drive-by readings |
| Nation X: X-Factor #1 (Marvel)
Peter David
Valentine De Landro
Pat Davidson
Jeromy Cox
Cory Petit
Christian MacNevin (cover) |
since i was unable to post anything on
X-Factor #200, i'm making up with this, and throwing some love down once-and-present X-Factor scribe
Peter David's way.
the biggest problem for
X-Factor in recent months is the inconsistency and quality of the art, which more often than not doesn't complement the quality of
David's writing.
X-Factor #200 had an excellent variant cover by
Kevin Maguire, and we can only wish he was handling the interiors as well. it may come off as
Formerly Known as The Justice League, what with
Madrox's insistence to operate as a detective agency (who's funding them again?
Monet's trust fund?), but who cares?
Val De Landro has been manning the fort for awhile, and his sort of spare-less-detailed-sort-of-sombre art may be fitting because
David dragged the team through some dark times. but no offense, i think a
Maguire-drawn
X-Factor run (especially with the humor) would work well. imagine if he drew that whole "The Invisible Woman Has Vanished!" story?
that being said,
De Landro does a passable job here mostly (note that faces get weird or disappear outright sometimes - but maybe that's not his fault), considering its a momentous event (for me at least) because its a reunion of sorts for the X-teams without being in the middle of a firefight or a crisis.
David proves once again how adept he is handling the various X-characters, not just his
X-Factor ones (and considering from his first run, i think only
Madrox and
Guido are the only ones remaining -
Rahne is apparently pregnant and is not seen here).
Shatterstar's innocently magnetic personality (to either gender) drives the powerless
Rictor nuts.
Madrox's reaction to
Magneto's half-sarcastic declaration of 'welcome to the Brotherhood!' is 90% priceless (it would be a full 100% if
Maguire was drawing it!!).
Guido is still the rambunctious kid out of kindergarten and gels well with
Rockslide. a
Madrox dupe belting out a
George Michael tune. even
Longshot and
Dazzler - whose short-lived star-crossed romance is part of the
X-Men of my youth - gets a second chance here, and it is kinda heartwarming (and his goddamn luck holds!!!).
there's also this scene:
in just that one panel,
David finds it best to give a nod to past confusing X-storylines, but at the same time not get bogged down by all that history. this is just friends being together, sharing a peaceful moment, after a long hard time. these moments never last in the X-Universe.
so where's the conflict here? not much really - a debate of philosophies between
Scott and
Madrox, and another precog of sorts making all sorts of warnings. (kinda like
Destiny with her books, and
Darwin getting into a tug-of-war and ends up being bailed out by
Namor via some oral work with sharks. don't ask.) good for
Scott that his faith to make all things work allows him to ignore potential futures, effectively telling us that he's try to plot his own destiny and the entire mutant race's.
absent that little conflict ... yes, its a nice little day in Utopia.
