PeterDavid.net

Damn! I was too fast ;)

PD: X-Factor is the only mutant book that I buy at the moment (in fact, they only one I've bought for years!). It's good to be back after all this time and still feel like you know those guys. Still to early to judge, but I'll defenitevely stay for a long ride.

PPD: We want Shatterstar!!;P

I really enjoyed the style of the book. Very film noir, like the Madrox mini-series. Ryan Sook is a fantastic artist, especially for a book like this.

I've grown pretty weary of most "mainstream" comics lately, the "superhero" stuff, what with all the internet-breaking crossovers, but this one, X-Factor, I think I'll stick with it a while. It's different. I like different.

I was sad when Madrox wound up just being a miniseries, but X-Factor's return made me just as, if not more, happy. A few things soured the formula for me -- "House of M" making Mutant Town "Formerly Mutant Town" and Layla Miller showing up on the cast (will her codename be Deus Ex Machina?), but I'm sure if anyone can still make it could, it'll be PAD. Reading back issues of PAD's last run on X-Factor is what made me a fan of his work -- I'll be sure to buy it as long as his name's on the cover. It's also great that Madrox is the lead character now, as opposed to the interesting-but-underused background character he was the first time around. Ryan Sook's is an amazing artist, too.

I got to read an advance copy of the book last week (I do advance reviews for my website www.stumblebumstudios.com) and it was excellent. Check out my review of the book here:

http://www.stumblebumstudios.com/comic-review_xfactor-1.htm

I thought the ending was cool. Totally a surprise and I can't wait to see how PAD wraps it up. Also, the art was gorgeous. Very film noir. I also love what PAD is doing with Siryn. I'd love to see Deadpool show up and try to start up a relationship with her again. I think Wade can do noir.

Loved it. I've been looking forward to it for months (rare thing in comics for me these days) and I wasn't dissappointed. Sook has always been great, but I was blown away by his Zatanna recently. X-Factor is bit looser, but somehow looks even better to me. He really did a great job of just punching the character's emotions right at you. The facial expressions in the "Siryn's a pistol" scene were wonderful. Colors are very nice as well. My wife even read this one, which, seeing as there's an "X" on the cover, is no small feat. Great job, Peter.

I definatly liked the story, but I do dislike the villian perhaps of the piece. It seems like that has been done multiple times in the first arc and in the miniseries. Also the cast seems to be getting a little large at the moment.

I am also wondering if the Mutant Civil Rights Task Force might appear or make a cameo.

Still very good writing and I do look forward to Issue 2.

I also thought of something else that bothered me. Rictor. The idea of being bonded and linked to the Earth seemed wrong. It was creating vibrations and there was noething about the earth that was special, just that it was the medium like air or water. His powers worked on other planets ( Gambit and the X-Ternals ) so this feels weird and a total surprise to make his powers something more and a feeling of loss rather then just losing his powers.

Origonally he wated to get rid of them because of all the devistation that he caused ( way back in the first X-Factor )

As Christopher Eccleston would say, "Fantastic!"

This is pretty much the only Marvel comic I'm buying these days, so I'm completely in the dark as to this "Layla" person, but otherwise I had no problems with the first issue. Madrox's ability (hell, Madrox himself) is proving to be as great a liability as an asset. I'll be interested in seeing how the series progresses.

JSM

Missed it, I have to go back and pick it up. I don't pick up any Marvel titles currently (Not even Friendly, until they fix Gwen). This will be my one and only Marvel title for a while.

It was good, Sook's art is great, I like the idea that they're gonna have this pushy teenage girl(Layla Miller) to deal with.

And just once, just once I'd like to see someone who had issues with drinking too much NOT call themselves an alcoholic and talk like an AA spokesperson.

Layla was in House Of M, she was the one person in that universe who remembered the real MU, besides Wolverine. She was able to make others remember the truth.

Fix Gwen?

She's dead. How do you fix her?

This isn't because she got frisky with Norman Osborn and had those kids, is it?

WHO CARES?! Was she some kind of fricking saint or something?

PAD,

First impression: It exceeded my expectations, and my expectations for you are high.

The premise was solid. I have a reason to come back. While there was some necessary dialogue to introduce or reintroduce the characters, it flowed with the story.

The tone fit the premise. While I do not prefer dark comics generally, this one fit both the characters and the fact it is following House of M (which I did not read other than your Hulk stories). I am waiting to see if there is a sense of hope that will develop. If it does not, the story might wear on me after a while.

One question: Why is Rahne sounding more like a Catholic than a Scottish Presyterian? (There IS a difference.) It has been many years since reading New Mutants, but I don't remember her being Catholic. Perhaps my theological training makes it more obvious to me, but this is the one element that is out of sync. It does not ruin the book or anything, but it is hard to ignore. You normally nail the character, so when you don't it really stands out.

Sidenote: I am hoping that Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man has a little more light heartedness to it along the lines of Q-in-Law and other past stories you have written like it. I think X-Factor needs a darker tone, but I am hoping for something different in FNS.

Iowa Jim

One more thing: When will you bring Quicksilver back? I know enough about House of M to know that other things are in motion. But he is the one character that was missing to me. I am intrigued by the other choices you have made and don't mind the new characters. He is the one character from your prior time on the book that I miss the most.

Iowa Jim

I loved this first issue from cover to cover. By far, this is the best mutant title out and probably one of Marvel's current best books on the shelf (if not the best book).

Here's a link to my review:

http://www.comicbookfanatic.com/reviews/xfactor_001.htm

Enjoy!

Loved it. The ending was a complete surprise to me. Did not see it coming.

By the way, this is the only X-title that I am currently buying except for the upcoming DEAD GIRL miniseries.

I love it when you Write Jamie. I'm just hoping that Rick Jones doesn't show up with his Comic Awareness Like in the end of Captain Marvel.

Enjoyed the book.

Btw, re: Jaime's method of getting a lot of money. Barring not doing it via mutant powers of duplication, that's pretty much what most smart folk who get on WWTBAM do. For example, the phone-a-friend lifeline for the person who has won the most on the show consisted of someone in a room with most of the UMichigan quiz bowl team and a bunch of Internet connections, the contestant being their coach.

Which I'd already figured would be one of my lifelines if I ever got/get on (in fact, the same team, since I know Kevin from having been on it way back when). Amusingly, one of my other planned lifelines would be Harlan...and I'd love it to end up with a similar situation as in X-Factor, but with my still having the phone lifeline left, just so I could call him and say "So, Harlan, any idea who wrote this Mephisto in Onyx story?". :-)

I really enjoyed this issue.

As others have said it kept the tone of the Madrox mini, and moved on from there. I like the idea of the "X-Factor" being unpredictability. It's a somewhat unusual concept for an X-title, eh?. ;-)

The art was terrific, too. Ryan Sook gets better with everything he draws. Zatanna was well-done, and this continues with that high standard.

I'm looking forward to X-Factor having a nice long run.

I really liked it, Peter. And I am SO glad that Ryan Sook, who is clearly influenced by the Adam Hughes/Terry Dobson style, is the artist on the the book. He is clearly the best regular artist you've worked with since Gary Frank on your first run of Hulk.

Fix Gwen?

She's dead. How do you fix her?

This isn't because she got frisky with Norman Osborn and had those kids, is it?

WHO CARES?! Was she some kind of fricking saint or something?
-----------------------------------
Ok, grab your shovels, let's go dig up Uncle Ben and change his past. Let's see, he could've pimp'd out Aunt May, killed Pete's parents, and throw on some sex scandle to make it "kewl", because...WHO CARES?! He's no saint or anything oh yeah he's a mutant too.

Eric!, you may have missed it, but Ben was recently depicted in a questionably uncharacteristic manner when he essentially threatened some bullies who had chased Peter to the house. While it may not be completely out of character, I found it quite disturbing in light of JMS's run on the title over the past 4 or so years.

Brilliant writer, but has always struck me as being better suited for his own creations, since the company owned franchises that he has written seem to be shoe-horned into scenerios and personalities that fit a story he has in mind rather than acting consistantly with their 40+ years of history.

Fred

FYI, X-FACTOR #1 got a "Book Of the Week" review on "Worst Blog Ever" - http://www.livejournal.com/community/comicbooklovers/318751.html?view=1673503#t1673503

Me, I loved it. Of course, since your X-Factor was my favorite run in comics before, and Madrox is my favorite X-men character, chances were good I'd like the first comic I've bought in a good 8-9 years. But regardless, the art's quite good, the writing is witty, and I didn't see the ending coming. Madrox still makes a great narrator like he did in his miniseries, and Rahne's rant on the horrors of Hell had me in stitches.

The only thing that made me squirm a little was Siryn screaming "NOOOOOOO!". After watching Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, I can't really see or hear that particular scream without having horrid Vader flashbacks. That, and I thought Rahne looked better with the long hair. Then again, I've only seen her in the old X-Factor run, which didn't have her with the cropped hair like in her New Mutants days, from what I gather.

Sweet issue. Your Madrox is quickly becoming one of my favorite Marvel characters, and this book just jumped to the top of my list of ongoings I'm looking forward to right now. My only complaint is that it's missing Quicksilver. You made him such an enjoyable character back on your initial run that he's desperately missed here. Ah, well - I'll just have to wait until somebody sane comes along and reboots away this House of M crap.

I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone, but it's one of those "DAY-YAMMM!!!" endings.

Good stuff, PAD!

Matt Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
654-B E. Diamond Ave.
Evansville, IN. 47711
www.comicsunlimited.biz

I saw the ending coming---2 panels before the page turn, which is where it was planned, I think. Probably about the best set-up in ages, as I usually figure them out halfway through the issue.

As to the accent subject, it means little in the Marvel Universe these days where every detail of a character is subject to change per editorial whim.

I am not familiar at all with Layla Miller, but shouldn't she have been a character in a Superman comic?
(For the one or two who don't get that, almost every character introduced to the Superman stories in the 60s had 'L' in both their given name and their family name.)

You gave us a tightly writtne story with a mysterious, falling, ending...yeah. I'm gonna complain to The House Of Ideas about that. BTW, a Star Trek series based on your New Frontier books got around of applause at PhilCon last weekend.

I loved it! I especially appreciated the little shout - out in the fourth panel of the third page! Thank you! *SO* much better than all the times Darth Vader would go: "Hooooooo prrrrrrr, hoooooooo prrrrrrrr" (Really, LISTEN to his breathing machine next time! My ex pointed it to me right before the re - releases a few years back!) ;^)

Hooper

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's good to see one of the long-time background characters finally get the spotlight. :)

Oh, and did anybody else catch Marvel's launch of for digital comics?

They've got FNSM #1 up, along with a couple of other titles. They're viewable through a quick-to-load Flash program and it has a viewer and all for changing pages, etc.

I'm toying around with the viewer a bit - the "Smart Panel mode" is a nice little feature, although a little disorienting to start out with (it takes a split second for the frame to focus after it moves to the panel).

Still, it's a start. :)

I just read it last night...all I can say right now is...great job.

I read it last night, and I was blown away by it. I really really enjoyed it! Seriously, I haven't read a better first issue since Brubaker/Epting's Captain America debuted a year ago. Outstanding.

I love the mix of characters here, but I too wish that Quicksilver could have been included, though understandably, his character is being addressed elsewhere this week.

Aside from that, I like this mix of characters. Madrox, Siryn, Rictor, M, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, and Layla Miller. Yeah, I like it a lot. I actually like Layla Miller. She is one of things I really enjoyed about House of M, and I can really see how she'd be a fun character to write.

As for the ending, fantastic cliffhanger.

By the way, maybe my memory is faulty, but didn't PAD's start on the original X-Factor involve a scene where one of Jaime's dupes was standing on a ledge contemplating suicide? It's been a few years since I read it. If that's the case, it's a really cool homage/callback to the PAD's original X-Factor, and very cool. :)

X-Factor is on my pull list, and I can't wait for Fallen Angel later this month! :-)

It would take you to do the stuff that you done in your doing. The book was sharp, even sharper than the last run on x-factor. The *surprise* ending was a bit used, as in we've had pseudo evil madrox at least 3 times now, but it still doesn't feel quite as old as it should. Overall I think there was a solid mix of surprise twists and clever wit in this book to make it even better than I anticipated it being.
Further, Ryan Sooks cover work had me scared that it would simply be the scratchy/sketchy art that is plaguing the other decimation books but it turned out remarkably smooth and sexy. I also liked the letterer getting all crazy with the fonts for jamie.
I'm going back to my LCS tonight to pick up 4 or 5 more copies for my friends that get comics everynow and again but aren't really big time into comics to see if i can bring them over to the darkside completely, that's how much i enjoyed the book.

About my last post:

I checked, and I was remembering wrong. PAD's first full issue featuring the "All New All Different" X-Factor didn't end with Jaime Madrox contemplating suicide on a ledge. Instead, it featured a dupe of Jaime Madrox being shot and falling through a window down five stories and landing on the pavement below.

So maybe the "homage" isn't there, and I'm just seeing something unintentional on PAD's part. :-)

So at this point, I'm picking up books because you write them. It started with Supergirl, went on to Fallen Angel and Captain Marvel, and now here. I missed Madrox when it first came out, but picked up the trade and loved it.

I have been very excited about this book for a while. It was one of the few books (along with Next Wave) that sort of piqued my interest.

I was not dissapointed. The art is gorgeous. I hope he stays around a long time. I loved the characters and their interaction. I picked up the first X-factor issue you did a while back when I was kid and laughed my ass off and loved the banter between heroes.

It's still here, but its been tempered by a much more layered approach. Or maybe I can just see those now as I am older.

In any case, to me this is the one really positive thing to come out of the House of Meh event.

How could you change Syren's powers! Curse you!

Actually, I thought that was pretty clever...just figured someone was gonna bash you on it, so I jumped in:D

Enjoyed the first issue a lot. Layla and the House of M stuff seemed a bit shoe-horned in...just like it does in Excalibur and the current Uncanny X-Men's...gee wonder why that is...
(oh and Iowa Jim...you can probably forget Quicksilver showing up...Go read Son Of M and remember that at least once, the character had a good writer).

Two comments for your consideration...you have this singularity group, which you've mentioned in interviews is somewhat cosmic....As I recall from X-books and Deadpool, Marvel has another cosmic company of lawyers and operatives, in LLL&L (they may have been zapped though..can't quite recall).
Also, with Syren there..and Deadpool being mentioned just by me, hopefully you can bring your talent to bare on the quirky Deadpool/Syren relationship...which could lead to a cross-over with Cable/Deadpool..and then to Thunderbolts, where by you'd be writing Genis again.:)

Wow. Excellent. Like others, I had high hopes, which you met and exceeded. I love the way you write Jamie. I love the tone, the humor, the way you threaded the "x-factor" theme through the book. The art is gorgeous.

One thing - I liked the way Rahne had matured in Madrox, and now she's more like her old self. But, I guess you want to differentiate her from the other women, right?

Anyway, very much looking forward to more! X-Factor and Astonishing (when it resurfaces) are the only x-books I read.

I liked it. It's nice someone's doing something with depowered mutants like Rictor rather than just using them in "Decimation" minis. I also like the new twist on Siryn's powers. I think I will continue reading this series for the time being.

I loved it, pure and simple. For a more detailed review, go here:

http://www.thecomicsreview.com/view.php?ItemID=181

Sidenote to Alan: how is Layla Miller Supermanesque in her name because of the LL's? She'd have to be Layla Liller then ;)

I loved it. Only X-Factor i've ever read unless you count the Madrox mini, but I already love it. Can't wait for issue 2.

Terrific first issue! The art was nice and crisp too! Liked the cliffhanger.

I have to say that I did not buy this book...as I have never been a big fan of X-Factor. However..I have heard such glowing reviews of it from here, there and everywhere..that I just called my comic shop to reserve me a copy for when I go in next week. As now it feels like a book i have to read :)

Mike Thompson: Liked the cliffhanger.
Luigi Novi: More like a cliffjumper.

Or ledgejumper, that is.......

1Hey everyone! I loved the new X-Factor! I write weekly "Book of the Week" reviews for the local comic shop to highlight cool stuff that we think readers should try out. The reviews are sent out by e-mail to customers and the books have a money back guarantee. Thise week's book was X-Factor. I have just started a blog with my weekly reviews so, if anyone cares, you can check it out here: http://adventurousink.blogspot.com/

There are quite a few Peter David comics reviewed on the blog, so you may want to poke around a bit.

I enjoyed the issue; I liked the "Madrox" mini-series, and I've read the recent "X-Factor Visionaries" TPB (but not the rest of PAD's run on that title yet). One question - I didn't really look at the cover until after I'd read the issue (since I'd pre-ordered it), but I'm now wondering who the woman is in the bottom right corner? It looks like Guido/Rictor in the back, Rahne/Jaime/Siryn in the middle, but I don't recognise the other woman from the story.

Nicely done.

I hope the creative team stays together for the long haul. I really don't read many Marvel titles, but I'll stick with this one.

( I liked the name-dropping of your SF friends during the flashback to the TV game-show...)

I loved it!

X-Factor was the first comic book series I ever read, and it's what got me into comics. The characters felt so real, the jokes were actually funny, and the political subtext was surprisingly relevant and insightful. I became very attached to those characters - they showed faceted and complex personalities and it was always fun seeing how they related to each other. I loved the issue with Dr. Samson, and how you showed how much there was beneath the surface of each character.

When you wrote "Madrox," it was like meeting up again with old friends who I hadn't seen in ten years. It was great that Rhane and Guido also came along with Jamie, because those characters only seemed to come to life when you wrote them. It is rare that a writer handles the characters with such wit and with such understanding. Guido is a tough character because on the surface he looks like just another big dumb guy, and to be honest, he is a big dumb guy, but that doesn't mean that he can't be an interesting or sympathetic character. I can't wait to see how Rhane develops, now that she is no longer "just a kid." In fact, with M on the team, she's not even the youngest one. Since you have Rictor, who was Rhane's ex-boyfriend, it may be interesting to see how she might deal with a similar situation to what Alex and Lorna had in the old X-Factor. Also, Syren is an odd choice, her being one of the Jamies' ex-girlfriend. I wonder if she'll have a different relationship with Jamie than with the rest of the team - or even a different relationship with one of the Jamies than with the others. Very few writers seem to pick up on the fact that Jamie's duplicates aren't completely subordinate to the "original" (if you could even ever accurately determine who the original is), and when you use Jamie, you really have a potential 40-man supporting cast to work with.

Anyway, the first issue was a delight to read, the surprise ending was actually surprising (as opposed some other writers whose names rhyme with "Bant Corrison" decide to "surprise" us by bringing back Magneto again and making you want to stab someone in the face) and I am excited to see how the story unfolds. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

but I'm now wondering who the woman is in the bottom right corner?

That's M, Monet St. Croix, from Generation X.

PAD: Nice twist at the end of the story. I wonder how Jamie's going to deal with his dupes' lying to him?

I know that it is unlikely (given the son of M series) but you can add my name to the list of people asking for Quicksilver's return to X-Factor. I feel that you were the only writer who ever really "got" Pietro. Recently, Wizard used some flashbacks from your old X-Factor run to show 'what makes him tick'.

Thanks for a great first issue.

Bravo! A book like this makes me remember how good comics CAN (and SHOULD) be.

Anxiously awaiting #2

Thanks, PD!

Rockin'.

I was really impressed with Ryan Sook's art on this one. It looked better than some of his previous work that I've seen. Good to see him taking steps forward as an artist.
As far as the story goes, it is a nice lead-in for the new series. Introduces the characters' personalities quite well (for anyone who may not be familiar with them).
All in all, a very pleasing effort all around.

Finally have a mutant group title back on my reading list now.

Just re-read it....what a great goddam book, PAD!!!

I'm sure you have something else planned, but SPOILER WARNING: could the dupe be trying to 'reactivate' Rictor's powers? Like Nighthrasher did to Nova.

Hey, hang on - why are all the lights out? HELLO? Anyone here?

*sigh*

Late again.

I loved the book. The only X-Factor I ever read was what was thrown into whatever XPB's I have from the period (means crossovers, usually), but having enjoyed Madrox so much, and being a PAD fan, this was a no-brainer - and it lived up to if not exceeded all expectations.

I truly hope enough people sit up and take notice so that this book will continue to get made.

Holy crap, that was great. I missed out on Peter's original X-Factor run, since I quit reading comics in the late '80s, when X-Factor was still the original X-Men, and I didn't pick up any comics again until, oddly enough, right after his run ended (but damn, Louise Simonson, Peter David and J.M. DeMatteis... three of my favorite writers all on one series... why did I ever stop reading it?). So I'm happy it's back, albeit in a different form. And it's incredibly good. Great writing, great art, great cast of characters (and this is the first time I've ever liked Wolfsbane)... this is the perfect comic.

All I got to say is wow. That was just plain good stuff. Easily the best mutant book since the death of X-Statix. Far better than even the Madrox book it spun out of. I'll definitely be buying this one for the forseeable future.

Only one point to make: why does Rictor look more and more like a girl every time he reappears in a comic? Is it a secret (ex-)mutant power of his?

Reminded me of a promo I cut for my college radio station.

I liked the first issue. And if I want to repeat history I'll have to buy four more copies as that's what I did for the '80s version. Don't ask me why I did it. Still didn't top my purchase of 6 copies of New Mutants #1 from Chris Claremont. These days multiple copies rarely enter the equation, but for this one I'll purchase four more and give em to friends.

AMAZING first issue.
Didn't expect anything less though.

A question just popped in my head though:

Would you write a core X-men book (Uncanny or Adjectiveless) should Marvel ask?
And which characters would you like to have on the team?

I am completely unfamiliar with the original X-Factor series, except for Strong Guy, who had one of the cooler action figures in the early 90's (man, he was HUGE; had some real heft for a toy, except for the comically tiny head). However, I did read the Madrox mini and loved it, so it was a no-brainer to pick this up. And again, it's not only a great bit of storytelling, with clever writing and great art, but this book should really be pushed as a great jumping on or back point for anyone who's remotely interested in comics or has been away for a while.

A couple of people have mentioned that one character's powers changed somehow. Really, though, except for about 200 mutants, nearly everyone's powers changed. Me personally, I want to see more writers and editors use this big marketing ploy they foisted on us over the summer. They need to make some changes and shake things up in a meaningful way, and not by going with what sells, but by giving the writers and other artists more lattitude to simply write better stuff. This isn't a knock on the continuity experts out there, because they're usually the ones that call bullshit on a gross misappropriation of a character. On the other hand, except for those who were in Madrox, and only then remembering that my experience with them was only in Madrox, I have never read anything with any of these characters before. And you know what? I loved it. Siryn's powers are slightly different? Didn't know, didn't care, and it didn't just not spoil my reading of the book, it made it better. It made it better because PAD et. al. wrote what they wanted to write without worrying if Siryn's old powers could do what needed to be done to tell the story. They made a tweak that improved the character for the story and most likely added to the character's overall story as a side effect. IMHO, I think PAD and the rest of the writers need to be pressing Marvel and DC everytime they have one of these sales-event laden summers of "House of Infinite Crisis and Other Decimations" to put up or shut up by loosening the reins on these characters to get back to the fundamental exercise of great writing, which is truly the only way you're going to get back to fundamentally great sales.

Um, where the hell did all that come from?

So, uh, yeah, X-Factor #1 - really enjoyed it and looking forward to X-Factor #2.

Bravo, Peter. X-Factor #1 was the best comic I've read since Linda Danvers put down the S in Supergirl, Young Justice became the Teen Titans, and Captain Marvel went insane.

If only I could figure out what all these titles had in common. A real puzzler there.

Hmm.........Why isn't this book edited by the X-office editors? (Marts, Lowe, Ryan)?
I am glad it's not, Andy is amazing, but......why?

Hmm...will this book be addressing Siryn's reactin to a certain event in this weeks comics?
S
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Banshee's dead. I presume we'll see his daughter's eaction, no?

I just want to say to Peter David, you once wrote for "The Silver Surfer", you wrote him into the ground!!! I have read what you did with Captian Marvel also his son at least and again you drove it into the ground. I hope you stop writing comics as you simply do whatever you want and seem to enjoy destroying years and years of who the character really is. Example with Surfer... oh some dumb aliens came and destroyed Zenn-la and made an image of it... that even GALACTUS, and Mephisto who are cosmic entities didn't know about?? come on.. that is soooooo lame!!!! i bet if you wrote for Superman you would say that he didn't even come from Krypton. so as long as you don't write my titles anymore, make mine marvel!!!!

SOOOOO happy that this title is back with the characters that I really care about. And I'm really happy to see PAD writing it. Ryan Sook is so damn good it hurts cuz I wish I could draw like that. His story telling is flawless as far as I can tell. It's the writing and art combo that I think made your first issue SO fluid. And fun. So much fun (Rahne yelling;" RICTOR!!! YE GREAT FLAMING ID'JIT!!" and all the intelligent power-amps of some of the characters) that I ran right out and added it to my subscription list.

Thank you PAD for getting back on this title. I'm hooked.

Thanks Syd for bringing up Guido. You are right about his characterization in that he is often portrayed as the team clown but I think PAD always manages to instill in his characters layers upon layers of possibility. On his first X-Factor run he was slowly building to something with Guido I so desperately wanted to see played out.

When PAD revealed that Guido's body was constantly racked with incredible pain and that his way of dealing with it wasn't the common comic method of over dramatizing how his great force of will alone kept him from total colapse. Instead, he dealt with it by smiling and laughing and making other people laugh. That was GREAT storytelling. Infact, the coolest hint he gave to the reader about what Guido was going through was the issue where he had Rhane discover him in deep meditation in his garden. I loved that, PAD actually trusted the reader to put together that Guido was a lot more than comic relief.

I have begged every known diety I could think of for a PAD reunion with Guido and X-Factor for so long I find myself wondering which god I am now indebted to. I may owe someone very bad a lot things I'd rather not part with but it will be worth it if PAD takes up where he was too soon cut off in X-Factor.

I've followed his work since Aquaman and Supergirl and Star Trek. I've never been let down at all by how he treats his stories but my favorites were his X-Factor and Spider-man 2099 series. Now if they would just let him restart Spidey I'd be the happiest comic fan in history.

Hi there!!:

I've just read my copy of X-Factor #1 and it has blown me off!! I'd love to read the next issue right now :-). I'd like to send my greetings to the entire creative team: of course Mr. David for not only letting Madrox to keep alive, but giving him the lead role in the series and writing unbelievable good stuff; I didn't know Sook, but I believe he's going to be one of my favourite drawers in the near future; also the inker, collorer and letterer: I hope the team works together for a long time. It's just a perfect crew for X-Factor. I really wasn't very optimistic about the chance of a regular series with Madrox, but happily I was completely wrong :-).

Also, thank you so much for your answer, Mr. David, to the e-mail I sent you many months ago after I read the Madrox mini-series. I'm THE biggest fan of Spiderman 2099 here in Spain (well, at least I'm the biggest I know!!), and to see that you keep working in the comic business, and to read your storylines, is always a pleasure. Hopefully we'll see someday Mig O'Hara again over the streets of New York 93 years ahead.

I'm hoping that we can talk a bit each other if you ever come to Spain to one of our ComicCons.

Good Luck and Happy New Year!!

Axel

I know that Layla was in House of M, but was she also the little girl from 911?

Ok, despite my earlier promises to myself and my wife about not getting any more comics on a regular basis, I picked this up. It was fun. Different from the spandex comics of a decade ago. Good, interesting, with characters just familiar enough that it felt like going home.

Only to find out that your parents have remodeled a little, and updated. Some of that's good...now they have a DVD player and a broadband PC. Some bad....they re-painted your room. It's still home, but it'll take some getting used to.

By the way, does anyone know if Fallen Angel comes out today?