Apr. 29 – X-Force, Fantastic Four, and Wolverine

X-Force Vol. 1 #31 by Fabian Nicieza and Tony Daniel (1994) Excellent issue, one of Nicieza’s best thus far in his career on the X-books. Can we get more slow issues like this? Grade: A Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #607 / FF Vol. 1 #19 by Jonathan Hickman, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Gabriel Hernandez Walta (2012)

Apr. 24 – X-Force, Fantastic Four: Forever, and Sabretooth: Death Hunt

X-Force Vol. 1 #30 by Fabian Nicieza and Tony Daniel (1994) Shatterstar, Warpath, and Siryn are finally turning into realized characters. I have to think their lack of development is the reason Feral got taken off the book. Theresa returns to Cassidy Keep, where she claims she grew up. Didn’t she not know her father

Apr. 23 – X-Force, Fantastic Four, and Cable

X-Force Vol. 1 #29 by Fabian Nicieza and Mat Broome (1993) Another good issue for X-Force. It’s extremely apparent how much better the Nicieza books are than the Lobdell books at this point. Grade: A- FF Vol. 1 #13 / Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #602 by Jonathan Hickman, Juan Bobillo, and Barry Kitson (2012) The

Apr. 22 – X-Force and Fantastic Four: Forever

X-Force Vol. 1 #27-28 by Fabian Nicieza, Mat Broome, and Antonio Daniel (1993) Is X-Force the best X-book of 1993? It’s certainly the most improved. All of a sudden every character is having meaningful interactions consistently in engaging ways. The way Dani was brought back was great, though the explanation for why she is with

Apr. 10 – X-Force, Fantastic Four: Prime Elements, and X-Men 2099

X-Force Vol. 1 #26 by Fabian Nicieza and Mat Broome (1993) The action parts of the issue are the norm, but I really like the quieter aspects we see. Sam and Roberto insisting on going to visit Xian in Madripoor to invite her to Illyana’s funeral is both nice to see but also reassuring that

X-Force, Fantastic Four: Prime Elements, and X-Men 2099

X-Force Annual #2 by Fabian Nicieza and Antonio Daniel (1993) This annual serves mostly to introduce Adam X the X-Treme, who is too 90s for me. The character didn’t have much staying power, and his backstory has been done before too many times. Grade: B- Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #575-576 by Jonathan Hickman and Dale

Mar. 31 – X-Force, Ghost Rider, and Starjammers

X-Force Vol. 1 #25 by Fabian Nicieza and Greg Capullo (1993) I disagree pretty strongly with bringing Cable back into the series as a main character, but at least he seems to have had a significant attitude change for the better. I just don’t want to regress Sam back into where he was before. Grade:

Mar. 30 – X-Force, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine

X-Force Vol. 1 #24 by Fabian Nicieza and Greg Capullo (1993) I like how this issue is written a lot. It’s relatively self-contained, doesn’t end on any sort of cliff-hanger, and still stays important to the overarching plot. It’s nice to see Rusty and Skids again, but I can’t imagine they will stay super relevant

Mar. 5 – Secret Warriors, X-Force, and Watchmen

X-Force Vol. 1 #23 by Fabian Nicieza and Greg Capullo (1993) It’s actually refreshing to see any of the X-teams just handle an antagonist as handedly as X-Force does the X-ternals here. Grade: A- Secret Warriors Vol. 1 #17-18 by Jonathan Hickman and Alessandro Vitti (2010) Hickman creates really compelling plots. This is an outstanding

Mar. 4 – Secret Warriors: Wake the Beast, X-Force, and Watchmen

X-Force Vol. 1 #22 by Fabian Nicieza and Greg Capullo (1993) X-Force is really clicking for me right now. The characters seem like they’re actually friends with each other, which is somewhat lacking in the two X-Men titles of 1993. When does Domino get revealed as having powers? I keep expecting it to happen but