Comic Book of The Day: Uncanny X-Force #19.1

Uncanny X-Force #19.1 is today's comic book of the day, and when you're done reading it you'll have one very simple question on your mind, as I know I did.

Where was the X-Force?

Don't get me wrong, this book is worth the read, but I personally hate when you have a book who's title means little to nothing in comparison to what's inside. Anyway, Marvel's had this "thing" going on where they add decimals to their titles. 19.1 is a clear cut example, as were any other titles you may have seen (Feat Itself, for example, had Issues 7, 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3).

The reasoning is simple. It happens after the main issue (in this case, #19), but is off to the side and meant to happen before the next issue in the timeline. When you read this issue, you have to take this into consideration, as that is exactly what has happened here.

SPOILER BELOW

Issue #19.1 is all about the Age of Apocalypse. If you read Uncanny X-force #19, you know that Jean Grey and Sabretooth went back to their own universe, the Age of Apocalypse (further referred to as AOA), leaving Nightcrawler behind. The issue picks up right at that point, marking the return of Jean Grey.

To cut the issue down to a bare-bones plot, Jean Grey had picked up something telepathically while in our own Universe. She had picked up on the events of House Of M, rather that the Scarlet Witch had removed a majority of the mutant gene from Earth. Jean had proposed they use the body and dead mind of their Scarlet Witch, reaching out and controlling her telepathically to have the same effect in the AOA and save Humanity.

The end result?

Jean is the only one who loses her powers, and William Stryker (You did watch X-men 2: X-men United, right?) tricks Jean into destroying a small island where mutants and humans are living. It isn't clear on whether or not the island is 100% in either race, but judging by Jean's reaction I'd say they were mutants who were against mutantkind and trying to save humanity.

While this book had next to nothing to do with the X-Force, I highly recommend this book. After looking ahead at Marvel's future releases, there will be a mini-series set in the Age of Apocalypse which, after reading this, I will be picking up to read. This was one of those books that really got me interested, because it's not a universe I'm used to, and I want to see where the writers will take it. After all, there are endless unused possibilities, origins, and plot twists that they can touch upon as they write this story, and you can safely expect the unexpected!

Joe A.