Another week, another dupe. These “X-Factor” stories were short, but sweet. That especially goes for ‘They Keep Killing Madrox,’ a relentless story that never eases off the throttle. The followup, ‘Together Again For the First Time’ isn’t as exciting, but you can feel the series getting ready for an epic endgame of apocalyptic proportions. The concept I mean, not the character. Let’s dive in!
“X-Factor” #229-232, ‘They Keep Killing Madrox’
Written by Peter David
Illustrated by Emanuela Lupacchino
Inked by Guillermo Ortega
Colored by Matt Milla
Lettered by Cory Petit
‘They Keep Killing Madrox!’ That’s the title of this arc, and it’s a great one (though frankly, I coulda done with a couple more Madrox deaths). We start with the vision Rahne had so many issues back. She saw herself killing Jamie and Layla on their wedding night. And now, after being murdered himself, Jamie finds himself standing over their bodies. Well it turns out, things aren’t so simple. Welcome to some shenanigans.
See, everything that had been foreshadowed was true. It’s just not our Jamie and Layla. Things start looking suspicious when the other members of the team don’t recognize the M tattoo on Jamie’s face. That’s because we’re in an alternate universe, baby! And this is a wackadoo alternate universe tale, with all the trappings.
The premise of this story is that every time Jamie Madrox dies, he’s whisked to an alternate universe, at the moment of the death of another Madrox. This is mostly an excuse to plunge him into some gonzo stories that would have felt a bit thin for an entire arc, but they each make for a rip-roaring single issue. First, Jamie has to chase down Rahne’s daughter, who seems like a classic child-of-a-superhero-gone-bad. She’s the one who killed alt-universe him on his wedding night.
The other universes are just as fun, and they crank things way way up. After getting run over by a drunk Val Cooper, Jamie appears on an Earth decimated by the Scarlet Witch. In this universe, she decimated the human population, and Tony Stark turned his armors into mutant hunting Sentinels. The world is in its last death throes, and everyone wants out. Oh, and Captain America is the undead cyborg Deathlok. Jamie is killed when the two of them go at it.
But whoosh, he wakes up on another Earth, one where James Madrox was the apprentice of Dr. Strange! It’s the apocalypse here too, as Dormammu is leading an army of demons in something called the Hell On Earth War. Jamie teams up with Dr. Strange, there’s a big magic battle, what fun! It should also be noted that ‘Hell on Earth War’ is the name of the second to last arc of the series, but fans certainly didn’t know that when these issues came out. Actually, there’s calls back as well as forward. Tryp exists in these realities, and something about his powers allows him to know… stuff. Ominous.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team grapples with Guido’s loss of soul. That’s… about it for the rest of the team. Layla pines, because she acted against stuff that she knew for the first time, and blames herself for Jamie’s death. Oh, and Wolverine shows up, which would be cool, but it’s mostly to update folks on the ‘Schism’ event, which feels like a cynical use of the Canucklehead. Oh well.
Jamie’s journey comes to an end when he is plopped back into his corpse- and into the arms of Layla. The two of them get it on and it is steamy. Emanula Lupacchino draws every issue of this arc, and for the first time in this series, she really seems to be coming into her own. Her art shares DNA with the previous series-regular artists, but manages to have a voice of its own. She draws clothes very well, and when a lot of the action takes place at a wedding, Doctor Strange’s Sanctum, or while clothes are being discarded onto the floor, that’s a very good thing.
Continued belowThe whole arc was great, and my only complaint was that it was over far too quickly. I could have used another 17 realities, maybe as backup stories or something. I also feel the need to call out Layla, who seems to jump Jamie’s bones every time he’s coming out of some horrid trauma. It probably says unkind things about her. But what do I know? She’s the one who knows stuff.
“X-Factor” #233-236, ‘Together Again For the First Time’
Written by Peter David
Illustrated by Leonard Kirk, andDarick Robertson
Inked by Don Hudson, and Leonard Kirk
Colored by Matt Milla
Lettered by Cory Petit
There are two stories in ‘Together Again For the First Time’ and both of them are transitioning us into the endgame. The first was much more interesting than the second, but they add up to a whole, and they will eventually take us into the ‘Hell on Earth War.’ I found that the emotional stakes were really well established, but I quickly grew tired of the eleventh hour characters.
At the end of the last arc, the team was falling apart without leadership. Enter: the former leaders of X-Factor, Havok and Polaris. Full disclosure though: there are few X-characters I hate more than Havok, and Polaris mostly just bores me. One of the nice things about X-Factor is that it reestablishes lesser known mutant characters. Strong Guy, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn, Monet, Wolfsbane… none were in the running for my favorite characters without this series, but the work done with them over the last- wow, nearly 90 issues- have endeared me to all of them. Havok’s a moody jerk, all the things people claim to dislike about Cyclops but without any of the interesting parts.
So seeing Jamie and Alex jockeying for the alpha position… I just don’t care. Much more interesting are Jamie and Layla, who are trying to make the transition into being a healthy couple. I still got my issues. They’ve never adequately addressed the whole age thing and the whole time travel thing. But Peter David really kills it with their honest, vulnerable heart-to-heart. Oh and they totally do it in a morgue slab. Like, in one of those locker things. My goth heart is full today.
There’s also a great scrap between Layla and Monet. These two have really needed to go at it, since they both try to be the unpleasant member of the team, but Layla manages to do it with a smile. They come to a mutual understanding, but they never learn to like each other, even as they are desperately trying to protect each other. I love that sort of complexity in my X-books. Two characters who don’t like each other, but learn to respect each other? Ooh, that’s the good stuff.
The stuff with the X-Ceptionals is a snooze though. Like, I can barely remember what happens with them. Jamie and Star go undercover with them and like, do the mission? There are almost no personal stakes here, just plotty plotty plot. The greater simmering conflict thought, that intrigues me. Remember the Isolationist? He was the villain of ‘Heart of Ice’ way way back in issues #18-24. Well, he’s been brooding in his ice castle for months, but he’s approached by a demon named Jezebel, and he’s part of her scheme to start a war that will bring Hell… to Earth. Now that’s what I’m talking about!
