Category Archives: X-Men
Review: X-Factor #256
This is it! The big finale! The Hell on Earth War comes to a crashing conclusion this issue, and it’s…pretty good. It’s not great, but then I don’t think X-Factor has been mind-numbingly great for some time now. I would definitely say this was one of the best issues of the Hell on Earth War, that’s for sure, giving the story a resounding climax. And that twist ending is definitely something special. I did not see that coming. But then the comic just ends. Right on the verge of giving us a proper denouement, the comic just stops, and that was just as jarring as the twist ending, but in a bad way.
X-Factor #256
I know there are going to be plenty of comics following up on this ending, but I don’t want to have to wait another month to read them. This issue should have been double-sized or expanded so that Peter David could have given his story a proper epilogue in the proper place.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good!
In terms of a fitting conclusion to the Hell on Earth War, this issue more than succeeds. This is as action-packed and seismically epic as X-Factor has ever been. The action and art are great, but as I’ve been saying all along, the characters themselves don’t get much to do. Most of the emotional weight of the story still rests on Tier’s young shoulders, and while he does an admirable job as the star, I just can’t bring myself to care all that much about him. I care far more about the actual members of X-Factor.
After I finished this issue, I thought back to where the comic began, with Jamie, Guido and Rahne setting up their own detective agency in the pages of MadroX. How the heck did we get from that to this, where those characters battle the forces of Hell for the fate of the entire world? X-Factor has definitely been one long, strange trip, and maybe the time has come to let the comic end. PAD has told a lot of amazing stories, and breathed new and wonderful life into all of these characters. Letting him end the series on his own terms is the perfect way to end X-Factor.
Besides, we all know what would have happened had PAD left the series. X-Factor doesn’t have the best sales, and a lot of them have to be boosted by PAD himself. So if Marvel had decided to put some new writer on the title, X-Factor probably would have languished for half a dozen issues before they’d put it out of its misery. So this is for the best. PAD gets to say goodbye the way he wants.
Though I’m still going to hold out hope that his new project will be some kind of new Madrox solo series for Marvel NOW! Wave 2. Fingers crossed.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/4/13
May the Fourth be with you, everyone! And not only that, but it’s Free Comic Book Day! And I saw Iron Man 3 yesterday afternoon! What a fantastically nerdy weekend! Sometimes I have to pinch myself to truly appreciate how geeky the world has become. Just think about it: the Iron Man threequel is expected to break box office records. The world loves superhero movies! Back when I was growing up, to even hope for quality superhero movies was a fool’s dream. Now the movies are awesome, and the comics are awesome. These are good days.
This week’s load of comics is a mix of good issues. Not a stinker in the bunch. There are some duds, like the latest issue of Age of Ultron, but that whole series has been a dud so far. I’m much more excited by comics like Hawkeye, Aquaman and All-New X-Men, which I’ve awarded Comic Book of the Week this week. Not for any particular reason, it’s just that out of all the very good comics this week, I decided I liked X-Men the best.
Plus I’m a sucker for adorable hugs. Though maybe I should have given the award to the new issue of Superior Spider-Man, which makes a pretty momentous change – except that the change isn’t nearly the big deal that some fans are making it out to be. It’s more ho-hum, as far as I’m concerned.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #7, All-New X-Men #11, Aquaman #19, Hawkeye #10, Indestructible Hulk #7, and Superior Spider-Man #9.
Review: X-Factor #255
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!
What is Marvel Going to do About Their Cuddly, Wuddly Wolverine?
Can anybody remember why Wolverine became so popular in the first place? Back in the day, Wolverine was the bad boy, the loner who rebelled against authority. He was the guy who referred to Charles Xavier as ‘Chuck’ and we loved him for it. We always knew he secretly had a heart of gold, but Wolverine was the guy who would get in your face, disobey orders and run off whenever he felt like it. He’d smoke cigars, pound back the beers and chase skirts.
It feels good to be a bad role model
But nowadays, Wolverine has become the exact authority he used to rebel against.
He has replaced Xavier as the headmaster of the School for Higher Learning, where he’s directly responsible for dozens of young mutant students. He’s a leader among the X-Men, and has served on more X-squads than anyone else, including when he was leader of X-Force. He’s also one of the most active and respected members of the Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Wolverine is one of the greatest superheroes on Earth.
So when is Marvel going to come along and take all of that away from him?
Join me after the jump!
X-Factor Cancelled; Life As We Know It Is Over!
Why!? Oh why!? One of my favorite comic book series for the past nearly 10 years is coming to an end! Marvel Comics and writer Peter David announced the official cancellation of X-Factor today at the C2E2 comic book convention in Chicago!
I know the feel, bro
The final issue will be X-Factor #262 in September, so just in time for my birthday. Curse you, cruel hand of fate!
We’ve known for a long time now that the next story arc is going to be called ‘The End of X-Factor’, but I thought that was just a clever name for some kind of shake up, or something along those lines. I didn’t think it needed to be taken literally. I’m also holding out hope that X-Factor will merely be relaunched with a new #1 issue as part of Marvel NOW! Wave 2. But based on that interview I linked from Newsarama, this cancellation sounds pretty final.
Peter David had this to say:
“It was basically decided that the ‘Hell on Earth War’ was as major a storyline as we were going to do,” David said. “I’d been building toward it for so long that it simply seemed a logical culmination to the entire series. So we decided to wrap it up. It’s been going for 10 years, after all.”
For those who don’t know, X-Factor is a spin-off of the X-Men series of comics. But instead of starring more popular characters like Wolverine or Storm or Cyclops, X-Factor took some of the lesser known characters and gave them their own series, characters like Wolfsbane, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn and, my all-time favorite comic book character, Multiple Man! This was Multiple Man’s series. He was the star! For years, I had to satisfy myself with Multiple Man showing up in small cameos or guest appearances. But then in 2004, Peter David came along and wrote a brilliant mini-series about him called MadroX, and it was amazing! That mini-series was so successful that Marvel decided to give PAD a whole series about Multiple Man and his friends!
Some friendlier than others
So seriously, for the past nearly 10 years, I have been able to enjoy a great, well-written comic book series starring my all-time favorite character. I should and do consider myself very lucky for that.
But apparently the time has come for an ending.
PAD said the final story will be a bunch of short stories starring each of the characters, giving them proper send-offs, I guess. One issue will be about Polaris interacting with Quicksilver.
Because why not
And another issue will focus on the mysterious connection between Longshot and Shatterstar.
Because also why not
No word on how Multiple Man will be left after the series. PAD has always been hinting at having some kind of secret behind Multiple Man’s powers. Will he finally reveal that secret? Or will he just give Multiple Man a happy ending? I’m hoping for the latter.
In the interview, PAD also hints that he has a top secret Marvel project coming up. So I suppose there’s still a sliver of hope that this is all just a feint, and he will reveal a new version of X-Factor to come along, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
As it stands, all I can really do is thank writer Peter David and Marvel for giving this comic book geek an amazing 10 years. What more can a guy ask for? X-Factor has been brilliant from beginning to no doubt what will be a fantastic ending! So three cheers everybody!
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
*sniff*
Henchman-4-Hire 