Your favorite OG X-force era

[Factor]

Which one is your favorite?

1) The Liefeld & Nicieza - Around #1-#13 (with art fill-ins)
Predominant cast: Cable, Copycat (as Domino), Cannonball, Shatterstar, Rictor, Boom Boom, Warpath, Feral, Siryn



2) The Nicieza era (post-Liefeld) - #14-43 (art by Capullo, Tony Daniel and others)
Predominant cast: Cable, Domino, Cannonball, Sunspot, Shatterstar, Rictor, Siryn, Boom Boom, Warpath, Feral

3) The Loeb era - #44-61
Predominant cast: Cable, Domino, Sunspot, Shatterstar, Siryn, Warpath, Boom Boom, Caliban.



4) The John Francis Moore era - #63-101
Predominant cast: Moonstar, Sunspot, Cannonball, Siryn, Warpath, Boom Boom.



5) The Revolution era - #102-115
Predominant Cast: Cannonball, Domino, Warpath, Boom Boom, Bedlam, Wisdom.

PS: I've decided not to include Milligan's run because it was not the original team or concept and more of a proto-X-Statix run.

[Factor]

I hate that we can't put more than three images per post, so here are the images for options 2 and 5:

2) The Nicieza era (post-Liefeld)



3) Revolution era

[Factor]

I created this thread because I think X-force is an interesting case in which its most famous runs (Liefeld, Nicieza) are not necessarily its best ones.
Most other X-men spin-offs from the 80s and 90s have very clear high moments (Claremont's New Mutants, PAD's X-factor, Davis and Claremont's Excalibur etc), yet the original X-force doesn't have a run that is so universally prefered.
Personally, I've never connected with Nicieza's runs even if I could appreciate it sometimes. It was not until Loeb took over that something about the team really clicked for me. I think a lot of it is due to Adam Pollina's incredible work. Artists like Capullo get a lot of deserved credit for their work on the team, but I think Pollina gave it an extra charm that make them look way cooler than most of the other teams at the time.

[Jackraow21]

Nicieza post Liefeld with Greg Capullo... Cable versus Deadpool, X-Force versus the Externals, versus SHIELD, versus the X-men during X-Cutioner's Song... all of that run was so damn good! It really made X-Force a must-read for me. Unfortunately it lost more and more relevance as the 90s went on, feeling less like a must-read and more like a disconnected satellite book. It wasn't until Kyle and Yost took it over after Messiah Complex that it felt once again like an important piece of the overall tapestry. At least IMO.

I'd rank the Top 3 X-Force runs as...

1) Uncanny X-Force Vol. 1 (Remender/Opena)
2) OG X-Force post Liefeld (Nicieza/Capullo)
3) Kyle/Yost X-Force (w/ Crain and Choi rotating on art duties)

[nx01a]

The Nicieza Era had great stories, a great cast, and some of the most consistently great art in the X-Books at the time.

[TheRealWashout]

I like a little whimsy and fun, so John Francis's Moore's run. It was unique, had a clear focus, and a top 5 X-books of all time cast.

[JB]

Of the original run it's the the Nicieza era (post-Liefeld) for me. It came out during the height of my X-books discovery when I needed to get my hands on every issue featuring mutants.

[IN-a-Synch]

I stopped reading after Sam left. Felt like he was turning into a leader that Cable was trying to make him to be. But then they Brought Nate back and he regressed into the naïve country bumkin from Kentucky when he joined the X-men.

But none of these Runs hit like the Kyle and Yost era. So none that are listed were that good to me.

[Factor]

I stopped reading after Sam left. Felt like he was turning into a leader that Cable was trying to make him to be. But then they Brought Nate back and he regressed into the naïve country bumkin from Kentucky when he joined the X-men.

But none of these Runs hit like the Kyle and Yost era. So none that are listed were that good to me.

I didn't include later runs because the book became a completely different animal under Kyost. I love that run too, but the team is totally different and I wanted to know which runs people thought were the best takes on the classic X-force characters.
Otherwise I think the poll would be too dominated by Kyost and Remender, also because they are much more recent.

[SturdyMike89]

Alright, here we go:

1. Nicieza with Capullo and Daniel: Once Liefeld left, Fabian shined with wonderful gripping storytelling and had the benefit of being able to work with some solid artist (the above-mentioned artists and guests like Matt Broome and the late Mike Wieringo).

2. John Francis Moore with Pollina and Cheung: The run that perfectly captured the era the characters were in. These were characters in their early 20s and they felt like it. Moore wrapped up several long running stories (such as the Camp Verde massacre's killer) and broke the team away from Cable and the X-Men giving them their own direction. Moore also benefited from Pollina's return where he really began to grow as an artist. Jim Cheung style while not as solid as it would be, was still fresh and very different from most Marvel artist at the time.

3. Jeph Loeb with Adam Pollina: To be fair, Jeph had a herculean task taking over a book that was well liked from Fabian whose exit even back then was known to be contested. But the fact was that Fab's last issue of X-Force not only ended with a new direction but a pretty cool cliffhanger all of which gets chucked out and mildly resolved in a one-shot story. I doubt this is his fault or having the team move back to the mansion or having Sam leave the team and join the X-Men, but the weird story of Boomer befriending Sabretooth and the absolute failure to write Caliban correctly is. Add to that the awful Shatterstar three parter and Adam Pollina's art being rough at the start and him leaving for Rise of Apocalypse and this is the least of the great.

[Jackraow21]

Alright, here we go:

1. Nicieza with Capullo and Daniel: Once Liefeld left, Fabian shined with wonderful gripping storytelling and had the benefit of being able to work with some solid artist (the above-mentioned artists and guests like Matt Broome and the late Mike Wieringo).

2. John Francis Moore with Pollina and Cheung: The run that perfectly captured the era the characters were in. These were characters in their early 20s and they felt like it. Moore wrapped up several long running stories (such as the Camp Verde massacre's killer) and broke the team away from Cable and the X-Men giving them their own direction. Moore also benefited from Pollina's return where he really began to grow as an artist. Jim Cheung style while not as solid as it would be, was still fresh and very different from most Marvel artist at the time.

3. Jeph Loeb with Adam Pollina: To be fair, Jeph had a herculean task taking over a book that was well liked from Fabian whose exit even back then was known to be contested. But the fact was that Fab's last issue of X-Force not only ended with a new direction but a pretty cool cliffhanger all of which gets chucked out and mildly resolved in a one-shot story. I doubt this is his fault or having the team move back to the mansion or having Sam leave the team and join the X-Men, but the weird story of Boomer befriending Sabretooth and the absolute failure to write Caliban correctly is. Add to that the awful Shatterstar three parter and Adam Pollina's art being rough at the start and him leaving for Rise of Apocalypse and this is the least of the great.

If we're just sticking with the OG X-Force era (i.e., pre-black ops murder/death/kill squad under Wolverine's leadership), then I concur with your rankings 100%.

I didn't include later runs because the book became a completely different animal under Kyost. I love that run too, but the team is totally different and I wanted to know which runs people thought were the best takes on the classic X-force characters.
Otherwise I think the poll would be too dominated by Kyost and Remender, also because they are much more recent.

Agreed. And in every poll I've ever seen, the Remender/Opena Uncanny X-Force run blows away every other X-Force incarnation by a country mile. Even non X-fans seemed to love that run.

[Uncanny X-Man]

As much as the Nicieza/Capullo era was great, for me the JFM/Adam Pollina/Jim Cheung run has the upper hand. I guess it was "grown-up New Mutants" more than it was X-Force at times but it's such a fun, solid run with hardly a weak issue. I don't think it gets nearly enough praise as it should.

[KylunFan]

JFM run is my favourite. Character first storytelling is my preference and Moore is one of the best to write in the X-franchise for that (even if some of his plots could be a bit goofy). I was always a bigger New Mutants fan than X-Force and his run feels the most natural continuation of the the New Mutants story.

Post-Liefeld Nicieza is a close second though (especially the issues where Cable isn't around so much).

[jignat]

Nicieza /Capullo/Daniel is my favorite though I only read XF from 1 to 40 something until the Age of Apocalypse transition to Gambit/X-ternals.

[From The Shadows]

I went with John Francis Moore. Loved the stories, loved the art, loved the team.