All New X-Factor #1 (2014)

[Written on 12/26/14]

All New X-Factor #1 By Peter David and art by Carmine-Di-Giandomenico

Peter David is a writer that has been off my radar. I’ve heard his name come up when it comes to his Hulk run, but he also did a run on X-Factor. Before this, X-Factor was established as a mutant detective agency that recently closed down. Now this All-New series starts with a fresh version of the team after the team closed shop earlier before Marvel Now [In November 2013].

In a recent interview on CBR, David said the series would be ending around #20, so I wanted to hurry up and see if it was worth reading the run or not. The only series of X-Factor I read was the first essentials volume [vol.1 #1-16].

Gambit is seen diving through a laser web like the sneaky thief he is. The last time he was seen was in his own 2012 solo series, which I was planning on reading at some point. Wolverine shows up and stops his attempt at robbing an artifact (and this was before Wolverine was about to die too, since that wasn’t until later in the year in out-of-comic time).

Logan scolds him and points out that he’s a teacher at the Jean Grey school now, and that he needs to straighten up and stop working with the Thieves Guild. Gambit goes to a bar to drink off all of Logan’s nagging when he sees Polaris. She was a magnetic mutant featured in X-Factor and Legacy and had a noted relationship with Gambit. They fly on a Serval Industries jet, and Polaris tells him they are a new organization that works with everything from search engines to weapons research.

They enter the very smoothly designed building, and the woman on the top floor tells them that they will be forming a new corporate X-Factor team. Gambit also meets the CEO Harrison Snow, who admits he isn’t very much interested in weapons as much as someone like Tony Stark. However, he says he bought the X-Factor name from Madrox and plans to turn it into the first corporate superhero team. I think this concept has been done in DC comics before, but I don’t think it’s a very good idea. Though, in DC I’m pretty sure I’m thinking of the government owned teams like Suicide Squad, not exactly a corporation. Is this corporation going to be responsible for all the damage these heroes cause? Are the heroes going to be paid? There’s a lot of strange questions that are probably going to be answered...or just brushed aside. Regardless, I’m not sure I like the idea of sponsored superheroes. Government operatives like SHIELD make sense, but for a private corporation it just seems like an unnecessary risk.

Quicksilver is suddenly introduced as another member of the group, but he doesn't exactly make it any easier for everyone to trust this whole idea.  Pietro also mentions that for some reason (not shown within the comics themselves, unless I missed something within Avengers) that he has broken away from the Avengers and wanted to join X-Factor like he had in the past. The CEO then explains that he is tasking them with shutting down a scientist who is doing mutant research for a group related to AIM. The three easily break into the facility, but the mutant who is currently being experimented on is another former X-Factor mutant named Fatale. The last time she was seen, she was reported as missing (since 2007 in out of comic time, so it’s been awhile since she’s been active) after losing her powers (on M-Day) and then gaining them back again (during Terrigenesis...which is strange because based on what I heard the Terrigen Mists are causing mutants to get sick nowadays...rather than giving them powers). For reference, her original powers were light manipulation, but that’s not mentioned or shown in this issue.

Overall, I really liked this issue, and the art was a real joy to look at. The dialogue, especially from 
Gambit, is really well handled and for the most part I thought this book was really good. A 8/10. If I knew more about these characters from the old X-Factor, It probably would be more of a 9/10 for me. Hopefully I’ll be able to learn more about Fatale and Polaris through recaps or throughout the next few issues. I like seeing Quicksilver being able to get in the spotlight more (something he really deserves) and being on a smaller team helps him do that, whereas I don’t remember him being very active in other books like Avengers or X-men (at least recently). The same thing could be said for Gambit. The two of them alone could sell the book for me. This doesn't subtract from the score at all, but the cover doesn't really grab me. It’s not bad art actually, the style just seems kind of awkward to me...in a bad way. There’s nothing wrong with the colorful deco style, it’s just not something I like. A nice touch is that they added the company logo to the cover...is this supposed to represent like an in-universe advertisement? The colors themselves really do pop nicely though and that makes the cover at least a 2.5/5.

Moon Knight #1 [2014]

Moon Knight Vol.5 #1 (March 2014)

Written by Warren Ellis, Art by Declan Shalvey

While it may seem weird that I’m going to be reviewing Moon Knight #1 from two years ago while the newer edition for All New All Different Marvel is already out, I do have my reasons. This issue was my first exposure to Moon Knight beyond the Moon Knight Saga recap book (2009). I also own one issue from the original Moon Knight Series, but I didn’t understand who Moon Knight was until much later. For some background, most of the modern moon knight series follows up on Bendis’ run from 2011 where Moon Knight’s psychotic tendencies are really put on full display. The series following, including the 2016 series, further explore the psychological side to Moon Knight, adding in more hallucinatory sequences and explanations for why he is having his breakdowns.

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I normally start with the cover, and I think this one is pretty good. Moon Knight’s face, large and intimidating, in white while the logo (a moon shape used for the 2nd O in the title) is shown underneath in black. It’s a simple, but effective cover. I’d give it a 7.5/10. It’s a good cover for an introductory issue for sure.

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The new series begins with Moon Knight returning to new york after moving over to LA. It is really annoying to me when some of these heroes will randomly move over to the east coast. In his last series, under Bendis, Moon Knight “spoke” to and used gadgets based on Cap, Wolverine, and Spidey...but it seems like he’s moved on from that phase. He’s quite aware now himself that something must be wrong with his head. The moon God Khonshu has four aspects, and Marc has always had four personalities at some point, including either moon knight or himself alongside others. He likes to wear white so that people will see him coming, wow, that’s pretty badass. At this point he’s working alongside the police and I now see why people compare him to Batman. Speaking of being a detective, Mr. Knight figures that a local killer is hiding underground...so, being crazy, he decides to go down after him. After he defeats a ex-soldier, we see that before returning to New York, Marc tried to get some counseling. Here we receive a more in-depth explanation that puts Marc’s multiple personalities into a more supernatural mold rather than just a simple psychological evaluation like DID. The issue ends with Marc literally sitting down to face his other personalities.

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The issue itself packs in a great introduction, and the fantastic colors + art really sell the book with this sharp sort of horrific style that really gives the entire thing a smooth feel while also being very grim at points (with images of shadow and skulls, sometimes blood and guts). It’s a very visceral book and I look forward to seeing what comes next now that the character has been firmly re-introduced. I hope to follow this character through this series and beyond into his newer series as well.

The entire book is easily a 9/10 for me. Very few flaws if any and a great start, but it’s not a masterpiece.