Weekly Comic Book Review

Main Story by Robert Kirkman (Writer), Jason Pearson (Art), and Dave Stewart (Colors)

“Undeadpoool” by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost (Writers), Carlo Barberi (Pencils), Sandu Florea (Inks), and Edgar Delgado (Colors)

The Story: Robert Kirkman’s story that takes up the bulk of the X-Force Annual is about Wolverine breaking into a Hydra base in order to locate a target that Cyclops needs brought back alive. “Undeadpool” is a short, humorous side story to the attack on Utopia that’s taking place in the X-Necrosha crossover books.

What’s Good: Robert Kirkman’s violent, yet fairly lighthearted, Wolverine story that leads the X-Force Annual is a satisfying piece of entertainment. It doesn’t really break any new ground, but thanks to some funny Wolverine lines and a conclusion that gives the whole thing some dramatic weight, Kirkman’s tale is, ultimately, worth checking out at some point. As far as the visuals are concerned, Jason Pearson’s rough, slightly exaggerated style does justice to the type of brutal, yet comedic violence that Kirkman’s script calls for. As everyone knows, Wolverine can take a beating as well as dish one out and Pearson makes sure to highlight that fact throughout the story.

The short Deadpool story is rather humorous and serves an actual, though unnecessary, purpose continuity-wise in the sense that it shows what the temporary X-Men member does during the initial undead mutant attack. In all honesty, it proves to be a nice little addition to the X-Force Annual as a whole. The artwork is solid (Barberi’s work is better than it is in the current Deadpool Team-Up issue), the dialogue is quite funny as times, and the silly story is actually surprisingly clever (wait till you see how Deadpool manages to follow Cyclops’ “no killing” rule).

What’s Not So Good: The biggest problem with the Annual as a whole? While both X-Force Annual stories are fun and completely inoffensive, there’s no way to ignore the feeling that they are totally forgettable. I like one-and-done stories, I really do, but the X-Force Annual is simply not worth the $3.99, especially compared to the meaningful Dark Avengers Annual that hit this week. Unless you feel like you absolutely must have one more Wolverine or Deadpool story in your collection (or you happen to be a big fan of members of either creative team), save your cash for something that packs a bit more punch.

If I wanted to nitpick a bit more, I suppose I could also mention that Robert Kirkman’s story winds up seeming a bit weird once the purpose of Wolverine’s mission is revealed. The tone of the story shifts in a really jarring way once Wolverine brings his target in and it makes everything that came before it feel…I guess “inappropriate” would be a good word to use. While the story is still good, the art and dialogue seems to clash with what the story is ultimately about.

Conclusion: X-Force Annual is only worth picking up if you are dying for another Wolverine or Deadpool story. The creative teams both do a nice job all around, but the Annual belongs in the “only if I have some spare cash” category.”

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny