The conclusion to the first year’s storyline. Whad’ja think?
Also, New York area fans should mark November 16 on their calendar: The X-Factor creative team will be doing a store appearance at Jim Hanley’s Universe. Exact time to be provided as soon as I know.
PAD
• 
I can see Caroline getting into a lot of fights in junior high.
“Hey, Caroline, does your Dad still have to sing…”
The guys at JHU told me about the signing last week, probably to warn me since I avoid signings like the plague (just too much congestion in the store)…But I will definitly be around at this one!
Mike
Frag smeg it. Just as ‘X-Factor’ was getting interesting– you killed him. I thought it was supposed to be his book and everyone else was the supporting cast. Now I’m confused…
Other than that– I liked it. Though the reversal of the human/mutant dynamic is interesting. I have seen many times in Marvel tabletop RPGs. It is still an interesting idea.
Looking forward to Doc Samson showing up. How long till we get ‘X-Factor vs. The Mayo Jar Part Two’? (Or would it be part three because of the Niceza story in the Mojo Mayhem annual.)
It was an extremely twisty storyline. I found myself actually reading the recaps just to remember who the players were month after month. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. But the payoff was satisfying; I really enjoyed seeing Layla one-upped at the end. An appropriately spooky epilogue.
I mostly liked this issue (bear this in mind while reading through the following post), but I had two problems with the ending, one story and one production-related.
Taking the more minor one first, how hard would it have been to have the “X-Factor” Madrox dupe have the same font for his speech bubbles as in his previous appearance? If you’re going to have the same dupe turn up again AND different dupes are going to have different speech balloon styles, couldn’t you have asked for it in the script/asked the editor/asked the letterer/asked the letterer via. the editor? Otherwise it feels like cheating.
Otherwise, how come Jamie got the dupes’ memories when he died? The Madrox mini was just X-Factor minus 4 to 0 after all, and the not-getting-memories-automatically was a bit of a plot point…
“Taking the more minor one first, how hard would it have been to have the “X-Factor” Madrox dupe have the same font for his speech bubbles as in his previous appearance? If you’re going to have the same dupe turn up again AND different dupes are going to have different speech balloon styles, couldn’t you have asked for it in the script/asked the editor/asked the letterer/asked the letterer via. the editor? Otherwise it feels like cheating.”
He didn’t? He was supposed to. My script had specific instruction that he should have the same balloon style.
“Otherwise, how come Jamie got the dupes’ memories when he died? The Madrox mini was just X-Factor minus 4 to 0 after all, and the not-getting-memories-automatically was a bit of a plot point…”
My rationale was that Jamie’s powers have expanded since then. For instance, before he had to have physical contact with his dupes to reabsorb them; now he can do it from a distance. So I just took it to what seemed, to me, the next logical step.
PAD
You realize, of course, that for the next year or two all your con appearances will result in requests for you to sing the “Happy Pee” song?
> He didn’t? He was supposed to. My script had specific instruction that he should have the same balloon style.
Nope. Regardez:
http://tinyurl.com/t5tu3 vs http://tinyurl.com/y5xmnd
> My rationale was that Jamie’s powers have expanded since then. For instance, before he had to have physical contact with his dupes to reabsorb them; now he can do it from a distance. So I just took it to what seemed, to me, the next logical step.
Fair enow, I guess. I still think it’s a stretch, but you’re the writer…
Possible spoiler:
So I wonder if Layla Miller exists at different points in her life along the same timeline in the same way Trype does. This would explain why she acts like an adult, why she has future knowledge, and why a marriage between herself an a man 10 years her senior would actually work.
I agree…..a mostly solid issue…my one big problem is the “if you reverse the decimation the world will suck” bit felt very…forced? ….howabout “the EIC won’t let the team actually accomplish their goal, so we’re rationalising it this way.” (which is pretty much what the “our superiors think Peter should keep teaching” bit in FNSM sounded like.) But lots of other bits were pretty good.
Still have a problem with the art, but otherwise enjoyable. Can’t wait for next issue.
I thought the issue was great, minus the Trype/Layla threatening…didn’t Quicksilver just threaten her a few issues ago? Now we have two big bads out for Layla. While I have no doubt she can defend herself, it just feels like the more we have characters getting mad at Layla, the more I get the feeling we’ll be seeing the “Secret of Layla Miller” be out by issue #25.
Minor question for you in regards to Pietro, btw: Now that Magneto’s apparently repowered, will he be coming to Mutant Town in the future to settle things with his son? Or Crystal/Luna? Since X-Factor seems to be Quicksilvers home for the future, I’d hope you’d be the writer who gets to address his family’s issues with him and vice versa….
Ah… X-Factor, always full of fun surprises. Sadly I, like other readers, did not make the connection between this dupe and the one pushing Rictor off a roof. (It didn’t lessen the in-universe impact of the story, it’s just takes away from the structural symetry. Oh well.)
Two questions:
1) Was Mr. Trypp’s face supposed to look like Alan Moore’s I-am-a-scary-god photo?
2) Sooo… Parents killed by a tornado, mysterious stranger trying to recruit him, telling Jamie he’s not like everyone else (even more not-like-them than he knows.) Does this mean he’s a member of the Q Continuium? 😉
And just a general thought- Jamie now has enough dead and divergent dupes running aroudn that I’d liek to see a general recap/rundown of who’s who in the world of Jamie Madrox at some point, and what he thinks of these… versions of himself.
I REALLY liked it, Peter. A soon as Tryp elder revealed what his powers were, I thought that he’d make a good counterpoint to Layla, who has similar abilities. Lo and behold, by the end of the issue…..?
November 16, huh? That means if I go to the Big Apple convention (and on all three days), it’ll be like a four day convention! 🙂
This week was a meager pull for me–what with the shipment being short two copies of the new Exiles trade (they only sent one) and them sending in total zero copies of Claws #3–but I received quite a bit to enjoy, including Runaways #21, Ghost Rider #4, Cable/Deadpool #33, and Wolverine #47. But I have to say, the one I enjoyed the most was X-Factor #12. This is the first comic I’ve read in a long time that’s made me pull a “Whoa” combined with a jawdrop reaction, which I haven’t done for such a long time. Actually, not since that same Dupe pushed Rictor off the ledge way back at the start of all this awesomeness. X-Factor will be on my pull list for a long time and with Pablo Raimondi joining the crew for a nice refreshing change of art style pace, and with the whole Tryp/Layla nemesis thing that’s developed, I have a feeling we have many a good thing to look forward to. One last thing, Ryan Sook’s eye-catching visuals really drew me into picking up the hardback in the first place. …. So whatever happened to that guy anyway?
Oh! And please send me a lyrical copy of “The Happy Pee Song” completely with tabs and/or sheet music. Thank you very much.
Stay crazy, Petey.
This week was a meager pull for me–what with the shipment being short two copies of the new Exiles trade (they only sent one) and them sending in total zero copies of Claws #3–but I received quite a bit to enjoy, including Runaways #21, Ghost Rider #4, Cable/Deadpool #33, and Wolverine #47. But I have to say, the one I enjoyed the most was X-Factor #12. This is the first comic I’ve read in a long time that’s made me pull a “Whoa” combined with a jawdrop reaction, which I haven’t done for such a long time. Actually, not since that same Dupe pushed Rictor off the ledge way back at the start of all this awesomeness. X-Factor will be on my pull list for a long time and with Pablo Raimondi joining the crew for a nice refreshing change of art style pace, and with the whole Tryp/Layla nemesis thing that’s developed, I have a feeling we have many a good thing to look forward to. One last thing, Ryan Sook’s eye-catching visuals really drew me into picking up the hardback in the first place. …. So whatever happened to that guy anyway?
Oh! And please send me a lyrical copy of “The Happy Pee Song” completely with tabs and/or sheet music. Thank you very much.
Stay crazy, Petey.
Sooo… Parents killed by a tornado, mysterious stranger trying to recruit him, telling Jamie he’s not like everyone else (even more not-like-them than he knows.) Does this mean he’s a member of the Q Continuium? 😉
Oh man! I can’t believe I missed those clues!! I am serious. It does so closely fit, it was either deliberate or an unconcious act of PAD’s psyche.
I was stunned. I shouldn’t have been, but it has been a while since a comic book story has been that well told in 12 issues — and that included a CW distraction. And the explosive ending — well, let’s just say I don’t believe it is over yet with singularity and company.
Does this mean Madrox’s “X-Factor” is gone? I doubt it, but it was interesting to consider whether one dupe represents it, or if Madrox himself is the X-Factor.
I’ve said it before, but I will say it again. From my perspective, PAD, this is you at your best. Your other work is very good, but this is the type that really makes me anxiously wait for more. I hope you last a very long time writing X-Factor.
One question PAD: I know it makes for great stories (just consider Terminator or Blade Runner). Gloomy future scenarios are the stock of sci-fi. But is that where we are really headed? I don’t mean this to be overly political or religious (though both are impossible to completely leave out), but more sociological/anthropological. What do you see as the “most likely” future 100 years from now in the real world? Will things be somewhat better, somewhat worse, downright awful, possibly close t utopia (a la original Star Trek)?
I am just curious what you personally think. (Short answer is fine; not interested in debating why, just curious.)
Iowa Jim
Can’t wait for Re-X-aminations.
‘Nuff Said
didn’t Quicksilver just threaten her a few issues ago? Now we have two big bads out for Layla
I think the difference would be obvious, however: iirc, Layla wasn’t afraid of Quicksilver.
But Old Tryp? Obviously she didn’t ‘know’ about him. 🙂
Hey, Peter, I loved that story. I really feel that this is the most creative work coming out of Marvel right now. I didn’t have any issue with the end, where Tryp shows up to threaten Layla, after Quicksilver had too… after all, it seems natural since her powers are time-sensitive, as are both Quicksilver’s and Tryp’s.
I have a question for you, though, that goes way back, about Jamie and his evolution as a character. When you originally wrote about the dupe who had been in the Fallen Angels mini-series with the Coconut Grove, and all that jazz, did you intend it to be like… an explanation for how something so out of chracter had happened, or more like loose ends. Or just as a plot element that showed the development of his powers. Most everyone forgot about that limited series, so I was curious about why you decided to use it.
I (heart) Layla!
I forgot to mention, I can’t wait until #13 (and loved the letter page plug). I bought multiple copies of the original X-Factor psych evaluations to give to friends to try to get them hooked on X-Factor. Of course, my fear is that you won’t be able to live up to the expectations of what I remember about a comic book from 10 or 15 years ago! Not that it won’t be good, just that it is always hard to beat romanticized memories.
Iowa Jim
I definitely like what you’re doing with Layla Miller now. Hands down the most interesting character in the book. I know some fans were unsure of her at the beginning, but I hope they’ve come around now.
Overall, I’m looking forward to future issues.
Man, great issue once again.
I wanted to ask this a long while ago, but would Bishop ever make appearances anytime in the future? I always thought at the beginning of the series he’d play some type of part, knowing that his was affliated with Mutant Town, that being the town he watched over in District X…
“2) Sooo… Parents killed by a tornado, mysterious stranger trying to recruit him, telling Jamie he’s not like everyone else (even more not-like-them than he knows.) Does this mean he’s a member of the Q Continuium? ;-)”
Leave out the bit about the tornado, and Jaime might just be a Congressional page.
Gotta say I enjoyed the art this issue. Renato’s work is definitely growing on me.
Great issue.
You keep making me appreicate Layla more and more (and frankly, I didn’t think it was possible for me to like the character).
In fact … I’m more and more liking the idea of her hooking up with Jamie (you know … several years in the future when it wouldn’t be creepy)
I can’t believe you’ve managed to make Layla Miller (read as: anything associated with House of M) interesting and enjoyable. She is now easily the best thing to come of that crap-fest. I would actually love to see a one-shot or mini and find out a little more about her (which I think is very difficult to do in a “team” book). Great issue all around, and she was the best part. The art has even grown on me (the last panel of the last page with Layla in the darkness being particularly affective). After reading the preview for next issue I actually went and dug up my old copy of “X-aminations”–looking forward to it.
Hmmm. I don’t think that Peter plans to make us wait for an eternity before Layla grows up enough for her marry Jamie. I think we are going to see some premature aging via some sort of device or mutation for Layla within the next few years.
My rationale was that Jamie’s powers have expanded since then. For instance, before he had to have physical contact with his dupes to reabsorb them; now he can do it from a distance. So I just took it to what seemed, to me, the next logical step.
You probably have already written it into one of the upcoming issues…but it would be nice to see Jamie realizing “hey, my abilities are changing”. Let me guess. I should buy #13?
The tornado dates back to his first appearance in the FF Giant-Sized #4 – not an invention of PAD. It also predates the TNG episode by about 2 decades.
You should know that the lines “I’m the fly in the ointment. The spanner in the works. I’m unpredictable.” are the lines that sucked me back into comic books after I quit reading them almost eight years ago, my freshman year of high school. For you to wrap up this story line with those lines made me happier than any film or book has every made me. Thank you.
I took Tryp’s assessment of the future as an allegory for journalists who protest the interest in weblogs. I’d be interested in seeing if you could somehow fit the current dynamics of election politics in as you expand the theme (although the tactic of “swiftboating” someone seems more like life imitating comic art).
Oh, and opening on the “happy pee song” and ending on the last panel was also a nice touch.
Re:Jamie gaining the memories of his “x-factor” dupe after the dupe died: if Jamie got ANY memory from “the x-factor”, it would be the one which burned the dupe’s brain.
The rest of my thoughts on the issue are contained in a letter enroute to the Marvel offices, so I’ll here I’ll just say “Very good issue!”
X-Factor #12 was great, almost as great FMSM #13 (which came out almost three weeks ago, but we haven’t had a chance to comment on yet 😉
X-Factor #12 was great, almost as great FMSM #13 (which came out almost three weeks ago, but we haven’t had a chance to comment on yet 😉
Great issue, PAD. I especially liked the twist with the Madrox dupe!!
Good ending to this part of the storyline. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Issue #13 sounds really good.
DF2506
” This series continues to be my favorite Marvel comic! “
For those of you interested, there is a great interview with PAD on Newsarama. It deals with a few implications that I, for one, totally missed. And it further makes X-Factor my number one choice for a comic book!
Hopefully PAD puts up a post about this, but until he does, here is the link (sorry, I don’t know how to make it work so you will have to cut and past it in yourself):
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=88905
Iowa Jim
Well, shazam! The link works automatically! I didn’t need to know any special code.
Iowa Jim
Overal: I’m confused, yet entertained.
Confused: I still don’t know how Tryp exists on all levels of the timeline at once AND has several Tryp’s in the same area all at once. and what was up with the opening scene of issue #10? How does that work into the grand scheme of things?
Entertained: Just about everything else was Gold. Really. I particualry have to totally say I’m very impressed with how the building blew up with the X-Factor dupe. That was an awesome callback to issue #1. It really tied the whole previous 12 issues together. Very well done. The rest of it rocked, too.
However, I really wish someone would explain all of this to me. I’m still not quite sure what I read. I’m going to checkthat Newsarama article now, hopefully that’ll straighten things out. But probably not.
I kinda want a refund, partial at least. There were four or more pages where the artist blatantly copied and pasted faces and hands, only resizing or rotating them a little. And it’s plainly not done to achieve a certain effect, nor is it consistent or original enough to merit defending it as his “style.” Was it a rush job or something? I can’t believe no one else has talked about this.
Raimondi coming is very good news. I only hope he stays for a while.
But having said all that, the issue was otherwise great.
Now that this arc is over I do wonder if the rest of the team will be able to trust Guido. Also, is Pietro going to be part of X-Factor or just a frequent visitor?
It deals with a few implications that I, for one, totally missed.
The whole bit about mutants before mutants I picked up on, but didn’t really think about too much.
I mean, haven’t we seen variations on the ‘mutants before mutants’ before? Doesn’t Mr. Sinister basically qualify?
Or ‘mutants but not mutants’. I’m not sure that this approach is a good idea; I’d rather that those like Madrox remain mutants, but they’re more of a fluke again, with things like having their powers from birth, instead of at puberty, or having extra mutations that develop again later on, as what started happening with characters like Emma Frost.
I mean, haven’t we seen variations on the ‘mutants before mutants’ before? Doesn’t Mr. Sinister basically qualify?
The issue was not that there have never been “mutants before mutants” such as Mr. Sinister. The point was *why* there were mutants before mutants. While I don’t believe in evolution, within the comic book universe I think PAD took a current idea and incorporated it well into the Marvel Universe. Specifically, that Jamie and Mr. Tryp were the precursors of modern mutants. I think this does raise some interesting story directions.
It also raises one question: If the Legacy virus was genetically designed for mutants, and Jamie is not a true mutant, how did he get it (I am pretty sure I remember him having it)? I am sure PAD has thought of this, so it will be interesting to see the answer develop.
For those who have not read the Newsarama article, it deals with a lot of other issues than just this one. I found his discussion of why he is doing issue 13 to be equally interesting and insightful. I loved the one 13 years ago and did not understand why he did it in the first place. Now I get it. While I had no problem with his writing style at the time, I do sometimes like seeing confrimation that the dots I am connnecting are indeed what the author intended. I like even more to see they are far deeper than I even understood. For some this might seem pedantic or spoils the mystery. But for me, it motivates me to keep reading and looking even deeper into what PAD is implying.
Iowa Jim
I think this does raise some interesting story directions.
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I realize it does. The whole ‘cropkiller’ stuff makes a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things.
So, while this stuff PAD is doing may stick, it doesn’t seem like something that will really have a long term impact. Basically, it’s that these guys are still mutants, because they were born with powers. They still have the mutant gene, it just manifested at a different time.
Most (whether in-world or the reader) likely won’t really care to differintiate. But you never know.
> I mean, haven’t we seen variations on the ‘mutants before mutants’ before? Doesn’t Mr. Sinister basically qualify?
Sinister’s a superhuman, not a mutant. Apocalypse stuck him in a machine at Essex’s request and turned him into what he is.
Sinister’s a superhuman, not a mutant.
Ahh, ok.
I knew Sinister went back a ways in history, but not entirely his origins; I didn’t realize Apocalypse had something to do with it.
Thanks for the info. 🙂
Also this whole business is survival of the fittest. Mutants whose powers manifested at birth were killed. The fittest’s powers didn’t show up till puberty, which is why mutants usually experience this.
I’m not sure I am remembering this correctly, but didn’t Moira McTaggert contract the Legacy Virus as well? If she can get it, then I’m sure that Jamie, who is much closer (genetically) to a Mutant than he is a human, can get it as well.
Plus, we don’t know what the effects on Jamie may have been: its very possible it wouldn’t have killed him the way it killed Mutants. Remember, Haven killed Jamie, not the virus.
Yes, this is kinda late, but I only bought issues 11 and 12 last week along with the first four issues of Civil War.
I am looking forward to #13 since I got my first taste of Peter’s version of the team in the early ’90s when I picked up the issue featuring Guido, Havok, Lorna, Rahne, Jamie and Pietro all being analyzed by a guy who turned out to be Doc Samson at the end. Aside from the weird closing scene with Val Cooper being captured by a tentacled monster I found it to be one of the best stories of that time and considered Mr. David here to be the best writer of an X-title at the time (no disrespect to Nicieza and Lobdell).
But back to the present. Layla is awesome. Loved the part with the orchestrated four-way pizza delivery van collision and bolt cutters. I also laughed out loud at some of the dialogue, which brought back memories of the often humorous tone of PAD’s first run. Some favorites:
Rictor: Leggo!
Tryp: Ah yes, the famed “leggo” strategy. That always works, Rictor.
And…
M: You do realize that calling in a fake bomb scare is, oh, what’s the word…?
Jamie: A felony?
M: That’s it.
Not to mention that, now that you mention it, it IS strange that Jamie’s powers manifested themselves right after his birth. It’s surprising that no other writer has found that odd enough to explore before now.
I have a couple of questions, nevertheless:
1. If Tryp was so determined to recruit Jamie that he was willing to kill his parents after they had turned him down (and btw, it was really villainous the way he answered their question about what his power by explaining what he was “hypothetically” able to do to them, shortly before actually doing it), then why did Tryp not return and take Jamie away after the tornado? If I recall correctly, Jamie was alone for years, with nobody except a dupe of himself for company. Wouldn’t that have made him easy for Tryp to acquire?
2. If re-powering all the mutants in the world would lead to such a disaster, why does Tryp not just content himself with telling X-Factor what will happen? He made a pretty convincing argument, after all, convincing enough to make you say “maybe we shouldn’t try to give everybody their powers back.” If no muties are repowered, then the future Tryp knows can’t come to pass and there is no need for him to actually kill anybody. So, why the attempted genocide? Why not just let everybody with the ability to repower mutants know that M-Day was for the best (although the Blob would certainly disagree, poor bášŧárd) and leave it at that? Aside from that being a less eventful story, of course.