Penultimate chapters usually rock, and X-Factor #255 is no exception. The balance of power has tipped in the Hell on Earth War, and only the raggedy band of mutant heroes we know and love has any chance of saving the world. Writer Peter David does a great job of setting up the final challenge and positioning X-Factor as the last hope for the fate of the planet – minus one of their own! That’s right! A member of X-Factor dies in this issue, and it’s quite sad.

X-Factor #255

The Hell on Earth War has been generally good all along. It’s dragged a little, maybe, and not all of the characters have had meaningful moments, and Madrox has been almost completely absent, but I’ve enjoyed it and I’m ready for the grand finale!

Comic Rating: 4/5: Good!

Hell on Earth War has been generally entertaining. No part has really blown me away, or connected emotionally, but I’ve enjoyed it better than some of PAD’s other big X-Factor stories. Like I mentioned, most of the characters have just been along for the ride, with all of the emotional weight going to Tier, a character who we don’t really know. And my favorite character, Multiple Man, was quickly saddled with that odd demon transformation, taking him out of the fun. But those are just personal gripes. The rest of the story has been good.

The scope and scale of the Hell on Earth War has been very intense, some of the biggest X-Factor has ever seen, and PAD has kept the pacing sharp. The story hasn’t dragged too much, with something interesting happening in every issue. This issue is no exception. Tier gets a proud moment, there’s an epic fight between Strong Guy and Monet, and Mephisto successfully sets himself up for next issue’s boss fight.

Can X-Factor save the day? Or will their cancellation come early? Join me after the jump to find out!

We open with the members of X-Factor battling the horde of Demon Madroxes, but we don’t stay long because Rictor immediately asks after Monet, and we jump down to Hell to see her brutal fight with Guido – and it is indeed brutal.

Love always is

Monet is quite angry with Strong Guy, and she tells him that it’s finally time he answer for picking the wrong side! Guido doesn’t seem as eager to fight, or as eager to take all of Monet’s abuse. The pair argue as they exchange blows, though Guido starts to notice that Monet seems sluggish, and his punches are really starting to get to her. You’ll remember that Monet is dying due to a brian injury she sustained while battling Pluto. But Monet brushes off his concern, ignores her injury and gets right back into the fight!

Back topside, Jezebel tries to burn through Layla’s force field to get at Tier. Jezebel just wants Tier to do what he was born to do and kill the Hell Lords, but Layla is determined to let Tier make his own choices – though she can’t hold the force field forever. Which is when Wolfsbane once again steps up in her effort to win Mother of the Year!

She’s a shoe in

Wolfsbane and Jezebel struggle briefly before Mephisto’s voice suddenly breaks in with a telepathic message to all of his followers: he’s won!

Yep, Mephisto has declared himself the winner of the Hell no Earth War, having vanquished all of his opponents. His demonic forces have also defeated all of the heroes of Earth. Mephisto has since built himself a new demonic castle, where he’s put all of the heroes on display, and he invites anyone and everyone willing to bow down to him to visit him in his castle. Mephisto is now the ruler of the Earth.

Once that’s declared, Jezebel throws up her arms in desperate annoyance at X-Factor. Here she was trying to get Tier to step up and defeat Mephisto, like he was born to do, but instead, X-Factor just diddled around and let Mephisto take over the world. That’s it. The war is done. Finito. Mephisto won and X-Factor spent the past few issues bickering amongst themselves. They thought the only way to win was to kill Tier, but clearly Mephisto found another way, and now he is the ruler of Earth. Jezebel can’t believe that X-Factor would sacrifice all of humanity like this just to be nice to Tier. So now Jezebel is done, and she plans find somewhere nice and safe to retire, like maybe Mars.

Sayonara, suckers!

Also, she might as well take Demon Madrox with her, since she doesn’t have the power to change him back.

But now Tier feels bad that he let this happen. If he really does have the power to kill Mephisto, can he really be so selfish as to not use it to save the world and the whole human race? Rahne is still reluctant to force Tier to do this, but now he’s determined (just like he was a few issues ago). He asks Jezebel to teleport them to Mephisto’s new castle so that they can kill him.

But first, Shatterstar asks about Monet.

Down in Hell, Guido and Monet continued to fight, both of them angry at the other. When Guido takes off the kid gloves, he hits Monet so hard that she doesn’t get up again. He rushes to her body and tries to prod her awake, but she doesn’t respond. Jezebel and Shatterstar teleport down to Hell, and Guido has bad news for them.

Generation X fans weep

Oh no! Not Monet! I rather liked Monet, but PAD has been building towards this. We knew she was dying. The impact of her death isn’t as strong as I would have liked, but then a lot of parts of this story aren’t as emotionally powerful as I would have liked.

Shatterstar wants to attack Guido, but Jezebel stops him. They’ve got other things to worry about, and she asks if Guido will come with them for an assault on Mephisto’s castle. Guido cradles Monet’s body in his arms and tells them to get lost. Jezebel and Shatterstar teleport away while the demons of Hell start to converge on Guido.

Elsewhere, Satanna informs her master Mephisto that X-Factor and Tier are coming to get him, and Mephisto says he already knows.

This felt like a quick recap, but then maybe it was a quick issue. Still, it was definitely an entertaining chapter of the Hell on Earth War. Part of me thinks it’s a little weird that X-Factor didn’t have a hand in ending the War, but at the same time, I rather like that X-Factor didn’t have a hand in ending the War. X-Factor is not the superhero team you turn to when the fate of the planet is on the line. The Avengers and the Fantastic Four took care of that. X-Factor are the nobodies, the minor group that keeps to themselves. So it makes perfect and total sense that X-Factor wouldn’t be on the front lines trying to save the world. It’s pretty much luck and happenstance that they’re the ones positioned to defeat Mephisto now, and that’s exactly how this story should go.

And I am very excited to see them save the world. It doesn’t bother me that Marvel didn’t turn the Hell on Earth War into a bigger event. It doesn’t have to be. It’s just a big X-Factor event, and that’s more than good enough for me.

I enjoyed the scene where Jezebel gives the team grief for not stepping up and saving the world. They could have sent Tier after Mephisto at any time, but instead, X-Factor argued and bickered among themselves about whether or not Tier should even have to kill if he doesn’t want to do it. It’s a fun twist on the idea of the heroes stepping up to do the right thing and save the world. And it highlights X-Factor’s unique position in the superhero world. Of course, I also thought Tier was being a little punk for not just going out there and killing the Hell Lords. But he’s not my son, so maybe I just didn’t get it that he should be allowed to choose. Again, we’ve only known Tier for a very short while, so his heroics and his well being are not my main concern.

I’m much more concerned about Monet. I still think her anger towards Guido is a little misguided, but maybe that was the point. All of the anger she’s felt over the past few months/years is just being directed at Guido because he’s something she can punch. So it’s pretty sad that she ends up dying. Will she stay dead? Who’s to say? Characters in X-Factor don’t usually stay dead. But it’s definitely a tragic moment for Strong Guy too.

Now we just need for PAD to turn Madrox back to normal so that he can save the world, and I shall declare the Hell on Earth War a total success!