quote:Originally posted by CJ Taylor: Dazzler and Longshot bump into each other. Repeatedly.
Hee-hee!
I enjoyed reading this, too-- particularly the bit where Emma, Namor and Magneto appear, causing Layla to crack up due to dialogue between Cyclops and Madrox.
I also liked Rictor's ongoing jealousy (though I would've liked it if someone flirted with Ric and made Shatterstar a little jealous-- or something).
Was that Iceman that shot a pouty little flirt at Shatterstar? I wasn't sure, due to the coloring in one panel.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Having read X-Factor 200 recently, I was prepared to be knocked dead with its quality based on the reviews here and elsewhere. But I wasn't, not really. It wasn't bad or anything, but it didn't feel like the fresh start I was hoping it would be.
I did enjoy the art in the lead feature a good bit. It had a touch of grit and shading to it that fit really well into the mold of what Jamie would characterize as a "noir" book, It's funny but Guido actually looked kind of handsome and not at all the slightly freakish and disproportioned fella he usually appears to be. He was rocking those shades!
We'll see how this story progresses. I'm not wild about the prospect of this title becoming "Marvel Mysteries" featuring rotating guest stars, if indeed that's where this title is going. Franklin and Valeria were pretty entertaining though, and I am wondering what the heck's goin' on with Reed and Sue.
What's more disappointing is it appears we're not leaving the events of the overcomplicated last arc in the past. The ending with Layla and Doom certainly seems connected to that storyline. I'm all for Layla continuing with the series, but getting away from that future-past thing is something I really want the series to do. Maybe PAD will surprise me?
So the backup lays the groundwork for Teresa to do some healing and forgiving that will likely lay the groundwork for her return. I'm all for reuniting the gang, so that gets us a step close (though I still want Rahne back).
We'll see what the coming issues bring, but I'm not entirely enthused by what I've read of the 'new' direction.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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PAD introduced us to two stories last issue - the missing Invisible Woman and Monet's kidnapped father. I was expecting a team split, but PAD does like to give us the unexpected doesn't he?
Lardi, I do think Layla's time with Doom will be very brief this time. The pace to this story just feels faster.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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This is the last Marvel title I'm buying, and though I often don't know where the story is going, it somehow always manages to entertain me. The future story was not really to my taste, but the new storyline should be a good one - the Richards children are fun to read, and a focus on sexy Monet can't be such a bad idea.
From: Bamberg, Germany | Registered: Feb 2007
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#202-- Alternative timeline (or whatever) Reed is creepy. So is Sue's little fantasy (but giggle-worthy, nonetheless). If Sue, Monet, Emma and Namor are ever all in the same room together, there oughtta be some first-class snark handed out.
Outcreeping them all is the Layla/Doom... what would you call it? Business arrangement? Relationship? What? He's... well, maybe not smitten, but intrigued by her. And she-- she's even more 'gray' than I thought.
What was essentially a romp took some dark twists, to be expected when ol' Doc Doom's involved.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
There's always some well timed quips and character bits in this book. The alternate time-line is a staple of comics, I'm liking that little throw back.
Monet v Namor in a battle of the 'tude! You know PAD could make a great mini out of that.
Doom came across a little understated. We're suppose to fear him on rep alone in this story?
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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Man, I'm not feeling the last few issues of X-Factor at all! Something needs to really happen soon, because I'm barely able to get through the issue.
*If* the murder of Darwin and Longshot in the latest issue actually really happened, that would get me interested. Especially since those are the two X-characters I think I care the least about in the entire history of mutantdom. But I doubt it, especially for Longshot.
I'd really hate to cancel X-Factor but something has got to change. That goes for all the X-titles.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Yeah, X-Factor did not survive my recent Marvel purge. I think I can distill why down to it just not seeming to be about anything anymore (if that makes any sense).
That issue with the birth of Madrox's dupe baby seemed to promise a more intensely personal series but never delivered on it. It's what drew me back, but Peter just seemed to shy away from the topic ever since, jumping into that convoluted and confusing time travel arc and then relaunching as something else. The Rictor/Shatterstar thing is very interesting, but the story keeps the topic at such an arm's length that we can't really sink our teeth into it. I think PAD has burned himself out or been so burned by editorial edicts that all the fun's gone out of it for him.
It hurt a little, but I had to let it go.
[ May 13, 2010, 10:28 AM: Message edited by: Officer Taylor ]
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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The only thing I can compare it to is when PAD's run on Captain Marvel seemed to hit a point where it just meandered around aimlessly without giving me anything to read about.
I like these characters under PAD's pen, but none of them are characters I've ever cared about before, so I have no great attachment to them. My interest in them lives and dies on what PAD has planned for them and so far, outside of Monet, I haven't seen much of anything.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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The latest issues, with the return of Rahne and the cool Hela/Pip story, have been a move in the right direction IMO. And it needed it, because the story before this was pretty weak.
I have one complaint though: PAD can't write a tough guy character worth a lick it seems. He writes strong females in a good way, but his strong guys just don't cut it. As much as he's trying, Shatterstar is not coming across bad-ass at all. Guido is more dorky than tough. He needs to re-find his Hulk mojo for writing a tough guy lead.
Darwin & Longshot are still hella-annoying.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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#213: I could've done without the opening scene, frankly. It does set the stage for Darwin's departure and Madrox's efforts to convince him to stay, though. Followed by the team- well, Banshee (once Siryn), mostly, weighing in.
Pip the Troll, formerly a guest-star hiring Madrox and company, apparently joins the cast, complete with nefarious motive. There's some hilarity between a sun-bathing Monet and Pip and an amusing scene as Siryn, Shatterstar and Rictor discuss the paternity of Rahne's child. Interestingly, Rictor suspected he wasn't the daddy.
Rictor finds Rahne and they share a nicely-modulated, character-rich scene that avoids all the obviousness such a scene might have wallowed in. Gotta say, she was unrecognizeable in the art, though.
A transitional issue, this won't likely appeal to readers who haven't been following the title- though particular fans of Pip, Monet, Rictor or Wolfsbane would find something to smile at, I'd think.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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#214: Darwin has a dream(?) encounter with a strange group of folks inhabiting an abandoned Old West ghost town theme park. Lots of surreality, but the revelation that the gunfightin' sherrif's mother is Rahne Sinclair floored me. My initial reaction was, not more time travel, please.
All the dialogue previous to that revelation about a 'real' coming Apocalypse unrelated to the mutant bearing that name, along with 'real' four horsemen, again unrelated to those who've served in that capacity, was made much more compelling. End of the world stuff ahead for X-Factor only? The larger X-verse? Marvel Earth in general? Not my favorite mythological imagery, but attention-getting, that's for sure. Nothing like a little '666' to raise a little dread...
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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#213 of X-Factor gave the series a long needed break from longer-than-necessary stories, like the last one involving Hela, and helps get the series back on track a bit. I’ve said that before though and the inconsistent nature of the series is a bit annoying. But this issue was very good and provided the right amount of characterization and moments for each character on the team to remind us why we like them. It also tied up some loose ends in the quintessential PAD way, with some humor and moments where characters show some added depth to them.
Overall, I’m still enjoying the series enough to keep collecting it. But it’s the smaller, in-between issues that are saving things, as PAD just can’t seem to pull together a coherent story with some real tension & plot other than ‘someone is trying to hurt X-Factor’, and then he hardly ever gives any sense of resolution to it. His writing wasn’t always like this—I hope he can recapture his mojo.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
So in the latest issues PAD totally crossed into "preaching to the reader" territory in a way that made me roll my eyes. I swear, I remember PAD used to be subtle about these things. Did I dream it?
That being said, I'm still enjoying the series quite a bit, more so recently than I have in quite awhile. The characters seem more "themselves" and the recent storyline is pretty interesting (as compared to several dull ones previously).
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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