Christopher Yost, the master of anti-heroes! This week, we wanted you all to reflect on two of his Marvel runs which focus on brutal heroes: SCARLET SPIDER and X-FORCE. Despite both revolving around characters that aren't "traditional" heroes, the two runs are quite different and bring completely different advantages. One did massive work to expand upon Kaine's world and the other dove deep into Wolverine's stealthy and lethal team which was full of cool characters (most notably X-23!). We strongly recommend reading both, but we wanted to know which one you prefer and why. Voting has been open since Monday and now the poll has been locked. In the end, the clone of Peter Parker took a moderate lead!
Yost did a tremendous job giving Kaine so much more depth. Watching Scarlet Spider try to figure out what to do with his life and the power he possesses was both a thrilling and emotional experience. From the first issue to the very last one, Yost made sure this book was loaded with entertainment. But it was hardly all action and emotional hits, though. The writer was sure to scatter a good amount of laughs throughout the ride... who can forget drunk Armadillo or the Santa Robbers fight?! Additionally, the book fleshed out Kaine's world by giving him a solid supporting cast. Hummingbird is beyond lovable and we grew to legitimately care about the people close to the anti-hero.
It's very unfortunate the run came to an end, but at least Kaine and Aracely are now continuing their adventures in Yost's latest run, NEW WARRIORS. Now, let's go see what the community had to say about these two runs!
Jonny_Anonymous
"Scarlet Spider.
Who knew Yost could take a character I didn't really care about and give him the mantel of my favourite spider-man ever and then go on to make me like him MORE than Ben in the first place."
ClawFist
"Man, both of these runs were great... but I'm gonna have to give it X-Force. Yost really made the name and team "X-Force" matter in my eyes. Before Yost, X-Force never really got my attention accept for the characters on the team and I really only hoped they'd pop-up in other X-Titles cause I just didn't care about X-Force. Yost changed all that, and then it was followed up by the X-Force: Sex & Violence mini and the superb Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender. Yost really just turned the whole way I looked at X-Force as where in Scarlet Spider (which don't kid yourself, I do love) I was already invested in the name. I expected and hoped Scarlet Spider to be good and it didn't disappoint. So again, my vote goes to X-Force cause it changed my entire outlook on the brand."
GraniteSoldier
"Got to go Scarlet Spider. Just the way Yost gave Kaine such a gruff but likable personality and really made me care about a character that originally felt like a second rate Spider-Man is a testament to his work. Kaines become one of my favorite characters and his solo was all too short in my opinion.
Yost is at least continuing his legacy of excellence with Kaine in New Warriors."
RD189
"I loved both to death, and both ended way too soon.
X-Force though had the advantage in art. Clayton Crain and Mike Cho did some of their BEST work ever for Marvel on that series. That scene with Angel lying on the pile of corpses with the light shining down on him... down right biblical. And the scene where Kimura tortured X-23 with a god damned chainsaw, just brutal!
The problem I had with X-Force is that it just got bogged down with the lead in to Second Coming, that I felt Yost and Kyle weren't able to fully explore some of the stories they had planned before Rick Remender took over.
Scarlet Spider has the props for some of the finest character work I've ever read. J.M Demantis may have made Kaine, but Yost gave him the voice and the definitive run he deserved. That was consistently the best book of the month when it was on the shelves. It was fun, it was dark, it was violent, it was everything you could expect from, arguably, Marvel's best writer at the present moment.
If I had one complaint to make about Scarlet Spider, which falls squarely on the editors, was why Kaine was backed into his own little corner and not allowed to interact with the universe at large. It made sense story wise, but the Sibling Rivalry story could have been epic if they had hit on it earlier and allowed to expand into Superior.
Heres hoping Yost gets a shot at the Kaine/X-23 crossover we all would part our dearly earned money for!"
Here's the poll results. Nice to see a mere 1% isn't a fan of either!
- Scarlet Spider 47%
- X-Force 37%
- I'm ashamed to admit I haven't read either one and won't be able to before Friday 8%
- I love both of them 6%
- Sorry, I'm not a fan of either story 1%
That's it for this week, Viners! Be sure to check the homepage on Monday for a brand new edition of this segment. In the meantime, go ahead and tell us your favorite moment from these stories. If it's a big spoiler, please be sure to use the appropriate spoiler tags! Do you want to suggest a future match-up for this segment? Tell us below or via twitter.