One of the things my parents brought up for me this past weekend that did not involve food was a bunch of comic books that were mailed to our house in the past 6 weeks. So yesterday, I read them all in one sitting. They were all pretty good (Wolverine is a Marvel Knights title now, and Daredevil is always top-notch) but the one that struck me the most was the Last Issue of X-Statix.

If you have not heard of this title before, you missed out. Basically, three years ago, Marvel had the guts to take an underperforming, generic "X-Comic" title, X-Force, (i.e. a title that featured a team of mutant superheroes that was basically a rip-off of the X-Men except with obscure and more boring characters), "kill off" the whole team, and without changing the continuity of the issue numbering of the mag, replaced them with a brand new team that had no relation to the old X-Force. It was brilliance, as was the idea to bring in Grant Morrison and Mike Allred as the creative team.

Basically, the New X-Force (which later changed its name to X-Statix and got its own comic title) was not a conventional superhero team out to save the world, but a media-driven creation populated by mutant prima-donna celebrities who licensed the broadcast rights to their bloody battles and basked in the adulation of their fans. Their missions were selected not in order to save the world, but in order to gain the maximum P.R. value and positive spin, which would then drive merchandise sales and get them invited to elite social events. Unlike regular super-teams, this one had an incredibly high death rate -- nearly the whole team got killed on the first mission alone, only to be replaced with newcomers.

I liked the comic because it existed in a kind of post-post-modern consciousness in which poked fun not only at the whole absurdity of the super-hero ideal but at that of pop culture as well. And in the final issue, when the creators felt that they had done all they could with the concept, they had the team go out in one final blaze of glory, dying in the reckless and violent way they had lived. A fitting ending, I suppose.

X-Statix will always retain a special place in my heart. As for now, they've resurrected the old X-Force team and it's back to business as usual.