10 BToItM in the 00's, #8: X-Force/X-Statix (2001 - 2004)

Oh, Peter Milligan. How many times have I blogged about you here? Or mentioned your characters? Or told a friend that you were the best comic book writer EVER? Well, it's time for one more.

While my favorite book of Milligan's (and, honestly, my favorite comic series of all time) is and forever shall be the mid-'90's Shade, the Changing Man, it was X-Force and X-Statix that got me to look at superhero books again after taking about 5 years off from comics. I had been picking up a book here and there during my time off, but usually only because they were written by Peter Milligan.

X-Force/X-Statix took all the superhero conventions and shoved them into a mad, mad world almost on par with the post-modern, mad, mod, poet god landscape of Shade. Can you believe how many people died in this sucker? Can you believe the almost-Princess-Di plot? Can you believe the best homo non-couple in comicdom, Vivisector and Phat?

To see Mr. Milligan play fast and loose over and over again with what is taboo in superhero land, while simultaneously chipping away at capitalism, celebrity, and cultural consumption is such a treat. I'm just sad that it ended prematurely and that it seems like the characters he created were just weird enough to never appear in the Marvel Universe again. I, for example, would love to see a Vivisector romance. As you all know, I've got a thing for nerds, and what could be hotter than a Harvard-educated, mutant, werewolf?