It’s no secret that I’m a little bit obsessed with comic book artist (and sometime writer) Mike Allred. Though his finest creation remains Madman, it is followed closely by he and Peter Milligan’s short run on Marvel’s X-Force, which later evolved into a 26 issue original splinter series X-Statix. Taking the X-Force out of the hands of shoulder-pads-n-oversized-cups Rob Liefeld in 2001, Milligan and Allred crafted one of the finest satires I’ve ever read, while also accomplishing the monumental task of giving the exhilaratingly flippant series a hefty emotional weight.

If you’ve never read the story of the pop-band-esque team of Anarchist, Orphan, U-Go Girl, Phat, Vivisector, Venus Dee Milo, Doop, and more, then now is the perfect time. Marvel has finally collected everything X-Statix into a gorgeous Omnibus, featuring all 40 original run issues plus like 10 affiliate title issues. It’s worth it just for the larger format reprinting of Allred’s still breathtaking art.

This is the way you’re supposed to experience the tragic romance of Mister Sensitive and Edie Sawyer (not to mention Myles Alfred and Billy Bob Reilly), the silent trip inside the mind of the mysterious green goop Doop, the rollercoaster rise and fall of the X-Statix team in the eyes of the (sometimes) adoring public, the battle with The Avengers (!), and so so much more.

So I’m obviously geeking out over this a bit (a lot) but it has instantly become one of my favorite collections I own. Though reading them as they came out was fun, it’s even better getting them all in one big magnificent hunk ‘o book. If there is one comic related item you buy yourself with any leftover holiday earnings, it should definitely be this one.

- Whole Milk