Alright, alright, the Hell on Earth War is settling in nicely, and X-Factor remains a good read, but the potential for being overdrawn is starting to set in. This is part three or five of the big event (depending on if you count the prologue), and we haven’t made much progress as of yet. That’s not a problem, per se. But I’m starting to worry that writer Peter David has too much stuff planned, and that this story will become mired in filler and fluff until it grossly outstays its welcome. That’s what tends to happen with PAD’s big event stories, and I’m definitely worried for Hell on Earth War. So far, things seem to be moving forward well enough, but I definitely think there is reason to worry.

X-Factor #252

The story isn’t really resonating on a personal or emotional level with any of the characters. Everybody is kind of just doing stuff and then doing more stuff, with the only promise being that more stuff is definitely going to occur in the next issue.

Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.

The only real characters with any kind of real, personal connection to this story are Tier and, by extension, his mother Wolfsbane. But we barely know Tier. Prior to this story, he was a baby, so this is our first time getting to know him as a thinking, feeling adolescent. And, by extension, we don’t even really know Wolfsbane as a mother. We know she was pregnant for awhile, and was really broken up about abandoning Tier, but we never saw her spend any real time with the kid, at least time that wasn’t about running from danger or fighting. So we have no real experience with Tier, and no experience with Wolfsbane as a mom. So even their personal connection to the Hell on Earth War is really based on stuff we were told about, not something we were actually shown and experienced. The personal connection to the reader just isn’t there.

Likewise, everybody else in X-Factor is kind of just along for the ride. They also barely know Tier, and are kind of just helping him because it’s the right thing to do. There’s maybe been one line from Multiple Man about how they’ll protect him because he’s Wolfsbane’s son, but nobody has really said or done anything with Rahne to indicate that they’re going to stick by her side no matter what. They’re just there and fighting whatever bad guy shows up on the page. Even when their good friend and teammate Strong Guy is revealed to be a villain, it doesn’t seem to faze anybody. Nobody really cares that Guido has turned on them. He’s just the bad guy that shows up, so there’s a fight scene.

This cannot sustain a comic book story, especially not one that lasts as long as PAD usually does. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were still dealing with the Hell on Earth War come the fall. So I’m really worried about the pacing of this story. But at least, for now, it’s still an exciting read with a lot of cool action and adventure.

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

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