X-Factor (comics)
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For other uses, see X Factor.
X-Factor is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Since its February 1986 inception, the book has been cancelled and relaunched several times, each relaunch featuring a different superhero team semi-related to the team featured in the book's previous run. All of the teams featured in X-Factor are spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise.
The first X-Factor, launched in an eponymous series in 1986, features a team consisting of the five original X-Men, but the series also features several young “wards” of the team. In 1991, the founding members are incorporated back into the X-Men. However, X-Factor continued, focusing on a second X-Factor team, a U.S. government-sponsored team incorporating many secondary characters from the X-Men mythos. It was cancelled in 1998.
In 2005, a new X-Factor series was launched, following the mutant detective agency X-Factor Investigations.
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[edit] X-Factor (1986-1991)
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[edit] Previous history and formation of the team
Each member of the original X-Factor debuted in X-Men #1 (1963) as the original X-Men, teenaged students of the telepathic Professor X. They included:
- Cyclops, who emitted powerful "optic blasts" from his eyes and who was the leader of both the X-Men and X-Factor
- Jean Grey, Cyclops’ long-time love who possessed telepathic and telekinetic powers.
- Iceman, who could generate ice and cover his body in a layer of ice for protection.
- Angel, a millionaire heir, who flew from two feathery wings extending from his back.
- Beast, who possessed blue fur and ape-like strength and agility. Beast’s animalistic appearance disguised a brilliant scientific mind.
The founding of X-Factor hinged upon the reunion of the original X-Men, an event complicated by the extensive histories of the characters following the initiation of a new team of X-Men in 1975.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Beast, Iceman and Archangel wandered through various superhero teams. By 1985, all three were members of The Defenders, whose monthly series was cancelled to free up the trio.
The returns of Cyclops and Jean Grey were more difficult. In the late 1970s, Grey had bonded with a cosmic entity called The Phoenix and Jean Grey/Phoenix died in the seminal Dark Phoenix Saga. Future Marvel writer Kurt Busiek suggested a solution to this problem, which became one of the most notorious examples of retconning in comic book history: Jean Grey had never actually been the Phoenix. Instead, the Phoenix entity copied Grey's identity and form, keeping her safe in a cocoon-like structure beneath Jamaica Bay. Busiek related the idea to Roger Stern, who related it to John Byrne. Byrne wrote and illustrated Fantastic Four #286 (1985), in which Jean was discovered and the truth revealed.
In order to reunite the rest of the original X-Men, Cyclops walked out on his new wife Madelyne Pryor — an Alaskan pilot who bore a strange resemblance to Grey — and their son Nathan. Cyclops' uncharacteristic behavior and the resurrection of Grey were highly controversial with fans.
[edit] The original X-Factor
The original X-Men disassociated with the current team because Professor X had placed their old nemesis Magneto as its leader. The five set up a business, advertised as mutant hunters for hire, headquartered in downtown New York City, posing as "normal" (non-superpowered) humans to their clients. The mutants X-Factor captured were secretly trained to control their powers and reintegrate into society. Through their "mutant-hunting" they recruited a group of young wards:
- Rusty Collins, who could create and control fire
- Boom Boom, who created "plasma bombs"
- Rictor, who produced powerful shockwaves
- Skids, who projected a protective force field around her body
- Leech, a green-skinned young boy, who dampened the mutant powers of those around him
- Artie, a pink-skinned, mute child who could project hologram-like images of his thoughts
The team would also go into action in costume, posing as mutant outlaws known as the "X-Terminators." Eventually, the team decided that the "mutant hunter" ruse did more harm than good, by inflaming hatred. Not only was the concept rejected, but it was blamed on X-Factor's original business manager, Cameron Hodge, who was revealed as a mutant-hating mastermind.
X-Factor #6 (1986) introduced X-Factor's arch-nemesis Apocalypse, a 5,000-year old super-mutant who had been worshipped as a god of death in ancient Egyptian mythology. He was determined to remake the world to fit his mad Darwinist philosophy.
Bob Layton and Jackson Guice wrote and illustrated, respectively, the first few issues of X-Factor. They soon turned over creative duties to married collaborators Louise Simonson (writer) and Walt Simonson (artist). The Simonsons placed the series in line with the darker tone of most X-Books. In X-Factor #10, The Marauders, a group of savage mutant mercenaries, severely injured Angel's wings and they were later amputated. Despondent, Angel attempted suicide by detonating his airliner mid-flight, but Apocalypse rescued him from the wreckage and transformed him into Death, one of his slave-like "four horsemen." Death was a fearsome creature who possessed metal wings and blue skin. Angel escaped Apocalypse's control, but the physical changes to his body remained. He became known as Archangel and became a much darker character.
In the 1989 crossover Inferno, Madelyne Pryor was revealed to be a clone of Jean Grey created by the nefarious mutant geneticist Mister Sinister. Demons had used Madelyne's pain at Scott's rejection of her to manipulate her into becoming the Goblyn Queen. Madelyne planned to sacrifice Nathan to open an interdimensional portal and to hurt Cyclops and Sinister as much as possible. X-Factor teamed up with the X-Men to rescue Nathan, bridging the gap between the two teams. Madelyne suffered a mental breakdown upon discovering she was a clone and killed herself.
During Inferno, X-Factor's teenage wards, along with a young paraplegic mutant named Taki Matsuya, starred in the X-Terminators miniseries and shortly after folded into the X-Men's junior team, the New Mutants.
In the last major storyline of the first X-Factor, published in early 1991, Apocalypse kidnapped Nathan Summers, sensing that he would grow up to be a powerful mutant and possible threat. X-Factor rescued Nathan from Apocalypse's lunar base, but found him infected with a "techno-organic" virus that could not be treated in the present time. A clan of rebels from the future, known as the Askani, sent a representative to the present time to bring Nathan 2,000 years into the future to be treated. Fully grown, he would return to the 20th Century as the anti-hero Cable.
Shortly after this, X-Factor, X-Men and several minor characters teamed-up to fight the telepathic Shadow King in another crossover event, The Muir Island Saga. Afterwards, the original members of X-Factor rejoined the X-Men and several minor characters from various X-Men-related series became founding members of the all-new X-Factor.
Although it always existed within the larger X-Men saga somewhat awkwardly, the era of the original X-Factor had lasting effects on the mythos. It introduced Apocalypse and the Archangel version of Angel and explained the connection between Cyclops, Jean Grey, Sinister, Pryor, Apocalypse and Cable. All of these elements continued in future X-Men series.
[edit] X-Factor (1991-1998)
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Rather than end a successful series, Marvel hired writer Peter David and illustrator Larry Stroman to recreate X-Factor with new members, all of whom were already allies of the X-Men. The new X-Factor worked for the Pentagon making them the only salaried mutant team; their relationship with their benefactors was often strained and complicated. The new X-Factor, debuting in issue #71, included:
- Havok, a former X-Man and brother of Cyclops who could generate powerful "plasma blasts." Havok served as X-Factor's leader.
- Polaris, Havok's longtime lover and also a former X-Man who could control magnetism.
- Wolfsbane, a Scottish former New Mutant who could transform into a wolf-like creature.
- Multiple Man, who could create duplicates of himself on physical impact.
- Strong Guy, a wise-cracking character who could rechannel kinetic energy aimed at him, transforming it into muscular mass.
- Quicksilver, a long-running Avengers character and former foe of the X-Men, who possessed super speed and a difficult temperament.
- Valerie Cooper, a United States government agent with history as both ally and adversary of the X-Men, who became X-Factor's government liaison, carrying over from her duties as liaison to a prior government-sponsored team of mutants, Freedom Force.
Although X-Factor was not as flashy or wildly popular as other X-Books, David was applauded for his use of humor and cultural references and his ability to flesh out characters that had previously only been background characters.
David left in 1993. The series continued under writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Jan Duursema, but struggled to distinguish itself among the glut of X-books. Shortly before David's tenure on the book ended, Forge, a former government weapons contractor whose mutant powers were his brilliant engineering skills, was added to the group, first replacing Cooper as their liaison after she had been compromised by one of Magneto's Acolytes, and later as an active member. (Cooper later became an active member as well, her marksmanship and athletic skills compensating for her lack of superhuman powers.)
By 1995, Multiple Man had apparently died of the Legacy Virus, a deadly illness that attacked mutant genes, which was later revealed to have killed only one of his duplicates. Strong Guy left after suffering a heart attack caused by the stress his extra mass put on his body, Wolfsbane transferred to the European mutant team Excalibur and Havok left to infiltrate a mutant terrorist ring.
Writer John Francis Moore and illustrator Jeff Matsuda introduced a new X-Factor, consisting of Forge as the team's new leader, Polaris, Cooper, and several new recruits:
- Wild Child, former member of Alpha Flight, who possessed heightened senses, fangs and claws.
- Shard, a holographic computer program that took on the personality of the X-Man Bishop's deceased sister of the same name. Bishop was a time-traveler from a distant future, where he and Shard were members the X-Men descendants the XSE. The holographic Shard was brought to the 20th Century with Bishop.
- Mystique, a shapeshifting mutant criminal and master of espionage. Mystique was forced to join X-Factor following her capture by federal agents.
- Sabretooth, a homicidal mutant criminal who possessed talons, heightened senses and the ability to heal rapidly. Like Mystique, Sabretooth was a captive member that Forge used special technology to control.
Afterwards, writer Howard Mackie injected more political and espionage elements into the series, a trend that culminated in the team's secession from government sponsorship. But the popularity of X-Factor continued to dwindle and Sabretooth and Mystique, two popular X-Men villains, failed to draw in more readers. Wild Child mutated out of control, Mystique hunted down Sabretooth (who had kidnapped young Tyler Trevor Chase), and Forge wanted nothing to do with X-Factor.
In 1997, Marvel attempted yet another revival. After various stories without an X-factor-team, focusing on individual characters, a new team was gathered consisting of Havok, Polaris, Multiple Man, Shard and several other members of the X.S.E., Fixx, Archer and Greystone, brought to the 20th Century. But this version of the team was disbanded the issue they debuted. In that issue, #149 (1998), Greystone built a time machine meant to take him and his compatriots back to the future. However, the device exploded, killing Greystone and apparently Havok. Afterwards, X-Factor disbanded.
In fact, the time machine transported Havok to a parallel world, populated by twisted versions of Marvel characters. He explored this strange world in the series Mutant X, which lasted from 1998 until 2001. Although Marvel planned to revive X-Factor after Mutant X ended, this never happened.
As of stories published in 2006, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane and Multiple Man have formed a new X-Factor (see below), Havok, Polaris, Mystique and Sabretooth are members of various X-Men teams, Shard died in an alternate future, and Fixx and Archer were never seen again.
The X-Factor issues #71-75 were collected in a paperback called X-Factor Visionaries. Recently, Marvel released Essential X-Factor Volume 1, which chronicles the resurrection of Jean Grey in Avengers and Fantastic Four, and contains issues 1-16 and Annual #1 of the first X-Factor series.
[edit] X-Factor miniseries (2001)
A four-issue X-Factor limited series was launched in 2001. This series focused on the government's new Mutant Civil Rights Task Force, humans who investigated anti-mutant hate crimes and inadvertently discovered an anti-mutant conspiracy within their own ranks. This series focused heavily on the "mutants as a metaphor for minorities" aspects of the X-Men concept.
[edit] X-Factor (2005)
X-Factor Investigations is a detective agency run by Jamie Madrox, formerly known as the costumed superhero Multiple Man. The agency was originally named XXX Investigations, but team members thought that it sounded too much like Madrox was investigating pornography. The new name is taken from the government-sponsored mutant supergroup former team the three founders had previously served on.
The initial staff consisted of Madrox's best friend and special enforcer, Guido Carosella (Strong Guy) and former teammate Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane). Following the House of M, Madrox newfound wealth from winning a Who Wants to be a Millionaire-style gameshow allowed him to recruit several of his former colleagues of the Paris branch of the now defunct X-Corporation. New members include Siryn, a powerless Rictor, M and Layla Miller, who has inserted herself into the group to keep them from discovering the truth behind the mutant Decimation.
[edit] External links
- X-Factor comics on Marvel.com
- Announcement of the new X-Factor series
- Peter David discussing the new X-Factor series
- Madrox #1
[edit] Bibliography
- The X-terminators #1-4 (October 1988 - January 1989; Marvel Comics)
- Madrox #1-5 (September 2004 - January 2005; Marvel Comics)
- X-Factor #1- (December 2005 - ongoing; Marvel Comics)
