X-Factor #235 Review

Introducing “THE EXCEPTIONALS!  Mutant heroes (who aren’t really mutants) for justice!”

X-Factor #235

Last issue, one of The Exceptionals (a Seattle based team based on the Phoenix Jones model) was murdered by an unknown assailant.  The victim’s mother brings the footage he recorded to X-Factor, and after Longshot is injured while trying to get a psychic reading off the video camera, Madrox and Shatterstar head out west to to join the team in the hopes of apprehending the killer.  While on patrol, the perpetrator kills another one The Exceptionals before X-Factor can intervene, and Shatterstar finds himself face to face with Scattershot.

The Exceptionals are hilarious – not only are they trying to be super heroes without any powers or training, but they’re so grandiose – calling yourself “Lord Defender” is more than a little presumptuous.  You’d think that after the first murder, they’d shut it down, but they keep on playing cops and robbers, walking a beat while trying to uphold an ideal that’s too heavy for them.  Shatterstar ‘s feelings for  Longshot had taken a back seat of late, but once that voice came out of the camera and knocked him out, Shatterstar made it clear that he was going with Madrox on the mission to Seattle, which gave everything a nice, personal touch.  I get the feelin Alex Summers is going to flip out when he finds out that there’s been another death.

Once again, I must make an open plea to everyone:  add this book to your list.  You don’t need to know anything about X-Factor, X-Men or read the other X-Men books to enjoy this – it’s just good writing and a style of story that  you don’t see much of in comic books these days.  This month’s cover takes a more serious tone as opposed to the recent more old school bold covers, but it’s welcome.  As usual, the art, layout and story are well done and easy to follow.

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Tags: Peter David X-Factor X-Men