I’m not sure why I fell away from Peter David’s X-Factor. If
I remember correctly, I don’t think I liked the Secret Invasion crossover with
She-Hulk, and that convinced me to switch to the trades. I had a few of them
sitting on a bookshelf for the last few years where they sat unread. It took my
X-Factor project over the Christmas break to inspire me to pick up this
collection and get started again.
And while this is a good collection, having read a whole
bunch of books in a row, this is more about where the book is going than where
it is in this story. Madrox and Layla Miller are in the future, assisting
Cyclops, Ruby Summers, and a few others in overthrowing a tyrannical
anti-mutant government. The problem here is that the villains never come into
strong enough focus for me. David does some character clean-up with Trevor Fitzroy
that sets up some nice possible stories for the future, but other than the
enigmatic Cortex, none of the other future villains have the gravitas to power
the story.
No, where this book really pulled me back in was in
characterization. I don’t know how it happened, but my old favorite Madrox has
really fallen in my esteem. He’s mopey and sarcastic, and seems like he’d be
just about the worst boss you could hope for. He’s a good tool in the story,
but he’s not exactly likable.
You know who is likable? Almost everyone else. Guido, or
Strong Guy as he’s known, is brilliant in this. His confusion and awkwardness over
Rictor and Shatterstar’s new relationship is hilarious. Shatterstar? He’s
tremendous! He comes off like an old-time Wolverine, always the first to charge
into battle, disregarding safety and sanity. And M is that classic flying brick
that knows she’s better than the rest of the team. I’m shocked that David can
make me this fond of Longshot and Darwin, too. They have never been anything
but background characters to me, but now I find myself looking forward to their
panel time.The sequences in the present-day where Cortex is possessing different
team members is much stronger than the portions of the book taking place in the
future.
Valentine De Landro’s art is fine, but the work suffers due
to a lack of background. Compared to the work he does in some later issues,
this is clearly weaker. The faces can be lumpy and the acting is a bit hard to
follow. It gets better in later trades though.
This is a GOOD series that becomes EXCELLENT due to the
amazingly long run it is a part of. Fans of witty banter and solid
super-heroics need to re-examine this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment