Review: Uncanny X-Force Volume 1 - Let It Bleed

The X-Men Storm and Psylocke team up with the pint-sized Puck to hunt down the sorceress Spiral, who is rumoured to be dealing psychotropic drugs on the west coast. They soon discover that she has become the guardian of a new mutant and has vowed to protect her from the ills of the world – which includes former X-Man Bishop.

Uncanny X-Force Volume 1: Let It Bleed collects Uncanny X-Force #1-6, written by Sam Humphries with art by Adrian Alphona and Ron Garney.

Superficially, Let It Bleed is a meandering story arc that has one too many plotlines. Humphries jumps between narrative threads throughout, which interfere with creating consistent pacing and make it difficult to follow. There’s Spiral and her new charge, the return of Bishop, Storm and Psylocke’s personal life drama, and Fantomex and Cluster’s search for Psylocke. Thankfully, Psylocke acts as the connective tissue between all of these dangling plotlines. She is the nucleus of the story and Humphries makes sure to portray her as the flawed, multi-faceted character that fans know her to be. He also has a clear understanding of her friendship with Storm and this becomes crucial to the overall enjoyment of the series. Their interactions with one another are perhaps the best thing about this collection and ultimately help to emphasize that the X-Men are family and that they genuinely care for one another.

Those hoping that this reboot of Uncanny X-Force is a perfect jumping on point for newer readers are certain to be disappointed, if not entirely lost. Humphries’ narrative is heavily steeped in decades of continuity and is a veritable buffet for hardcore fans. Unfortunately, this means it will leave more casual readers scratching their heads. It’s likely that people won’t understand why Psylocke detests Spiral so much unless they’re familiar with their past and Humphries’ usage of the Demon Bear from the old school New Mutants series only receives a passing reference in explaining what it is. There’s also the likelihood that people won’t be aware of who Puck is, considering the fact that he’s a member of Alpha Flight and hadn’t really been used in anything overly mainstream for quite some time. Finally, there’s the fact that this is the post-Rick Remender relaunch of Uncanny X-Force, so readers will benefit from having some working knowledge of the events from that series as well. As such, Let It Bleed reads as a for-veteran-fans-only style story.

Let It Bleed has its fair share of strengths and weaknesses. Overall, Humphries introduced a lot of interesting elements and is to be commended for crafting a story that is character-driven. He has a very clear understanding of both Psylocke and Storm, writing them quite well throughout. However, this arc also needed more tailoring in order to trim away some of the unnecessary fat that clogs the pacing. Simply put, it often takes too long to get to the point and seems to wander around directionless. In the end, Let It Bleed is an odd mix of being fantastically written on the character front, but weak on the story end of things.

RATING: C+