X-Force #1

History

Rob Liefeld had been plotting New Mutants since issue #98, with Fabian Nicieza scripting over his plots, and the two had introduced Deadpool, Gideon, and the Copycat-as-Domino into that title before building toward a full relaunch. Liefeld recounted that his initial pitch for a new title — under names including 'X-Terminators' and 'X-Cutioners' — was rejected by Marvel's editorial and sales board, and only persistent advocacy from sales manager Sven Larsen eventually won approval for the new series. The series name 'X-Force' was obtained by Liefeld from an uncredited artist he met at a convention shortly before launch, and the book was published as a 48-page giant titled 'A Force to Be Reckoned With,' plotted and drawn by Liefeld with dialogue scripted by Nicieza, under editor Bob Harras and editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. Its polybag-with-trading-card format — released in six variants (Cable, Team, Shatterstar, Sunspot, Deadpool cards, plus a gold unbagged second print) — was a pioneering direct-market sales tactic that drove enormous copy counts and became a reference point for 1990s publishing strategy.

Trivia · 10 facts

• Written and drawn by Rob Liefeld (plot and art), scripted by Fabian Nicieza; edited by Bob Harras; cover date August 1991, released June 25, 1991.
• First solo-series appearance of G.W. Bridge (George Washington Bridge), Cable's former S.H.I.E.L.D. antagonist, who appears both in the story and in a 'Cable's Battle Files' character profile at the back of the issue.
• First use of the 'Warpath' codename for James Proudstar in an actual issue — the name had been established in New Mutants #100 but is confirmed and used throughout this first mission.
• Deadpool appears only in a 'Cable's Battle Files' character bio/profile rather than in the main story — widely noted as an unofficial/non-story appearance; the same back-matter section profiles Feral, Shatterstar, and G.W. Bridge.
• The 'Domino' on the X-Force roster throughout this issue is actually Vanessa Carlysle (Copycat) impersonating the real Neena Thurman, who remains a prisoner — a long-running deception not exposed to readers until X-Force #11.
• Issue contains the first cameo appearance of Tyler Dayspring, the future villain Tolliver, depicted in a flashback.
• Published polybagged with one of five different Impel trading cards (Cable, Team, Shatterstar, Sunspot, or Deadpool), plus a gold unbagged second print — among the earliest comic books sold in this polybag-with-card format, helping to drive a total print run reported variously as four to five million copies.
• At least five early panels, including the two-page opening splash, have been identified by archivists as direct visual homages to panels from New Teen Titans (Tales of…) #39, a point of ongoing fan and critical discussion about Liefeld's artistic influences.
• Reprinted as True Believers: X-Force #1 (January 2017), making the story broadly accessible to a new generation of readers ahead of the Deadpool film franchise's rise.
• The story sends X-Force on its first mission against the Mutant Liberation Front in Antarctica, establishing the team's operating independence from Xavier's school and their willingness to use lethal force — a deliberate philosophical break from both the X-Men and the New Mutants.

Cast · 23 characters

Full credits

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers

Key issues in X-Force

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#116 1st appearance — Doop

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#2 1st appearance — Garrison Kane

Variants (3)