While there have been many iterations of X-Factor since 1985, one of the most memorable has been the government-sponsored, workplace-comedy team first written by Peter David and drawn by Larry Stroman.
The X-Men’s Great Post-Krakoa Reset will include such a team as it resurrects the X-Factor brand for a new volume by writer Mark Russell (Fantastic Four: Life Story) and artist Bob Quinn (Way of X).
Co-led by prominent mutant blonds Angel and Havok and including sometimes-evil mutants like Pyro, Frenzy and Feral, the team’s mission appears to be playing the role of “the good ones” in an age where the Krakoan diaspora has mutant teams popping up all over the globe, including a couple new ones not previously mentioned in Marvel press releases.
Russell is known for satirical, doom-obsessed, anti-capitalist comics like The Flintstones, Second Coming and Billionaire Island. It appears he will take that same wry tone with Marvel’s government-sanctioned mutants, much like David did 30-plus years ago with his X-Factor team.
The link between the two, of course, is Havok, last seen as Madelyne Pryor’s reconstituted zombie consort in 2023’s Dark X-Men. How Havok got un-zombified is yet to be addressed, but let’s just guess and say dark magic.
Meanwhile, Angel is the subject this very week of a Giant-Size X-Men one-shot written by X-legend Ann Nocenti.
X-Factor is one of nine series announced so far for the X-Men’s “From the Ashes” era. The others are Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone and Dave Marquez, X-Men by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman, Exceptional X-Men by Eve Ewing and Carmen Carnero, X-Force by Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To, Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips and Alessandro Miracolo, and NYX by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Francesco Mortarino. Still to come are announcements for Wolverine, expected this week, and Storm.
And according to MacKay on The ComicsXF Interview Podcast, there are still more X-books to come.
Check out Greg Land’s cover to issue #1, out Aug. 14, and keep scrolling for Marvel’s press release.
While the X-Men’s mission forces them to work outside the law, certain teams have found ways to fight for mutant rights within the system as officially sanctioned strike forces! In the upcoming From the Ashes era, that tradition continues in a new volume of X-FACTOR from Eisner winning writer Mark Russell (Fantastic Four: Life Story, The Flintstones) and acclaimed X-Men artist Bob Quinn (Captain America, Knights of X).
Formed by the government in response to a post-Krakoa outbreak of mutant paramilitary, ops squads, and mercenary teams, X-FACTOR will be co-led by Angel and Havok and include recruits like Pyro, Frenzy, Feral, and more. Part special agents for missions that require an arsenal of superpowers and part celebrity propaganda machine, X-FACTOR will wage war against emerging factions like the Mutant Underground and X-Term. Whether they believe in their actions or are just doing it for a check, the members of X-Factor are no fools when it comes to shady politics. As hidden agendas rear their ugly head, they’ll fight against the dark consequences and disastrous public opinion from the inside!
FAME, FORTUNE, MUTANTS! From the ashes of Krakoa, a new mutant arms race sweeps the globe! International governments are building their own mutant armies. But only America’s X-Factor has the most powerful, most patriotic, most marketable mutant heroes to stem the tide and make the world safe for democracy! Join them as they go from one death-defying mission to another. Who will die? Who will fall in love? Who will be the first to sell out? Like, comment and subscribe to find out!
“The thing I’ve always loved about the X-Men is that they’re characters first, super heroes second,” Russell shared. “So being able to write characters like Havok and Angel and Frenzy in a post-Krakoa reality is an opportunity to write about what I really care about, which is how do we help each other survive the apathy of the world we live in?”
“It’s so exciting to be back and drawing mutants in the X-Men universe again, and doubly exciting to work with Mark again,” Quinn added. “To my mind, Mark’s mix of humor and ability to shine a light on the peculiarities of modern society make him the perfect writer to tackle the relaunch of X-FACTOR. Drawing this team and every unexpected twist and turn of the story has been a blast so far, and I can’t wait for readers to get their hands on it.”
Mutant sell-outs or mutant role models? You be the judge! Check out the main cover and preorder X-FACTOR #1 at your local comic shop today! For more information, visit Marvel.com.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
