"Roadtrip" X-Force: From the Beginning!

[tunasammiches]

ha, i had no idea that other people had the same thoughts/experiences related to first reading these issues. that means a lot.

sentimental fanboys assemble!

:D

[The Sword Is Drawn]

This actually remains one of my favourite comics runs of any decade. I'm looking forward to this thread.

[Prodigy55]

Please be patient! 71 will be up on Friday! I just thought I'd give y'all a week to discuss the first 70 issues.

[RickyD410]

Please be patient! 71 will be up on Friday! I just thought I'd give y'all a week to discuss the first 70 issues.

If thats the case, can someone explain to me how the events lead up to the road trip? I've never read this X-Force, and while I'm familiar with the characters, I dont know the stories at all. Why are they taking this road trip?

[Prodigy55]

Well, right before this run begins, there is a big 90s X-Men event called Operation Zero Tolerance.

A presidential candidate, Graydon Creed is assasinated by a mutant. This causes the public to hate mutants even more and a mysterious man named Bastion proposes the hunting down and exterminating of all mutants. The X-Men mansion is attakced and Cyclops, Jean, Cannonball, Storm, and Wolverine are captured. Iceman, Cece Reyes, Sabra and Marrow escape and have to fight Bastion's Prime Sentinels. SHIELD shows up and arrests Bastion and shuts down Operation Zero Tolerance.

Some members X-Force are captured and the X-Force parts of this storyline feature the rest of X-Force trying to save them. Domino is kidnapped by a Prime Sentinel woman who has a grudge against her from long ago and she attaches some weird device on her spine. X-Force saves their teammates and Domino at the end. Caliban also gets kidnapped by a strange, unkown person.

The fallout from this has Cable trying to give the team new identities and wants them to go into hiding. But they all refuse. Domino leaves on her own, Rictor and Shatterstar go to Mexico and the rest of the team (Moonstar, Sunspot, Boom Boom, Siryn and Warpath) decide to leave Cable and go off on their own.

[RickyD410]

Cool, sweet. Thanks man. So essentially, they're not super heroes here, they're just friends? Who I'm sure will do some super heroics, cus this is an X-book, but from their perspective, they're just friends on the road together?

[Prodigy55]

Yeah, basically they got sick of being in hiding and all the missions. They just want to be regular people.

[The Lucky One]

Prodigy's description was entirely accurate, Ricky. It basically drives the final nail into the coffin of X-Force being a paramilitary strike force. They'd been moving away from that angle for a while, moving into the mansion after the Age of Apocalypse and becoming more of a "standard" X-team. As Prodigy said, after O:ZT, Cable wanted them to go underground; but Dani, who had never served under Cable, made it clear that she wasn't going to do that, and the other team members followed suit. For the first time in years, the team made a decision to act like what they were (college-age kids) rather than the militia Cable wanted them to be. (Hell, they attend Burning Man in issue 75.) With Cable, Domino, and Shatterstar leaving and Feral having departed a while back, the team was composed almost entirely of former New Mutants; that, combined with the overall vibe of fun and youthfulness, is why I refer to it as the New Mutants 2.0 era, because in effect that's what the team was again. Good times, good times.

-D

[theXfactor]

Well, right before this run begins, there is a big 90s X-Men event called Operation Zero Tolerance.

A presidential candidate, Graydon Creed is assasinated by a mutant. This causes the public to hate mutants even more and a mysterious man named Bastion proposes the hunting down and exterminating of all mutants. The X-Men mansion is attakced and Cyclops, Jean, Cannonball, Storm, and Wolverine are captured. Iceman, Cece Reyes, Sabra and Marrow escape and have to fight Bastion's Prime Sentinels. SHIELD shows up and arrests Bastion and shuts down Operation Zero Tolerance.

Some members X-Force are captured and the X-Force parts of this storyline feature the rest of X-Force trying to save them. Domino is kidnapped by a Prime Sentinel woman who has a grudge against her from long ago and she attaches some weird device on her spine. X-Force saves their teammates and Domino at the end. Caliban also gets kidnapped by a strange, unkown person.

The fallout from this has Cable trying to give the team new identities and wants them to go into hiding. But they all refuse. Domino leaves on her own, Rictor and Shatterstar go to Mexico and the rest of the team (Moonstar, Sunspot, Boom Boom, Siryn and Warpath) decide to leave Cable and go off on their own.

Oh! I read that! It was pretty good. Never read Road Trip, though.

[jarrod]

With Cable, Domino, and Shatterstar leaving and Feral having departed a while back, the team was composed almost entirely of former New Mutants; that, combined with the overall vibe of fun and youthfulness, is why I refer to it as the New Mutants 2.0 era, because in effect that's what the team was again.

Even the non-Muties (Warpath and Siryn) I feel could've easily fit in with the team way back when imo, and had at least some connection to them (via The Hellions and the Fallen Angels).

I kinda wish Kitty, Rahne and Douglock had made an appearance during this run. They were all in Excalibur at the time, could've been fun.

[Prodigy55]

X-Force #71
Destination: Unknown
John Francis Moore and Adam Pollina

X-Force: Tabitha Smith, aka Meltdown. Roberto DaCosta, aka Sunspot. Theresa Rourke, code-named Siryn. Dani Moonstar, once called Mirage. James Proudstar – Warpath.

Somewhere in Ohio, our 5 favourite mutants are experiencing some car troubles. How did they get into this situation? Well, they “told cable to stick it”. Meltdown, who is like 4 feet tall (!?), can’t fix the car so Sunspot offers to fly into the next town and get help. Buzzkill-Siryn says no. Meltdown and Sunspot both complain about her poor attitude, but Dani Moonstar tells them to STFU and listen. And of course they do, making Siryn feel worthless. Just as Warpath offers to run into the next town (with his super-speed), a van pulls up and stops for them. The occupants, who look eerily similar to Shaggy and Velma from Scooby-Doo, are these cool pro-mutant hippies and they take X-Force into the next city.



Minerva, Ohio...
X-Force is told that their car won’t be fixed for another 24 hours, so they should make plans to stay the night. The cute mechanic starts to hit on Dani, but she rejects him… she’s such a bitch to him, it’s great.



As they start wandering the town, Tabby strikes up conversation with Dani.

Tabby: So what did you think of the mechanic back at the station?
Dani: The fat one? He was kind of gross.
Tabby: No, the other one, the cute one that was talking to you?
Dani: Not my type.
Tabby: Hey girlfriend, you’re allowed to flirt

Meanwhile, at the Weller Clinic in Langley, Virginia…
Domino is in a doctor’s office, visiting her friend, Dr. Rebecca Shuyler. Domino wants to know what, the crazy Prime Sentinel witch, Grayaznova did to her (see X-Force 68). The doctor tells her that Grayaznova implanted some sort of device on the base of her skull that emits random electrical bursts. It messes with her nervous system, making her reflexes and reaction times erratic. The device can’t be removed, or else Domino would be paralyzed.

Back in Minerva, at Flo’s Diner…
The team is enjoying a nice meal and we find out that Sunspot hasn’t needed much food lately, because he’s found that the sun can give him sustenance. Also Dani Moonstar is a vegetarian. When the bill arrives, Sunspot tries paying with his credit card, but it is rejected and cut up. Luckily Dani has some money left over from her MLF job. Sunspot’s trust fund has been frozen as his father is being sued. What are they going to do for money???

There’s a page with Deadpool at the, now empty, Xavier institute. Don’t really know or care what’s going on. Read X-Men 78 to find out what’s up.

The Evangeline Motel, Minerva…
Because they can no longer afford multiple rooms, Siryn and Warpath go in to book a single room. The hotel clerk calls Siryn Mrs. Proudstar and she tells him that they are not married. Warpath asks her why she made a point of it and wonders if he should be offended.

“Och, don’t gimme a hard time, James. I didn’t want him t’think we were shackin’ up.”

When they get their room, Warpath calls to the rest of X-Force to come in. Dani Moonstar immediately rushes to the bathroom, removing her top on the way. We see a little bit of side-boob (ooh!) and her panties (aah!). Later, when they are in bed/on the floor, Warpath begins telling the team of his experience in the strange dimension he was in (last few issues). He was in this strange world full of little creatures and the mutant teleporter, Vanisher, was stuck there with him. Tabitha knows about him, as he trained her to be his own little thief (Fallen Angels mini-series). Basically to get the animals to be calm, Warpath had to tell them a story. So he told them an old Apache legend and was able to escape along with Vanisher.

Sledge (the man Warpath had to work for) then told him the adress the last living survivor of Warpath’s tribe, Michael Whitecloud. And on his way to Nebraska, he met up with X-Force. Siryn begins badmouthing that bitch Risque and Warpath is saddened about how easily he was used.



THUMP CRASH FWUDD! Outside…
Warpath, Siryn and Sunspot rush out to see what the trouble is. A young man is being stuffed into the trunk of a car! Our heroes save him and he offers them a job. Turns out, the boy is rich and wants to hire X-Force as personal bodyguards!

NEXT I$$UE: MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING!

[Psycwave]

Finally. <33333333

[Seresecros]

"Pound pound pound"?

[Prodigy55]

This was a good issue. I loved how they were all so fun and sassy. Even Siryn, who was usually a bore, was cool. The Velma and Shaggy knockoffs were great. And the art is perfect, of course.

[Leirus]

When I was having with my ex a conversation "If you would be with a girl who would she be" and I answered Danielle Moonstar. I am such a freak.

She is great on this, she stole Theresa leader role without even trying.