The deck clearing continues in X-Factor #242, as writer Peter David removes a few characters, settles several dangling plotlines and offers at least one little hint about future strangeness. It’s an entertaining issue, with more than a couple funny lines, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more by-the-numbers issue. I don’t mean that to be cruel, but look no further than the fact that this issue stars Darwin of all characters to see just how unimportant and workmanlike this is in the grand scheme of things.

X-Factor #242

Darwin is the red-headed step child of the X-Men franchise. And being rechristened as a demon-hunter is either the most brilliant or the stupidest choice possible for the character.

Comic rating: 4/5: Good.

Like I said, it’s a good issue. The story is solid, the characters are themselves and it’s funny in places. The art by Leonard Kirk is also great, as usual. It’s just the fact that PAD is taking care of business is evident on every page. He’s got some plans for the new Marvel NOW! relaunch, which involves a smaller cast for X-Factor and new stories. So this issue, and this Breaking Points storyline, are all about removing characters as safely and calmly as possible. He’s also tying up dangling plot threads that I don’t think anybody particularly cares about anymore, and he’s doing it as quickly and as cleanly as he can.

For longtime X-Factor fans like me, it’s a fine enough issue. No major complaints. Other than that, it’s not much of anything. Unless you’re a huge Darwin fan. Or are excited to see Wolfsbane as a mom.

Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!

Let me introduce you to Darwin, one of the main characters in this issue. Darwin used to be a member of X-Factor, but PAD shuffled him off into limbo all the way back in X-Factor #214. Not even PAD could figure out what to do with Darwin, he’s that terrible of a character. Darwin, real name Armando Munoz, has the mutant ability to adapt his body to survive any situation. He evolves instantaneously. You may remember him from a brief appearance in the movie X-Men: First Class. He was the black guy who died first.

He died despite having powers that keep him from dying

To truly understand why Darwin is so terrible, you need to know a bit about the history of the X-Men. They premiered in the 1960s, but they weren’t very popular. The first team, with Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, etc., was eventually cancelled after a few years. Then the X-Men were relaunched as the All-New X-Men, which introduced such popular characters as Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus and, of course, Wolverine. This series took off like a rocket, and the X-Men eventually attained the popularity that they enjoy today.

For decades, this was the history of the X-Men, and everybody was happy.

Except, apparently, for Marvel and writer Ed Brubaker.

In 2006, Brubaker wrote a story called Deadly Genesis, which is one of the biggest, dumbest and most hated retcons in the history of comics. Brubaker decided that between the original X-Men and Wolverine’s team, Professor X put together a different team full of rookie mutants, including Darwin. But this team got killed during the story, and Professor X decided to completely erase all memory of their existence from the minds of his surviving X-Men.

So not only is there suddenly a new X-Men team wedged into the past. But they died horrible deaths. And then Professor X, the benevolent leader of the X-Men, ERASED EVERYBODY’S MEMORY OF THEM TO HIDE HIS FAILURE!

Just like that, Professor X was suddenly revealed as a huge bastard. Think about it, according to this new retcon, from the entire time that Wolverine has been a member of the X-Men, Professor X has been keeping this horrible secret from his students. This is why comic book fans usually hate retcons, because now decades worth of stories about Professor X are forever altered to include this horrible new fact. Every time he saved the day or comforted the X-Men in some way, he was secretly hiding the fact that he’d gotten a bunch of other X-Men killed and then used his powers to erase the very memory that they had ever even existed.

Cyclops and everybody else kicked Xavier out of the X-Men. This change in X-history was universally hated by the fans. And Darwin, who had come back to life in the present day, was now a radioactive character. Brubaker wasn’t sticking around to keep writing the X-Men, or at least not Darwin. So the character was just left in the sidelines of the X-Men, doing nothing to warrant his very creation. He never developed any relations with any of the other X-Men. He never did anything remotely memorable. And eventually he faded away, because nobody wanted anything to do with the character. So eventually Peter David decided to bring him into X-Factor, but even he couldn’t think of anything to do with Darwin. So the character was dumped back in issue #214.

Now he’s back, he’s a demon hunter and he’s chasing Wolfsbane’s son.

A solid career choice

Yeah, that came out of nowhere. When last we saw Darwin, he was having a crisis of character after he’d been in a fight with a Norse god. He left to find himself. Nobody particularly cared. Somehow he’s found himself a big gun and wants to kill Tier, Wolfsbane’s son. Several years ago, Rahne was in a relationship with a wolf god prince. Long story. She got pregnant and had a baby that was part evil godling. Rahne abandoned the child because of the evil, and he was taken in to be raised by Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night, a classic Marvel werewolf character. That was the last we saw of either of them, though Rahne was very mopey for awhile about abandoning her son. Eventually she decided to find the boy, with Rictor and Shatterstar along for the quest.

Now in this issue, PAD is bringing together Darwin and Tier in order to tie off both dangling storylines.

Darwin chases the boy through the woods while narrating to himself about how he has evolved away from the need to sleep, and how Rahne would probably hate him for this. Then Werewolf by Night shows up to block his shot and Peter David is stuck making references that are so old my grandmother would roll her eyes.

For shame, Peter David

Darwin reveals that after his battle with the Norse god, his powers changed a little. Now, alongside changing his own body, Darwin can change things in the environment around him as long as it means his survival. So he zaps the Werewolf and turns him back into Jack Russell. Then Darwin punches him out. Darwin picks up his gun and continues tracking Tier.

High above him, the white wolf Vanora is watching. Vanora is Wolfsbane’s daughter from another dimension. She was brought to Earth through a variety of means, and she’s being led by the elder Damian Tryp, who is part of some bigger storyline that PAD is writing. Tryp brought Vanora here to help her brother Tier…at least I think that’s why they’re there. Tryp would explain more, except somebody is about to launch an attack and he disappears in a burst of energy. This has been Tryp’s M.O. for several issues now. He’s got this big mystery going, but PAD hasn’t revealed even the tiniest hint of what’s happening. At this point, it’s just annoying. A good mystery stays interesting when you tease the eventual outcome. Saying that some mystery person is launching an attack does not tease anything. Especially since this is the first we’ve heard that somebody is searching for Tryp and would attack him.

At least it gets him out of the issue

Elsewhere, Darwin has Tier cornered on the edge of a rocky cliff…in Pennsylvania. Darwin explains that he’s been hearing voices in his head that have pointed him towards being a demon hunter. He has to kill Tier in order to save the world, according to the voices. This is…ridiculous. What part of Darwin’s character made PAD think he’d work as a crazy demon hunter who thinks he has the weight of saving the world on his shoulders?

On the other hand, if Darwin isn’t going to work as a member of the X-Men – and he clearly isn’t – maybe he might benefit from a complete character overhaul. Move him to some other part of the Marvel Universe. Make him a member of some vampire or demon hunting team. It’s one of those ideas that is so crazy it just might work.

Anyway, Darwin tells Tier to get angry, and the kid does. But then Vanora charges in with super speed, grabs Tier and leaps with him to the other side of the ravine. Darwin takes aim with his gun – but then Rictor steps out of the bushes and tells him to stop. Darwin isn’t very surprised to suddenly see Rictor appear, and Rictor explains that he, Rahne and Shatterstar have gone to a lot of trouble to find Tier.

No big deal, just superhero stuff

And that, right there, is an example of how little Peter David cares about this storyline. So all of that craziness happened off panel? Yep. He’s just rushing Rahne and the gang to Tier as fast as possible to tie off this loose end. Fair enough. Darwin refuses to surrender to Rictor, but then Darwin doesn’t know that Rictor got his powers back.

We cut to Vanora and Tier sharing a quiet moment in the woods. He thinks she’s there to kill him, but she tells him that’s not the case. He senses that she’s lonely, and tells Vanora that she doesn’t have to be. Before she can respond, Rahne comes out of the bushes and Vanora launches to attack her alternate reality mother!

Back at the cliff, Darwin raises his gun at Rictor, but Rictor uses his powers to just knock Darwin off the cliff. He falls, still narrating to himself about voices and having the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’s not worried about dying, because his powers will save him. Sure enough, Darwin evolves some rock powers just in time to break his fall.

Wings would have damaged the lining of his coat

There’s that humor I was talking about. Platypuses are always funny.

Rictor checks in with Shatterstar, who is rushing to help Rahne. Rahne is battling Vanora, even though she still has no idea who Vanora is. Tier tackles Rahne to break up the fight, then recognizes her scent as his mother. Rahne and Tier hug there in the woods and she promises to never leave him again. Vanora is still there and she pounces at both of them – but then Shatterstar stabs her from behind, killing her. Shatterstar asks who he just killed, and Rahne guesses that maybe she was some kind of demon or something. Who knows?

We cut to Nova Scotia, where Shatterstar has teleported the team, including Werewolf by Night. They’re staying in a cabin that Wolverine sometimes uses, so Rahne knows it will be a safe place to raise Tier. She tells her friends that she is not returning to X-Factor, and instead is going to stay in the wilderness to help raise Tier alongside Jack Russell. Rictor and Shatterstar are kind of sad about that, but they accept her decision and everybody hugs.

Farewell, Rahne

The issue ends with Vanora waking up from death and stomping off into the woods. Darwin is tracking her now, because she’s kind of mysterious, and maybe she’ll lead him somewhere interesting.

Like I said, this story exists solely to wrap up the Tier, Vanora and Darwin storylines, while simultaneously writing Rahne out of the cast of X-Factor. It’s quite possible that any and all of them may return someday. But this issues puts a solid enough ending on each of their stories that we don’t need to worry going forward. Peter David is cleaning house, and these were all aspects of X-Factor that won’t be needed anymore.

If you can get past that, it was a good issue. There were some good jokes, the art was top notch, and there was plenty of action and strong character moments. Darwin was an acceptable narrator, despite all of the flaws in his very existence I mentioned above. I think Rahne was shuffled out of this comic a little too quickly, but she’s a victim of some stupid storylines of her own, none of which were Peter David’s fault. He did his best with such a broken, misshapen version of Rahne, but maybe she could use a break. Rictor and Shatterstar didn’t do much of anything, but maybe they’ll get more to do in the new X-Factor.

I’m still excited to see what else David has up his sleeve for this Breaking Points arc.