Uncanny X-Force #9 Review

Psylocke has been a real point of frustration with the new volume of Uncanny X-Force. The decision to focus the second story arc entirely on Betsy and her relationship with the Fantomex triplets had the opportunity to either salvage her role within the series or drag the book down even further. Unfortunately, the second outcome proved to be the case. This book really isn't doing any favors for a character who had enjoyed so few quality stories in the years before Rick Remender salvaged her.

Psylocke has spent the majority of this book being bitter, temperamental, foul-mouthed, and not particularly likable. And as we learned in the previous issue, this stems from nothing more than her being the jilted lover in a threesome with Fantomex and Cluster. This new take on the Psylocke/Fantomex romance is pointlessly sordid, like a bad soap opera. The X-Men comics have always carried a strong soap opera quality dating back to the original Cyclops/Marvel Girl/Angel love triangle. But those romances and intrigues always served a purpose, whereas this merely dilutes years of stellar work on both characters.

This issue fails to redeem the conflict between Betsy and the Fantomexes in any way. Nor does the conflict even manage a clear resolution. The final pages are annoyingly unclear as to the ongoing fate of the Fantomexes. The fact that the lack of distinction in the coloring makes it difficult to distinguish between flashbacks and present day scenes towards the end doesn't help.

About the only thing this arc has going for it (beside the snazzy cover) is the continued contribution of Adrian Alphona. However, even that area suffers, as Alphona is given much less to work with in terms of depicting the breakup of Psylocke's love triangle. The imagery just isn't as engaging or memorable as it was when Alphona was exploring the astral plane and the battle with the Demon Bear. Dalibor Talajic's art is fine, but overly plain when held against Alphona's lush, flowing pencils.

The best that can be said for Uncanny X-Force now is that Sam Humphries shows a clear intention to move forward and embrace the full team roster again. Hopefully we've seen the series at its worst, and things can only improve from here.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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