X-Factor #32

X-It Strategy

First, I want to thank Peter David for the amusing blurb about his daughters he put in the opening "previously..." page. Aside from making me think I had missed an issue, it brought a smile to my face. Yeah, the youngest is gonna be foulmouthed and there's nothing you can do.

Picking up the pieces from last issue, Madrox and company are approached with an offer. Work for the government or go into forced hiding. Seemingly ready to take the offer, certain events cause Madrox to question the wisdom of such a decision before ultimately rejecting it. The gang high tail it out to Detroit after demolishing their old building but five months later, Val Cooped easily tracks them down and it looks like X-Factor are gonna have no choice but to work for her.

All told, this was a pretty decent issue. Pretty decent. Nothing really to write in depth about. David does a pretty solid job of bringing the melodrama. Madrox is feeling the weight of his life bearing down on him before finally manning up and taking responsibility for Theresa's pregnancy and the welfare of the team. The stuff with Val confronting X-Factor with their options is well done with some good dialogue. Was Valerie Cooper always such an evil bitch? Man, she's a woman you don't want to fuck with. Really, I like what David does with her, making her an arrogant shifty eyed government goon that can't take no for an answer. I like that Madrox keeps seeing Layla Miller in his head. This books absolutely needs Layla Miller. They're taking way too long in bringing her back. Resolve, please.

Very little happens, though the team is put on a new track in a new location. This should keep things interesting. I like they fact that they jump things forward a few months and Theresa is already near term. Sweet, pregnancy is always difficult to address in comics. I remember Chuck Dixon doing an outstanding job when they knocked up Spoiler in Robin a few years back, but this is a much slower paced book.

I enjoyed this issue but it's not a rush out and get kind of story. One thing I can say about Peter David though is his stories almost always reward loyalty in the long run. I'm interested to see where the characters go from here, but since I've already dropped the book, next month will most likely be my last issue. This is a shame. Twenty bucks says while I'm job hunting (God knows how long that'll take) David unleashes some kind of major fuckwin and where will I be? Shit.