Yes, it’s Padapalooza this week. Normally I wait until Friday to put these threads up in order to minimize spoilers getting out there before people have a chance to buy and read the book, but people seem hot to discuss these issues–particularly XF #14. So…whad’ja think?
(And again, if anyone’s LCS didn’t get in “Fallen Angel #11,” particularly in instances where you advance ordered it and it STILL didn’t show up, I’d like to know about it.)
PAD
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Love X-factor. Its the book I look forward to most each month.
I do enjoy your Spider-man but on the whole between the Other, Civil War, and any tie-ins to the new movie I’m a tad weary of Spider-man at the moment to fully get into the book. But I still can enjoy it each month as something creative instead of just another flashy crossover.
I have to comment on the latest issue of X-Factor. It was awesome! What a joy to read! My comic shop guy and I both agree that this is THE best book Marvel is publishing right now . . . why this isn’t the best selling book at Marvel, I will never know. It is consistantly good, unlike other high Profile books *cough*Astonishing X-Men*cough*. PAD is a writer who “gets” people.
I would also say that PAD “gets” the concept of “Grace”. That is what we see given to Guido from the wife of the man he killed. Under the law, Guido deserved punishment, or at least the wife’s ire. But, instead, what he gets is forgiveness. I have no idea if PAD is a man of faith, but he nailed this essential tenet of faith. Bravo!
I thought X-Factor #14 was expertly handled, and as long as it doesn’t later contradict Ric’s established character, it’s great. Having Shatterstar show up and maybe proposition Jaime Madrox (who might be more receptive) would be something to see after this scene, as would Ric and Shatty hashing out how Shatty sees Ric and people around them see the pair.
Anyway, X-Factor has been the best book on the market since the first issue, so congratulations. I’ve loved seeing a slew of my favorites in this title written so well, and you got me to like M a lot for the first time in a long time, and to really like Layla. Well done.
Rahne/Rictor, Rictor/M, and/or Rictor/Siryn developements (pretty please 😉 ) I’ve liked his chemistry with all of them since the start of the book (and from way back with Rahne), and he really should feel the need to affirm his sexuality just now. All together = more chaos and more true to form characterization. (pretty please again?)
Anyway, gratitude for writing my favorite book, and please take good care of so many of my favorites.
I bought Wonder Man but haven’t read it yet. I have been looking forward to this series, though.
-catz
Iowa Jim, I feel ya, man. I’m the same way, I just don’t read most of Peter’s political posts and it goes just fine. Thankfully PAD keeps most of his politics out of his writing and actually displays an unerring ability to give voice to both sides of issues when he does confront them in his writing as opposed to here. I don’t think I could ever give up reading PAD but I know that the constant GOP haranguing gets on my nerves too, but this is after all his one public unfettered forum and if it’s his wont to talk politics that’s his deal, while I wouldn’t use it in the same regards I can’t fault him for it and just tend not to get involved.
I don’t know enough about Rictor and Shatterstar’s history for the revelation to have worked completely on me–but it WAS a great scene! But now, PAD, it’s time for you to get some of those hot X-babes together…
Here’s the history as related to me by another fan, shortdawg:
“In X-Force #43, Rictor and Shatterstar went to a club, Shatterstar freaked out when a girl started grinding on him, and Rictor said he’d help Shatterstar with girls. Nicieza has since stated that his intention was to write a straight Rictor attempting to teach a non-sexual being Shatterstar about women, but since that was his last (or 2nd to last) regular issue, he never followed up on it. It was left ambiguously enough for some think Shatterstar not liking women meant he liked men. I think Rictor offering to help started to get referenced for some reason once other “evidence” turned up. In X-Force #56, it was stated that Siryn missed Warpath and Shatterstar missed Rictor more than they were willing to admit. Notice it says nothing about Rictor’s feelings. After being removed before finishing his story, Loeb stated that he did plan to reveal Shatterstar to be gay but didn’t plan to do the same with Rictor. Again, some readers took what made print as Rictor and Shatterstar being a couple despite the fact that all it did was compare Shatterstar to someone who wouldn’t admit she liked her best friend. Then, Rictor and Shatterstar went on a road trip together.”
I really liked the characterizations this week in X-Factor #14. It was nice to see people behaving in understated and realistic ways rather than the exclusively over-the-top shouting matches usually found in comics (though the shouting on M’s part was fun as well). Theresa’s calm warning to Jamie and that wonderful scene with Guido and his victim’s widow were particular high points.
I find myself hoping that Rictor doesn’t get his powers back. Sometime the un-powered people that are still a part of the mutants’ lives can provide a rich alternate viewpoint of the super heroic goings-on. Stevie Hunter, Tom Corsi, and Nurse Friedlander being cases in point.
Nice issue.
As always, a simple request: more Rahne!
Everybody’s hung up on the Rictor/Jamie scene but I liked what was done with Guido and the wife of the man Singularity killed. That was cool. Nice to see an example of real heroism coming not from a powered superhero but just a plain person. The nature of the medium does make one wonder if this is truly the end of it though. And it was nice to see Rahne there making the case for her friend in need.
Wish I had some interest in SHIELD. Just seeing the acronym makes me narcoleptic.
Last issue Rahne looked awful in transitional form but Pablo’s human version of Rahne is almost pretty enough to make up for it. After all these years it is still odd to see her showing so much skin. But if a changeling can’t change, who can? 🙂
The bottom line, I guess, is that I can see how things like the “freedom clock” might grate on your nerves. I hope you can also see how the current state of the U.S. and the world, courtesy of Mr. Bush, grates on ours.
For the record (again), the existence Freedom clock does not get on my nerves. The fact that when I had dial-up it caused everything to stop for almost 60 seconds while the java (or whatever it is) loaded, was what I found annoying. Now that I have DSL, it is not as big of a deal.
I find it interesting that it is still there now that the Dems won both sides of Congress. But as PAD pointed out, Bush is still in office, so I understand his perspective.
this is after all his one public unfettered forum and if it’s his wont to talk politics that’s his deal, while I wouldn’t use it in the same regards I can’t fault him for it and just tend not to get involved.
Yes, I have avoided getting involved as well lately. I personally think his views are very prevalent in his work as underlying themes — which is true of any good writer (the same could be said for Orson Scott Card, Stephen R. Donaldson, Terry Brooks, etc.). But his stories themselves are well written and explore the implications of his views, so they usually make for great reading even when I disagree. So I read X-Factor, but not Fallen Angel. I read his Star Trek novels, but not Sir Apropos. (I did read two issues of Fallen Angel and the first Sir Apropos, so my not reading them now comes with at least trying them out.)
Iowa Jim
For the record (again), the existence Freedom clock does not get on my nerves.
Oh, sorry. I just assumed it was one of the things.
I find it interesting that it is still there now that the Dems won both sides of Congress. But as PAD pointed out, Bush is still in office, so I understand his perspective.
Right, and there are ways for the President to get around Congress…recess appointments, for example.
As far as the war goes, if it is indeed unwinnable (and as The Daily Show showed us tonight, Bush has repeatedly stated “we are winning in Iraq” for the last 2 or 3 years, making you wonder just how long you have to be “winning” until you finally achieve victory), and Bush is nevertheless dead set on maintaining a troop presence in Iraq until everything is perfect…well, as I understand it the only thing Congress can do about it is to refuse to put any more money into the war effort, denying the military the money they need to equip and supply the troops and maintain their vehicles and such. You can imagine the backlash if they did that…and maybe I’m not giving Bush enough credit here but I think that even if Congress cut the purse strings he might still stay the course and say “it’s THEIR fault that our troops are getting killed because THEY aren’t giving us the money to do the job and protect them. It’s not MY fault.”
I’m sorry, I know you prefer not to talk about this. In any case, I have two guesses why the clock is still there. Either PAD just can’t wait for Bush to be out of office (although there is no guarantee the next person will be any better) regardless of how much his power is reduced, or it’s measuring the amount of time until we can hope to get out of Iraq. Cause as long as Bush has the final say over what’s done with the military, I can’t see it happening.
Reason why X-Factor was gold: not one, but two spit-takes. Awesome.
In reverse order WM #1 excellent can’t wait to see more. FA #11 Ditto…. looks like mom and her little boy are headed for a head to head cofrontation. X-Factor #14 I can’t remember the time when I enjoyed a book more. Funny, thought provoking, brilliant…. and my all time favorite word used in context, “Defenestrate”!!!
PAD you are the best period no questions end of story. As long as you write ’em I’ll read ’em!
If anybody’s wondering and still hasn’t looked it up (as I just did), “defenestrate” means specifically “to throw out of a window.” 😀
While I’ve loved your writing on X-Factor, the art in the earlier issues was driving me crazy! (I still have problems reading your first run of X-Factor because of Larry Stroman.) However, tell your editor to keep Pablo Raimondi on the payroll. I liked him on Madrox and I like him now.
Also, put me down for a vote towards X-Factor being one of the World War Hulk crossover titles.
I finally read X-Factor #14 (I’m about three weeks behind in my comic reading, although the gap is gradually closing… I used to be five weeks behind), and I think it’s my favorite issue so far. It’s always been the character-driven stuff that interests me most about superhero comics (fight scenes tend to bore me), and this issue (and the last one) had great characterizations all around.
I especially loved the Madrox-Rictor scene. Forget Siryn and M, Jamie and Rictor clearly belong together. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part, but their conversation almost “sounded” the way people talk when they’re interested in each other and are feeling each other out (especially on Rictor’s end of the coversation… why else would he say, “But, hey, at least y’know Pietro and I aren’t an item, so that’s good, right?”). And that joke Jamie made last issue about not kicking Rictor out of his bed was rather telling. Madrox’s sexuality has always been something of a subtle question mark. I always got kind of a gay vibe from him in Fallen Angels and the original X-Factor series, and Grant Morrison made jokes about him fooling around with himself (which, come on, you know he must do), which probably means that any homosexual tendencies he has are a product of narcissism. Heck, considering his very nature, he’s probably equal parts pansexual and asexual (meaning, he could go any way, but chooses none of the above, just like with everything else in his life). But I’m getting needlesly Freudian here.
“X-Factor was okay, but this book seroiusly needs some direction. Every issue feels like it’s making it up as it goes.”
Funny, that’s how I feel about most comics EXCEPT X-Factor. Peter writes comics the way I think they should be written, by letting the stories grow from the needs of the characters. There is very clearly a direction, more so than most superhero comics.
“If anybody’s wondering and still hasn’t looked it up (as I just did), “defenestrate” means specifically “to throw out of a window.””
Oddly, my dictionary lists “defenestration” as a word, but not “defenestrate.”
It’s a shame that the artwork in Wonder Man is that bad, that it’s driving so many people away. Admittedly, I didn’t buy it, either… not because of the artwork (haven’t seen it, to be honest) but because I promised myself I would stick to my self-imposed comic book budget and not buy any more mini-series, unless they’re directly related to an ongoing series I’m reading. And anyway, I’ve always hated Wonder Man.