X-Force #7 Textless Cover by Stephen Segovia

X-Force #7 Solicit for January 2025

X-Force #5 Clayton Crain Betsy Braddock Variant

X-Force #7: THE POWER OF LOVE! The romance of BETSY BRADDOCK and RACHEL SUMMERS has been fraught with challenge, but can they navigate the mysterious problem with Rachel's powers — and still survive the machinations of the alchemical menace known as LA DIABLA?! Edge-of-your-seat action and revelations in the next issue of X-FORCE!

X-Force #6 Solicit for December 2024

X-Force #6

Writer: Geoffrey Thorne

Art by: Marcus To

Cover by: Stephen Segovia

Variant Cover by: Carlos Gomez

Surge Variant Cover by: Jay Anacleto

FORGE REUNITES WITH STORM AND MYSTIQUE! The mysterious forces circling X-FORCE since issue #1 begin to come into focus…the fractures were just the beginning! Meanwhile, for all of the pain he's endured, losing STORM may be the biggest regret of FORGE's life. But as Forge reunites with ORORO and MYSTIQUE, this "love triangle" might break more than just a few hearts! Action. Love lost. New foes. Shock surprises. X-FORCE has it all!

X-Force #3 Preview

X-Force #3

Writer: Geoffrey Thorne

Art by: Marcus To

Cover by: Stephen Segovia

The Story: X-FORCE’s biggest mission yet brings them to the brink of destruction at the hands of NUKLO! But when Nuklo’s mysterious rampage conflicts with the world-threatening Fracture Node detected by Forge, what sacrifice will X-Force make to complete their no-win mission?

In Stores: September 25, 2024

Geoffrey Thorne Discusses X-Force and Betsy Braddock

X-Force writer Geoffrey Thorne recently shared his insights on Betsy Braddock in the CBR forums and discussed the X-Force pitching process on the TalkTimeLive.com podcast. Check out some highlights from his discussions below:

Thorne addressed fan concerns about Betsy being Captain Britain and their desire for her to reclaim the Psylocke moniker.

Thorne: It's such a quandary. Betsy has been one of those characters different writers have done whatever they wanted with over the years, leading to this strange situation we have now. Until the whole body swap thing, she was sort of just the back-up telepath/kinetic with the psychic blade. The body swap, certainly visually, just turned her into an Asian psionic Elektra. Making her Captain Britain sort of changed the game and added magic, but at the expense of Brian no longer being Captain Britain and making her one of many Captain Britains. Like all heroes, she needs her own thing, her own identity. I don't know if I'm the one to give her that (or that I'll be allowed to), but I'm certainly going to try. Whatever her name or title, I want Betsy to be unique.

Thorne also shared his thoughts on the body swap arc with Kwannon.

Thorne: My personal feeling about the body swap is, I didn't like it at the time, and I'm glad it's over. Great design, but it was basically Blue Elektra, and it didn't need to be applied to a Caucasian British woman in the body of an Asian woman. It was, in my opinion, the definition of 'yellowface,' which is something I don't enjoy. There's no reason that design couldn't have been used to introduce a new character who was an Asian woman in an Asian body (which is what we have now). The canon is the canon. If they hadn't separated Betsy and Kwannon, I'd have been fine writing that version, but yeah, I'm glad they finally fixed it, and I do consider it a fix having them back in their own bodies.

A reader mentioned that Thorne should avoid the same mistake Tini Howard made by ignoring Betsy's development while in Kwannon's body and resetting the character. Thorne weighed in on this.

Thorne: Well, I've been reading Betsy's adventures since her debut. I'm very aware of her various twists and turns.And, just as a point for the future, in case it comes up with other writers—there is no way to 'give her something most fans will like.' There's no way to know what that would be in advance. Different fans like different things. If I set out to please one set, I would automatically alienate another set. We do our work in the dark in that regard. We do our best to come up with compelling stories and character twists, and we hope most fans like them, but we cannot ever know until you all respond. As for my predecessors, I ain't them. They did their thing; I'll be doing mine. Which I very much hope you all will enjoy.

Fans commented that Betsy's recent portrayal in the Krakoan era felt too soft, which left them dissatisfied.

Thorne: As I've said, I'm going to do all I can to get Betsy back to center. I don't think she's as bloodthirsty as she used to be, but she is absolutely the lady who will gut you without blinking if you cross the wrong line. The more I write her, the more I love her. Seriously.

A fan requested that Betsy use more pink and lavender, her signature colors, and incorporate the butterfly effect more. Thorne agreed.

Thorne: We'll see what we can do.

In a recent podcast interview, Thorne also discussed his approach to pitching X-Force to editor Mark Basso. Thorne shared his preference for working with lesser-known characters rather than the major figures of the X-Men universe.

“I don’t like working with the big guns—Rogue, Cyclops, Professor X, Magneto. I’ll never pitch them. Everybody has an opinion about them, so I feel restricted. But with lesser-known characters, you have more freedom to flex. You can tell a more compelling story. For example, if I wanted to kill Forge, I could, and he’d stay dead because Marvel isn’t focusing on him. That freedom means the adventure can truly be an adventure."

When it came time to pitch X-Force, Thorne explained that he had a clear vision. “I told Mark Basso, ‘I get what your needs are. I understand it’s X-Force now, because before it didn’t even have a title.’ But I needed more characters, so I pitched him a whole bunch. In my original pitch, X-Force had 10 or 11 members because I took the term ‘force’ to mean a bigger organization. They were set up very differently. They weren’t going to be a kill squad, but more like ninjas.”

However, Thorne faced some early hurdles. “The first thing Mark said was, ‘I’ve got some bad news for you. Some of these characters we’re not doing anything with as a company right now because they’re very complex. You’d have to spend so much time on every page explaining who they are that it wouldn’t be fun. So, they’re off the table.’”

Thorne also learned that X-Force was lower on Marvel's priority list. “Mark told me, ‘You came in last in line. X-Force is the last team book we’re picking up, and all the others have their character rosters already set.’”

Despite the challenges, Thorne was able to assemble a core team he was excited about. “The final roster ended up being characters I really wanted to work with. And Mark was like, ‘Those are great. Have a ball.’ I was surprised and asked, ‘Really? Even Captain Britain?’ And they said, ‘Dude, do your thing. No one’s touching Captain Britain right now.’ I joked, ‘You know what I do to characters, right?’ and Mark just replied, ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it. Have a ball.’”

"I wanted to come up with brand new names for some of these characters," Thorne explained. "But the editors were like, ‘No, Jeff.’ And I asked, ‘Why not?’ They said it’s because, in both Captain Britain and Rachel’s case, every time a new writer comes on, people keep throwing new names at them. I was like, ‘Alright, I get it.’ So, we’ll see if we can finesse that later."

X-Force Continues Strong Sales in August Rankings

The August 2024 comic book sales rankings, tracked by the ComicHub system, reflect data from over 125 comic stores worldwide between August 4 and August 31. While these rankings offer insight into consumer trends, they represent a small sample of the global market and may not fully capture broader sales patterns.

"X-Force" #1, which debuted at #10 in July with just three days of sales, continued its strong performance, securing the #38 spot in August. Its sequel, "X-Force" #2, landed at #50, despite also having only three days of tracked sales following its August 28 release. "X-Force" #2 and other late-month releases like "X-Men" #3, "NYX" #2, and "Deadpool Team-Up" #1 will likely see their sales reflected in the September rankings.

Geoffrey Thorne, the writer of X-Force, shared his thoughts on the recent rankings with a mix of enthusiasm and pragmatism. While he's excited about the positive reception, he cautions against placing too much weight on the numbers. "These numbers are fun but don't take them too seriously," Thorne remarked, noting that rankings can fluctuate significantly with just a few more sales. He emphasized that combining X-Force #1's rankings from July and August places it within the top 20 for a full 30-day period. Thorne also reassured fans that X-Force is in for the long haul, saying, "X-Force will still be here in a year and we plan to be here for longer than that. Considerably longer if the stars align." As he wraps up the script for issue #8, Thorne reminds readers that the first story arc is far from over, promising much more to come.