Baseball Journal June 2025 Part 2

6-4-25

The MLB.TV Free Game tonight was the Rangers versus Rays.    Great.    I was again struck by the differences in facilities between Sacramento yesterday and Steinbrenner Field today.  Neither are Major League facilities, but the stadium in Sacramento is a dump by comparison.    The stadium in Tampa Bay isn’t even a minor league stadium, while Sacramento is a Triple-A facility.   

We had some strangeness early on and some of it was uncomfortable.    In the first, Wyatt Langford hurdled the first baseman, who was bending over on a grounder.    Langford somehow avoided the tag and touched down on top of the base.    The ump ruled him “safe,” and then called him “out” on a tag.    It was an easy challenge and he was safe.    In the bottom of the first, Evan Carter in centerfield, just back from injury, got hit on the nose on a home run ball that hit the batter’s eye over him.   

In the second, Rays catcher, Matt Thaiss, took a foul ball to his . . . well, he was squeezing a few tears afterward.    “There’s no crying in baseball,” is just a line from a movie.    There is crying in baseball.    I saw a week ago or so (I should have written this at the time), a long time minor league player, Ronny Simon, was called up to the Marlins and committed four errors in a game, before finally being taken off the field in tears.    His teammates supported him and even Fernando Tatis Jr. on the opposing team sent him some encouragement.    It seems like the only times you’re not supposed to cry are if you lose or if you’re injured.    Well, I’ve seen the kids cry at the Little League World Series and players cry with some injuries, so tears are gonna to fall when they will.          

Kumar Rocker, back from rehab, was pitching for the Rangers.    In the third, he was late covering first and the runner was safe.    Rocker had his back to field after the play and was angry and forgot there were runners on second and third, who both scored.    It was 5-0 Rays at that point.

The Rangers weren’t finished.    In the fifth, Jonah Heim hit a two-run homer.    The Rays’ left fielder just mistimed his jump to get it and was upset with himself.    The Rays were making some great plays on defense in the game.    The Rangers scored again to make it 5-3 and their relief corps held the Rays down.    Rangers reliever, Jacob Webb, had an epic 15-pitch battle with Jake Mangum.    Webb finally got the K on an offspeed.    In the top of the ninth, an error let on a runner and he was driven in on a double.    With the tying run on second, Corey Seager grounded out to end the game, 5-4 Rays.    Well, at least the Rangers scored in this game.

In the Chihuahuas’ pregame show, broadcaster Tim Hagerty waxed poetic about the movie, Bull Durham.    I’d seldom heard him so nostalgic during a game.    He praised the layer of authenticity in the movie.    I liked the first half of the movie, but didn’t care for the rest.   

Early in today’s Chihuahuas game, manager Pete Zamora thrown out of game.    He was arguing after a Chihuahuas batter claimed he was hit.    The batter tried to take off his gloves to show the mark, but wasn’t allowed to.  The batter ended up singling anyway.    The pups had a 14-batter, 9-run fifth and beat the Isotopes, 14-4, after losing in extras yesterday.    During the game, Tim mentioned that the Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the Marlins.    That puts their record at 12-50.

   

6-5-25

Tonight’s MLB.TV Free Game began after a three-hour rain delay.    There was just a small scattering of hard core fans in Pittsburgh to see the Pirates play the Astros.    They would be loud during the game.    Unfortunately, many of them were Astros fans, who didn’t have anything else to do while out-of-town.    It was announced to the fans there that they’d get a free ticket to another game for their persistence.      

I was pleased to see former Aggie great, Nick Gonzales, back in the Pirates’ line up.    He’d end up having a tough day, still getting back into shape.    The players on both sides were swinging away with the pitchers throwing strikes, so the game clipped along quickly.    A double and two groundouts brought in a Pirate run in the third.    An Astros solo homer tied it in the fourth.    By the seventh, more rain was coming down and it was after midnight there.    The Astros put up a bunch of runs late to win it, 8-2.    The Pirate batters had 16 strikeouts.

In El Paso, the Chihuahuas were playing behind the Isotopes, 4-3 in the seventh.    Albuquerque threatened to add more with the bases loaded and no outs.    The pups got out of it with a strikeout and a double play.    In the bottom, the Chihuahuas loaded the bases with one out, but didn’t score either.    Down 6-3 in the bottom of ninth with the bases loaded and one out, Mike Brosseau got the crowd going with a massive foul ball that would have been a grand slam.    He settled for a single that drove in a run, but another runner was thrown out trying to score.    6-4 Isotopes was the final.

Baseball Journal June 2025 Part 1

6-1-25

We start off the morning and new month with the Rangers playing the Cardinals.    Jacob deGrom had a shaky enough first inning that manager Bruce Bochy and a trainer went out to him, but he stayed in for six innings, only giving up 1 run.    The Rangers had a 2-1 lead going into the seventh.   

The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs, but only scored one on a fielder’s choice, 3-1.    The Rangers really opened it up in the eighth with 5 runs, including a two-run homer by Josh Smith.    Rangers win, 8-1.    Texas got two big wins this series along with getting shut out.    We’re still not sure if their bats are back on track.    It could be worse.    The A’s lost again to the Blue Jays for a sweep.    So, the A’s have followed an 11-game losing streak with a six-game losing streak and counting.

Up next on the radio was the Chihuahuas and the Rivercats.    Tirso Ornelas drove in two runs in the first for the Chihuahuas.    He had a good week in Sacramento going 10 for 23.    The pups added on.    In the fourth, the Rivercats loaded the bases with no outs, but Jackson Wolf pitched his way out of it.   

On the first pitch of the fifth, Mason McCoy hit the wall with a shot that was called foul.    There was a brief argument, if it should have been in play.    No matter.    On the next pitch, he homered anyway.    6-0 Chihuahuas.    The Rivercats struck back and scored four in the bottom and then one in the eighth.    6-5 Chihuahuas.   

In the bottom of the ninth, former Aggie star, Daniel Johnson came up with a runner on and two outs.    It was a battle with Ron Marinaccio, who was going for a four-out save.    In the end, DJ popped out and the Chihuahuas won, 6-5.    I was happy and a bit disappointed.    (So I guess that means it canceled out and I wasn’t feeling anything.)    The game ran a little too late to pick up the ESPN Radio game, which was too bad since it was the Yankees and Dodgers.    I would have been okay with joining the game in progress.    (Yes, I hate both teams, but I would have still would have listened.)       

Meanwhile on TV, there was more Softball College World Series.    Today, it was Tennessee versus UCLA.    Tall, pretty blonde, Karlyn Pickins, was TN’s starter.    The bio piece about her said she was also a high school star in volleyball and basketball.    It turned out to be a controversy-filled game.    The infield fly rule came up in the first inning.    UCLA popped up to second with a runner on second.    The out was called, but second dropped the ball and the runner there got thrown out going to third for a double play.    There was a question about the rule and why the girl was running and should she have been tagged out.    

      

TN scored two in the bottom, but UCLA came back with two solo home runs to tie it.    In the third inning, UCLA put on party hats.    Their sports psychologist recommended this ritual.    TN took a 4-2 lead.    In the sixth, Pickins slipped in the circle on a pitch, but she stayed in.    It did look bad.

In the seventh with two outs, UCLA tied it on a two-run homer.    What a crusher, one out from victory.    Wait.    Suddenly there was a challenge on if the batter touched the plate.    I don’t think this would have come up if a teammate hadn’t led the batter back to the plate to make sure.    This instituted a 10-minute delay for a video review.    I have no doubt they called someone high-up at the league office to rule on this.    It’s going to kind of look bad either way.    She did miss the base the first time.    After the batter was ruled safe, there was another five-minute delay.    The TN coach was very angry, but this whole challenge at least had the effect of dampening UCLA’s enthusiasm.   

In the bottom of the seventh, a TN batter walked and got bunted over.    There was an intentional walk to a slugger with four pitches.    You know what, it’s okay that baseball got rid of this.    It is a waste of time compared to just waving the batter to first.    Anyway, a DP ended regulation.    Into extras and in the ninth, UCLA loaded the bases with two outs, but Pickins got out of it.    In the bottom, TN loaded the bases after a double and two intentional walks with one out.    A single won it, 5-4 TN.    I’m sure no one was happier than Pickins.    She finished the day with 149 pitches.   

Lastly, I watched some Mexican League baseball.    The Dorados beat Venados, 15-2.    The interesting part was that it was a run rule game.    I didn’t know they had that outside of college baseball.

6-2-25

It was another game in Sacramento today.    This time it was a Major League contest between the Twins and the A’s.    It wasn’t looking like much of a game early, as A’s starter, Luis Severino, gave up six runs in the second.    But if you’re going to go down big in the game, it’s best to do it early.    By the fourth, the A’s had clawed their way back into it with a Lawrence Butler three-run homer to straight-away center to make it 6-4.

The comeback looked good in the fifth, as the A’s loaded the bases with no outs, but they failed to score.    Severino did stay in and kept his team in it, but the A’s relievers couldn’t keep the Twins from adding on.    10-4 Twins.    One odd thing I noticed was that Carlos Correa was booed mercilessly by the Sacramento crowd.    I’m assuming this goes back to his Astros days.    Also, it occurred to me that there have to be a few baseball fans in the city that have season tickets to the A’s and the Rivercats and are getting daily games.    They must be pleased, even if their teams aren’t so good.

I did skip the ending of the A’s and the Twins to check out two extra innings games.       The Padres and the Giants were in a 0-0 tie after nine innings.    A Padres’ sac fly in tenth gave them a 1-0 win.    Several Giants players were hanging on the dugout rail groaning after the loss on a line drive out.    Giant starter, Logan Webb, had a hard luck no decision after pitching eight innings.   

Meanwhile in LA, after taking two of three from the Yankees over the weekend, the Dodgers were taking on the Mets in a marquee game.    For any other team, this scheduling would be considered running a gauntlet.    For the Dodgers, it’s just a Monday game.    I’d been following the score on the ticker.    In the ninth, the Dodgers managed to tie the tight game at 2.    While I had extra innings coverage, it was audio-only, so I didn’t get to see it.    The Mets scored twice in the tenth.    The Dodgers scored one in the bottom, but lost, 4-3.   

Comics Review: New Mutants Classic #6

This is a singularly unheroic cover image (even if it is by Barry Windsor-Smith). I question the use of this image to sell this trade. In story context, it is what it looks like: the New Mutants are bullying Empath from the Hellions. What’s worse is that Empath is wearing that terrible Hellion uniform. Put a pair of legwarmers on it and you could do an episode of the :20 Minute Workout. (One of my favorite shows from the 80’s.)

Unlike the previous review of X-Force, which features slightly older versions of some of the same characters in a meandering series of adventures, this volume is all over the place with no unified storyline. The issues here start with the fallout of Secret Wars II and end with the Mutant Massacre crossover event.

SWII was bad, really bad, though the first issue was actually good. The Beyonder came to earth and an ad hoc group of superheroes confronted him, but the rest of the series didn’t even come close to that level of excitement. I vaguely remember that during that series the Beyonder straight up killed all of the New Mutants. He brought them back later, but they were severely shaken by the experience.

(I went back and read that issue on an “archive” site. Magik offers herself as a sacrifice to the Beyonder to save her friends. He kills her and then proceeds to brutally murder the rest of them in anger and then completely erases all memory of them from existence. It was like a horror comic. I’d forgotten how chilling it was and I wonder how this got published.)

The Massacre may have been the first big crossover event. Most of the crossovers of the time were limited series of varying length. This one weaved a storyline between the X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, and Power Pack. (Power Pack? The little kids superhero group? That must have been a directive from the Marketing department.) Mr. Sinister sent a group of killer mutants, the Marauders, into the New York City sewers to kill all of the mutants there, the Morlocks (the non-pretty mutants), for some reason. The New Mutants got involved at the end of it. There were some lasting repercussions from this event, in particular, it indirectly created a spinoff group, Excalibur, with Kitty Pryde.

As a consequence of being between events, this volume is a bunch of filler stories, along with a couple of annuals and disconnected parts of a couple of crossovers. It’s a mixed bag, but it has a couple of things going for it. It’s all written by Chris Claremont, who takes this opportunity to really flesh out some of the characters. Most of the artwork is done by Jackson Guice. His art ebbs and flows a bit depending on who’s inking it, but it’s mostly great. One of the annuals is drawn by Arthur Adams which is also great (except for the story, we’ll get to that).

This volume picks up with the aftereffects from Secret Wars II. The resurrected New Mutants were so despondent that headmaster Magneto turned the group over to the Massachusetts Academy run by the Hellfire Club. (Magneto had reformed at this point, briefly, and Xavier left him in charge of the school.) Rather than join the Hellions, Danielle Moonstar (Mirage) left the group to return home. (A cross-country flight on the back of a Pegasus doesn’t seem like a good idea. Dani also questions this.)

Once there, she is harassed by a childhood friend who is prejudiced against her Indian heritage. He ends up in a wreck and she has to save him. An uncontrolled use of her mental powers reveals that he’s actually in love with her. As a Valkyrie, Dani tries to keep death from taking him, but he’s too far gone and has to let him go without ever really reconciling with him.

Dani is one of my favorite mutants. This issue spotlighting her might have helped my favorable feelings towards her. She’s beautiful, brave, moral, empathetic, and also has some emotional vulnerability, which occasionally overwhelms her. In the X-Force trade that I read recently, she was emotionally detached and aloof and not as interesting. The writer there didn’t entirely seem to know how to handle her, so he left her enigmatic.

Dani also has a seething hatred for “the White Man’s society,” as a proud Cheyenne. While she reminds the people around her of her heritage, her prejudice doesn’t seem to adversely affect how she treats everyone, which is a bit odd. Contrast this with James Proudstar (Thunderbird and later, Warpath) of the Hellions and an Apache, who is a lot more sure of himself and his background and not bearing pointless grudges.

Dani’s attitude is actually Chris Claremont, and to some extent his editor Ann Nocenti, using a mask to speak their own beliefs. Irrational, violent prejudice fits into the overall theme of the X-Men and mutants being discriminated against, but with Claremont this is personal and part of a larger Agenda. This isn’t the forum for a more detailed discussion on this, but always keep it in mind when reading Claremont’s X-Men.

While the end of the issue teases the next story being called, “Getting Even,” it’s actually another spotlight story, this one with Sam Guthrie, the New Mutant’s other co-leader. I’ve never quite understood Sam and Dani being “co-leaders.” That term is an oxymoron. The younger kids would defer to them, and Sam usually defers to Dani (and they end up in a disastrous adventure, but that’s how we get adventures).

Sam is awkward-looking and sounding, but more mature beyond his years. This issue basically features Sam having a fight with his rock star girlfriend, who’s a mutant that teleports to other planets and is also a notorious thief of valuable artifacts. Frankly, Sam having a girlfriend to begin with is the hard part to believe. (Thankfully, he’s more handsomely drawn when he’s older.)

The next issue, we “get even” and get a fill-in artist. The New Mutants go get revenge on Empath of the Hellions for messing with Magneto and a couple of people who work for the school. (Those two had previously got turned into Native Americans during the “Demon Bear” story. Talk about taking collateral damage.) Empath is an almost irredeemable character, but during the hazing, the Mutants start having second thoughts. That’s when Thunderbird and the Hellions show up to rescue him with without incident. James Proudstar comes off as a very honorable bad ass.

I wonder if Claremont was auditioning the Hellions as a spinoff series in their various appearances. Apart from the cartoonishly evil Empath, the rest of the group was pretty interesting, especially Thunderbird. With a little nuance, Empath could have been worthwhile, too. (Their malevolent headmistress, Emma Frost, was eventually rehabilitated, to some degree, and joined the X-Men.) Maybe management thought one junior team of X-Men was plenty, especially one run by the elitist Hellfire Club. Maybe some of the group was being groomed as replacements. Warpath would eventually join X-Force.

Nice interlude with Dani during the Legion story at least

Next is another pointless fight with Legion. Legion goes crazy; the New Mutants have to deal with him . . . again. This is a villain that needs to be retired. As part of this story, Rahne’s old reverend nemesis shows up to call her “a creature from the pit.” This senseless encounter in a pointless story was the main reason for it. It’s more of Claremont’s Agenda, though it fits in with the X-Men’s general theme.

The next two issues are the New Mutants and the X-Men (featuring the New Mutants) annuals. Mojo is the villain in both, unfortunately. The whole Mojoverse/Spiral thing is some sort of social commentary, but comes off so obtuse as to be nearly incomprehensible. Mojo was introduced in the Longshot miniseries, which these annuals assume you’ve read. I don’t remember any of it, except for the great Arthur Adams artwork.

Basically, Mojo is an extra-dimensional TV producer always looking for new action/adventure content. In the NM annual, he kidnaps Psylocke (Betsy) and uses her to seduce kids into becoming superheroes under Mojo’s control? (I’m not sure what’s going on here.) The main reason for this is to introduce Betsy to the X-Men to join the group (and later become Olivia Munn as a hot Asian ninja with psychic powers). There seems to something between her and Doug (Cypher), though I think she’s several years older than him.

In the X-Men annual, we have what has to be a low-point in the X-Men’s career. Mojo turns the X-Men into the X-Babies. Art Adams’ incredible artwork is the only thing that keeps this from being total trash. The main point of this story is to introduce Longshot into the X-Men.

The New Mutants have to save the X-Men. They even wear their graduation costumes afraid that they’ll have to take over for them permanently. When Adams draws the New Mutants, he makes a slight change to their regular costumes. The girls have a “V-neck” cut on their uniforms. Unfortunately, the group’s regular artists didn’t pick up on this.

“We were only foolin’” is another Claremont Agenda story fighting the X-Men’s main enemy: prejudice (usually in the form of a discriminating White guy, who has no motivation to be so). This issue features Kitty, who was officially an X-Man, but hung out with the New Mutants, who were closer to her age. She drops an N-bomb in her speech at the end. (Did this ever happen in any other 80’s comic?) Given that she’s Jewish, I’m surprised there weren’t a couple other epithets added to her list of forbidden words. Still, it’s a well done story.

The next issue has the New Mutants peripherally involved in the Mutant Massacre event and none of them have a good reaction to it. 

While trying to find Karma’s little brother and sister, suddenly Warlock’s father, Magnus, attacks them. He’s way overpowered for them. Magik attempts to spirit the group away to her sorcerous realm, Limbo, but Magnus follows them (with dire consequences in later issues), which forces them to blindly teleport away. This takes them to ancient Scotland to meet Robert the Bruce (?). At least Rahne is happy to meet one of her heroes. And this is where the volume ends.

Magik gets some spotlight in these final issues. She’s another of my favorites. Though she has what can only be termed as a tortured backstory, Illyana’s character is very clear. She’s almost the group’s analogue of Wolverine in attitude. Magik has an evil nature but with a noble soul, as noted with her sacrifice with the Beyonder. (She’s cool and good-looking. Why wouldn’t I like her?)

In the large cast of the New Mutants, everyone gets some time, but not everybody gets a spotlight in this volume. I’d say Karma in particular gets sidelined pretty badly. Her character never seems to really get developed in the series. Magma, meanwhile, has such a silly origin, she’s hard to take seriously, even with her regal bearing. These two are usually just relegated to a supporting role, in spite of their impressive powers.

Then you have Cypher. Doug really shouldn’t be adventuring with the group given he doesn’t have powers that would be useful in a fight. (It’s telling that he’s throwing a punch on the cover, but only after Empath isn’t able to use his powers.) This is constantly acknowledged, but he often comes to the fore in various stories. Is he supposed to be an “everyman” character that readers can relate to in the midst of superpowered beings? Somewhere in the future, he becomes overpowered, which completes the mistake of his creation. Doug should have been a cautionary tale about sending helpless characters into combat. After being tragically permanently injured, he should have been barred from leaving the mansion for missions.

So did I like this? This isn’t the best group of New Mutants stories. It’s all over the place and those places aren’t interesting. (Medieval Scotland in a superhero comic?) For me, at least, it’s seeing the characters, many of whom I really like. I’d have to pick the first issue with the spotlight on Dani as my favorite, just because I like her. The X-Men annual with the Arthur Adams artwork is certainly the best to just look at. The earlier Bill Siekiewicz issues are likely the series creative high point, along with the Rick Leonardi issues. (Legion and Warlock are clearly Bill’s characters with his unique artistic design. They should have been retired when he left the comic.) You can pass on this volume without really missing anything.

Book Review: Of Dice and Men by David Ewalt

 

Yes, I do read actual books on occasion. I got this on the same day I finished my years-long quest to find a copy of MAR Barker’s The Man of Gold. (In short, it’s a fantasy novel, but utterly alien in setting and just as in depth as Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. This is what you get when language professors make up fantasy stories. I don’t know if you can apply anything in Man of Gold to your fantasy RPG campaign, but it’s inspirational nonetheless.)

I’d heard of this Dice book somewhere and it had a glowing review, so I was thrilled to find it in the RPG section of Coas Bookstore. I started reading it almost immediately and was just as quickly disappointed. If you don’t know anything about the history of D&D’s creation and history, this might be a nice primer, albeit laborious.

You see, it commits the most tone-deaf trope there is about gamers: the author spends way too many pages telling you about his character and his campaign. Forehead slap. Nobody cares about your campaign is an absolute truism when it comes to RPG conversation with strangers. Worse, the author is an elitist snob gamer. He’s an intellectual playing the game correctly and better than you. He’s not like you weirdoes playing the game.

Are there weirdoes playing the game? Sure. Are you better than them? Probably, though it depends on what you’re measuring. Do you want to play with them? Every gaming group discriminates on some basis or another. Regardless, you’re in the same community as these people you look down on. Maybe you should consider a different hobby if you’re embarrassed by the association, because it’s likely elitists are going to quit RPG’s when it’s no longer cool and the weirdoes will never leave it.

Did I learn something? Yeah, there were some little factoids I found interesting. Then the book waves explaining some of the legal wrangling before the dissolution of TSR and refers you to a website for further details. In a 250-page book, where at least a quarter of it describes the author’s home campaign, I expect the details to be in the book.

I’ve read so many articles and watched so many videos on the subject of D&D’s history, I was looking forward to an actual published book on the subject to make my knowledge somehow official. Maybe this was the first published history of D&D and its more prototype than finished product. Maybe it’s just a book for normies, not gamers, who do not need to be told what an RPG is. This is in the opening spiel of any rulebook.

The somewhat tragic part of the book is how well it is researched. The author cites volumes of articles and books. He interviewed many important people in the hobby. (Unfortunately, Gygax and Arneson had passed before this book came about.) He went to conventions and even had an advanced LARP experience.

Perhaps the worst element of the book is at the end, where it becomes a promo for D&D Next (which would become the Fifth Edition). The game designers at WOTC gave the author access to developer conferences and playtest material. For a history of D&D book, discussion of the future of the game should have been epilogue. Instead, it becomes an ad. Discussions about the breakdown of 3e, 3.5e being released as a fix, the failure of 4e, and the rise of the OSR are breezed over. This is what the gamers who bought the book wanted to read about! Oh, and this preview of the future dates a book which should have been timeless in its content as an official history book.

I was not the audience for this RPG book. Hand this book to your normie friends who are curious about D&D. They’ll think they’ve acquired some great knowledge and will likely become insufferable.

Comics Review: Marvel Epic Collection: X-Force-Zero Tolerance

It took a while, but I finally got a comic that I loved at Zia Comics. Granted, it cost $45, but it was probably worth it. It was a bit of a pricy Free Comic Book Day.

Not having any games that weekend to watch, I decided to go out to the comic book store for the event. Unlike past FCBD’s, I arrived on time for this one (not too early or too late). Walking over to the store, I passed some smiling young women gushing over their comics, so I knew I wouldn’t get shutout this time. (There were several excited girls out for this event, sometimes with boyfriends.)

The store had plenty of free comics there and said to take three comics, which I did. My biggest trouble was just picking three. I’d pre-decided I was going to buy something while I was there, so looked around. I found this X-Force volume in the trades section. I’m not sure if I’d noticed it before and passed over it because of the price, but I’d read some of these issues before and enjoyed them.

I was feeling generous and picked it up. The girl at the register was ecstatic. (I hope at least a few other people bought something after getting the free comics.) She told me to go ahead and pick up three more free comics. That was nice of her. I ended up not getting anything else, which was a mistake. I gave away two of the three comics I got to a co-worker for her kids. I could have gotten some better kid-friendly comics for them if I’d thought about it at the time.

A page from the Archie comic.  I thought it was cute.

(I got the usual Archie and a surprising find, a Mobile Suit Gundam comic, and a Conan comic. I gave away the Archie and the Gundam after reading them myself.

The Conan comic wasn’t violent, but I decided it wasn’t appropriate for kids to give away. The comic sets up a bigger storyline that’s going to run in their regular comics. It’s the new Conan produced by Titan Comics (3-17-25).  I’m still not enamored with their take on the character. It looks right, but doesn’t sound right. It’s just a little off. It’s not quite Conan for a “modern audience,” but it’s cozying up to it.

The X-Force volume is a 500-page book. It comprises 20 issues, including a double-sized 75-th issue. This is no quick read. It took a couple sittings just for me to skim over it afterward to review it. I’d read many of these issues in the 90’s. I didn’t get them new, but had gotten them at a bookstore. I’ve forgotten the name of the place, but they had stacks of comics lying around there, old and new. I sort wish I’d gotten more at the time, but I was pretty happy getting a stack of fairly new issues of X-Force.

This was a title I never bought regularly, except for probably the first issue for collecting purposes. I think I had the original New Mutants issues with Rob Liefield when the book was later rebooted as X-Force. It was a more combat-oriented comic that I wasn’t hugely interested in. The 90’s were when I mostly stopped collecting. My favorites at the time were Sandman and Gen 13, as unlikely as that combination was.

One thing I appreciated about Gen 13 was this group of young people with superpowers, who were “casual” superheroes. It wasn’t their job exactly and the rest of the time they were hanging out. The Road Trip issues of X-Force remind me of that. A caption in the book sums them up, “X-Force Fun Fact: While many superhero groups are funded by the government or wealthy patrons. The members of X-Force refuse to sell out. Consequently, they’re broke.” It’s an interesting concept for a mainline superhero, although Spider-Man and his perpetually broke alter ego, Peter Parker, has mined this take for decades.

I looked up some online reviews of the book after I’d bought it and the results were decidedly mixed. The book is called Zero Tolerance and the issues here are really only on the periphery of that X-Men storyline, so it’s a misleading title. (It should have been called Road Trip.) Also, Cable and Deadpool, the team’s most popular characters, make cameos in several issues, but it’s just a tease. They aren’t part of the main story, except where the team breaks off formally from Cable and that’s only the tail end of one issue. I can see where others would see this as a bunch of B-List characters in directionless, meandering adventures.

Your enjoyment of this will depend on how much you buy into the concept and if you like the artwork and the characters that are presented. Much of the art is by Adam Pollina. It’s very expressive, nearly cartoony, and quite distinctive. The other artists in the volume aren’t far off in style. I’m a New Mutants fan from way back. (I had the first 10 issues and stopped, unfortunately, right before it got more interesting.) If you don’t have an attachment to these characters, and some of the characters on the team I’m not familiar with, you might not be into them. Characters do drop in and disappear and plots are left dangling over the course of the book.

I’ll overview some interesting parts of the volume. The first issue starts with most of the team on the hunt for a missing Warpath, James Proudstar. This leads to a mission, via SHIELD, to extract an undercover agent from the Mutant Liberation Force, Dani Moonstar. The story then stops to do a flashback issue of a young James. This must have been part of a company-wide directive, as it is numbered “-1.” I really like the Warpath character, so I enjoyed this diversion, though it has direct consequences to later issues.

A little cameo from Stan to intro the flashback issue.

I remember James as an honorable member of the Hellfire Club Hellions (their version of the New Mutants). He’d rejected the X-Men, since he’d blamed Professor Xavier for the death of his older brother, Apache Chief, just kidding, Thunderbird. Warpath was also a main character on the TV show, The Gifted, so he has some appeal. Basically, the character is analogous to Captain America, without the shield, but with advanced senses.

Dani is also another one of my favorite mutants. I don’t know why I’m favoring two Indian/Native Americans, but I like the characters. She never exactly formally joins the group. Dani just seems to be at loose ends and decides to follow along with X-Force, since she knows them. Not having a lot of motivation, she fits right in with the team. I was a bit disappointed they didn’t do more with her, but she is an integral support character.

The main story picks back up as X-Force fights the MLF and advanced human-ish Sentinels from the Zero Tolerance task force. Some members of X-Force captured, but later freed, and they’re reunited with Cable. Ironically, this leads to their breakup with him. He wants the group to go underground with new identities. X-Force uniformly rejects that idea and Cable leaves them to find their own destiny.

This friendly couple in the van looks familiar.

The road trip starts here, as the group is left broke and traveling. James suddenly rejoins them, but then takes off with Theresa (Siryn) to chase down a lead on the people who massacred his tribe years ago. The rest of the team takes a side job working security for a questionable individual.

How's that for a Valkyrie entrance? 

Blackheart reminds me of somebody.

Specifically Mok from Rock & Rule.

James and Theresa manage to find the mad doctor behind the slaughter of the tribe, but it costs Warpath his life. Thankfully, this is a comic book. It turns out this is a plot by deceased villain, Stryfe, to have James take his place in Heck. The team shows up to save him and Stryfe gets what he deserves.

What a better time to go party. X-Force goes to the Flaming Colossal Dude festival (just a joke there). They are briefly reunited with former New Mutants teammates, Karma (Shan), who is exploring an alternative lifestyle (which was completely out-of-character and I think handwaved by later writers), and Cannonball (Sam). This is awkward, since Tabitha (Meltdown), Sam’s erstwhile girlfriend, and Bobby (Sunspot), his best friend, are having an affair. Also, Cable finally formally bows out of the team’s affairs.

I love these two back-to-back pages: the team as badass superheroes and the team in matching bowling shirts. They’re perfectly illustrating what to expect from this title from here out. In this issue, the story picks up with Shatterstar and Rictor, who’d wandered off earlier in the volume, but then they disappear again from the storyline. The big revelation, though, is that Sam finds out about Tabitha and Bobby and flies off angry.

Polina’s best artwork is probably in the next story, The City of Lost Children, which is a fill-in issue with a different writer. (John Francis Moore writes most of the volume.) It’s a shame that the story isn’t quite up to the artwork, but at least makes it readable. It’s also set in the town of Almost Reno, New Mexico. I assume it’s a stand-in for Las Vegas, New Mexico.

X-Force meets a Hawaiian goddess.

There are several subplots weaving along in these stories. In the next three issues, they pay off Sunspot being stalked by his evil alter ego, Reignfire, with a massive fight in Las Vegas. With this, the group makes it to San Francisco, where Bobby gets reconnected with his trust fund and finally X-Force has some money. Flush with cash, he treats them to a Hawaiian vacation. Hijinks ensue. This was also Polina’s last issue.

The group finally reconnects with Domino and picks up a new member, but just as quickly, they’re whisked away from them to reconnect with Sam, who is protecting two superpowered beings, one of which can turn thought to reality. It leads to kind of a nice moment where Sam is asked why he didn’t wish for the X-Men to show up and help him. “Ah was thinking about who Ah’d want covering my back, and it was you guys,” he says. The friendship between the members of X-Force carries the book.

Overall, the individual issues may not be as great as the overall concept of superheroes making a road trip and not having any real defined mission. I haven’t read any issues past this, so I don’t know how long they carried on with this. It was a radical departure from the previous militant X-Force. I enjoyed it. Maybe it was nostalgia. Maybe I just liked the concept and/or the characters. Your mileage may vary.