball, Feral, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath
#25–28 Boomer, Cable, Cannonball, Feral, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath
#29–38 Boomer, Cable, Cannonball, Domino, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Warpath
#39 Boomer, Cable, Cannonball, Domino, Prosh, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Warpath
#40-43 Boomer, Cable, Cannonball, Domino, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Warpath
#44–50 Boomer, Cable, Caliban, Domino, Shatterstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath
#51–69 Cable, Caliban, Domino, Meltdown (formerly Boomer), Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath
#70–81 Meltdown, Moonstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath
#83–86 Bedlam, Cannonball, Meltdown, Moonstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath
#87–91 Bedlam, Cannonball, Domino, Meltdown, Moonstar, Siryn, Sunspot, Warpath
#92–101 Bedlam, Cannonball, Domino, Meltdown, Moonstar, Warpath
#102–106 Bedlam, Cannonball, Meltdown, Warpath, Wisdom
#107–115 Bedlam, Cannonball, Domino, Meltdown, Warpath
#116 Anarchist, Battering Ram, Doop, Gin Genie, Plazm, U-Go Girl, Zeitgeist
#117–118 Anarchist, Bloke, Doop, Orphan, Phat, Saint Anna, U-Go Girl, Vivisector
#119 Anarchist, Doop, Orphan, Phat, Saint Anna, U-Go Girl, Vivisector
#120 Anarchist, Doop, Orphan, Phat, U-Go Girl, Vivisector
#121–124 Anarchist, Doop, Orphan, Phat, Spike, U-Go Girl, Vivisector
#125–128 Anarchist, Dead Girl, Doop, Orphan, Phat, Spike, U-Go Girl, Vivisector
#129 Anarchist, Dead Girl, Doop, Orphan, Phat, Vivisector

Volume 2

Issues Characters
#1–3 Cable, Cannonball, Domino, Meltdown, Shatterstar, Sunspot, Warpath
#4-5 Cable, Caliban, Meltdown, Shatterstar
#6 Cable, Caliban, Domino, Meltdown, Shatterstar

Volume 3

Issues Year Characters
Messiah Complex 2008 Caliban, Hepzibah, Warpath, Wolfsbane, Wolverine, X-23
#1–7 Warpath, Wolfsbane, Wolverine, X-23
#8–10 2008–2009 Archangel, Elixir, Warpath, Wolfsbane, Wolverine, X-23
#11–25 2009–2010 Archangel, Domino, Elixir, Vanisher, Warpath, Wolfsbane, Wolverine, X-23
#26 2010 Archangel, Domino, Vanisher, Wolverine
#27–28 2010 Archangel, Cable, Cypher, Domino, Wolverine, X-23
Second Coming #2 2010 Team disassembling - Archangel, Domino, Wolverine, X-23.

Team reformation as Uncanny X-Force - Archangel, Deadpool, E.V.A, Fantomex, Psylocke, Wolverine

Volume 4

Issues Year Characters
#1–11 2014 Cable, Dr. Nemesis, E.V.A., Fantomex, Hope Summers (as MeMe), Marrow, Psylocke
#12–13 2014 Cable, Domino, Dr. Nemesis, Hope Summers (as MeMe), Marrow, Psylocke
#14–15 2015 Cable, Domino, Dr. Nemesis, ForgetMeNot, Hope Summers, Marrow, Psylocke

Creators

Writers

Art

Cover art

Collected editions

Various stories and series have been collected into trade paperbacks:

Volume 1

Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
X-Force Omnibus - Vol. 1 New Mutants #98-100, Annual #7; X-Men Annual #15; X-Factor Annual #6; X-Force #1-15; Spider-Man #16; Cable: Blood & Metal #1-2; material from New Warriors Annual #1, X-Force Annual #1 February 2013 0785165959
X-Force: A Force To Be Reckoned With HC New Mutants #98–100; X-Force #1–4; and Spider-Man #16 January 2011 0-7851-4984-8
X-Force: Under The Gun HC X-Force #5–15 & material from Annual #1 March 2011 0-7851-4985-6
X-Men: X-Cutioner's Song X-Force #16–18; Uncanny X-Men #294–296; X-Factor #84–86; and X-Men, vol. 2 #14–16 May 1994 0-7851-0025-3
X-Force: Assault on Graymalkin X-Force #19–25 & New Warriors #31 November 2011 0-7851-5899-5
X-Men: Fatal Attractions X-Force #25; X-Factor #92; Uncanny X-Men #304; X-Men, vol. 2 #25; Wolverine, vol. 2 #75; and Excalibur #71 August 2000 0-7851-0748-7
X-Force: Toy Soldiers X-Force #26-31, Annual #2; Nomad #20 April 2012 0-7851-6219-4
X-Force: Child's Play X-Force #32-37, Annual #3; New Warriors #45-46 August 2012 0-7851-6269-0
Origin of Generation X: Tales of the Phalanx Covenant X-Force #38; Uncanny X-Men #316–317; X-Men, vol. 2 #36–37; X-Factor #106; Excalibur #82; Wolverine, vol. 2 #85; Cable #16; and Generation X #1 June 2001 0-7851-0216-7
X-Force: The Phalanx Covenant HC X-Force #38-43; X-Factor #106; Excalibur #82 May 2013 978-0-7851-6272-8
Cable and X-Force Classic Vol. 1 X-Force #44-48;Cable #21-28 April 2013 978-0-7851-6272-8
X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic, vol. 1 X-Force #57; X-Men, vol. 2 #53–54; Uncanny X-Men #334–335; Avengers #400–401; Onslaught: X-Men; Cable #34; Incredible Hulk #444; and Fantastic Four #414–415 December 2007 0-7851-2823-9
X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic, vol. 2 X-Force #58; Excalibur #100; Fantastic Four #415; Amazing Spider-Man #415; Sensational Spider-Man #8; Spider-Man #72; Green Goblin #12; Punisher #11; X-Factor #125–126; Wolverine, vol. 2 #104; X-Man #17; X-Men, vol. 2 #55; and Uncanny X-Men #336 June 2008 0-7851-2824-7
X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic, vol. 3 X-Force #57; Avengers #402; Incredible Hulk #445; Iron Man #332; Thor #502; Wolverine, vol. 2 #104; Cable #35; X-Men, vol. 2 #55; Uncanny X-Men #336; and X-Man #19 August 2008 0-7851-2825-5
X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance, X-Force #67-70, Generation X #26-31, X-Men #65-70, Uncanny X-Men #346, Wolverine #115-118, Cable #45-47, X-Man #30 August 2012 0-7851-6240-2
X-Men: Powerless X-Force #101; Uncanny X-Men #379–380; Cable #78; Wolverine, vol. 2 #149; and X-Men, vol. 2 #99 August 2010 0-7851-4677-6
Counter-X, Volume 1: X-Force (192 pages) X-Force #102–109 July 2008 0-7851-3304-6
Counter X: X-Force: Rage War X-Force #110-115, 102 Rough Cut August 2012 978-0785159735
X-Force: Famous, Mutant & Mortal (hardcover) (288 pages) X-Force #116–129 July 2003 0-7851-1023-2
X-Force: Famous, Mutant & Mortal, Volume 1: New Beginning (128 pages) X-Force #116–120 November 2001 0-7851-0819-X
X-Force: Famous, Mutant & Mortal, Volume 2: Final Chapter (224 pages) X-Force #121–129 November 2002 0-7851-1088-7

Volume 2

Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
X-Force and Cable: Legend Returns (144 pages) X-Force, vol. 2 #1–6 April 2005 0-7851-1429-7
X-Force: Shatterstar (160 pages) X-Force: Shatterstar #1–4 and New Mutants #99–100 August 2005 0-7851-1633-8

Volume 3

Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
Volume 1: Angels and Demons
(144 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #1–6 November 2008 (HC)
February 2009 (SC)		 0-7851-3552-9
0-7851-2976-6
Volume 2: Old Ghosts
(120 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #7–11 June 2009 (HC)
August 2009 (SC)		 0-7851-3821-8
0-7851-2977-4
Volume 3: Not Forgotten
(120 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #12–13 & #17–20 December 2009 (HC)
March 2010 (SC)		 0-7851-4019-0
0-7851-3540-5
X-Force/Cable: Messiah War
(368 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #14–16; X-Men: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #1–3; Cable, vol. 2 #11–15; Messiah War; and X-Men: Future History—The Messiah War Sourcebook August 2009 (HC)
December 2009 (SC)		 0-7851-3157-4
0-7851-3173-6
X-Necrosha
(448 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #11, #21–25 & material from Annual #1; New X-Men, vol. 2 #32; New Mutants, vol. 3 #6–8; X-Men: Legacy #231–234; X-Force/New Mutants: Necrosha; and X-Necrosha: The Gathering July 2010 (HC)
December 2010 (SC)		 0-7851-4674-1
0-7851-4675-X
X-Men: Second Coming
(392 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #26–28; Second Coming: Prepare; X-Men: Second Coming #1–2; Uncanny X-Men #523–525; New Mutants, vol. 3 #12–14; and X-Men: Legacy #235–237 September 2010 (HC) 0-7851-4678-4
X-Force by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost:
The Complete Collection Volume 1
(384 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #1–13; X-Force Special: Ain't No Dog #1 & material from X-Force Annual (2010) #1 March 2014 (SC) 0-7851-8966-1
X-Force by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost:
The Complete Collection Volume 2
(384 pages)		 X-Force, vol. 3 #17-25; X-Necrosha: The Gathering; X-Force: Sex & Violence #1–3; material from X-Necrosha and X-Force Annual (2010) #1 September 2014 (SC) 0-7851-9000-7

Volume 4

Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
X-Force Volume 1: Dirty/Tricks X-Force (vol. 4) #1-6 September 9, 2014 978-0785190264
X-Force Volume 2: Hide/Fear X-Force (vol. 4) #7-10; X-Men: Legacy (vol. 1) #300 February 3, 2015 978-0785190271
X-Force Volume 3: Ends/Means X-Force (vol. 4) #11-15 May 12, 2015 978-0785193913

Awards

Issues #57–58 of the first series were part of the Onslaught storyline which was a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic-Book Story for 1997.

The original X-Force

Before the team best known as X-Force debuted, Marvel introduced an unrelated, little-known group also called X-Force. It was a short-lived group that was designed to replace Freedom Force. The members were not mutants, but received their powers artificially and were named after the X-Men. This group was organized by a government agency known as M Branch and only appeared in the pages of Cloak and Dagger #9–10 (1990).

Toy Biz X-Force toys

In 1992 Toy Biz began releasing X-Force action figures. The toy line featured a variety of X-Force and X-Men characters, including heroes G. W. Bridge, Cable, Caliban, Cannonball, Domino, Grizzly, Kane, Quark, Rictor, Shatterstar, Sunspot, Warpath, and X-Treme and opponents Avalanche, Blob, Black Tom Cassidy, Commando, Commcast, Deadpool, Exodus, Forearm, Genesis, Gideon, Killspree, Krule, Mojo, Nimrod, Pyro, Slayback, and Stryfe.

Other versions

In the alternate reality of the "Days of Future Now" storyline, the X-Force consists of Banshee, Black Tom Cassidy, Cannonball, Domino, Meltdown, and Omega Red.

In X-Men '92, X-Force members are: Cable, Domino, Deadpool, Psylocke, Archangel and Bishop.

In other media

Television

In an early episode of Beavis and Butt-Head the duo vandalize their neighbors house by painting "X-FORCE RULES" on it.

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

References

  1. ↑ "Comics - News - Marvel reveals 'Uncanny X-Force' team". Digital Spy. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
  2. 1 2 "Spurrier, Kim's Adjectiveless "X-Force" Launches in February". ComicBookResources. 2013-11-07. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
  3. ↑ X-Force #31 (February 1994)
  4. ↑ X-Force #34 (May 1994)
  5. ↑ X-Force #37 (August 1994)
  6. ↑ X-Force #29–30 (December 1993-January 1994)
  7. ↑ X-Force #24 (July 1993)
  8. ↑ X-Force #27 & 43 and X-Force 1994 Annual
  9. ↑ X-Force #38 (September 1994)
  10. ↑ CBGXtra.com - Comics Sales Charts Archived October 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Hulk vol. 2 #14
  12. ↑ Richards, Dave (April 18, 2010). "C2E2: Remender Unleashes 'New X-Force'". Comic Book Resources.
  13. ↑ Manning, Shaun (September 9, 2010). "Marvel's Next Big Thing 'Uncanny X-Force' Call". Comic Book Resources.
  14. ↑ Richards, Dave (August 25, 2010). "Remender Readies the 'Uncanny X-Force'". Comic Book Resources.
  15. ↑ Ching, Albert (April 15, 2011). "Rob Williams Leads the UNCANNY X-FORCE Team Into FEAR ITSELF". Newsarama. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  16. ↑ Richards, Dave (September 14, 2012). "EXCLUSIVE: The Future Is Hopeless for "Cable and X-Force"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  17. ↑ Sunu, Steve (September 17, 2012). "Humphries & Garney Take On "Uncanny X-Force"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  18. ↑ X-Force #1–6
  19. ↑ X-Force #7–10
  20. ↑ X-Force #11
  21. ↑ X-Force #12–13
  22. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 # 8
  23. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 # 9
  24. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 # 7
  25. ↑ X-Men Legacy Issue #300
  26. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 # 10
  27. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #11
  28. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #11
  29. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #12
  30. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #13
  31. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #13
  32. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #14
  33. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #14
  34. ↑ X-Force Vol 4 Issue #15
  35. ↑ "'X-Force' movie in the works at Fox.". 11 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  36. ↑ "Whois x-forcemovie.com". Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  37. ↑ "Fox To Use Comic-Con As Launching Pad For Wider X-Men Movie Universe, X-Force Film Included". 12 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  38. ↑ "'Kick-Ass 2' Filmmaker Tackling Fox's 'X-Force' (Exclusive)". Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  39. ↑ Vejvoda, By Jim. "Rob Liefeld Praises Screenplay for X-Force Movie". Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  40. ↑ Jayson, Jay (December 27, 2015). "X-Force Movie Lineup Possibly Revealed". Comic Book.
  41. ↑ Alex Osborn (February 9, 2016). "Getting an X-Force Movie Made Is Ryan Reynolds' Next Priority". IGN.
  42. ↑ "'X-Force' Could Be Rated-R, Says Simon Kinberg". Collider.com. February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  43. ↑ Davis, Erik (May 16, 2016). "Fox is Already Working on an 'X-Force' Movie; Bryan Singer has Pitched A Female Wolveringe". Fandango.
  44. ↑ Kit, Borys (November 9, 2016). "-Fox's X-Men Issues: Jennifer Lawrence Unsigned, 'Deadpool' Defections, 'Gambit' on Hold". The Hollywood Reporter.
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