X-Factor #50 is out this week, plus I hear some other comic books came out this week as well.
PAD
26 comments on “STASH WEDNESDAY – October 28”
Temporal mechanics give me a headache.
Although, even with this explanation of Layla’s abilities, it was still quite an act of confidence on her part to tell Jamie that they would eventually get married. Self-fulfilling prophecy on adult Layla’s part, I suppose?
I really hope Siryn’s staying in the book. That was an interesting conversation she was having with Val Cooper; is there going to be any follow-up to that?
It pains me so much to say I really didn’t enjoy what you did to Layla. Everything else about the story clicked for me, including the idea of her being able to revive the dead, so I found more joy in this issue than anything. (I liked the nod to the dead butterfly so long ago.) But I just hate the idea of her “knowing stuff” because of a time paradox and futuristic gizmo. It’s a bit convoluted and for me reduced her charm retroactively. (Kind of like the “Will&Grace” finale.) She was brilliant, creepy, and lovable and now she feels ordinary and scheming.
(And I hope I don’t sound like a bìŧçhÿ fanboy. I’m going to stick around for #200 though and keep recommending the book to friends.)
What a week for words.
Tuesday: The Gathering Storm (new wheel of time book!) – not a comic, but you know, people should be familiar with it….quite good so far.
Today: X-Factor 50 AND several other surprisingly good books. I thought it was a really interesting way to wrap things up, although I have to admit that after several read throughs the ending is still not making sense. It seems like it will be explained in the upcoming bit with Layla & Doom, so I’ll just wait I guess.
I like the “explanation” of Layla’s powers. It seems like it doesn’t jibe with her original introduction in House of M – or does it?? Did that scene take place before House of M? If so, then it makes sense. If not, then… maybe not so much. Still, all in all it was a decent way to wrap things up.
I have to ask though – is this what you had planned from the beginning, or is it something that came latfer?
X-Factor 200 preview looked quite good.
Other good stuff: X-Force 20 (eww), Necrosha (resurrection overkill?), New Mutants (Warlock is not dead and wtf Cypher the badass??), Avengers Initiative (solid and go Speedcat!).
Surprise of the week: Guardians of the Galaxy 19. WOW. A team hasn’t lost that hard while winning in forever –
…Guardians is my second favorite book right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of those people actually stayed dead for a while. Wow. So glad we still have Groot. Going to miss Mantis.
Astonishing 31 was underwhelming. As was X-Forever. The bit with kid Nathan at the end has me more confused than ever about the timeframe. And baby Storm was a bad idea, this time around at least imho.
Oh, and the Blackest Night thing is still doing quite well – this week’s Green Lantern was good as well.
X-Factor 50 was amazing. It wrapped a beautifully years worth of story-telling, including Fitzroy. I must say the revelation about Layla is very well planned, especially when you read over the first few issues. The best part is that Layla never lied the whole time about her “knowing stuff”. She was actually being completely honest.
As for the other books, Incredible Hercules was a great read. Amadeus Cho is well designed character. I like the way Avengers: The Initiative is shaping up, picking up plots from New Warriors and other stories.
Green Lantern feels almost essential for Blackest Night, which makes sense, Blackest Night is still a Green Lantern Event no matter what DC might claim.
Peter, I noticed in the new Previews that you’re listed as the writer for a two-issue series called “I Am Iron Man,” and the blurb says it ties into the forthcoming “Iron Man 2” film. I was just wondering what this book is. A straight comic book adaptation of the first “Iron Man” film? Or perhaps a bridge book between the first and second film?
I’m very biased cus I love x-factor so much. I thought the ending was exactly what a big milestone should be. I definitely wanted to see more of the Present time crew but man the story payed off. The explanation for Layla’s powers definitely surprised me and was definitely cool. X-factor #200 looks amazing too. The costumes are a good change and the art looks gritty. I also picked up Ultimate Avengers which didnt dissapoint either!
Wow! The end of X-Factor 50 blew me away. However, I’m not yet sold on Guido’s new look for 200.
Liked the Encyclopedia Brown joke in the second story
What a comics week, with all the dark reign one shots and deadpool 900 (my lcs got shorted last week)
Xfactor 50 was great having all the loose ends tied up, i loved it. i think we should see doom again at some point in the future (i mean the present but at a later date)
Shatterstar do you like hanging around the gym after a game?
New Avengers how cool is the idea of doing open heart surgery on a guy with un breakble skin.
Secret Warriors how cool is it to be a teenager and your father is the god of war ? also that he knows he is a šhìŧŧÿ dad
with all the dark reign books over the past few weeks and the big apple comic con, the blackest night books have really started to pile up waiting to be read
Thoroughly enjoyed 50, all the way to the end. A bit confused, though: The ending made it seem that adult Layla is now stuck in her own past after that last leap through the Doomlock, but she’s in the art for the preview for #200. Is she or isn’t she still on the team? Also, I gotta say I’m not sold on the new colorist in the preview for #200. Either Guido’s turned black, or he needs to lay off the tanning bed.
A little off-topic, but I was wondering: what are the current plans for Fallen Angel? I’d gotten the impression somehow that Reborn was going to lead into a new monthly, but I haven’t seen anything solicited, announced, or even mentioned anywhere. Is it moving to a series-of-miniseries schedule?
Hello Peter,
So I’ve noticed two of your monthly titles have not been listed recently, Fallen Angle and Wolverine: First Class. Can I tell the wife we can go out to dinner an extra night every month now since I’ll have some spare change? Just wondering. Keep up the great writing.
Hello Peter,
So I’ve noticed two of your monthly titles have not been listed recently, Fallen Angel and Wolverine: First Class. Can I tell the wife we can go out to dinner an extra night every month now since I’ll have some spare change? Just wondering. Keep up the great writing.
Got my comics today. Here’s what I got:
X-Factor #50: VERY good. I liked the explanation of Layla knowing “stuff”. Very cool. Haven’t read the preview yet.
Incredible Hercules: The new issue. Really good issue. Can’t wait to read the next one with Herc & Spidey!
Spiderman: Clone Saga #2: Better than the first issue. Now its getting interesting imo.
Ultimate Avengers #3: Haven’t read it yet. Looks good though.
Batman: the new issue. I read a preview, it looked interesting, so I got it. Haven’t read it yet though.
DF2506
I had to skip over most of the comments here. It looked like people were giving away too much about the story. Don’t you people know that you should never say much about any issue until it’s at least a few months old!!!!
Anyway, I hope I’ll get a chance to go to the comic book store on Saturday. I normally go every two weeks, but I had to miss last week, so now I’m three weeks behind.
I don’t know yet if I’ll be getting X-Factor or not. I’ve been thinking I should, since it is a big issue, but I haven’t been buying the series regularly. (Sorry, Peter.) The last one I bought was the one with Monet on the cover. Is this issue over four dollars? I don’t think I can buy anything that expensive (I don’t even like going over three dollars, but sometimes I have to). So I guess it depends on what else is at the store. I really think I should buy the rest of Marvel Divas, since I bought the first two, but that will really cut into my funds since that’s a four-dollar series.
Money is the reason I haven’t been buying X-Factor regularly. I can really only afford a few titles each month. (I should probably subscribe. [Yes! An old-fashioned, mail-order Marvel subscription! They do still exist, you know.] I can get twelve issues for about half price since I already subscribe to Spider-Man. [Which is where you belong, Peter David! Talk to Wacker. Maybe he can fire Wells or Waid or somebody to make room for you.] But a subscription would be too late for #50, or #200. [Shouldn’t there be 149 issues in between those? I wish Marvel would learn to count. How many series have they gotten the numbering all messed up on now?])
Am I just rambling incoherently?
X-Factor #50: Hmm. Did PAD hit a homerun? I think so. While not quite a grand slam, it came close.
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The most impressive part of the issue was the explanation of Layla’s powers. That is probably PAD’s greatest gift as an author – to take threads and plot points that have been created over many years and weaves it into something that fits and opens the door for something more. That is what attracted me to his Star Trek books and continues to impress me in his comics. Some authors can do it with their own plot points (and PAD is a master of that), but very few are able to do it with the junk others have thrown into the mix over the years. In addition, it is impressive that PAD cares about his readers in this way.
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As I could guess, the climatic battle had to be somewhat condensed to still fit in this issue. Yet I liked how it was done. This book has always been about characters, not battles. The final battle focused on the characters while giving unexpected twists in the action.
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So do I want to keep reading X-Factor? That is the most important test. One story line has now been very nicely concluded. If one wanted to drop the title, now is the time to do so. Yet the ending alone left me wanting more. And the preview for #200 left me drooling. The dialogue alone makes me wish it was coming out sooner. The new look and the new case make me very interested.
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Side note: I can’t help but wonder about Layla and PAD’s explanation about her knowing stuff. It makes sense and works. But I wonder if there is still something more. I am not sure she really knows the most important question of all: is there really free will? I think PAD leaves enough wiggle room that it is not totally clear. Is it really inevitable, or does she just think it is?
Well, I went and bought some today, but I didn’t get X-Factor #50. Sorry, Peter. Please don’t hate me. I got Marvel Divas #3 and #4 (it hasn’t been that great, but I got the first two, so I figured I should get the whole set)and I got Web Of Spider-Man #1, because it’s Spider-Man. Anway, with so many four-dollar books, I really couldn’t afford much else. But later I dropped by a (regular) bookstore, which also sells comics, and they always sell their unsold stock for 99 cents after several months. (They draw a line over the UPS with a yellow marker, so there’s not much resale value.) Anyway, I bought X-Factor #45, so I hope you’re not too angry. I think this store buys their copies outright just like the specialty stores, so I assume these cheap leftovers still produce the same profit for Marvel, and give you the same royalties. (Do you get royalties?)
I might still buy #50 the next time I go to town (probably in two weeks).
You’re not going to ban me from your blog, are you?
Okay. I read X-Factor #45 (and I saw that kiss everyone was making a big deal about a while back, but it looked fairly tame to me).
But I’m most interested in the announcement about the next issue. Do you really have a letter page now??? Is it in every issue from now on? It’s about time! I think every comic book needs a letter page (and an old-fashioned Bullpen page, too). Whoever it was at Marvel that decided to get rid of letter pages needs to be fired permanantly. Really.
It’s been driving me crazy that Amazing Spider-Man has been the only book I know of that still has letters. I know it’s the editor who actually decides these things, Peter, but I hope you’ll insist that every book you write have a letter page from now on. And if you don’t get enough letters some months, you should write a text page to fill the gap. (You’re Peter David. I’m sure you can always come up with something to say.)
I know your name isn’t Bendis, but I hope you have enough clout to make this sort of demand.
Picked up a bunch of stuff, mostly Hulk books (I jump on for PAD’s one-year stint a while back and look what happened!) but X-Factor 50 was my favourite because there was a big ole shocker on every 4 pages or so. I guess Layla doesn’t “know stuff” anymore, at least about her life in the present because it’s as fresh to her as it was to kid Layla. But she does have knowledge of the future having spent about 10 years or so there, so she would figure out, just not the full “knowing-when-a-meteorite-will-hit” kind of specific knowledge about her life. So I’m not quite sure what she knows but it’ll be interesting to see in the future issues. As for the preview, very decent art but I’m not a big fan of the new costumes, but I’ve always been partial to the outfits from the original Madrox mini ie. there aren’t any. Just Jamie’s old X-Factor t-shirt and the trench coat is good enough for me, but that’s a personal preference.
Hey Peter,
First of all, I love X-factor and I’ve been a huge fan for a long time. I love that X-Factor is thoughtful and full of characters who don’t title jump but are stationary and well-developed, if X-factor were a movie genre it would be Oscar-stealing indie. Like Pulp Fiction.
Be that as it may, I think where I find myself parting from most fans is in this big Layla reveal. To me, her ability to “know stuff” distinguished her in such a compelling way because she is a direct confrontation of comic book mythos. She breaks the fourth wall not by looking directly out of panel but by almost cynically seeing right through the series of events, witnessing only the thread that holds them together which is probability and outcome. In comics, we see so many heroes who inexplicably are able to be at the right place and at the right time, dodge every shot and save every innocent bystander from falling debris. It’s interesting to see a character who actually questions the perfection of her universe and almost delights in it as well.
Marvel has characters like Peter Parker and Scott Summers who are full of self-doubt yet on the battlefield they’re miraculously able to push it to the side until something from their personal life causes it to all come crashing down. With Layla, she’s super-aware and she sees not only the agony or the purpose or the irony of her situation but it’s relevance to the world she’s in as well. It’s as though she’s an existentialist hero, her most constant struggle is trying to discover her place in the world as superhuman. Her ability to know things challenges the genre and every plot to be better because she contradicts it, she’s always the period on the sentence, the voice of reason. Layla’s superhuman knowledge of what’s to come makes everything from the beginning to the end of every arc more potent, more rich. I think Layla and her ability to “know stuff” is essential to X-factor and largely accounts for it’s greatness.
Layla ultimately had one of the best metaphorical superpowers of any comic book character when she “knew stuff” because it so perfectly encapsulates the struggle every hero faces. Emma Frost informed Layla she would have to grow up far earlier than she’d ever wanted to during the House of M, something nearly all of these heroes have in common. Jean Grey had to be awakened to her telepathic powers at the age of 10 due to a traumatic experience, Wanda and Pietro were forced in terrorism in their teens, Emma Frost was forced to be self-sufficent early on and rise in the ranks in the Hellfire Club, Julio was forced into adulthood through the trauma of his childhood…Layla perfectly addresses the agony of being superhuman which is forced maturity and constant confrontations of reality. With her knowing powers and her youth as a conduit, Layla expressed the struggle of a superhuman through unconventional means.
I was a bit disappointed that Layla merely knows things because of some piece of technology, I actually liked her power because it raised interesting questions. I hoped that it would stay mysterious because it’s a good metaphor for superherodom which is having to grow up too early and having to be a savior without really knowing why.
It was cool because heroes have a tendency to show up at just the right moment, have the perfect instincts, and be so well-timed for no apparent reason yet here’s a girl, just as ordinary as Peter Parker or Steve Rogers who stops to think “How did I know just what to do?” and it’s even difficult for her to come to terms with it too. She’s plagued by the fact that she sees what adults and some of the biggest & best can’t through just out of a disproportionately sized knowhow. I feel like it was essential to her character to be something of an old soul. I also just loved the ambiguity of her, I liked not knowing the origins of her powers.
Also, it doesn’t explain certain things. When Layla traveled into the future with Madrox how was she able to temporarily turn off her power initially? Did she say something about it “coming and going”? How, after reading Layla’s mind, was Emma able to jolt her own history during HoM? Layla may know things but Emma’s life isn’t one of them nor anyone else’s.
I think Peter David should re-fashion it a bit. Let’s say Layla’s powers aren’t natural but the technology used to upload her future ended up mutating in a sense. Layla’s brain was unnaturally able to conceive of the outcome of future events giving her a probability perspective that’s slightly off the human scale. Scientists are pretty sure there are parts of the brain’s functions that cannot be completely 100% understood at this point, there’s also so much mystery in instinct, as a matter in fact it’s said that people only operate with a percentile of their brain’s potential. The meddling with Layla’s mind accessed a potential that was picked up by her mutation and amplified. What point would there be in her being able to raise dead things? It’s a power that will Deus Ex Machina her or get her killed.
Anyone who has studied basic Neuroscience, Neuropsychology or any related field can tell you that it is a myth that we use only a percentile of our brains.
The different sections and tissues in the brain all have different functions: if any of them are damaged the effects will certainly be seen.
Sorry, it’s me again. I just keep coming back here, don’t I?
I was just wondering… Is X-Factor sold in Britain? If it is, what do they call it there? I would think the US title might seem a little strange there.
The imported title is sold here as X-Factor, just the same. In fact the reprint title, Essential X-Men, has just started including the title for the first time as part of its Messiah Complex reprint (although I expect it won’t continue after the crossover).
Was that always the plan with Layla? I too feel disconcerted and it does take something away from the character that I really enjoyed (in her future portrayals, at least). So I’m kind of sad about that – I’m not sure I’m ready for a Layla Miller that doesn’t “know stuff”. (Although, that said, she’s spent so long in the future now, it might be that she knows a lot of information about the present from there. And it does explain why she turned down the Howling Commandoes.)
Page 13 was laid out very confusingly. I’m not sure what’s going on or how exactly it relates to Longshot saving Lenore in issue 42 (with the equally confusing double panel). What was that whole bit about???
Overall despite a couple of confusing quirks it was a very interesting storyline, a return to form for X-Factor after a couple of iffy story arcs.
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Temporal mechanics give me a headache.
Although, even with this explanation of Layla’s abilities, it was still quite an act of confidence on her part to tell Jamie that they would eventually get married. Self-fulfilling prophecy on adult Layla’s part, I suppose?
I really hope Siryn’s staying in the book. That was an interesting conversation she was having with Val Cooper; is there going to be any follow-up to that?
It pains me so much to say I really didn’t enjoy what you did to Layla. Everything else about the story clicked for me, including the idea of her being able to revive the dead, so I found more joy in this issue than anything. (I liked the nod to the dead butterfly so long ago.) But I just hate the idea of her “knowing stuff” because of a time paradox and futuristic gizmo. It’s a bit convoluted and for me reduced her charm retroactively. (Kind of like the “Will&Grace” finale.) She was brilliant, creepy, and lovable and now she feels ordinary and scheming.
(And I hope I don’t sound like a bìŧçhÿ fanboy. I’m going to stick around for #200 though and keep recommending the book to friends.)
What a week for words.
Tuesday: The Gathering Storm (new wheel of time book!) – not a comic, but you know, people should be familiar with it….quite good so far.
Today: X-Factor 50 AND several other surprisingly good books. I thought it was a really interesting way to wrap things up, although I have to admit that after several read throughs the ending is still not making sense. It seems like it will be explained in the upcoming bit with Layla & Doom, so I’ll just wait I guess.
I like the “explanation” of Layla’s powers. It seems like it doesn’t jibe with her original introduction in House of M – or does it?? Did that scene take place before House of M? If so, then it makes sense. If not, then… maybe not so much. Still, all in all it was a decent way to wrap things up.
I have to ask though – is this what you had planned from the beginning, or is it something that came latfer?
X-Factor 200 preview looked quite good.
Other good stuff: X-Force 20 (eww), Necrosha (resurrection overkill?), New Mutants (Warlock is not dead and wtf Cypher the badass??), Avengers Initiative (solid and go Speedcat!).
Surprise of the week: Guardians of the Galaxy 19. WOW. A team hasn’t lost that hard while winning in forever –
…Guardians is my second favorite book right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of those people actually stayed dead for a while. Wow. So glad we still have Groot. Going to miss Mantis.
Astonishing 31 was underwhelming. As was X-Forever. The bit with kid Nathan at the end has me more confused than ever about the timeframe. And baby Storm was a bad idea, this time around at least imho.
Oh, and the Blackest Night thing is still doing quite well – this week’s Green Lantern was good as well.
X-Factor 50 was amazing. It wrapped a beautifully years worth of story-telling, including Fitzroy. I must say the revelation about Layla is very well planned, especially when you read over the first few issues. The best part is that Layla never lied the whole time about her “knowing stuff”. She was actually being completely honest.
As for the other books, Incredible Hercules was a great read. Amadeus Cho is well designed character. I like the way Avengers: The Initiative is shaping up, picking up plots from New Warriors and other stories.
Green Lantern feels almost essential for Blackest Night, which makes sense, Blackest Night is still a Green Lantern Event no matter what DC might claim.
Peter, I noticed in the new Previews that you’re listed as the writer for a two-issue series called “I Am Iron Man,” and the blurb says it ties into the forthcoming “Iron Man 2” film. I was just wondering what this book is. A straight comic book adaptation of the first “Iron Man” film? Or perhaps a bridge book between the first and second film?
I’m very biased cus I love x-factor so much. I thought the ending was exactly what a big milestone should be. I definitely wanted to see more of the Present time crew but man the story payed off. The explanation for Layla’s powers definitely surprised me and was definitely cool. X-factor #200 looks amazing too. The costumes are a good change and the art looks gritty. I also picked up Ultimate Avengers which didnt dissapoint either!
Wow! The end of X-Factor 50 blew me away. However, I’m not yet sold on Guido’s new look for 200.
Liked the Encyclopedia Brown joke in the second story
What a comics week, with all the dark reign one shots and deadpool 900 (my lcs got shorted last week)
Xfactor 50 was great having all the loose ends tied up, i loved it. i think we should see doom again at some point in the future (i mean the present but at a later date)
Shatterstar do you like hanging around the gym after a game?
New Avengers how cool is the idea of doing open heart surgery on a guy with un breakble skin.
Secret Warriors how cool is it to be a teenager and your father is the god of war ? also that he knows he is a šhìŧŧÿ dad
with all the dark reign books over the past few weeks and the big apple comic con, the blackest night books have really started to pile up waiting to be read
Thoroughly enjoyed 50, all the way to the end. A bit confused, though: The ending made it seem that adult Layla is now stuck in her own past after that last leap through the Doomlock, but she’s in the art for the preview for #200. Is she or isn’t she still on the team? Also, I gotta say I’m not sold on the new colorist in the preview for #200. Either Guido’s turned black, or he needs to lay off the tanning bed.
A little off-topic, but I was wondering: what are the current plans for Fallen Angel? I’d gotten the impression somehow that Reborn was going to lead into a new monthly, but I haven’t seen anything solicited, announced, or even mentioned anywhere. Is it moving to a series-of-miniseries schedule?
Hello Peter,
So I’ve noticed two of your monthly titles have not been listed recently, Fallen Angle and Wolverine: First Class. Can I tell the wife we can go out to dinner an extra night every month now since I’ll have some spare change? Just wondering. Keep up the great writing.
Hello Peter,
So I’ve noticed two of your monthly titles have not been listed recently, Fallen Angel and Wolverine: First Class. Can I tell the wife we can go out to dinner an extra night every month now since I’ll have some spare change? Just wondering. Keep up the great writing.
Got my comics today. Here’s what I got:
X-Factor #50: VERY good. I liked the explanation of Layla knowing “stuff”. Very cool. Haven’t read the preview yet.
Incredible Hercules: The new issue. Really good issue. Can’t wait to read the next one with Herc & Spidey!
Spiderman: Clone Saga #2: Better than the first issue. Now its getting interesting imo.
Ultimate Avengers #3: Haven’t read it yet. Looks good though.
Batman: the new issue. I read a preview, it looked interesting, so I got it. Haven’t read it yet though.
DF2506
I had to skip over most of the comments here. It looked like people were giving away too much about the story. Don’t you people know that you should never say much about any issue until it’s at least a few months old!!!!
Anyway, I hope I’ll get a chance to go to the comic book store on Saturday. I normally go every two weeks, but I had to miss last week, so now I’m three weeks behind.
I don’t know yet if I’ll be getting X-Factor or not. I’ve been thinking I should, since it is a big issue, but I haven’t been buying the series regularly. (Sorry, Peter.) The last one I bought was the one with Monet on the cover. Is this issue over four dollars? I don’t think I can buy anything that expensive (I don’t even like going over three dollars, but sometimes I have to). So I guess it depends on what else is at the store. I really think I should buy the rest of Marvel Divas, since I bought the first two, but that will really cut into my funds since that’s a four-dollar series.
Money is the reason I haven’t been buying X-Factor regularly. I can really only afford a few titles each month. (I should probably subscribe. [Yes! An old-fashioned, mail-order Marvel subscription! They do still exist, you know.] I can get twelve issues for about half price since I already subscribe to Spider-Man. [Which is where you belong, Peter David! Talk to Wacker. Maybe he can fire Wells or Waid or somebody to make room for you.] But a subscription would be too late for #50, or #200. [Shouldn’t there be 149 issues in between those? I wish Marvel would learn to count. How many series have they gotten the numbering all messed up on now?])
Am I just rambling incoherently?
X-Factor #50: Hmm. Did PAD hit a homerun? I think so. While not quite a grand slam, it came close.
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The most impressive part of the issue was the explanation of Layla’s powers. That is probably PAD’s greatest gift as an author – to take threads and plot points that have been created over many years and weaves it into something that fits and opens the door for something more. That is what attracted me to his Star Trek books and continues to impress me in his comics. Some authors can do it with their own plot points (and PAD is a master of that), but very few are able to do it with the junk others have thrown into the mix over the years. In addition, it is impressive that PAD cares about his readers in this way.
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As I could guess, the climatic battle had to be somewhat condensed to still fit in this issue. Yet I liked how it was done. This book has always been about characters, not battles. The final battle focused on the characters while giving unexpected twists in the action.
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So do I want to keep reading X-Factor? That is the most important test. One story line has now been very nicely concluded. If one wanted to drop the title, now is the time to do so. Yet the ending alone left me wanting more. And the preview for #200 left me drooling. The dialogue alone makes me wish it was coming out sooner. The new look and the new case make me very interested.
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Side note: I can’t help but wonder about Layla and PAD’s explanation about her knowing stuff. It makes sense and works. But I wonder if there is still something more. I am not sure she really knows the most important question of all: is there really free will? I think PAD leaves enough wiggle room that it is not totally clear. Is it really inevitable, or does she just think it is?
Well, I went and bought some today, but I didn’t get X-Factor #50. Sorry, Peter. Please don’t hate me. I got Marvel Divas #3 and #4 (it hasn’t been that great, but I got the first two, so I figured I should get the whole set)and I got Web Of Spider-Man #1, because it’s Spider-Man. Anway, with so many four-dollar books, I really couldn’t afford much else. But later I dropped by a (regular) bookstore, which also sells comics, and they always sell their unsold stock for 99 cents after several months. (They draw a line over the UPS with a yellow marker, so there’s not much resale value.) Anyway, I bought X-Factor #45, so I hope you’re not too angry. I think this store buys their copies outright just like the specialty stores, so I assume these cheap leftovers still produce the same profit for Marvel, and give you the same royalties. (Do you get royalties?)
I might still buy #50 the next time I go to town (probably in two weeks).
You’re not going to ban me from your blog, are you?
Okay. I read X-Factor #45 (and I saw that kiss everyone was making a big deal about a while back, but it looked fairly tame to me).
But I’m most interested in the announcement about the next issue. Do you really have a letter page now??? Is it in every issue from now on? It’s about time! I think every comic book needs a letter page (and an old-fashioned Bullpen page, too). Whoever it was at Marvel that decided to get rid of letter pages needs to be fired permanantly. Really.
It’s been driving me crazy that Amazing Spider-Man has been the only book I know of that still has letters. I know it’s the editor who actually decides these things, Peter, but I hope you’ll insist that every book you write have a letter page from now on. And if you don’t get enough letters some months, you should write a text page to fill the gap. (You’re Peter David. I’m sure you can always come up with something to say.)
I know your name isn’t Bendis, but I hope you have enough clout to make this sort of demand.
Picked up a bunch of stuff, mostly Hulk books (I jump on for PAD’s one-year stint a while back and look what happened!) but X-Factor 50 was my favourite because there was a big ole shocker on every 4 pages or so. I guess Layla doesn’t “know stuff” anymore, at least about her life in the present because it’s as fresh to her as it was to kid Layla. But she does have knowledge of the future having spent about 10 years or so there, so she would figure out, just not the full “knowing-when-a-meteorite-will-hit” kind of specific knowledge about her life. So I’m not quite sure what she knows but it’ll be interesting to see in the future issues. As for the preview, very decent art but I’m not a big fan of the new costumes, but I’ve always been partial to the outfits from the original Madrox mini ie. there aren’t any. Just Jamie’s old X-Factor t-shirt and the trench coat is good enough for me, but that’s a personal preference.
Hey Peter,
First of all, I love X-factor and I’ve been a huge fan for a long time. I love that X-Factor is thoughtful and full of characters who don’t title jump but are stationary and well-developed, if X-factor were a movie genre it would be Oscar-stealing indie. Like Pulp Fiction.
Be that as it may, I think where I find myself parting from most fans is in this big Layla reveal. To me, her ability to “know stuff” distinguished her in such a compelling way because she is a direct confrontation of comic book mythos. She breaks the fourth wall not by looking directly out of panel but by almost cynically seeing right through the series of events, witnessing only the thread that holds them together which is probability and outcome. In comics, we see so many heroes who inexplicably are able to be at the right place and at the right time, dodge every shot and save every innocent bystander from falling debris. It’s interesting to see a character who actually questions the perfection of her universe and almost delights in it as well.
Marvel has characters like Peter Parker and Scott Summers who are full of self-doubt yet on the battlefield they’re miraculously able to push it to the side until something from their personal life causes it to all come crashing down. With Layla, she’s super-aware and she sees not only the agony or the purpose or the irony of her situation but it’s relevance to the world she’s in as well. It’s as though she’s an existentialist hero, her most constant struggle is trying to discover her place in the world as superhuman. Her ability to know things challenges the genre and every plot to be better because she contradicts it, she’s always the period on the sentence, the voice of reason. Layla’s superhuman knowledge of what’s to come makes everything from the beginning to the end of every arc more potent, more rich. I think Layla and her ability to “know stuff” is essential to X-factor and largely accounts for it’s greatness.
Layla ultimately had one of the best metaphorical superpowers of any comic book character when she “knew stuff” because it so perfectly encapsulates the struggle every hero faces. Emma Frost informed Layla she would have to grow up far earlier than she’d ever wanted to during the House of M, something nearly all of these heroes have in common. Jean Grey had to be awakened to her telepathic powers at the age of 10 due to a traumatic experience, Wanda and Pietro were forced in terrorism in their teens, Emma Frost was forced to be self-sufficent early on and rise in the ranks in the Hellfire Club, Julio was forced into adulthood through the trauma of his childhood…Layla perfectly addresses the agony of being superhuman which is forced maturity and constant confrontations of reality. With her knowing powers and her youth as a conduit, Layla expressed the struggle of a superhuman through unconventional means.
I was a bit disappointed that Layla merely knows things because of some piece of technology, I actually liked her power because it raised interesting questions. I hoped that it would stay mysterious because it’s a good metaphor for superherodom which is having to grow up too early and having to be a savior without really knowing why.
It was cool because heroes have a tendency to show up at just the right moment, have the perfect instincts, and be so well-timed for no apparent reason yet here’s a girl, just as ordinary as Peter Parker or Steve Rogers who stops to think “How did I know just what to do?” and it’s even difficult for her to come to terms with it too. She’s plagued by the fact that she sees what adults and some of the biggest & best can’t through just out of a disproportionately sized knowhow. I feel like it was essential to her character to be something of an old soul. I also just loved the ambiguity of her, I liked not knowing the origins of her powers.
Also, it doesn’t explain certain things. When Layla traveled into the future with Madrox how was she able to temporarily turn off her power initially? Did she say something about it “coming and going”? How, after reading Layla’s mind, was Emma able to jolt her own history during HoM? Layla may know things but Emma’s life isn’t one of them nor anyone else’s.
I think Peter David should re-fashion it a bit. Let’s say Layla’s powers aren’t natural but the technology used to upload her future ended up mutating in a sense. Layla’s brain was unnaturally able to conceive of the outcome of future events giving her a probability perspective that’s slightly off the human scale. Scientists are pretty sure there are parts of the brain’s functions that cannot be completely 100% understood at this point, there’s also so much mystery in instinct, as a matter in fact it’s said that people only operate with a percentile of their brain’s potential. The meddling with Layla’s mind accessed a potential that was picked up by her mutation and amplified. What point would there be in her being able to raise dead things? It’s a power that will Deus Ex Machina her or get her killed.
Anyone who has studied basic Neuroscience, Neuropsychology or any related field can tell you that it is a myth that we use only a percentile of our brains.
The different sections and tissues in the brain all have different functions: if any of them are damaged the effects will certainly be seen.
Sorry, it’s me again. I just keep coming back here, don’t I?
I was just wondering… Is X-Factor sold in Britain? If it is, what do they call it there? I would think the US title might seem a little strange there.
The imported title is sold here as X-Factor, just the same. In fact the reprint title, Essential X-Men, has just started including the title for the first time as part of its Messiah Complex reprint (although I expect it won’t continue after the crossover).
Was that always the plan with Layla? I too feel disconcerted and it does take something away from the character that I really enjoyed (in her future portrayals, at least). So I’m kind of sad about that – I’m not sure I’m ready for a Layla Miller that doesn’t “know stuff”. (Although, that said, she’s spent so long in the future now, it might be that she knows a lot of information about the present from there. And it does explain why she turned down the Howling Commandoes.)
Page 13 was laid out very confusingly. I’m not sure what’s going on or how exactly it relates to Longshot saving Lenore in issue 42 (with the equally confusing double panel). What was that whole bit about???
Overall despite a couple of confusing quirks it was a very interesting storyline, a return to form for X-Factor after a couple of iffy story arcs.