#xfactor43

[gaknar]

We actually get a melting snowflake of character development time here. Jean and the rest of the X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants have just gone through hell, literally, fighting off a demon invasion that resulted in the corruption and death of their loved one Madelyne Pryor, as well as the realization for the rest of the X-Men that Jean Grey has been resurrected, but we haven’t yet seen any of the characters attempting to emotionally deal with these developments. Here Jean gets triggered by the sight of space and reflexively tries to fly into a worm hole and murder another 6 billion people, forgetting that as a regular old mutant she can’t breathe in a vacuum.

Apparently she’s struggling with a few extra voices in her head now, one of which is Madelyne’s, who is still pissed about Jean stealing her husband, and wants to suicide the whole lot of entities that living within Jean. Yikes. (X-Factor #43 – Aug 1989)

[gaknar]

Wft was going on in these X-Factor comics? We’ve been stuck in Asgard so long with the New Mutants that I forgot. We were fighting the abominable snowman or something? And now we’re in space fighting Celestials? Jesus, let’s just go back to the New Mutants and read more about Cable. I’m kidding, I hope I never have to do that. (X-Factor #43 – Aug 1989)

[gaknar]

Come on Beast, wouldn't this be a good time for an expletive "oh my stars and garters?" Damn what a wasted opportunity. Anyway, while aboard the sentient spacecraft they stole from Apocalypse back during Fall of the Mutants, X-Factor is transported to another area of the universe where they are confronted by a Celestial. A portion of Apocalypse’s origin story is wrapped up in Celestial lore so it actually makes sense that he would be harnessing their technology during his ongoing siege of Earth. We haven’t seen much of the Celestials during our X-Men readings on this blog. There was just this meet up for a hot second during Secret Wars II when the Beyonder beat the shit out of a bunch of them. They seem interesting, if only because they look like professional cosplayers standing around in all those intricate sets of armor. If nothing else, I’m glad we’ve got the art of Paul Smith helping us along during this cosmic story arc, as he’s one of my favorites. (X-Factor #43 – Aug 1989)

[gaknar]

Oh ugh. After confronting a Celestial at the far ends of the universe, X-Factor is transported to the surface of this alien planet during the middle of a raging war battle. This story is starting to feel a bit like the endless Asgardian saga we just sat through with the New Mutants, with our heroes being displaced in a strange land during the middle of a violent conflict. I hope this one doesn’t go on for 17 issues like that New Mutants story did. (X-Factor #43 – Aug 1989)

[gaknar]

Man, what the heck. Here in X-Factor when X-Factor’s ship shoots into the the upper atmosphere with them on it, it clearly is attempting to warn them to get inside before they suffocate in orbit. However, back in New Mutants #78 when we saw a different version of this scene, it was inexplicably and murderously ordering them ONTO the decks as they flew into the unbreathable vacuum of space.

Come on Marvel editors!! (X-Factor #43 – Aug 1989)

[gaknar]

Hmm. By my count, this is the first time anyone has referred to Warren as Archangel. They were still calling him Angel after Apocalypse turned him into a four horsemen of the apocalypse. And they were still calling him Angel after he reunited with the team during Inferno. I don’t know what I was expecting I guess. Maybe a discussion about changing his superhero name to reflect the physical and emotional changes he’s gone through so everyone can be on the same page? I guess Bobby just gets to make this shit up as he goes. 

WAIT A SECOND I’M SMOKING CRACK. They started calling him Archangel here in Uncanny X-Factor #38 at the end of Inferno and they did actually have a conversation about it. I just didn’t remember it because I have early onset dementia brought on by excessive alcohol use. Whew good thing I caught this during editing. I could have looked like such an ass. Look at me having a writing process!! (X-Factor #43 – Aug 1989)

[gaknar]

I pieced together these panels from throughout the second half of this X-Factor comic, as our team of muties finds themselves in the middle of this giant alien battle, and a Celestial space god slowly approaches from the sky. I absolutely love the story telling aspects of Paul Smith’s art. It complements the actual writing so brilliantly. Also: Cyclops getting stepped on. (X-Factor #43 – Aug 1989)