Last time, we got to see what would happen if X-Factor teamed up with the Fantastic Four, and it was great. So great, that Peter David and company go back to that well twice. Not with the First Family, but with a couple of other corners of the Marvel Universe. We get a Las Vegas set “Thor” story, followed by a classic New York “Spider-Man” story. Let’s see if the team can survive the different tones!
“X-Factor” #207-212, ‘Happenings in Vegas’
Written by Peter David
Illustrated by Valentine De Landro, Sebastian Fiumara, and Emanuela Lupacchino
Inked by Pat Davidson
Colored by Chris Chuckry, Jeromy N. Cox, and Matt Milla
Lettered by Cory Petit
“She was tall and elegant, with a body that was eighty percent legs and one hundred percent trouble. It didn’t come more noir than her.” I don’t know if ‘Happenings in Vegas’ is closer to Peter David’s perfect comic than any other story arc, but all of a sudden, the noir tone in cranked up to maximum. Jamie gets in some good detective banter and larger than life Marvel characters a recast like they’re in Chinatown. David is having fun, and that can’t help but come across on the page.
Hela, the Norse goddess of death has been robbed, and she needs a detective to help get her property back. That’s great for us, because there’s a proud and wonderful history of teaming mutants up with Asgardians. In this case, the X-Factor team gets a pretty good mystery to investigate, and they are after Pip the Troll of all people (er, um, trolls). Pip’s a weird beast because despite being a troll and going up against Hela, he’s actually not a Norse troll, he’s a space alien. That doesn’t come heavily into play, but X-Factor has gone so far beyond their original mutant purview that one story can range from sorcerers to goddesses to magical space beings.
We’ve got a new artist on this arc, Sebastian Fiumara. I had to check a few times to make sure it was a new artist, because Fiumara draws a lot like Valentine de Landro. That’s kind of crazy, because he normally works on “Hellboy” books and his work on them doesn’t resemble de Landro in the least. That explains some of the weirdness. Where de Landro is extremely representational, Fiumara’s exaggerated figures look like they’d fit better in “Black Hammer” than a house style Marvel book. He’s forcing himself into a box that he doesn’t quite fit into, and occasionally, panels are quite jarring.
The arc runs through a couple of artists, which doesn’t help its coherence. That seems like a slight to David, who is writing his heart out on scripts that have excellent dialogue, but nothing too exciting as far as visual storytelling is concerned. Which seems like the risk of any Big Two cape comic. The moment he gets free reign to make the comic his way, he’s contending with crossovers and busy art schedules and all the other logistical hassles that come with comic book creation.
Aside from all the noir business (which is a great time), we get some romantic character development. First up, we’ve got Rictor and Shatterstar. I didn’t realize just how much I’d fallen in love with this version of ‘Star until he was being a doofus and playing with Rictor’s heart. He’s just so clueless and lovable. He doesn’t know what an open relationship is, or why it would be a social faux pas to admit that he wants one. I also am loving Ric. Since the start of the series, Rictor has been defined by something he lacks, mainly mutant powers. David has consistently found interesting stuff for him to do on the superhero detective side of things. But showing him as such a patient dork who knows he’s falling in love with an alien reads as very true to me. It’s a genuinely sweet falling in love story.
And then Rahne shows up just when things are looking good to add some danger and drama into the proceedings! We last saw Wolfsbane leaving to go join X-Force and put her claws and teeth to use. She’s back, and she’s pregnant. (Lotta that going around in the pages of this series). It would be sort of tiresome, but damn if it isn’t charming to read. It helps that de Landro comes back for the main issue that deals with Ric and Rahne’s relationship. There’s a delightful little sequence where Rictor gets flustered as their cab driver digs himself deeper and deeper into a bigotry hole, making cracks about Rahne’s pregnancy, Rictor’s boyfriend, and them being mutants. Bigotry wouldn’t normally be so funny, but de Landro draws Rahne’s smile so well, your heart will melt. You can just see her falling in love with Rictor, and with New York, all over again. And maybe remembering to love herself too. It’s a really profound expression that de Landro gives her, and it sells the emotions behind the comedy in a profound way.
Continued belowWhile Rahne and Ric sort out their feelings, the rest of the team eventually teams up with Thor to battle Hela and her legion of the dead. It’s a cool, competent superhero fight (Emanuela Lupacchino draws it, in her most confident issue yet). But the entire thing is overshadowed by its final moments. Hela, who’s very touch is death, tries to kill Darwin, who’s power is not dying. This is, and I can’t emphasize this enough, an awesome idea. Thor’s hammer versus Cap’s shield? Wolverine’s claws versus Black Panther’s armor? No, this is the ultimate unstoppable force against an immovable object scenario. This is exactly the sort of limit I want my superhero comic to test.
And sure enough, it’s crazy. Specifically, Darwin sucks the divinity right out of Hela and becomes the new Asgardian god of death, which is freaking insane. It also reveals a cool thing with the mythology, which is seeing Hela’s true, authentic to the mythology form. You see in myth, Hela has one side that is beautiful and one side that is rotten and decaying. It turns out, she uses a glamour to look like a hottie 24/7, but with her powers siphoned off by Darwin, she turns into a half-corpse monster.
That’s where we end this fun arc. It did everything that “X-Factor” does well. Jamie got to do his noir thing and sweat existential dread. Longshot got to use his luck powers in a casino. Shatterstar fought actors dressed as pirates. Rictor and Wolfsbane dealt with soap opera drama. And in the end Darwin got to test the limits of his strange superpowers. That’s more or less anything you could want out of a superhero comic!
“X-Factor” #213-219, ‘Scar Tissue’
Written by Peter David
Illustrated by Valentine De Landro, and Emanuela Lupacchino
Inked by Pat Davidson, and Guillermo Ortego
Colored by Jeromy N. Cox, and Matt Milla
Lettered by Cory Petit, and Joe Sabino
I’ve spent a lot of time in these reviews commending this series for its complexity, and the success of that approach is best exemplified by this story arc. At the core, we’ve got our mutant team, and all of their unfolding dynamics. But that collides head on with a bunch of the “Spider-Man” supporting cast, and a totally cool new villain squad that has never been used again. By combining what normally works about this book, some fun connections, and some brand new ideas, Peter David sets the standard for what a superhero ongoing should look like.
First off, lets talk about S.C.A.R.S. Or the Strategic Capture and Retrieval Squad. Solid acronym. They are a team made up of Rococo, Sylvius, and Ballistique, the latter of whom was actually paying Monet for help in the last arc. They’re a pretty boilerplate Marvel villain team, but good writing and design helps them to stand out. Basically, they were part of a military experiment to create super soldiers, but their powers caused them to become unstable, so the project was canceled and their memories were wiped.
They would feel like your average Wolverine rip-offs, but the S.C.A.R.S. are a whole lot of fun. First of all, they’re three vengeful ladies. Good supervillainesses can be hard to come by. Second, they’ve got a fun dynamic. This is a trio of badass soldiers with a finely honed sense of banter. I’d love to see them fight Carol Danvers. Third, Ballistique’s whole thing is that she fires “cyber bullets” by making a gun motion with her fingers. I love this visual, and the story used it to great effect.
Ballistique also used her powers to great effect, mainly, killing Guido. She hit him while she was taking a shot at J. Jonah Jameson. Oh that’s right, we’ve got a bunch of Spider-Man characters here too. This is in the era when JJJ was the mayor of NYC, and X-Factor is protecting him from the would-be assassins. Spidey himself shows up for a hot minute to get yelled at by Monet, and Black Cat gets to try out her bad luck powers against Longshot’s good luck powers. Which is all pretty great.
Continued belowBut oh yeah, Guido died! He got better! His brush with death was just the thing he needed to move his story forward. He finally confessed his love to Monet, and though she didn’t reciprocate, she did lose her mind with grief when she thought he was truly done for. That’s pretty juicy! Plus, we didn’t get too deeply into it, but it’s heavily implied that Layla used her resurrection powers to revive Guido. And if you recall, those she revivifies return without souls. It’s what made Fitzroy evil. Guido says he feels fine, but now he’s a villainous timebomb. Awesome!
At the center of this arc, we even get a very political rant. In a big way, this is the most fascinating part of the story. I know we like to repeat the straw-man argument that either “politics don’t belong in comics” or “comics have always been politics” (and they obviously have), but the specifics are a lot more interesting. An Islamophobic protest has formed and they are yelling slogans like “Keep the strangers out,” “America for Americans!” and “We just want our country back.” Sound familiar? This is a comic published in May, 2011. Monet, the team’s resident Muslim, gets a chance to speak up. Guido does too, but he mostly uses the opportunity to put his foot in his mouth (“And I was just starting to wrap myself around the whole gay thing,” he says). But the strongest moral argument actually comes from J. Jonah, who’s written to be passionate and educated. He ends up using his anti-superhero stance to stand up for equality under the law. It’s a decent rant (if a little ham-handed) but most interesting for how it captures a moment of political debate nearly a decade ago. Honestly, it feels exactly like the debate right now, just being made more intelligently. Art is a great way for seeing history through rose colored glasses.
Throughout this set of issues, the rest of the X-Factor team also acquits themselves well. Like Shatterstar, who’s just getting into Westerns. Or Rahne, who is made invincible by her god-baby. Basically, there’s enough going on that everyone has their chance to shine. Sure, Monet and Guido were the stars here, but there are so many plates spinning that it’s impossible not to be entertained. And while you’re entertained, well I guess that’s a great moment to make an obvious political point in the most obvious way possible. Good stuff!
