Having read and generally enjoyed Messiah Complex, I still had little interest in this title. It would seem to be everything I hate in a comic book: the name "X-force" still sounds cheesy to me, The gray/black uniforms reek of "grim 'n' gritty" as does the make-up of the team of pro-active killers. Still, I was curious. I bought the book. And I probably went in with expectations set somewhere around the level of the 90's Extreme Justice book by DC.

All that said? I really enjoyed this book. It was a Michael Bay movie done as a comic book. In Hollywood terms, we have Logan, the grizzled old killer, who doesn't want to do it anymore. He's faced by Cyclops, The Man, who offers him an assignments. But it's happening whether Logan wants it or not, and those involved all have baggage of their own... doesn't it sound so Hollywood?

And yet, it's well-written. Wolverine as "mentor" to this team is probably one of the best permutations of his character yet. He's been a weird sort of father figure before, but making him the father figure of a band of killers is rather interesting. The book is rife with potential for great character conflict. He knows they have to do the job, but he wants them to avoid losing as much of their humanity as he has.

That's about as far as I'll go into spoiler territory. The book takes it's action movie set up and moves through the first act at a decent pace. We get a conspiratorial plot and some "very bad guys." But we'll always have that in these super-hero comics. What I liked about this issue was the interplay between Wolverine and his little band.

The art by Clayton Crain is decent. It's not exactly my style, but Crain's a good storyteller. I had no problems following the scenes, the transitions,  or any of the action. It's a bit murkier than I would have liked but that definitely lends to the atmosphere of the book.

I didn't expect much going in, but I was pleasantly surprised that they managed to find something new and interesting in Wolverine's character. While I never imagined I'd say this, I will likely buy the next issue to see what happens next.