"Roadtrip" X-Force: From the Beginning!

[Prodigy55]

I hope Zeb Wells restores Ali$on Cre$tmere. But considering his hard-on for the original series, it probably won't happen.

She also had the best costume. I imagine she wears a white silk toga on her off-time.

[Justin K.]

**-cries-**

[Prodigy55]

X-Force #91
Fallout
John Francis Moore and Tommy Lee Edwards

Siryn’s special issue starts off with her jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. As she falls, she remembers the good old days; when she would willingly jump off anything because her flight powers could save her. But now she’s nothing but dead weight, falling to her death. Or so we thought! It was all a daydream. Theresa is still standing on the bridge’s edge. A park ranger comes to talk her out of jumping, and she smiles and walks away. She tells herself that she’s depressed, not suicidal.

“And what’s a Siren without her song? Lost.”

Meanwhile…
Back at the X-Force warehouse, Sean Cassidy, Banshee, has come to visit his injured daughter. After some words with the team, he learns that Theresa’s been out all day, alone. X-Force and Banshee decide to split up and look for her.

Theresa continues her walk through the city, remembering the old days of X-Force. She worked hard at being a leader, and tried not to depend on anyone. But Theresa Rourke was a scared little girl full of insecurities and neuroses. She created a separate identity as Siryn; one who was strong and brave. But now that Siryn is gone, Theresa is weaker than ever. She sits in a coffee shop and a young girl begins to sing and play guitar. Theresa, overwhelmed by the voice, runs out of the shop.

“So beautiful it cuts me like a knife. I used to be able to sing like that.”



Van Ness Avenue and California Street…
Bobby and Tabitha have come to a used clothes store that Theresa used to frequent. Bobby says that this whole search is pointless. Terry’s a big girl and if she doesn’t want to be found, they shouldn’t be looking. Tabitha, angered by his attitude, tells Bobby that Terry’s in shock and anyone with an ounce of empathy would know that she shouldn’t be alone right now. Bobby gets mad. Tabby breaks up with him. But the INS (immigration and naturalization service) confronts him before he can follow her home. Bobby’s an illegal alien!

Fort Funston…
Dani, Sean and James come to another one of Terry’s favourite spots: a beach that reminds her of the Irish coastline. Sean tells the two young mutants about his own voice-loss and his past, including the death of his wife, the loss of his daughter and his time with the X-Men. If you don’t know this stuff… google it!

Twenty Fourth and Mission…
Theresa’s now found herself in a liquor shop. She’s buying a bottle, while promising herself that she won’t let it get out of control this time. She started drinking in boarding school and continued the habit long after she dropped out. After a successful jewel heist with her “father” (actually her uncle) Black Tom, she’d have a celebratory drink. She knew everything she was doing was wrong, but drinking helped calm her.

“He didn’t know I’d graduated to hard liquor during my time at catholic school.”



Kearny and Columbus…
Domino is checking in on one of Terry’s favourite bookstores. The owner quickly tells her that Terry hasn’t been around, though. As Domino leaves, a man starts to follow her. He addresses her by Tamara Winters, and then by Domino. She slams him against the wall and asks him who he is. He reveals that his name is Napoleon Sanders and he’s a special crimes agent in DC. He saw her stopping a bunch of armed robbers (way back in X-Force 72). But before he can tell her anything else, Domino starts glowing and vanishes!
Thersa continues her journey, past Guerro and 16th and Market and Van Ness. All the while clutching her bottle. She can’t tell X-Force about what she’s going through, but if she doesn’t reach out to someone, she might as well have jumped off the cliff. And finally she enters an alcoholics anonymous gathering.



Epilogue…
Late at night, when everyone has fallen asleep and Banshee’s gone home, Theresa finally comes back. James is the only one to hear her enter and she gives him a note. She tells him that she’s got an aunt who lives in a ranch out in the high desert. She’s going to go live there while she goes through this. She almost lost herself tonight.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m going to get through this. I love you all.
Theresa.”

NEXT: DOMINO’S BEEN KIDNAPPED! TRAVEL THROUGH TIME AND SPACE TO FIND OUT WHY.

[Prodigy55]

Really good issue. The art was so-so though. Some panels looked amazing, but the artist didn't do Domino any favours. She looked like a 500 pound man sometimes. The last great Siryn story

Also Banshee is awesome. But he looked too old and fat :/ Sunspot is a DICK.

[Justin K.]

Really good issue. The art was so-so though. Some panels looked amazing, but the artist didn't do Domino any favours. She looked like a 500 pound man sometimes. The last great Siryn story

While I wasn't a fan of the art myself, it really was a good read. It's sad to see her leave the team, but it's good to see a story like this happen, as opposed to just throwing her into limbo. It was closure, and it felt like the epilogue to the New Hellions story, and prologue for the Domino one coming up, though really, I find the next few stories until #99 are a bit weaker, not to spoil anything.

Sunspot is a DICK.

When isn't he?

[That JonoGuy]

That is probably one of my favorite comic issues. Such a great Siryn story. I loved the art myself.

[Jive]

This was such a good run!

Even though some things like were needlessly convoluted like the Reignfire storyline and Dani's power switches, the the team had such a good dynamic. A lot of the fan letters thought the book was directionless during this time, but it focused on the relationships a lot like how X-Factor used to.

This issue was especially good. I didn't realize how integral Siryn was until she left. The core group of Meltdown, Sunspot, Warpath, Moonstar, and Siryn and later/sometimes Domino, Cannonball, and Risque, was so good.

The art reminded me of John paul Leon but it was less consistently beautiful than his work. Still great issue for a great run of a series.

[Prodigy55]

X-Force #92
Strange Interlude
John Francis Moore and Mike Miller

After the beautiful issue 91, we are now greeted with a low point in X-Force history. This issue was a pain to review, partly because it’s for the most part a long and creepy dialogue between Domino and a strange villain named Halloween Jack and also because it’s just plain boring. However, in keeping with X-Force Friday tradition, here is the review/summary:

We find Domino in a strange white room and the narration boxes have taken a strange visual style. Domino, who is completely perplexed, is somehow led by this voice to a hotel room. There she meets a friendly butler named Quentin and abruptly beats him up. He reveals that her captor is not someone she knows and that he’s also invited her for dinner in two hours. He also instructs her to change into something more suitable, at which point he reveals a closet full of Domino’s old costumes. But before she can ask how or why, Quentin disappears.

Domino, now dressed for action, checks out the window and finds that her hotel room is none other than one that she’s visited before with Cable; somewhere outside of Firenze, Italy. This however is all a lie, since she easily parts the holographic display and proceeds down a long tunnel of wiring and pipes. Little does she know that her captor is manipulating her actions to suit his whims. She finds her way to the Chaos Engine and meets a scientist. He tells her about Jack, her captor. He’s been talking about Domino for weeks and he won’t let her leave now that he has her. This is Jack’s reality and his rules.



Domino, stubborn as usual, takes matters into her own hands. She finds a strange door and tries to open it. This leads to a psychedelic explosion of pain and suffering. Luckily Jack finally appears and helps Domino out. He says some clichéd lines and she punches him. Halloween Jack is creepy and obsessed with Domino. His floating citadel is surrounded by a chaos field and will destroy anyone who tries to escape. He leaves, reminding her of their dinner plans later. Domino returns to her room and finds a strange book full of her old photos and a collection of her favourite books and music.

Interlude (thank god!)
Back in San Francisco, Bobby is arguing with INS and their lawyers about his planned deportation. They blackmail him with a photo of Reignfire and threaten to charge him on criminal conspiracy charges. Unfortunately for him, Bobby can’t reveal the truth about Reignfire without exposing his friends in X-Force.

Back to the creepy action…
Oh brother, we’re only half way through, you guys! Domino shows up for her dinner date, only to have a hissy fit and demand answers. Halloween Jack reveals that he’s only saving her. You see, Domino has a death wish, obviously. Her life has been nothing but bone-breaking battle and life-threatening danger. And because of this death wish, she’s sought out Cable, X-Force and the other various gangs and mercenary outfits that she’s been a member of. Halloween Jack just her to live!



When his citadel was in danger of being engulfed by an ever-expanding ocean, Jack took refuge in the time stream. When looking through potential residences, he happened upon the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen: Domino. He then shows Domino her future. She, along with X-Force, is killed when four superhumans try to take over the world. Domino is a lightning rod for disaster. Halloween Jack mentions her sister, and ex-husband. This angers Domino even more and she tries to escape again; this time heading towards the Chaos Engine.

Just as she’s about to press a random button, Cable appears! I’ll save you the trouble and tell you that it’s actually not Cable. It’s just another one of Halloween Jack’s shapeshifting forms. Domino beats him up again and again (and doesn’t stop until we’re treated to some zany humour). She shocks him and destroys the chaos field. Halloween Jack, now panicking, helps Domino escape. They end up in Las Vegas, where Domino decides to make a call to someone named Victor.



Epilogue:
Dani, Sam, Jesse, Tabitha and James are in a park playing Frisbee. Suddenly, the Frisbee is destroyed and a strange voice calls to Dani!

NEXT: X-FORCE TEAMS UP WITH TWO ETERNALS TO STOP A DYING SUN GOD FROM DESTROYING THE WORLD.

[Prodigy55]

This was just a bad issue. No other comments.

[Psycwave]

Yeah, this issue sucked.

[Justin K.]

Isn't Halloween Jack supposed to be a 2099 character, and if so, what's he doing in 616?

[Prodigy55]

I just wiki'd Halloween Jack. Apparently he was a 2099 character (lol) who "died" in that world, but somehow came to this one. I guess it makes sense since JFM is the one who wrote X-Men 2099 and Doom 2099.

[nate-grey]

Aside from some foreshadowing of future events, this issue was completely pointless. At least the art was pretty decent, compared to the last issue that had questionable art and a good story.

[Prodigy55]

The next issue is not that great either (but definitely an improvement). I think the book gets really exciting at 94 all the way through the end. Don't want to spoil it though.

[That JonoGuy]

I thought the Halloween Jack story would have come across better with a different artist.