Written by Peter David
Illustrated by Leonard KirkIn this issue, a member of X-Factor dies.
Note: way to undersell it, Marvel!
It’s X-Factor! Tonight the top ten performs for your votes, America, a–oh, wrong X-Factor. While that joke is probably old and not funny anymore, this book is one of the most consistent titles Marvel puts out. Will this book continue the pattern of quality, or will it suffer?
Check after the cut for my thoughts on SimonJamie and the gang!
X-Factor suffers a bit for being so good. It’s probably the most popular Marvel book among the Multiversity “Offices,” as there’s no one who derides it for what it is. It’s that good. When it’s good, it’s among the elite books in all of comics, let along Marvel or the X-Franchise. When it’s less than good, it’s still probably the best X-Title out there. The book falls into the latter category. While it’s still not a terrible book by any means, it still doesn’t quite have the impact of the previous issues.
Let’s start with the guest star; Hangman. Hangman was always a creepy, if mort-ish character. He doesn’t even think of himself as a villain, more of a misunderstood vigilante. The strange thing about him is that he has the same motus operandi as a mainstream Marvel Hero, but is inexplicably cast as the villain in most of his appearances. The tweak to the character makes sense considering his similarity to Frank Castle. What IS curious, however, is the one who is extorting him into murdering guilty souls happens to be a demonic soul broker with the same tactics as one of Hangman’s better known tendencies, that tendency being a certain attraction to the theatrical. More specifically, he has an affinity for movies, but it doesn’t seem to be shared with this Hangman in the comic. By itself, it’s a great gimmick for a villain, and I honestly want to see him show up in the future, whether it be a Spider-Man book or possibly more appropriately, a Wolverine title. However, unless there’s something here we’re not seeing, the book just feels like they split off one character into two and not for any apparent reason.
However, while I had a few problems with the usage of the Hangman character, I enjoyed the interactions between the team, and a line from Guido stood out in particular. I will not spoil it, because who wants a joke spoiled before a joke is even told properly, but it was an excellent play on words that brought some much needed levity to such a dark subject (but when you’re teaming up with a guy called “Hangman,” there’s not much room for levity, is there?). However, where Guido got his line, no one save Jamie and Layla got their chance to really shine in the book. Clearly this book is the Jamie and Layla show, but one of the best things about team books IS the team dynamic. There really wasn’t one in this issue, and it suffered for it.
One of the biggest moments had a bit of controversy in the Multiversity Offices. As you can see, the ONLY thing the solicit mentions is the fact someone is going to die. Some found this crazy, others…crazy disappointing.
I found myself in the latter camp. It’s crazy alright, but the death flat out feels like it doesn’t matter. There will likely be no real ramifications from this, and that’s really disappointing, because Marvel as a whole wanted deaths to matter. That’s why they brought back the polybags, right? Oh, well, that’s a discussion for another time.
The art is still on an uptick, which is really great to see. In fact, the art has been good for a while, which I’m still not used to. How can I handle this quality? Leonard Kirk’s art is clean and full of life and expression, with impressive action scenes and overall pleasant things to look at. I hope Kirk stays on the book for the foreseeable future, as he brings a high level of quality to an already great title.
While this book doesn’t hit as hard as it usually does, and the death left me wanting, it still finds a way to be an enjoyable read. If for whatever read you’re not picking this up, I implore you to check it out. You still won’t be disappointed.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy
