3 out of 5

Another great start, and a great punch line.  Some stuff happens inbetween.

X-Force auditions for replacement team members, giving Milligan opportunity to go full glib (his most enjoyable writing mode, by my opinion) as he gigglingly plucks at various sociological concepts: race, with Tike struggling over the potential inclusion of another black team member, ‘The Spike,’ who antagonizes by calling Tike white-on-the-inside; fame, with Phat and Vivisector continually plotting ways to cause controversy and direct the camera their way, and Edie obsessing over a new TV show she wants to host; and relationships, with Guy sweatin’ over his conflicted feelings toward his blue-skinned, female teammate.  Thrown into this mix is Woodstock, a.k.a. Lacuna, a mutant with hippie, super progressive parents who keeps trying to skip the audition process and prove her way on to the team with some powered antics.  It’s all artifice, the central gist of X-Force / X-Statix, and it’s a lot of fun… until, as usual, Millie tries to inject some meaning in there.  He lets Guy and Edie have some serious talks; he gives Tike OCD and tries to delve deeper into the emotions behind the race issue; he backhands fake action and tension into the story to pretend like it’s an actual comic.  All of this takes us away from the glib tone and reads like story padding.

Thankfully, Lacuna’s final realization is hilarious enough to save the day.  And then we’re out.