Investigate The Very Concept Of Death In X-Factor #1

Sometimes you find a way to conquer death, and wouldn’t cha know it? You gotta make sure you don’t accidentally create a bunch of clones and overthrow the natural order of the universe.That’s where X-Factor comes in. They investigate the deaths so that mutants might once again live. Join Leah Williams, David Baldeón and Israel Silva as they explore this new world order in X-Factor #1.

Cori McCreery: Welcome to the very first, and long-awaited installment of Factor Fiction! Or at least it’s been long awaited for me! I have been eagerly awaiting Leah Williams’ and David Baldeón’s X-Factor for many months, exasperated in part by a global pandemic pushing everything back even longer. While my planned collaborator can’t join us for this first issue, I’m more than happy to share the page with the chaotic ball of nonsense that is my buddy Dan! How are you doing Dan?

Dan McMahon: Ya know, I am fantastic! This has been the book I have been waiting on pins and needles for (100% do not recommend but I am not a doctor so do what you want). I feel that me being a fixed point of chaos in the universe really made me gravitate to this book pretty drastically. I am delighted to be here talking about it with you. Ready to start our investigation?

I’m Bored & Your Sister’s Hot

CM: Of course! We kick off this series with Jean-Paul getting a flash of something tragic happening to Jeanne-Marie, which I still don’t know exactly how, because I don’t think it’s one of his powers. The Beaubiers have always been fairly close, but I don’t remember them ever feeling something bad happening to the other before. [Ed. note: All twins are magical] Either way, this gives us our inciting incident, as Jean-Paul rushes off to The Five to have them immediately bring her back. They refuse to do so without proof, and we have our hook to form this new team and start an investigation. It was nice to see a tiny glimpse of Northstar’s homelife, and really nice to see Kyle before everything fell apart. What’d you think of our group’s first case, Dan?

DM: Even without coming into this with any emotional ties to Jean-Paul, I was instantly invested in this first case. Being able to be there for his knee-jerk reaction to swoop in on the resurrection squad without any notice felt like a true human reaction. I don’t think he was really angry at them but being flooded with emotions like that tends to make you a bit frantic. From there, we got to see the building blocks of the new X-Factor being built. This motley crew is not the typical collection of mutants, I’d go so far as to say they’re the platypus of the X world right now. But together with their unique abilities, they did end up solving the case quite quickly. Quicker than anyone had thought they would.

CM: Like you said, they solved this case with an almost frightening quickness. I was not expecting the resolution of Aurora’s death to come this quickly, I figured this case would take the entire first arc, but it was all resolved really well here. It didn’t seem too fast, because of how it was written. We got to see everyone contribute to the investigation in ways that really worked, and really brought us all an idea of their place on this team. We see Leah utilize powers that are often forgotten (Rachel’s chrono-skimming!!!!) and also just using their gifts naturally to put everything together. Nobody feels extraneous. Jean-Paul probably lent the least to this particular investigation, but that’s understandable given his emotional connection to it. It was also fun to see that as close as he is to his sister, he obviously doesn’t know as much about her as he thought he did. In the end, the fact that they solved this so quickly was used as an example of how much they’re needed by The Five.

Haughty Little Resurrection Monkeys

CM: The Five’s part of this book is actually the thing I was most interested in when the book got announced. The fact that Leah talked about how she wants to use this book to address things like suicidal mutants and trans mutants and how they fit into the resurrection process, that really drew me in. It feels like this is the book where the resurrection protocols are really going to be fleshed out, and it’s such an interesting part of this new mutant status quo. How do you feel about The Five’s part in this book?

DM: So at first when Jean-Paul drops in on them and they tell him to essentially get in line, I gotta tell you I was ready to go in swinging on them with him (This may be the Jersey in me). But then I took a step back and really read what they were saying. The crowds outside of their building were massive. Each and every one of them was looking to have their loved ones brought back. We got a glimpse of someone hanging a portrait of someone amongst many others. This image is so evocative of memorial walls you see at places of remembrance which makes it a very powerful image. The Five have so much work ahead of them and are completely overwhelmed. Of course they want to help Jean-Paul but he went about it the wrong way. After they solve the case, the Five are very much behind this team with their support. Getting to see the fact that they are struggling too brings a lot of weight to just how important these five have become.

CM: Yeah, the sheer enormity of their role in this new utopia is immense, and while we’ve got glimpses of it with the big ceremonies and the Crucible, the weight of it all didn’t really hit until this issue. They are so unbelievably important, and without them everything would fall apart. The fact that two of them taking a short coffee break is interrupted by an angry French Canadian is absolutely tragic. I feel for Jean-Paul, and it’s clear he was overwhelmed by his emotions, but Hope was absolutely in the right. I loved them throwing this new team their support at the quiet council too. It’s very clear that these two groups are going to be working closely in concert, and it’s also evident that the Five also understood the circumstances of Jean-Paul’s intrusion. The housewarming was such a nice scene, before they all have to get to work. Because as overworked as the Five are, it’s clear that X-Factor is going to join them in that category, because hoo-boy there are a lot of cases already pending.

Suitable Happens After Available

CM: Story points out of the way, it’s important to also talk about the composition of this team. By the end of the issue, I was in love with Leah’s voice and David’s presentation of literally every member of this team. There were members of the team I came in with an existing attachment to (Rachel and Lorna, mostly), and people for whom I’d read very little of (Daken and Trevor). But by the time we closed this first chapter? I’d likely die for any of them, even Daken.

DM: We need to talk about the Daken in the room. Unlike you, I came into this with no real connection to anyone. To be quite honest with you, I have felt a bit disconnected from Dawn Of X as a whole because I didn’t have a character I identified with. There was no one that I was invested in with my full heart. Let me tell you what, never expected walking away from this issue saying that Daken may be my character. Amongst a group of misfits and outsiders, Daken is the one with the most to prove. Jean-Paul is so hesitant of having him help because he thinks his concentration of chaos is contagious. Even though Daken is a bit pointy around the edges and somewhat crude, it’s abundantly clear that he is here to help. One part in particular stood out though that made his claws go right through my heart. When they find where Aurora’s body might be, Jean-Paul jumps to help search them but Daken holds him back. Daken has the emotional intelligence to know that isn’t the best call. Leah’s voice for Daken worked so well for me that I would happily say that I may be a Daken stan. Also David’s design for him has big hunk energy. Love to see it. Everyone really does feel like they have a place on this new team.

CM: They absolutely do. Everyone’s personalities click together with just enough conflict to make things interesting, but not enough to make it seem implausible that they could ever work together. I think a big part of that has to do with the people Leah selected for the team. The biggest players have something in common, and that’s that they’ve been poorly handled numerous times in the past by other writers. The scene with Lorna and Magneto really struck a chord with me, because in my year long quest to read all of X-Men, she’s fast become one of my favorite characters, but she’s been horribly handled so often it hurts. There’s a lot of mishandling of mental illness when you read her stories, and a lot of not knowing how she clicks into the surrounding community. Part of that is that sometimes she’s allowed to be Magneto’s daughter, other times she’s not, and that leaves us with confusion of where she fits. She’s now the only child, but she still doesn’t quite know her role in the community. It’s funny, because as I’m typing this paragraph, “Mad Woman” by Taylor Swift started playing, and that really feels like a Lorna song to me. She’s a woman who’s been through so much, and is just finally looking to find herself, including turning down leadership. It’s not the right thing for her right now, and she knows it. And truly? I love that journey for her. And sometimes, finding yourself involves creating a giant phallic symbol with an island that tried to eat you years ago. What’d you think of the Boneyard?

DM: Top to bottom? I love the Boneyard. Having something built in unison between Krakoa and Lorna was beautiful. The design of it is unlike anything else that I have seen on the island which is sort of like this team. It brings a sense of community because they’re all working in unison. X-Factor is doing something that benefits everyone. They are this sort of community service that no one has provided yet. Their base being this pillar that everyone can see is a reminder that there are mutants always willing to help one another which itself is a pillar of this era of X-Men so far.

CM: Overall, I thought this was as close to perfect as an opening issue can get. It did all the team building and setting of the concept that was needed, and wrapped itself up as a stand-alone story. It’s a perfect entry, in that you don’t have to read an entire arc to get the whole opening story, but it connects you to the characters enough that you want to keep going.

DM: Honestly think this is the first #1 in a bit that has given me a handful of characters I didn’t have much connection to and said “you love them now, they are your friends”. Every joke, heartfelt moment, and beat in this story landed for me. It’s a perfect one bite to get a taste of what’s to come.

X-Trenuous Thoughts

Leah Williams is someone many writers on this site are friendly with. Doing what we can to approach this book from an objective viewpoint but ethically it’s probably important to disclose that.
Gonna fight the little punk who was daydreaming of kicking Amazing Baby.
I may buy crocs because of Eye-Boy…does anyone know where I can get an economy sized bag of googly eyes?
Mmmfhp’bull was so well timed and made me keel over laughing as an introduction to Daken
The entire interaction between Jean-Paul and Daken at the gates is golden. The “do you do anything other than slice and flirt?” line hit me where I live because that is the energy I try to bring to every project.
Everyone’s style is SO GOOD. Especially Lorna. BRB, trying to find good red plaid pants.
Daken’s sitting position in the Quiet Council chamber was *chef’s kiss*
This is going to be the team who goes to find Adam X the X-Treme right?
Krakoan reads: Mojo Verse

Cori McCreery

Yes, it's Cori McCreery—strange visitor from DC fandom who came to Xavier Files with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal critics. Cori, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, bend steel in her bare hands, and who, also works as an editor for a great Eisner winning website, Women Write About Comics, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.