Comic Reviews!!

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Deadpool MAX #1
Here is the seventh (!) Deadpool series over the past few years. The difference between this and the multitude of other Merc With A Mouth books is that this is within Marvel's "MAX" imprint, which means that it will contain boobs, violence, and foul language. Within this one first issue, Deadpool Max definitely lives up to its imprint's name.
The opening issue follows Deadpool and his handler Bob infiltrating Hammerhead's compound. The way that Bob gets into the compound is....interesting to say the least, and definitely sets up the very adult themes that this book will contain.  While this book says "Deadpool" on the cover, it should NOT be in the hands of impressionable youths. However, I loved how balls to the wall crazy this comic was, and the fact that writer David Lapham has toned down Wade Wilson's signature crazy talk is a welcome change. In fact, it took me awhile to get used to not seeing the now (in)famous "Deadpool captions" that so often clog up a Deadpool book. Lapham also get props for making this a one and done story, and not dragging it out for six issues like Marvel is known for.
While I did enjoy this issue's story, I have to unfortunately say that Kyle Baker's art is not good. At all. Perhaps it was the coloring, or the apparent lack of inking, but everyone in this book looked...lumpy. With the exception of one great action sequence towards the end of the book, every panel was muddled and really hard to figure out what was happening. While I'm going to keep reading the book, I really hope Baker is only penciling this one issue. Or that he learns to draw.


Uncanny X-Force #1

One of Marvel's current favorite past times is canceling a semi-popular series and relaunching them as new "#1" issues in the hopes of generating more sales. The most recent victim of this is X-Force, a series that I had started reading but then completely forgot about. However, after this first issue, I'm going to make a point to try and keep up with it.
X-Force was originally a black ops team lead by Wolverine and hired by Cyclops to go and essentially be "proactive" when it comes to potential threats towards mutants. Recently, Cyke was told that the team had been disbanded, but apparently good ol' Warren Worthington (aka Angel/Archangel) has different plans.  When he learns of the possibility of the return of Apocalypse, he calls upon Wolverine, Fantomex, Psylocke, and Deadpool to help him put a stop to the resurrection...even it means that he'll have to kill a child.
Rick Remender, he of Frankencastle fame, is writing the new series, and I'm really interested to see how this turns out. The team dynamic is very cool so far, and while I've never seen him before, Fantomex is pretty badass. Jerome Opena's art is fantastic as well, and it really allows the action to flow. If you're looking for an X-Men comic that doesn't involve vampires or is bogged down in continuity, this is the book to pick up.

Taskmaster #2 (of4)
This comic  is awesome. That's really all you need to know.

Fine I'll tell you more. Taskmaster follows the titular anti-hero as he tries to remember who he is. You see, Taskmaster's power is that he has "reflex memory", in which all he needs to do is watch a video or fight someone ONCE and within seconds be able to memorize their fighting style. After working for "The Org" for years doing everything from training militias to fighting super heroes, he's starting to forget things. Important things. You see, because of all of the missions he's done and fights he's been in, ol' Tasky' brain is running out of space and deleting things like his memories in order to keep stuff like "how to fly a plane" inside of his brain. In the last issue we learned that after the events of "Siege" Taskmaster has been laying low, and that The Org has not only framed him for a crime, but also sent out every single assassin to take him out.
This issue finds Taskmaster and his companion Mercedes (a waitress at the diner he was attacked at) crossing the border into Western Mexico, where they meet up with Tasky's old friend "The Don Of The Dead", a mexican militia leader who has a passion for skull masks, swords, and playing rock music.
Fred Van Lente's script amazingly walks the line between humor and action, making this series one of the best of the year so far. When Taskmaster uses his skills to play in Don's rock band, I nearly died laughing. I cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you are a fan of the Jason Bourne movies.