All-New X-Factor #13 – Review

By: Peter David (Writer), Pop Mhan (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Color Artist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Kris Anka & Jared Fletcher (Cover Artist)

The Story: In case you missed it from the previous issue, we’ll repeat: Quicksilver, still a good guy.

The Review: It’s natural that, after a big multi-issue story arc, a comic series provides a relatively quiet issue focused on character building and interpersonal relationships. What’s less natural is that, after this kind of quiet issue, that you get *another* one. So when writing about this issue, largely focused on Quicksilver and the redemptive path he has taken over the years as a character, I have to force myself to not simply cut and paste from my review of last issue. It’s deja vu all over again.

In fact, I’d say that pretty much all of the regular plot elements are simply being spun on “repeat” at this point, making any momentum of the story feel more like plate-spinning than actual forward direction. Besides Quicksilver’s drama, Polaris and Snow continue their kind of power play over the leadership of the team, Georgia is still moping and a victim of bi-polar forces of plot necessity, Warlock and Danger still aren’t human while playing at human interaction, Cypher still wanders around with no real purpose, and Gambit still tries to diffuse tense situations by kissing someone.

All-New X-Factor #12

By: Peter David (Writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (Penciller), Lee Loughridge (Color Artist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Kris Anka & Jared Fletcher (Cover Artist)

Peter David’s name has become firmly associated with key characters of the Marvel Universe, and most specifically the characters of X-Factor. He is credited with creating many of the definitive takes on them, and most specifically that of Quicksilver. This issue promises to be one of them.

It hearkens back to another of those early definitive takes, almost 25 years ago, in X-Factor volume 1 #72, 1991, in which the US government-sponsored version of X-Factor held a press conference to introduce their team to the public. Here, the corporate-sponsored version of X-Factor does the same. Knowing this gives the issue a bit of resonance, but there’s enough character building and genuine pathos that even if you are unaware of the parallels, you get a satisfying reading experience.

Quicksilver is arguably the star player here, as his development takes both the beginning and end scenes of the book. The former perhaps foreshadows more conflict to come, but the ending offers him a chance to rest in the moment, perhaps incongruously for a speedster character, and to receive affirmation from a surprising source, his daughter. This fits in line with what X-Factor is really giving us right now– themes revolving around the question of what it really means to be a hero, as well as around the question of what “family” is all about.

All-New X-Factor #11 – Review

By: Peter David (Writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Color Artist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Kris Anka & Jared Fletcher (Cover Artist)

The Story: A lot of stuff happens, but let’s face it, it’s hard to get past just two words: Naked Gambit.

The Review: It’s the big finale of X-Factor’s latest brouhaha. As appropriate, it contains a lot of action, cool powers on display, and an epic explosion that leaves the focal character changed. On the other hand, some subplots are ignored, others are just implied, and a bit of deus ex machina surprises everyone.

The overall plot resolves Georgia’s situation, after a brief but climactic showdown between X-Factor and the forces of Momento Mori. There’s a bit more definition to the villain here, especially in terms of powers, but it’s still largely not a concern of the storytelling. He has some vague ability to “harness the power of the sun itself” or otherwise professes to be “a walking bomb.” In fact, he deliberately says “you have no idea what I’m capable of,” which is actually kind of a problem for the readers if you think about it. We *should* have *some* idea of what he’s capable of, shouldn’t we? We also learn that it’s more mystical in nature, once his wife reveals it was she who wanted the power, except she didn’t get it, so now she doesn’t want it, and thus she helps defeat him once and for all.

Because of the vague nature of the powers, the threat is alternatively real (we don’t know where it will go) and not real (it could have been essentially resolved in any number of ways making them narratively zero-sum.) The reveal of the wife being Actually Important is so out of left field as to be a fault to the story. The best you could say is that it’s a surprise, but there’s a whole host of reasons to say the opposite, which is why such forced plot devices aren’t usually seen outside of ancient Greek drama nowadays.

All-New X-Factor #10 – Review

By: Peter David (Writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (Penciller), Lee Loughridge (Color Artist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Kris Anko & Jared Fletcher (Cover Artists)

The Story:
Georgia has trouble leaving the mall.

The Review:
There’s more plot than subplot here, but what subplot does show up is pretty significant, as it creates the cliffhanger for next issue.

The main plot continues to ceneter on Little Miss MacGuffin, a.k.a. Georgia, who’s been captured by Momento Mori, her flight attempt, and X-Factor’s eventual rescue. It provides some needed exposition to clarify the characters’ relationships, and it also provides some pretty hilarious moments, such as a chase through a mall on Segway scooters. Which transform into laser-firing flying jets. Some characters get some good one-liners, too, such as Polaris’ “How about YOU don’t move?” that placed on the cover, and even Georgia’s “Sorry! Sorry! Hope I didn’t kill you!”

Otherwise, however, Georgia continues to be the weakest element of the book, which continues to be my main complaint of this story arc. Yes, she does take some agency in trying to escape, but it’s also simply a plot point and a logical move. She remains a complete cypher (no offense to Doug Ramsey) and doesn’t really serve any purpose but to draw out a months-long serial from what should be a very simple and really kind-of-cliché story premise.

Momento promises to be less cliché as villain, as he quite explicitly points out why he doesn’t chose, say, a volcano lair as a headquarters. (Moment of Meta– Unless going out of the way to point out why you are not cliché has become cliché in itself.) There’s also something funny about having a villain headquarters in a shopping mall, which includes the Mori Hotel (that translates into Death Hotel?) Interestingly, this positions him to be a natural antagonist to Serval Industries/X-Factor’s patron, with potential to comment on the commercial nature of villainy in the same way X-Factor might comment on the like for heroics. This potential isn’t realized, of course, but the possibility is there, perhaps as a set-up for future issues.

SENYC Report: Marvel – The Next Big Thing

Marvel came out in force for Special Edition: NYC. Though they easily flattened the competition when it came to number of panels, this was the one to see if you wanted to know what was coming from the House of Ideas.

The panel was moderated by Senior VP of Publishing Tom Brevoort and featured a slew of top name talent. This included Senior X-Men Editor Mike Marts, fan favorite writer Peter David, Storm writer Greg Pak, and Deadpool editor Jordan D. White. There was even a surprise guest in the form of Katie Kubert, the former editor of Batman and Detective comics who had announced her departure from DC less than twenty-four hours before!

All-New X-Factor #9 – Review

By: Peter David (Writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Color Artist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Kris Anka & Jared Fletcher (Cover Artists)

The Story:
X-Factor sort-of rescued a girl in kind-of distress. So… now what?

The Review:
If X-Factor were to be a brand, you’d expect its signature to be seeing a diverse and quirky cast engaging in witty banter, often over divisive issues. This month is no exception, although I do have a few questions about the characters and the visual storytelling.

The opening couple of pages is a good example of an introductory scene done right. Notice how the minor characters are really just background goons but display distinctive traits, and by so doing, they offer an intriguing tease about our story without having to slog through unnecessary exposition or unnatural dialogue. Visually, we the readers experience watching the “watchers” with dramatic choices of panel layouts, including one where the panels that display video camera feeds resemble an arrangement of monitors themselves.

Overall, this issue allows every character a moment to be in focus. Polaris and her interactions with Snow continue to display an uneasy tension and implications over who exactly leads this team; Quicksilver, whose character history takes him all over the hero-villain spectrum, is the one to take the team to task about the right course of action.

Cypher and Danger’s moments are in separate interactions with Georgia, with different degrees of success when trying to connect with the young girl. Visually, these two pages are near copies of each other, offering an interesting visual juxtaposition. (Male Gaze Alert: While Cypher gets a full-body shot in the middle panel, the same exact layout is used with Danger, but she gets a butt shot.)

All-New X-Factor #8 – Review

By: Peter David (Writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Color Artist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Kris Anka & Jared Fletcher (Cover Artists)

The Story:
“You don’t understand, my daughter. I’m a bigot because I care.”

The Review:
My critique about last issue was that the plot seemed somewhat forced to get all the characters into the story that David wanted to tell, and sure enough, now that everyone is in place, the story unfolds in a more satisfying way in this issue, with a few unexpected twists to keep the story fresh and to allow the characters some truly funny exchanges.

The twists occur largely because of our expectations on a familiar X-Universe kind of story– the child of a mutant bigot turns out to be a mutant. But the story beats we expect don’t play out to our expectations. Georgia, the mutant in question here, doesn’t even know she’s a mutant, and her father Dakei didn’t take his anti-mutant stance in any way because of or in spite of his daughter. There’s even quite a bit of self-loathing involved. And the ending, which we would expect would result in allowing Georgia to join a mutant superhero team, is never a foregone conclusion from the beginning. I mean, yes OF COURSE Georgia goes on to leave her father, but it’s after Dakei and Georgia have a very complex interchange.

That being said, it’s going to be very hard to take Georgia seriously or otherwise care about her in a real way. Previously, when as far as we knew she was Rebellious Teenager Type B, she was cliché but at least recognizable and therefore somewhat relatable. Here, we realize her warped innocence is all because she’s a shut-in who’s severely stunted emotionally and socially. That’s not weird; that’s just pathetic. So maybe her story won’t be running in the “cliché” category, since at least it’s a twist on what we were expecting, but now it’s running uncomfortably close to the “we’re laughing AT her, not with her” category. When she runs through the house shouting “Daddy!” and beating down the door, the melodrama starts to slip into farce.

All-New X-Factor #7 – Review

By: Peter David (Writer), Carmine di Giandomenico (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Kris Anka & Jared Fletcher (Cover Artists)

The Story:
The problem with video blogging is that everyone can see you, even superheroes.

The Review:
Some new characters are introduced, old subplots remain percolating, and no one remains sure of what Serval Industries is all about.

In a “story ripped from the headlines,” old-Law and Order style, we are introduced to an author whose anti-mutant bigotry may or may not have an effect on the art (novels) he produces. That’s all just the set-up, however, as X-Factor wrestles with the question on whether or not to attempt to “rescue” his daughter who has the persistent habit to vlog about her life. Spoilers: They decide to.

It’s interesting in that it allows the characters to interact over a couple of ethical issues at the same time, and doubly so because the characters seem to take sides that you wouldn’t necessarily expect, but as presented makes sense. It’s one of the things that fans enjoy about X-Factor (or, arguably more to the point, Peter David’s writing). Quicksilver, for example, displays uncharacteristic empathy for Georgia, our vlogger, which is understandable once he points out “it appears she has some serious father issues.” Also present, of course, is the witty banter, important soundbites of characterization, and plot misdirection that is often a strength of the writing.

Of course, some typical complains given by critics of X-Factor (or, to the point…) can be found here, too. Why, exactly, should it be Danger, the robot whose questionable humanity has been a plot point since her re-introduction, who is reading a book to start our exposition? Why is Polaris always in a quantum state of flip-flop? Since when is Gambit the advocate for the common man? Pretty much all of these quibbles stem from the fact that this is the story the characters have found themselves in, and everything must subtly shift accordingly in order for that story to be told.

C2E2 Report: Wolverine – 3 Months to Die

 

Though I didn’t plan it this way, my final panel of C2E2 was Marvel’s Wolverine: 3 Months to Die. And while I regret not being able to see a couple of the later panels, I can’t say that it was a bad note to go out on. Full of interesting questions and big announcements, it was definitely one of the most exciting panels of the weekend. And so with that in mind, I’ve decided to skip ahead and write about it early.

Before beginning, Mike Marts warned us that, “in true Marvel fashion you should stay till the end of the credits. And on that ominous note he introduced our panelists, Charles Soule, writer of nearly everything including The Death of Wolverine and Thunderbolts; Jason Latour, writer of Wolverine and the X-Men; Russell Dauterman, the artist on the upcoming Cyclops ongoing; Jordan White, the fantastically mustachioed editor of Deadpool and Thunderbolts; Mahmud Asrar, the artist on Wolverine and the X-Men; and Greg Pak, who might have seemed a strange addition to those who had not yet heard the rumors.

The panel started with Dauterman, who was unequivocal in his glee and honor at being invited to work on Cyclops alongside Greg Rucka. Dauterman attributed much of his love of the X-Men, Marvel, and comics to X-Men: The Animated Series. With an impish gleam in his eye, Jordan White immediately leaned forward and invited us to take part in a ukulele sing-along of the show’s classic theme song, despite its lacking any discernible words. Unfortunately the internet has thus far failed in its basic purpose by not providing a video of the event, though a quick search can probably turn up video of other instances. Regardless, take my word that it was extremely well received.

Marts then turned to Wolverine and the X-Men. He asked Mahmud Asrar who his favorite character to draw was. Asrar had trouble with the question, saying that they’re all growing on him, but settled upon Storm. Latour mentioned that the series has been juggling quite a bit but that we’re getting to the point in the opening arc where things start to fall.

Then Marts pulled up the covers for Wolverine 8-12, the titular “3 Months to Die” storyline, one at a time. I imagine the reaction was just about exactly what Marvel was hoping for but, of course, it’s hard to deny the striking power of the images.

While the first of “3 Months to Die”’s five issues drops in June the title is entirely literal, as Charles Soule’s The Death of Wolverine will be released weekly in September. Soule described the miniseries as hitting fast and hard and explained that it would consider how Logan explores his own mortality after over a century of life and relative safety. He also revealed that each issue will look at a different time in Logan’s life and, by extension, another Wolverine.

All-New X-Factor #4 – Review

By:  Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist)            

The Story: Gambit faces his worst nightmare, an enemy who can’t be robbed, blown-up, or seduced. Can he pull off the impossible before Polaris kills a former X-Man?

The Review: Let’s get it out there: All-New X-Factor #4 is one giant battle sequence. If you’re looking for something else, you might be disappointed, but leave it to Peter David to remind us how much fun it can be to just watch our heroes struggle.

Of course in order to struggle X-Factor needs an adversary and one capable of taking on the fledgling team. Fear not on that score, Danger more than adequately fills the role. Possessed of all the powers of the Danger Room itself, the amnesiac android makes for a convincing threat. Her hard-light constructs, in particular, get put to good use.

Unfortunately, Danger isn’t all that much more charismatic than her namesake chamber this issue. Driven by blind anger and lacking memories, Danger is fairly one-note villain. The number of times she declares what she knows or proclaims the time of someone’s demise is simply too high. Like the Terminator or Jason Voorhees, Danger’s…well, danger comes from her slow inevitable crawl towards victory, but while her tactical cleverness makes for some great bits, her intelligence robs her of an elemental charm.

All-New X-Factor #3 – Review

By: Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Gambit discovers that leading the Thieves’ Guild is as easy as herding cats as we discover that he’s actually pretty good at herding cats.

The Review: The first two issues of All-New X-Factor were somewhat surprising. I’ve always found Peter David to be a very talented writer with a knack for defining his characters and people swear by his second run on X-Factor. All the same, there was a distinct lack of identity in the opening story of this series.

This issue begins to address that concern and wastes absolutely no time doing it. From the first panel, David’s character-driven, old-Hollywood sensibility comes through clearly. In addition to a greater sense of David’s voice, this issue deals with many of the most interesting topics from the first two issues. Big subjects like Serval’s morality and Dr.Hoffman’s obsession with mutant powers get some time to grow, while David set the stage for the introduction of at least one of X-Factor’s missing crewmembers. Along the way, he also makes good on his NYCC promise that Gambit’s leadership of the Thieves’ Guild would come into play, which sets up our newest arc.

As you may have guessed, this issue is the best paced of the short run. The issue is packed with plot progression, but there’s plenty of room to play around. Quicksilver’s personality is still being defined as ‘hated by one and all with good reason’, but he’s much more human than he was last time. We also get some insight into Polaris that certainly frees her from the ‘generic team leader’ role that she seemed in danger of falling into. Though she has a ways to go, the weak link continues to be Gambit.

All-New X-Factor #2 – Review

By: Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Pietro finds himself dodging bullets, returning insults, and surrounded by people who want him dead, including the ones he’s there to save. So, really, a pretty average day for him.

The Review: Now that we’ve established our team and the questionable multi-national funding them, it’s time for this all-new X-Factor to take on their first mission. In classic Peter David style, the issue pokes all kinds of holes in our preconceived notions of the genre.

One of the most interesting elements of this mission is our antagonist, one Dr. Terrance Hoffman. Though we’re still reading comics awash in a sea of Silver Age nostalgia, it feels like a long time since we’ve had a fair share of old-fashioned ‘mad scientists’. Well Hoffman certainly fits the bill. He lacks some staying power, but he’s a charming opponent with some fascinating theories on mutation that just might come back into play. I can’t help but notice that all his talk of energy conversion contrasts cleanly with Gambit’s abilities.

Speaking of Gambit, he remains our lead character, though David does a good job of spreading the love between his three protagonists. David’s lack of experience in writing Remy is a little more apparent, now that he’s not stealing things left and right. His accent seems to pop in and out, and at times he seems a little too normal. He’s not quite the everyman that Madrox was and, funny as it is to hear he and Pietro argue about Star Wars, I’m not sure that it reads as a convincing Gambit. Polaris, on the other hand, suits David’s style wonderfully. She’s competent without being perfect and relatable without being unfocused.

It will be clear to anyone reading this issue why David’s Quicksilver has a reputation for being a scene-stealer. Pietro’s exactly the sort of character that’s fun to read about because you’d hate him so in real life. The script has a great handle on Pietro’s powers and way of thinking. Unfortunately this story has serious ties to some of Quicksilver’s more questionable recent history. It’s explained pretty well within the issue, but nice as it is that David found a way to make something out of those stories, my opinion has generally been that the less Marvel references its crazy, inbred, decade-long X-Men event conga the better.

All-New X-Factor #1 – Review

By: Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Gambit finds himse- THIS YEAR GET HER WHAT SHE’S ALWAYS WANTED- you can skip this advertisement in 5…

The Review: The original Peter David X-Factor was a team of mutants assembled by the United States government with mixed results. The next time David assembled the team they were a struggling private investigation firm based in Mutant Town. Now the transformation is complete as X-Factor becomes a corporate entity, bought out by the mysterious Serval Industries.

As he did in the Madrox miniseries that launched X-Factor Investigations, Peter David has chosen to start slow and introduce us to three key members of his new team. Gambit is our protagonist this issue and David proves capable of writing a heroic, yet flawed version of the character. Gambit’s wit and sex appeal are intact and, though he’s a tad more generic than in his recently canceled ongoing, I think fans will be happy with David’s first foray into writing out favorite Cajun superhero.

Fans of David’s Quicksilver may not be as pleased. While Pietro is himself, he’s a fairly unspectacular addition to this particular issue. Polaris is largely relegated to being a plot engine, however David does set the stage for some interesting developments and I expect that future issues will be better for both of Mr. Lensherr’s children.

All-New X-Factor: An Interview With Peter David

On the last day of New York Comic Con, I had the very good fortune to sit down with Peter David to talk about his long and storied career in the world of comics.

Mr. David has been writing comics for the better part of thirty years and has worked on all manner of projects; from cult classics like Young Justice or his trademark X-Factor to lengthy runs on some of the industry’s biggest titles like Aquaman and The Incredible Hulk. He’s also found success as a novelist and a screenwriter.

My NYCC Experience

On my second day of New York Comic Con, I headed straight to the Empire Stage for my first really big panel: Marvel’s Amazing X-Men & the Marvel Universe.

Ushered into the room, I found myself surprised by the sheer scope of it. None of the other panels had warranted much more than a large classroom, this was more like a well-funded lecture hall. As we sat down a series of screens announcing the day’s panels sprung to life and subjected us to a loop of one of the most life-draining advertisements I’ve had the displeasure to view. I won’t go into the specifics too much, but, as the panel was sponsored by a certain drink company, we had to see their latest attempt at uncomfortable pandering: a lengthy commercial advertizing their “big cans”.

Amidst this sea of fandom, it was both uncomfortable and disheartening to see such corporate schlock on the screens. I couldn’t help wonder if this was just what they thought was funny or if it was trying to appeal to the con-going community specifically. If it was the later, I’m deeply saddened to know that this is what companies think of us, but I’m happy to say that, for the most part, there was universal mockery and scorn for the ad.

Thankfully, that only lasted a few minutes, and soon Marvel Senior Editor, Nick Lowe, took the stage to introduce our panelists. Though the architects of the current X-Men line, Jason Aaron and Brian Michael Bendis, were not in attendance, it was still quite impressive. The panel featured Gerry Duggan, the co-writer of Deadpool; Marjorie Liu, an acclaimed novelist who is just ending her run on Astonishing X-Men; Brian Wood, the writer of Marvel’s new X-Men; Dennis Hopeless, the aptly named scribe of Cable and X-Force and Avengers Arena; Charles Soule, the man behind Thunderbolts; Simon Spurrier, who writes X-Men: Legacy; and Peter David, who is finishing his lengthy run on X-Factor. The panel also included three editors: Jeanine Schafer, Jordan D. White, and Daniel Ketchem.