X-FACTOR #91 VF/NM PETER DAVID JOE QUESADA COVER

X-FACTOR #91 VF/NM PETER DAVID JOE QUESADA COVER
Publisher: Marvel
Genre: Superhero
Main Character(s): X-Men
Year: MODERN AGE (1992-NOW)

Issue(s): X-Factor #88, X-Factor #89, X-Factor #90, X-Factor #91
Cover Date: Mar-Jun 93
Title: "...Random violence. / Time out" / "Dark homecoming / Cabin fever" / "A green and tender place" / "Underpinnings"
Credits:
Peter David / Scott Lobdell - Writer
Joe Quesada / Chris Batista / Joe Quesada & Buzz / Jan Duursema - Penciler
Al Milgrom - Inker
Jaye Gardner - Assistant Editor
Kelly Corvese - Editor

Review/plot:
Issues #88-89 have back-up stories by Peter David and Chris Batista; Joe Quesada draws the main story. Scott Lobdell becomes the writer with issue #90. Issue #90 is broken into chapters, and on the page starting chapter IV a note says that the guest artist is "Buzz" (who is not credited on the main credits page). Buzz is a pseudonym for Aldrin Aw, but he seems to use "Buzz" more often than his real name, so that's how i'll credit him on this site. Issue #91's credits say that Joe Quesada is the penciler, but the lettercol in issue #92 has a correction saying it was really Jan Duursema.

So yeah, these are Peter David's last two issues with Scott Lobdell taking over mid story. Lobdell makes a certain superficial kind of sense as a replacement for David, since he also has a humorous side, but he seems to just be filling in. He'll plot the next few issues, but they are scripted by J.M. DeMatteis who will then become the full writer.

I said in the last entry that Joe Quesada becoming the regular artist might have helped stabilize this book if David has stayed on, but considering the back-ups, extra help, and last minute replacements as noted above, he might not have been capable of a regular schedule.

Peter David left for what he calls a "variety of -- well -- factors", but i've always understood it to be because of the need for him to drop his storylines in order to accommodate crossovers, like Fatal Attractions, which is coming next issue. I'm normally somewhat sympathetic to the need for crossovers, since it's a way to get eyeballs on a series, but if it was a deal breaker for David i am kind of surprised they didn't just let him opt out. The sales on this book are nothing to sneeze at. And David was apparently well liked at Marvel. In this year's June Bullpen Bulletins, Marvel publishes the results of a survey of 200 Marvel staffers. Peter David was voted the Favorite Regular Writer, his Future Imperfect was voted Favorite Limited Series, and Future Imperfect #1 and X-Factor #87 tied for Favorite Single Issue. Seems like you ought to give a guy like that a little leeway.

On the other hand, Peter David's plans for Wolfsbane were on the icky side (see the link above), so from that perspective now was a good time for him to exit.

This story starts with the X-Patriots staging a protest at a hospital, trying to get treatment for Taylor, who was beaten by an anti-mutant crowd in an earlier issue. The New York mayor has called in a mutant named Random to stop the protest. But X-Factor has been brought in by the Federal government.

The chronology of the X-Patriot storyline feels like the thing that was most disrupted by the last crossover, X-Cutioner's Song, and maybe this specifically is what caused Peter David to hate crossovers. I've already noted how the gap between issues #83-84 of this series seems wrong (but necessary for the crossover). The X-Patriot subplot then got short shrift during the crossover, and in issue #86 it's said that they've left the hospital where Taylor was being kept but there was no time to do anything about it. Issue #87 has a guest artist and is a (very good) one off story with no references to subplots, and i almost considered treating it like an out-of-sequence fill-in. That's not actually possible as you can see from the scan above: Polaris' costume and Val Cooper's change in attitude both stem from last issue and of course there's also the explicit footnote regarding Quicksilver. But it does seem like X-Factor lost the trail of the X-Patriots and didn't make it a priority until now.

Random approaches the X-Patriots first, and it seems that in addition to the big honking gun on his arm he has the ability to counteract the powers of others.

Exactly how that counteraction works is, i guess, random, as we see when Strong Guy shows up.

Random says, "I'm the kinda guy who goes with the flow... When needs be, I'm all things to all people. I'm Random.".

Havok solves the problem by writing Random a check for an amount higher than what the mayor is paying him. Seems bad for Random's business in the long run, but he accepts and withdraws. Random will have a lot more appearances in this series and elsewhere, but i'm not sure if he'll be used the way Peter David intended. Random seems like a parody character here, with his random abilities and the big gun (which reminds me of Bushwacker specifically but could be meant as a parody of the Cable/Bishop type characters).

Havok then says he's taking the X-Patriots back to Genosha to show them that it's not the way it was when they fled. Val Cooper, who previously vetoed that idea, is now in agreement.

On the plane ride there, we see Wolfsbane making a pass at Madrox, which makes him uncomfortable. The rest realize that something is wrong with her, and hope to find answers in Genosha, where she was made into a mutate. Moira MacTaggert is also in Genosha.

Things initially seem ok in Genosha, aside from an anti-mutant leader visiting from a neighboring country. Prodigal is convinced that the mutates need someone like him to lead them, because they need help adjusting to a society where they are no longer slaves. To emphasize that point, we see what happens when a mutate drops something.

As for Rahne, here is the scene that Peter David mentioned in the link above, where it's clear from the art that she is supposed to be in heat and all the dogs are attracted to her, but the script has been changed to ignore that.

But Rahne's "canine body" is still a factor in her "accentuated proclivities", and even beyond that, it's said that Rahne's attraction to Havok was due to having been bonded with him while they were in Genosha together.

Learning this, Wolfsbane transforms into full werewolf mode and breaks out.

At the end of issue #88 we see the current Genoshan Genegineer, Sasha Ryan, meeting with a mysterious somebody.

This plot is not continued into the post-David issues. Peter David will pick this up years later, where we'll learn that he is Josef Huber, aka the Isolationist.

Polaris tries to calm Wolfsbane down. We learn that one positive aspect of Polaris' new costume is that it's metal, allowing Polaris to affect it with her powers.

When Wolfsbane nonetheless manages to scratch Polaris, she reigns herself in. Lobdell then takes the opportunity to make a great use of Polaris' history to show how she can sympathize with Wolfsbane.

Really nice continuity-informed characterization. As i said in the last entry, i was a little surprised and disappointed that Peter David didn't pick up on this for Polaris' session with Doc Samson. But it actually works better coming up here, as something that Polaris can use to reach Wolfsbane. Whatever other problems Polaris may have, she's together enough about her history of being mentally manipulated that she's able to help Wolfsbane with her similar situation.

Wolfsbane is talked down, but Havok is pretty pissed about the situation, and he begins tearing up Genosha. A mutate named Piecemeal (no relation to Peter David's NWO monster) fights back.

To jump back a bit, the back-up story in issue #88-89 shows Quicksilver on leave. He and Crystal take a vacation together to try to rekindle their relationship. Things start off going very well.

But someone is determined to make it not work.

When Quicksilver goes into town for some groceries, he's approached by someone named Torq who claims to be a reporter for a tabloid. He shows Quicksilver some pictures of Crystal with the Black Knight and claims that he has more explicit ones.

Quicksilver breaks his nose and makes threats and then leaves. When he gets back to Crystal, he doesn't tell her what happened, but he starts acting coldly towards her, and any chance of reconciliation seems lost. We then see Torq meeting with someone happy to have "stimulated the homicidal impulses of the son of Magneto".

In issue #90, we see Quicksilver contacting Val Cooper after the back-ups from #88-89. Despite the fact that X-Factor are battling the Genoshans, Val tells Quicksilver not to come and help. When Madrox tries to say otherwise, she gets weird.

But whatever is going on with Val isn't revealed yet.

X-Factor is convinced to stand down, and the Genoshans show them that the mutates in Genosha are dying from a "flu". It's a parallel with AIDS, of course, but i wasn't sure if it was also an early sign of the Legacy Virus. Austin in the comments confirms that it is. Genoshan scientists are working to keep the mutates alive. This research has taken precedence over anything else, including reversing the bonding/brainwashing that Wolfsbane is suffering from. However, it's said to be untreatable. Moira MacTaggert leaves Genosha to confirm with Professor X (they are meeting in France, per the events of the Uncanny X-Men series).

This settles the conflict, although a related problem arises when one of the mutates, who wants to die free from the wires and tubes of his lab bed, tries to flee. X-Factor head to the sewers to protect him from the Genoshan magistrates.

The team are wearing suits to protect them from the sickness, but to save the mutate, Madrox has to create a duplicate of himself.

The mutate is brought back to the Genoshan hospital and is allowed to die with dignity, but the fear is that the "main" Madrox is infected by whatever his dupe was exposed to.

While the rest of X-Factor are dealing with that, Val returns to the US to manipulate Quicksilver.

Things veer off in a different direction after David leaves, with the dying mutate plot feeling especially tacked on. But in other regards Lobdell does a decent job maintaining the tone of the book, especially in the mix of humor and characterization. I don't always love Lobdell's sense of humor but i thought it fit for these characters. I also like that Lobdell is doing things that tie the book in to the larger X-universe continuity - Moira going to France to meet Xavier, the connection between Quicksilver and Magneto, and (possibly) the Legacy Virus.

This isn't quite the end of Peter David's X-Factor. Well, of course he will return to these characters much later. But even in an immediate sense, we still have this year's X-Factor annual, which is written by him and takes place after these issues. In a set up for one of the stories there, we meet one more Chalker scientist, this one Dick Chalker, who turns himself into Carnivore and then gets hit by a truck.

The narration promises that there's a point to all this, which we'll see in the annual.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 448,558. Single issue closest to filing date = 324,100.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - first Random & Isolationist

Chronological Placement Considerations: Moira MacTaggert appears here before her appearances in Uncanny X-Men #299-300; i've pushed this arc back in publication time to accommodate that. This arc is referenced in Avengers #360-361 and therefore takes place before it.

References:

• Taylor was attacked in X-Factor #83.
  
• Wolfsbane was made into a mutate in New Mutants #97.
  
• Wolfsbane laments that every thought she's had since leaving Genosha in X-Factor #71 is suspect.
  
• Polaris was convinced that she was Magneto's daughter by Mesmero and a Magneto robot in Uncanny X-Men #50.
  
• She was brainwashed by Eric the Red in Uncanny X-Men #97.
  
• She was taken over by Malice in Uncanny X-Men #219.
  
• Moira MacTaggert will meet Professor X in France. Xavier will be there on "related business", which we'll see in Uncanny X-Men #300.
  
• Wolfsbane is upset that Moira is leaving, and accuses her of screwing up the minds of Proteus (Uncanny X-Men #125-128) and Magneto (as revealed in X-Men #1-3).

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A