Only more questions arise in the latest chapter of Madrox’s ‘afterlife’ adventure. I want the conclusion already! This issue dips in quality because it devotes far too much time to a bunch of alternate reality characters that just don’t matter. Or maybe they’re going to matter in future stories? I rather hope not, because there was nothing very interesting about this reality. When Madrox isn’t the focus, the book issue is incredibly boring. But when Madrox has the time to shine, the book is a gem.

X-Factor #231

Clear answer: give us more Madrox!

Comic rating: 4/5: Good.

Basically this issue feels a bit like padding. The entire issue is spent with Madrox, but we don’t learn anything new about his predicament, don’t get any revelations about the ‘truth’ of his duplicating powers and we don’t get any closer to Madrox returning home. It’s basically just Madrox hanging out in an alternate reality, but rather than one filled with character like the one with the wedding, this reality feels mostly cliche. Not to mention the fact that it drops a lot of random references to ‘House of M’ and ‘Civil War’, plus features a character who hasn’t been seen in so long that new readers won’t have any clue why he is important.

But all this worry is only temporary, as next issue is the conclusion to ‘They Keep Killing Madrox’! I’m on pins and needles!

Synopsis and spoilers after the jump.

We stay with Madrox for the entire issue, instead of cutting back and forth with the rest of X-Factor. That’s pretty great, because it gives writer Peter David time to really shine with Madrox as a character. If you want an example of what can be done when you’re not juggling a dozen characters, this is perfect. Reading this issue, I realized how much I’d missed Madrox even though he’s pretty much been in every issue since the beginning.

We open with Madrox in the post-apocalyptic world where we last left him. He’d about to be blown to smithereens by a giant, Sentinel-sized Iron Man! Definitely not the ‘light’ Madrox imagined he’d see when he died. He curls up into a ball, says his silent goodbyes to his friends and braces for oblivion.

But then the second Iron Man stops the destruction. He’s getting some weird readings off this Multiple Man.

So is that a pilot? Or a robot giant Iron Man?

We then cut to a skyscraper in the ruins of New York City, with the Iron Men taking Madrox to their ‘boss’. What follows is a delightful scene of Madrox in cuffs being led down a hallway, using his wit and charm to taunt the guards and flirt with a secretary. It’s a wonderful scene! This is the Madrox I know and love, the Madrox I’ve missed since a lot of David’s most recent takes on the character have been rather serious.

Pure comic book gold!

Madrox meets with the ‘boss’, this world’s Tony Stark. Tony knows that Madrox isn’t from his world, and he wants Madrox to tell him how he crossed dimensions. Madrox replies honestly that he doesn’t know, and so Tony smacks him pretty hard. He also reveals the manacles Madrox is wearing suppress his mutant power. So the smack didn’t create any dupes.

The two men chat about what happened to this dimension, and Tony takes us back to ‘House of M’, when Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, said “No more mutants” and wiped out all mutant powers in the normal Marvel Universe (or all mutants other than the X-Men). Well in this dimension, Wanda said “No more humans,” turning all humans on planet Earth into monsters.

Tony and a few others survived because they were out in space at the time.

Outside, the elder Damian Tryp is leading a cloaked figure up the side of the building.

Watch the catchphrase copyright, pal

This is one problem with the issue: Tryp and all the references. Damian Tryp hasn’t played a part in X-Factor since the start of this volume, more than 50 issues ago. Back then, X-Factor had a rival detective agency called Singularity Investigations. Their leader was Tryp, a guy who had multiple versions of himself from his own timeline living at the same time. He also had some mysterious connection with Madrox’s childhood, which Madrox didn’t know. For reasons I won’t go into, only the super old Tryp survived.

And somehow he’s connected with this dimension-hopping story?

Heck, I barely remember Tryp. And ‘House of M’ was a very long time ago. Casually referencing it as the foundation of this alternate reality doesn’t do the story any favors.

Fortunately, they bounce back with badassery.

Introducing Caplok! The character find of 2012!

This world’s Captain America shows up with some Deathlok attachments. Turns out Tony has used his giant Iron Men robots to turn this planet into a totalitarian state, and he wants Madrox to show him how he can jump dimensions to a better world. But Cap shows up to kick Tony’s ass, because apparently that’s what they do in this world.

Seriously, the fight takes up several pages as Caplok and Iron Man fight and bicker about whatever. This world is crummy, and is apparently the world of old Event Comics. Iron Man vs. Cap? Civil War, people!

Anyway, Tryp has pulled Madrox to the side and the two of them sit this fight out. So the past few pages were just dumb fight scene with no Madrox. Tryp tries to explain that Madrox is getting a preview of some kind of inter-dimensional bleeding.

Jeez, Tryp! Lay off Layla Miller already!

It’s incredibly vague and doesn’t sound good at all. Peter David is much, much better when he’s writing down-to-Earth, character-based stories about X-Factor. Every time he gets big and other-worldly, the stories go on for too long and get too convoluted. So I’m not looking forward to whatever this is teasing.

At the very least, it’s a sign that Madrox is important and won’t simply die.

The fight finally draws in Madrox and Tryp, but only by knocking Madrox out a window.

I call it 'defenestration'

But it’s OK, Madrox is saved by his duplicate.

That one wedding universe seemed pretty cool, except for the murder part

Unfortunately, the duplicates on this world only last a few seconds, and this one disappears. So Madrox falls to the pavement anyway. What was the purpose of that, I wonder? Apparently all the Multiple Men in these different dimensions have a slightly different power. I’m still vaguely nervous about what this will mean once we find out the ‘truth’ of Madrox’s duplication abilities. This is just a little hint, I guess.

Anyway, Madrox hits the pavement, dies and wakes up in another dimension. One where he’s a disciple of Dr. Strange…who turns out to be the Dread Dormammu!

Boring.

At least we get a badass-looking mystic cloak costume for Multiple Man. That thing looks awesome.

Is it too soon to demand the action figure?

But otherwise, the ending is boring. Nothing came of the giant Iron Men, so I doubt anything interesting is going to come of Dormammu. Unless he can bring Madrox back to life in the regular Marvel Universe, who cares what he has to offer? This issue’s alternate reality was as lame as hell. Who gives a crap about Caplok fighting a random Iron Man? And it went on for several pages while Madrox sat in the corner and watched!

Which was a real shame after the fantastic Madrox scene at the beginning.

So this issue was just good. The focus on Madrox was fun, and David is really flexing his Madrox muscles once again. I’m more a fan of his down-to-Earth stories, but I’ll read anything with my favorite superhero as the star. The story lost track of itself when it focused on characters nobody cares about, with a fight scene that was basically just energy blasts back and forth.

And the worst part? That cute secretary turned out to be a robot! I thought she and Madrox really had something special.