These past few issues, Peter David has really kicked it into high gear by delivering us some pretty shocking endings. His mission was to shake things up upon fans' recent complaints of X-Factor falling flat in the story department.
The last 2 issues have opened with a personal plea from PAD to not spoil the issues in reviews or previews or even word of mouth. So I'm not going to do that.. cause frankly, this issue ends with a real doozie that hardcore X-Factor fans will simply loose their freakin' minds over.
In this issue, we revisit the only dupe that Jamie Madrox never reabsorbed. The Priest know as John Maddox. I won't say why Jamie wants to talk to John, cause that might spoil some things, but if you've read last issue, and you think long and hard about how John might be involved, you'll come to the logical conclusion on your own.
PAD really delivers on the state of minds of both John and Jamie as this issue's focus is almost entirely on these two.
DeLandro gives us some nice art, but I'm not sure I'm digging his giving Multiple Man Ryan Reynolds' face. I would have much preferred he leaned towards Eric Dane's likeness. In any case, Valentine is a great successor to the tone that we had gotten from Raimondi's run. DeLandro seems like he's still trying to find his sea legs here by giving us some inconsistencies in his art, but I can't say that it's overly distracting. He still manages to get the point across, and he's quickly becoming a master of subtle mannerisms.. something that Raimondi had perfected during his run.
So, being a big fan of X-Factor (Vol.3) #16 (
I had named it my favorite story of that year), seeing John Maddox again was a huge treat. PAD ties up a loose end from the previously mentioned issue 16 as well (
take note Claremont), and the best thing is... it's a loose end we didn't even know we had. PAD has a great handle on what his written before.. he keeps tabs!
I was blown away by the final page, and you will too.
9/10 dupes.