Written by: Mark Russell
Art by: Bob Quinn
Colors by: Jesus Aburtov
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: Greg Land, Frank D’Armata
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: August 14, 2024
X-Factor #1, by Marvel Comics on 8/14/24, forms a new team under the social media-obsessed care of an unscrupulous producer, with terrible results. If you thought this issue would be a return to form, think again.
Is X-Factor #1 Good?
If you had to summarize X-Factor #1 in a series of super-short descriptors, it would go something like this:
Cringe, cringe, cringe, that’s weird, that’s kind of okay, cringe, cringier, cringiest, and “Are you kidding me?”
It’s from Mark Russell, so what did you expect? The more #1s that get released, the more obvious it becomes that Tom Brevoort didn’t want to take over the X-office, so the From the Ashes era is just coasting and letting the writers do whatever they want to do.
X-Factor #1 begins with an intentionally cheesy introduction to Rodger Broderick – a talent agent, reality television producer, and all-around visionary for using mutants and X-Factor as the cornerstone of a popularity and social media influence empire. For Broderick, it’s all about fake smiles, hashtags, and viewer engagement.
During a red carpet stroll by the latest X-Factor team, sponsored by ClikClok, team leader Angel quietly expresses his misgivings to Broderick about the team’s lineup and the pubic ire so soon after the downfall of Krakoa. Between Broderick’s ceaseless spin-doctoring and the wildly over-the-top reactions on both sides of the carpet to boos and protests, the team’s public introduction is a disaster.
Look! Before you pull out your “actually, this is supposed to be a satire of e-celebrity culture and viral fame,” satires of this sort still have a fundamental requirement to entertain. Here, there’s no straight man or audience insert to react to the absurdity and express what the team really wants. Everyone is delivering their terrible dialog in line with Broderick’s plan, so there’s no counterpoint to pay off the joke. If you take the most obnoxious elements of viral fame and amplify those elements tenfold, that doesn’t make the scenario funny. That amplification simply makes the scenario more annoying because nobody is trying to pull the narrative in the opposite (read: reasoned) direction.
Later, the team heads to their new headquarters in the Hollywood Hills to train, relax, and await their first big assignment. Meanwhile, the issue switches to an intimate conversation between Havok and Polaris. Havok entertains an offer to join X-Factor, but Polaris is opposed to the idea because she believes it’s time to stop fighting.
The issue flashes back to several months earlier, where Darkstar discusses with Havok her role as a member of the newly-formed X-Term, a mutant team of mercenaries for hire. X-Term has set their headquarters at the sight of a decommissioned Soviet nuclear power plant, so Havok gets a look at how mutants have decided that the best teams are teams where the mutants fight for themselves.
To Russell’s credit, the juxtaposition of contrasting viewpoints between Darkstar and Polaris does show how different mutants are taking philosophical approaches to a post-Krakoa life. Nearly every other title released in the From The Ashes lineup has loosely centered on the idea of mutants wanting to be left alone. At least we get a variety of perspectives on this issue.
Now, the X-Factor gets the call for their first mission. What’s the objective? Take out the X-Term facility for strategic purposes and arrest Darkstar for international crimes. Of course, the mission is far from smooth when the inexperience of X-Factor leads to mistakes, outright cowardly behavior, and a catastrophic error that sends the cooling towers down on everyone.
Yeah, that’s right. Several mutants on both sides of the conflict die because what’s more subversive than a bait-and-switch? Right?
The issue concludes with trending popularity and the new X-Factor… again.
What’s great about X-Factor #1? There are two elements to this issue that either make the grade or are at least interesting.
First, Bob Quinn’s art is the bee’s knees. The character designs look great, the characters’ facial acting looks great, the settings look great, and the action looks great. In short, Bob Quinn is great. Plus, Jesus Aburtov’s coloring is stellar.
Second, regardless of the rest of the script, Mark Russell is one of the few writers to show multiple attitudes and viewpoints concerning post-Krakoa life for mutants instead of the sameness of everyone just trying to get along.
What’s not great about X-Factor #1? Take everything already noted above and turn it up to the extreme. Russell’s grating dialog, bad humor, a serious mission with unserious execution, and the ridiculous, frustrating, subversive twist to kill most of the team in favor of a new team all stack up for a script that annoys more than entertains. Every page contains at least one overacted metaphorical “turn and wink” at the camera, and the only thing missing is a light-up sign at the top of every panel to remind you to laugh.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
X-Factor #1 attempts to look at the satirical side of e-celebrities and viral fame when an unscrupulous producer hires mutants to form a new X-Factor with disastrous results. Bob Quinn’s art is immaculate, and Mark Russell is brave enough to show mutants with starkly different points of view about life after Krakoa. That said, the satirical elements and plot fall painfully flat, and the issue ends with a bait-and-switch that’s just plain tiresome.
5.5/10
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