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A review by thecommonswings
X-Force, Volume 1: New Beginnings by Peter Milligan
4.0
For a bit of context I read the last couple of issues before Milligan and Allred turned up and it was two of the ugliest, stupidest comics I have ever read. Poor Ian Edginton is a writer I usually really like but this felt like comics written out of desperation and distress. So when I read the first of the Milligan run and saw Allred’s beautiful designs it felt like the greatest thing ever
Pete Milligan never quite feels like he’s had the big break he deserves. His 2000AD stuff is great, but he tends to be the reserve British comic creator of choice: your big name has gone, so go for the solid second one (and then try Jamie Delano). He’s never bad, and I really like his run on Shade: The Changing Man, but this is something far, far more interesting. It feels like he’s trying to see how much subversion he can get into the comic, as well as daftness, with the whole media mutant thing being a really nice approach. Doop immediately feels like a revelation, one of those weird little side characters mainstream comics always throw up during their best runs. The decision to have him and Wolverine be best buddies is both absurd and beautiful
And can we just talk about Allred for a moment? He’s managing to fuse the cartoony sixties Marvel style with the alternative comics greatness of the Hernandez brothers here and it’s a joy to read. Funny, clever and occasionally just simply beautiful. It’s an aesthetic I never tire of
Pete Milligan never quite feels like he’s had the big break he deserves. His 2000AD stuff is great, but he tends to be the reserve British comic creator of choice: your big name has gone, so go for the solid second one (and then try Jamie Delano). He’s never bad, and I really like his run on Shade: The Changing Man, but this is something far, far more interesting. It feels like he’s trying to see how much subversion he can get into the comic, as well as daftness, with the whole media mutant thing being a really nice approach. Doop immediately feels like a revelation, one of those weird little side characters mainstream comics always throw up during their best runs. The decision to have him and Wolverine be best buddies is both absurd and beautiful
And can we just talk about Allred for a moment? He’s managing to fuse the cartoony sixties Marvel style with the alternative comics greatness of the Hernandez brothers here and it’s a joy to read. Funny, clever and occasionally just simply beautiful. It’s an aesthetic I never tire of