I really hate the current mindset that calls for comics to be relaunched every time interest starts to go down. Sales flag a bit on a title and the immediant answer is to start it over with a new #1 issue. You can tell just how popular a character is by the number of first issues their title has. It was really quite a suprise then, when Marvel kept the original numbering on X-Force (which itself was a book that was relaunched from the New Mutants title). The new direction of X-Force was so radically different that it bore virtually no resemblance to the incarnation that preceded it. In that case it actuall would have been logical to begin a completely new title with new numbering becuase, frankly, it was like nothing that had come before it. Of course, Marvel being Marvel, the eventually realized that people might pay more attention to it if they were relaunch it with a new title and so here we have: X-Statix.
Under writer Peter Milligan and artist Michael Alred are not the type of creators that would normally be associated with Marvel Comics' rather traditional take of superheroes. When they took over X-Force, they immediately gutted the book. This was a good thing, as the book had been a creative wasteland for years (or its' whole run, depending on who you ask). They introduced a completely new team and their narrative style was lightyears removed from what you normally saw in an X-Book. There was even very little mention of the previous team or how the new team came about. It was something that fans of the original book hated, Admittedly there wasn't all that many fans of the original series.
The new book takes up where the story ended with the last issue of X-Force. Although that team lost members with regularity, the death of Edie Sawyer has a profound effect on the team. The teams leader, Guy Smith, was in love with her and takes the death harder than anyone. Meanwhile a new superhero team called O-Force is being formed on television via a reality program contest. X-Statix auditions new members, but can't shake its' declining popularity with a public hungry for the latest fad in superteams. Holy Reality Check! Is this starting to sound familiar! When Guy learns that X-Statix's newest member, Venus Dee Milo, is a suicidal, self loathing manic depressive, it's back to business as usual.
X-Statix is a case of the right book in the wrong place. It is certain to appeal to comic fans who like their books to be off beat and challenging. Of course, most of these comic fans are avoiding Marvel Comics like the plague. Peter Milligan is weaving a complex tale that draws you in long before you realize that you care about these characters. Mike Alreds art is, as always, economical and brilliant. It is difficult to imagine that Alred will stay with this book much longer. He has a number of creator owned projects on hold while he courts a mainstream audience that is largely apathetic. X-Statix is one of those books that cannot survive the departure of its' creators. When they inevitably do go, hopefully the book will be retired rather than turn back into another generic Marvel Mutant book. While these books are coming out, I'll savor them knowing that this brilliant work is infuriating traditional Marvel Zombies who just can't see what the fuss is about. Sadly, if this review prompts extra readers to give the book a try, the issues probably won't be out there, because Marvel prints to order and the orders on this book have been criminally low.