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Underground > Comic Books >

Peter David's New X-Factor

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08:34 / 05.06.06

That's a shame. I like his art, especially the most recent issue with the (inevitable) "You and what army?" spread of Madrox and his dupes. Nice little variations between the dupes, with the occasional extreme personality in there.

I'm liking X-Factor, it's Angel Investigations in the Marvel-verse. But it does need to speed up it's pace a little.

Looking forward to the Civil War cross-over.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

14:28 / 05.06.06

Cyberman: Looking forward to the Civil War cross-over.

I can imagine that Theresa will be for it, possibly on the grounds that her father worked for Interpol at one point. M doesn't care about other people, but doesn't want to register herself. Rictor will be against it. Rahne will be against it. Guido will be against it even though he doesn't really have a secret identity. Jamie will have no idea whether he should be for it or against it.

Do we know who the artist will be?

I picked up Madrox this weekend, in trade. A good, solid read. I could have done with a bit more of Dupe-Jamie, Rahne, and Guido working the astral projection case to make it feel a bit more fleshed out. It felt secondary but not in the right way for a subplot. All the shots of Jamie reabsorbing dupes were pretty. Raimondi and Hennessy bust out a very hot look Bishop, which is a disturbing idea because Bishop is such a Nineties weird-muscle-mass reject - here he was kinda cute. David worked a decent amount of misdirection into the story, and the idea of various dupes having different agendas certainly feeds into X-Factor nicely.

Shiny: Well Over Thirty

18:39 / 05.06.06

I'm really looking forward to the Quicksilver appearance next issue. Peter David is pretty much the definite writer for Pietro, and I'm really interested to see what does with the damaged wreck of a man Pietro has become after House and Son of M. Also Son of M had heavy time travel elements and since weird shit with the timestream seems to be one of the elements running through X-Factor so far I'm wondering how much of Son of M was deliberately done to set up things that are going to happen in X-Factor.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

05:46 / 15.12.06

Starting picking this up again with #13 and the return of Pablo Raimondi. X-Factor visits Doc Samson.

First of all, beautiful art. Other than Rahne's wolf form, I don't like Raimondi's version of her but everything else is key. Jamie is sexy. Also, I think slash fiction has officially hit some sort of mainstream equilibrium, when Jamie and Ric argue about boysex in a bar and Jamie points out that Shatterstar might be jealous. Was the scene too cute? Maybe, but I kind of enjoy the recurring "Queer Jamie" thread, and the libidinous sex farce element is fun to play with. Jamie's flexibility as a character is delightful.

And, you know, Val Cooper. I always forget she exists but she's this weird counterpart to Fury in a way that SWORD woman from Astonishing X-Men hasn't quite achieved.

Layla continues to bug the fuck out of me. I think she could be redeemed with an intercompany Layla Miller/Misty miniseries. Girls in striped kneesocks with POWERS! who know stuff.

22:30 / 15.12.06

I don't know who's that Misty girl you keep talking, but I love Layla Miller.

And the disfuncitonal family of X-factor, and the way Madrox is unable to do anything right.

Funny reading.

Jake, Colossus of Clout

22:47 / 15.12.06

I just downloaded this series and the Madrox mini and read it in one go. Loved it despite the uneven art, and I'll definitely pick up the trades. Say what you will about Peter David, but he writes great superhero-comedy-soap operas. I've never given much of a shit about any of these characters, but after a few hour's reading, I already care more about what's happening to them than the "big-time" X-Men I grew up with over in Astonishing.

Plus, it's hilarious. David is the only comics writer I can think of that is genuinely, consistently funny in a good-natured way. The Ennis/Ellis-style cringe-inducing humor has its' place, but it gets tiresome. Peter David is a breath of fresh air, especially with Marvel and DC taking themselves waaaay too seriously these days.

rabideyemovement

02:56 / 16.12.06

I too like Layla Miller. I find her the most interesting of the X-Factor crew. And I'm sure she'll be advanced to adulthood Magick-style soon enough.
One thing I dislike about this series is Rahne being kept in the background. I'd like to see Peter David delve into her history, since i know little to nothing about her past.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

08:37 / 16.12.06

She was brought up by religious Scottish-types who thought that her mutant powers came from the devil. A little while later she was captured by the Genoshans and turned into one of their clone army so could not revert to human form. Had a crush on Alex Summers. Was cured. There's really not a rich seam there to be mined.

18:31 / 16.12.06

Well, probably the most outrageous aspect of Rahne's history is that Reverend Craig, the abusive preacher who adopted her and tried to beat the devil out of her, turned out to be her daddy. Sinful.

rabideyemovement

19:10 / 16.12.06

Oh yes, i do recall all of that from the New mutants. I was just implying that all that happened in passing. Her background has merely been hinted at over the years, and I think it would make for a few cool backstories. Show us.

14:29 / 19.12.06

Rictor's gay, right? Reviewing the dialogue from his scene with Jamie in the latest issue, it sounds to me like it's been flat-out admitted. In a cool, clever sort of way...

rabideyemovement

14:38 / 19.12.06

It's been implied for years, and I'm not sure if that was a joke to the readers or if Peter David has something in mind.
I think he should hook up with Jamie's fairer dupe.

Regrettable Juvenilia

15:53 / 19.12.06

The dialogue seemed to imply that Ric's basically down for whatever with whoever - his interest in what Maddrox has been up to is pretty obviously heterosexual, but yeah, he actually says he's got no problem with the idea of sex with men. The spit-take kind of implies that either he and Shatterstar weren't intimate, or that he didn't know that Maddrox knew they were, but we're probably not supposed to try to analyse it that consistently - it's largely humorous meta-commentary.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

06:24 / 20.12.06

Oddly, I think I like that X-Factor has in no way settled down into any stagnant relationships. It's all very fluid and sexy and ridiculous. No endless recycled Jean & Scott routines or tired Jean/Logan sensuality or Rogue/Gambit angst.

I looked at a couple back issues the other day but the fill-in between Raimondi and Sook was this sketchy shit that didn't do much of anything for me. But I can figure out what's going on so it's NOT A CRISIS.

Although I feel weird about a future Jamie hooking up with future Layla.

Guido's arc right now intrigues me a lot and I like his redemption in #14...

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