What’s Coming Up in X-Factor (plus Stash Wednesday)

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

It’s Stash Wednesday.  What’d you get today?

Also, I’ve decided that I’m going to take the opposite approach to promoting X-Factor from what I’ve been using in the past months. Instead of keeping the lid on, I’ll push specific events.

In upcoming issues, Layla goes toe-to-toe against Doctor Doom and Monet gets naked and gets it on with Darwin.

Be sure to tell all your friends.

PAD

76 comments on “What’s Coming Up in X-Factor (plus Stash Wednesday)”

    1. You know, it occurs to me I could make some serious money winning bets about this stuff.

      PAD

      1. Yeah, but surely you’d have to cut Marvel editorial in for a piece of the action…?
        –
        Cheers.

  2. Throw in some monkey highjinks and you’ve found that magic formula for success that’s eluded you for so long PAD! Oh, and Wolverine. He should be there too.

      2. A candidate who knows stuff and a sure lock on the nut vote…
        –
        Dammit, you just might be on to something here!
        –
        Cheers.

    1. You will. Issues #45 and #46. You’ll especially like the part where Doom sings a famous “Queen” song.

      PAd

      1. “You’ll especially like the part where Doom sings a famous “Queen” song.”

        I Feel Pretty?

      3. The return of Larry Strohman, with “Fat Bottomed Girls?” 😛
        –
        (Not a cheap shot for once, I quite like his art style)
        –
        Cheers.

      4. “I’m just a poor boy, from a poor family…”

        Hey, Latveria’s close to Bohemia, and Doom is something of a mother’s boy…

      5. How about: the old time classic…I Enjoy Being A Girl.
        .
        Or anything by Milton Berle.

      7. I think that might just be one of the best mental images of all time. Thank you for that.

  5. You know, for some reason I’m relieved about Monet getting naked and getting it on with Darwin. I have this geeky jealousy of Longshot’s power over girls.

    I’ll go get my comics now, bbl with the report.

    1. Gah. Ðámņ you Americans and your April’s Fool!
      Living in Panamá makes me forget these things.

  7. I got two books today. KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #149 was a really fun read, setting up a possible “surprise” return of a character and continuing the less-than-epic RPG adventures of the Knights and the Black Hands. (Another of my “Lynch Report” writings was in the letter pages too.) Hoody hoo!

    P.S. 238 #38 was also very enjoyable, as we get to see a super-powered soccer game between the kids of P.S. 238 and the more menacing Praetorian Academy. Moon Shadow also returns, and we learn why a Green Lantern-type character can’t just put a force field in front of the goal.

    2. “Surprise” return of a KODT character? Don’t tell me that the speculators are right and Timmy Jackson is returning to set things straight at Hard Eight? (BTW, James, glad to hear another installment of the Lynch Report has seen print–look forward to reading it when I pick up my two-week stash on the 10th).

      –Chuck

      1. I loved the latest issue of KODT. The title is one of the few that can always make me laugh outloud. And I am not even a gamer.

    3. Got it today and I love the cover. Haven’t cracked it open yet but it is on the top of my pile.

    1. No. That would be silly. “Toe-to-toe” purely in the vernacular sense.

      PAD

  10. Peter David: Layla goes toe-to-toe against Doctor Doom and Monet gets naked and gets it on with Darwin.
    Luigi Novi: And knowing your love of wordplay (to say nothing of the practices of the Big Two), we can expect to see future issues of the book to reveal a mutual love of tap dancing on the part of the girl who knows stuff and the Latverian monarch, and a love of natural fruit drinks on the part of the snotty ex Gen-Xer, no doubt while they engage in a furious game of football–“getting it on” indeed. 🙂

    (Either that, or she really does get naked, and Byrne comes in to draw the sequence, obscuring all the good parts with a jump rope.)

    1. Again, no, that would be silly.

      It’s tragic that here some people have claimed that I’m too obsessive about spoilers, and now when I come forward with some genuine stuff that’s going to be happening in future issues, all I get is skepticism. I am shocked–shocked.

      You’re all going to feel pretty silly a few months from now, is all I have to say.

      PAD

      1. And this would be different from most days how? I mean, I feel pretty silly on a regular basis.

      2. and then the Major steps out from behind a rack of graphic novels, steps up to the issue # and warns it “Not to be silly again.”

        And Doom blasts him into oblivion whilst singing “Another One Bites the Dust

  11. I’d just like to point out you’d more likely hit that sales tripling thing if you swapped Layla and Darwin’s places in your plans.

      1. Because Layla really knows stuff…? 😛
        –
        (I’m getting serious cross-over flashes here with the earlier thread where we were kicking around comments about sexy drawings… This place does my ‘ead in sometimes!)
        –
        Cheers.

    3. O sweet mother of spork that would be awesome!! Darwin vs. Doom!! What a great fight- EVERYONE would buy that issue.

  12. AFD not withstanding, I actually would pay real money for a comic book where Layla Miller and Dr Doom play footsie (goes toe to toe) and Monet has sex with herself (which is what Darwin would evolve into when it comes to Monet). Considering I’ve added this book to my pull list, its now a moot point and will gladly come back to say “PAD was right” when the issue hits the stands. 🙂

  13. You asked for it, my list of buys this week, in the order in which I have and will probably read them.

    Read so far –
    Transformers Spotlight: Jazz – fantastic
    Transformers: Maximum Dinobots #4 of 5 – uneven art, messy story, but I still like it
    X-Men: Kingbreaker #4 of 4 – good lead-in to War of Kings
    War of Kings # 2 of 6 – it’s by Abnett & Lanning, thus… it’s awesome

    Probably going to finish reading tonight –
    X-Men: First Class Finals #3 of 4 – With three times as much Colleen Coover!
    Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil #3 – evil for all ages!
    Franklin Richards: April Fools! – another installment of Calvin with gadgets

    And left over –
    G.I. Joe #4 – full of action, but very slow in plot movement
    Agents of Atlas #3 – great series
    Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #2 of 5
    Deadpool #9 – versus Thunderbolts, cuz you care
    Avengers/Invaders #9 of 12
    Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil
    Astonishing Tales #3 – a pretty good anthology so far
    Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #1 of 2 – looking forward to it
    Authority #9 – more Abnett & Lanning
    Buffy the Vampire Slayer #24
    Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe #4 – cuz I’m that nerdy

    I’d love to see Layla match wits with Doom. Monet with Darwin I could live without, though.

  14. My picks for the week were Buffy #24; The Superman Chronicles Vol. 2; and the Quantum and Woody “Director’s Cut” trade paperback from Acclaim Comics.

    I thought the Buffy issue— a done-in-one with Faith and Giles— was a good story overall. Could have been better in some ways, but acceptable. Duncan Fillworthe, a former Watcher’s Council member, has an… interesting point of view on why he allows the situation in the town to take place (he said vaguely, to avoid spoilers). To him the various ______ might as well have been fatted calves served up on an altar.

    They probably could have made the story a multi-parter and “written it for the trade”, but I like that it was a done-in-one.

    At least I’m assuming it’s a done-in-one. Sure, it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts (Faith, Giles et al face an imminent attack), but we do have the words “the end.” And we don’t need to see the battle to know who’ll win it.

    As to Quantum and Woody, I’d never read the original series, but I was recently reminded of it when I replaced my bags and boards for a number of comics, including Acclaim’s Doctor Tomorrow, and saw Quantum and Woody house ads in various issues of that series. The cover of the trade pretty much sums up the nature of this superhero team: Woody is in the foreground non-verbally trying to pick up the woman hostage (and making no effort to untie her, if he even notices her predicament; I get the feeling Narcissus is full of self-revulsion compared to this guy) while Quantum is in the background, single-handedly trying to battle seven armed, red-suited bad guys.

    And then there’s the goat with the mask and cape. Wonder if they call him “Ace”?

    The trade touts Quantum and Woody as “the world’s worst superhero team.” I suspect I’ll like it, in the same way I liked the “Bwahahaha” incarnation of Justice League. And if I don’t, the trade was only $8. Not bad, all things considered.

    As to The Superman Chronicles Vol. 2, I bought Vol. 1 some time ago, and decided it was time to add the next installment. I can see myself getting at least the earliest of these Chronicles (same for Batman at some point, probably). Assuming this reprint series continues into the 50s or 60s (or later), would I get them all? Doubtful. I like both Supes and Bats as characters, but I don’t need to own reprints of every story featuring them. Face it, both have had periods in their “careers” that would probably mortify them if they’d been real people.

    Speaking of Superman, I changed my mind about picking up the trade called “They saved Luthor’s Brain”, which reprints issues of the various Superman titles concerning the (sometime in the 1990s) death of Lex Luthor and the subsequent arrival in Metropolis of his Australian-bred illegitimate (and more hirsute) son, Lex Luthor II. In skimming through it, I realized I might own most of the issues reprinted there. I’ll check. If I don’t, maybe I’ll pick that collection up next time I’m at the comic shop.

    Rick

    1. I picked up the Quantum and Woody trade a few years back, and I enjoyed it, other than my pet peeve of MD Bright reusing the same panel over and over during a joke that didn’t require much movement. And that sort of joke happens a LOT, where the two just kind of stare at each other.

      Otherwise, I love Priest’s writing on that book. It’s a fun superhero team parody.

  15. I picked up Star Trek countdown #4. I normally don’t buy prequels or movie tie-ins, but this one was a great read and it really has me pumped for the movie.

    JSA #25 completes the Black Marvel Family storyline and almost finishes Geoff Johns’ run on the book as Jerry Ordway takes over. I love Johns’ work, but I felt that he didn’t use all the characters to their potential. Plus, the overlong Kingdom Come story with Alex Ross really slowed things down. Ordway will be a good replacement.

    I also picked up Millar’s American Jesus. I only read the first issue, but I am intrigued. The swearing will put off conservative Christians (I am a Christian), but I think it’s ultimately a good idea to retell Biblical stories in a modren context. I haven’t watched NBC’s Kings, but that’s another example.

  16. Jeremy: you meant Official Index, not Handbook, right? Picked that up too. A fun read for the trivia obsessed. Interesting seeing how many places Spidey sometimes appears between issues of Amazing (though that will no doubt be less once the index reaches the current thrice a week period).

    1. Yup, should be “Index.” I had the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators on my mind. Excellently informative site, for the most part.
      I’m curious how far they are going to take it, and if they are going to bring them all the way up to date before switching to covering other titles. Covering only Amazing Spider-Man without covering Marvel Team-Up, Spectacular Spider, or Web of Spider-Man at the same time is going to get confusing. Same deal with Uncanny X-Men and X-Men/New X-Men.

  17. War of Kings 02 – Medusa seems to be slowly growing jealous, or at least aware, of Crystal’s superior approachability. I think if this story becomes a bit more morally complex, Medusa will be the character to turn a shade crueller.

    The Flash: Rebirth – There are parts of the DCU I love and parts I just can’t take seriously. The way they treat death seems to completely divergent from how Marvel has been evolving (Dead is dead. Unless you’re Collossus or Jean Grey).

    Cable – I think this character needs someone who can reconcile his almost mythical background with his gritty asthetic. Writers either make him a prophet or a brute. The series leans towards the latter. You know what he needs? Someone to write a story where his two personalities reconcile and merge (God, I miss that version of the Hulk).

    1. “seems to completely divergent” Goddang it I need a copy editor. “Seems completely divergent.” Yeah, I r a writer. I swear.

  18. OMG! I thought it said “Lady Gaga goes toe-to-toe with Doom”. Now THAT is something I would pay big dollars to see.

    Lady Gaga should hang out with X-Factor anyway.

  19. I didn’t make it to the comic shop today, but I only saw three titles that I would be picking up anyway.
    Buffy the Vampire Slayer 24 (Dark Horse)
    Trinity 44 (DC)
    Bang Tango 3 (DC-Vertigo)
    I might be convinced to pick up the first issue of Flash: Rebirth … but I doubt it. The $3.99 price is a negative. More importantly is the fact that Wally is the Flash I’m most familiar with and want to see ( I’ve already commented on the whole of this situation and whether Barry’s return is practical — http://zombieunderground.blogspot.com/2009/02/does-dc-universe-really-need-barry.html
    ).

    But getting to your X-Factor promotion —- are you serious with that bit about Doom?

  20. Two comics this week:

    Flash: Rebirth 1 was okay. Great art, great script, and it does address the issue of “do we really need Barry back?” But it’s rather dark in the way that most Geoff Johns comics are of late, with death and doom and a retcon that seems unnecessary. A Barry Allen comic shouldn’t be gloomy any more than a Hal Jordan comic should. So I am hoping that the gloom is only for the moment and that Barry and the rest of the Flashes find their footing. Ask me again in three months what I think.

    The latest Buffy, OTOH, was disposable. Generic Slayer story, with Jim Krueger showing no sense of how to write Faith. It’s hard to believe that a year ago, this book was among the favorites. The last few months, it’s been a muddle and a bore.

    1. Yeah, Buffy has hit the bottom of my stack. If it doesn’t improve quick it’s going to drop off. Needs more Xander.

      1. I think it needs more scripts from Joss. Like the show itself, it suffers so much more when he’s not around than does Angel, where his presence on the comic has dwindled while its quality has remained at least passable.

  21. No new stash to talk about….my next pickup’s a week and a half away. But I’d like to say something about what I like about how Marvel’s handling Dark Reign–at least at the moment.

    Out of the ten Marvel books I picked up from 3/18 & 3/25 (well, eleven, but Ultimatum is obviously not part of Dark Reign), half had some sort of character appearance or reference to Norman Osborn and/or the Dark Avengers, even if it was just a quick cameo or a name-drop…and only two of those five were actually cover-branded as Dark Reign tie-in. The DAs put in an appearance at Jim Hammond’s funeral in Captain America #48. Tigra comments on her unease with Norman’s new authority in the Initiative special. H.A.M.M.E.R. “secures” Project Pegasus in Nova #23. And so on…

    And I like that. It’s a great way to do a world-affecting event…give writers and artist leave to incorporate the change in the status quo as much or as little as possible without breaking the “rules” of the event. I like this method much better than the flood of Dark Reign-centric tie-ins, minis and one-shots that, according to solicits, are on their way this summer. Personally, I’m far more apt to be interested in such an event if it’s part of the books I’m already buying without being intrusive on those books’ storylines, rather than shelling out for extras and having my favorite series’ plots hijacked.

    Chuck

    1. Is there a way to get the posting system to stop removing spaces between paragraphs and such? Or should we just type long, uncomfortable-to-read run-on comments, since that’s what the system makes multi-paragraph comments look like anyway?

      Chuck

      1. Chuck, there’s a way around that (if you remember to do it each time; I don’t).
        .
        Put a period between each paragraph.
        .
        Or any other non-intrusive punctuation mark.

      2. You should be able to use basic HTML code.

        Type “” with no spaces between. Put it at the end of every paragraph.

        It should work. I’m testing it with this post.

  22. So, I was sick on Wednesday, but determined to get comics. When the time came, I realized my head was too cloudy to take the half-hour drive to my nearest retailer, so I put it off until today. Here’s what I ended up with:

    Deadpool #9

    I was going to get the new Cable (since Deadpool’s in it!), but it sold out. Luckily, the retailer told me they re-ordered and that it would arrive next Wednesday. He also told me that the new Flash sold out as well, so I may pick that up next Wednesday as well, just to see. I’ve never been a big fan of the flash, but who knows? Maybe something interesting is happening.

    Can’t wait for the new X-Factor. Nothing like a good old-fashioned mutant drama.

  23. Only book I want to mention this week is Buffy. I have never seen a Faith episode of Buffy, so I can’t comment about her ‘voice’ as others have. I have to agree that this issue seems to be only filler. Making this series 40 issues might have been a mistake.

  24. You brought back Marrow back then for a great storyline. You finally explained the Summers Rebellion. The only thing I have left to ask of you is seeing Layla somehow kicking Doom’s ášš (and Monet naked, of course), so I hope this is all legit. Actually, I also have the hope that X-23 will somehow become a permanent member of X-Factor Investigations, but I guess that’s too much to ask.
    Don’t you miss Rahne by the way? I certainly do.

  25. The Mighty #3: very good issue for a very good comic book so far. This time, the authors humanize the Hero. But he is still plain creepy. I really like that. I don’t really know where they are going with this title but I’m staying.

    I buy a lot more comics but I rather talk about only one.
    (but I didn’t read Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 yet, I prefer my Morrison when I am a bit tired)
    (and Angel Blood & Trenches #2 by John Byrne is a good read too, great art)

    On another note, I’ve read Wolverine: Election Day, a novel by Peter David and it’s all what you expect: Wolverine, a lot of fun, a very good entertainment. I hope to find his novel featuring the Fantastic Four.

  26. I know this is off thread but………..

    PAD
    ICON 28 lists you as a media guest, and on several panels … but no autograph session, was this an oversight or is no session needed based on your availibility?
    I realize the con guys have a lot to do this year with the 3 location shuffle but i need to plan it out more then ever because i dont want to spend all weekend driving from brentwood to islandia to ronkonkoma to home and then back again

    Also how about starting a METS thread? i know i saw you last year in the parking lot opening day

    1. No one ever asked me about an autograph session. If they didn’t schedule me, I don’t have one.

      PAD

  27. And now the votes of the UK jury…
    –
    bit of a slow week for me, nothing I was wildly looking forward to this time around. War of the Kings was very good, probably the most enjoyable thing I picked up last night. Also continuing to enjoy Gravel, which is basically Warren Ellis doing Hellblazer and getting it right.
    –
    Dark Reign continueth, and I agree with previous posts that it’s kind of nice to see an almost subliminal approach to the way Ozzy and HAMMER crop up in various titles. (Loved Greg Pak’s take on Norman in Hercules 127). Agents of ATLAS I’m enjoying more than I expected to, Secret Warriors slightly less than I expected to.
    –
    Avengers/Invaders seems – to me – to be dragging its feet more than a little. Might have benefitted from being 6 or 8 issues instead of 12, and getting the dámņ thing to ship regularly wouldn’t hurt either.
    –
    Only thing I picked up from DC was The Mighty, which is still interesting. It’s sad in a way, because I used to like a lot of DC material, but the criteria I use in buying comics are pretty much concentrated on the writing not the art and consist of ‘on a gut level, do I care what happens to the character(s)’ and ‘is there something new/interesting happening as regards plot, style or technique?’, and even though I’m of the Barry Allen/Hal Jordan generation, there was just nothing going on at DC the last time I checked out their books that I’m interested in enough to shell out money for these days. (GL Rebirth I dropped at issue 3, Flash I’m not even getting into…)
    –
    Thanks to Rick Keating for the heads up on the Quantum and Woody stuff… That comic was a blast back in the day, so I’ll need to check out what’s in the trade against the issues I have. Even if I have the issues already it’ll be a good excuse to re-read.
    –
    Hmmm.. fan-boy treat of the week is probably Angel Blood & Trenches, just for that beautiful pencilled Byrne artwork. (So much for consistency in my buying criteria. What can I say? I am large, I contain platitudes…)
    –
    Cheers.

  28. Still protesting prices of new comics.

    Yesterday I did pick up The Flying Friar writen by Rich Johnston and Mighty Avengers #21 by Dan Slott for $1.00 each, however.

    1. Hey, stopping back after picking up a run of #2-12 of Dynamite’s new Battlestar Galactica (as usual for a buck each.) I know the series came out 2 years ago, but I gotta say, Marco Lesa’s fate and Adama’s reaction to such really moved me unlike many comic books I have read in my 25 years of being in the hobby. If you get a chance, pick it up.

    1. As opposed to one were “Darwin, er, Takes It All” ?
      –
      Aggh! Must..get..mind..out..of..gutter!
      –
      Cheers.

  31. Flash Rebirth was my least favorite purchase of the week. It had also been my most anticipated read (and only DC book I bought). I don’t think it was a case of my expectations being too high. I think it was opening the book with gore and Sciver’s odd figure work and bizarre faces. I also found myself wondering that if Barry barely recalled anything of his experience and less with each passing moment, why was it affecting him? I’ll still buy the whole mini and probably a Barry ongoing but I wish a writer whose tics I liked had written this.

    Favorite book wa soddly enough a book they were out of last week, Eternals #9. If every issue had been written this well this book would not be canceled…

  32. David,
    My question has nothing to do with the above but I do need to ask you a question. Why did Pocket Books decide to kill off Janeway? I cannot figure that one out. Considering what she went through to get her crew home you would think that would keep her around. Look at the mess created when they killed off Kirk in Generations and Trip on the last episdoe of Enterprise. So I ask any chance of Janeway coming back? I know that there some who cannot stand Voyager and a number who liked the show. I am just curious as what might happen. Thanks

  33. Late as usual….
    .
    First cab off the rank: The Boys, and the final chapter of the current storyline. I think I’ll just echo Butcher’s words on the final page….
    .
    Secret Warriors. For a bunch of essentially brand-new characters, I’m really interested in THEM and where they’re going.
    .
    New Avengers: The Reunion. Clint & Bobbi! Clint & Bobbi! Clint & Bobbi! I don’t care what they’re doing – trying to stop a bomb or something – but that’s purely incidental. The relationship’s the thing.
    .
    Incredible Herc. Marvel and DC are tackling the same mythologies at the moment but Marvel’s is a lot more fun and a LOT more interesting.

  34. I really wouldn’t be surprised if good old PAD was pulling a double bluff with this…

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