The removal of Larry Stroman from X-Factor’s pencilling duties would be welcome in any event, but the return of Valentine de Landro is a double cause for celebration. De Landro has pretty much established himself as the definitive penciller for the book, and there’s been no drop off in the quality of his detailed but expressive work. Unfortunately, however, his return is somewhat ill timed, with this issue’s plot being mainly padding for the Darwin Awards arc’s inevitable trade paperback.

Despite the explosive cliffhanger that the field team faced last time, the main focus of this issue is events on the home front, with Val Cooper attempting to coerce Siren into accepting the O.N.E.’s somewhat sinister “protection” for her unborn child. The events of the Messiah Complex crossover are subtly allowed to overshadow the conversation, with the implication that another mutant birth could turn into a similar fiasco kept in the background. This danger allows Cooper slightly more credibility as a character than normal, although her initial belief that handcuffing Rictor is a sound negotiating strategy is a little hard to accept. The conclusion of this element raises a smile, but the subsequent scene where Theresa comes fractionally closer to killing Cooper is a little more difficult to accept as a result. The last scene of the issue makes clear that the government’s offer is about to become a lot less academic, and hopefully having the couple reunited will give more life to this strand.

Elsewhere, Madrox and his crew benefit from Peter David’s rewinding of events, allowing their situation to be fleshed out before the bomb blast seen at the conclusion of the previous issue. Once the gang recover, there’s little new that hasn’t been seen before in the title, with character threads present without being advanced. Jamie continues to be worried by the unpredictability of his duplicates, Monet and Longshot continue to instinctively flirt and Guido continues to solidly advance the plot without comment. As for the actual investigation that the team is undertaking, there’s little progress, with the one update on the Karma Project’s experiment being entirely predictable.

The writer obviously feels completely at home with this book, with the updates on his family life now an established part of the recap page. It’s just a pity that a desire to drag the story out for its secondary publication format has left purchasers of the single issues slightly short-changed.

This week: news and capsule reviews, including Amazing Spider-Man #574, Angel: After the Fall #13, Daredevil #112, Thunderbolts #125 and X-Factor #36.

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This week marks the start of the new Sunday Pages format, incorporating capsule reviews alongside news tidbits. Since Julian’s now joining us, you can identify his contributions by the initials [JHa] and mine by [JHu], while Seb , obviously, gets to keep the more concise [SP]. We’re still feeling out the specifics, so be sure to let us know how you’re finding it, and whether or not you think it could be improved! Look inside for mini-reviews of Action Comics #869, Amazing Spider-Man #572, Greatest Hits #1 and X-Factor #35, as well as some discussion of Neil Gaiman’s reaction to the new Hitchiker’s Guide book.

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Although the X-Men franchise managed to break it’s “Annual” habit in the first half of this decade, it’s recently discovered an even more debilitating addiction: specials. Barely a month goes by without Wolverine embarking on a forty-eight-page killing spree, or a supporting character seizing their moment in the sun. It’s difficult to see a reason for this approach other than the financial; if a story inspired by an X-book is interesting or moving, then it belongs in that title, not hived off as an additional purchase. The Divided We Stand epilogues to New X-Men should have served as a proper ending to that book, while the likes of X-Force: Ain’t No Dog are simply an attempt to wring a more regular revenue stream from a popular title slowed by its detailed art. There’s a simple rule of thumb here; if it isn’t written by a regular series writer, investigate carefully before purchasing. Thankfully, the names on the cover of this second X-Factor excursion mean it passes this test.

While her compatriots in the monthly title are facing the twin threats of a rampaging super-skrull and some shockingly poor artwork, Layla Miller remains in the distopian future glimpsed during Messiah Complex. After a short introduction set in an interment camp, the bulk of the story charts Miller’s journey across America, igniting a mutant rights uprising, almost accidentally, as she goes. All the stapes of a standard Days of Future Past comics world are found here; the children of present day characters, the shadow of a dark time ahead and an aged & mutilated present day hero living out his final days. Peter David prevents his tale from feeling clichéd, however, by actually rounding out this world from what was seen of it in last year’s crossover. We are shown people being able to live relatively normal lives, and an active debate in progress about the body politic.

What sells the storyline is David’s longevity as a writer. While the likes of Mike Carey would be left looking rather fan-ish if they revived some elements of the franchise, David’s use of ideas he was present for the gestation of somehow feels more acceptable, as he forges links between his previous X-Factor work and the title’s present incarnation. Besides, it’s always a pleasure to see David writing for Miller. A sharp break in tradition from the franchise’s Destiny/ Blindfold eccentric soothsayers, the teen feels both comfort and confinement from knowing how “stuff” will turn out, and there’s an interesting character moment when the latter overwhelms her, slightly increasing her credibility.

The story could quite easily just be a fun day out for Peter David with the character he’s made his own, but the emphasis the issue’s advance publicity placed on the Summers Rebellion elements suggests that the events here will mesh into the tapestry that the X-titles are becoming. Messiah Complex suggested that time travel will play a considerable part in the X-Men’s lives over the next few months, and it’s not hard to foresee the likes of Cable or Bishop having to pick up the pieces from the events here. Until that day, fortunately, this is one special that can stand on its own feet.

Coming at the end of a sub-par arc, this issue feels like something of a return to form for X-Factor. The book’s speciality is placing relatively conventional X-Men plots in a more realistic setting, and Peter David imbues the story with a real sense of pace as Mutant Town collapses in the aftermath of Arcade’s appearance. The adjustment that the writer makes to his team’s status quo here is one of the most obvious that could be implemented; yet his constant fake-outs and red herrings make the result feel like anything but a foregone conclusion.

It’s a misunderstanding to say that X-Factor has been derailed by its eagerness to participate in Marvel’s crossovers. In part, the concept seemed tailor-made to show such events form a different perspective. The book managed to thrive during its Civil War story, providing an interesting street-level look at the conflict, but the hasty curtailment of its Huber arc in time for Messiah Complex left a bad taste in the mouth. What sets this issue above its immediate predecessors, in addition to some superlative art from Valentine De Landro, is the way David allows Jamie some victories, however fleeting. The bleakness of the present story, with Mutant Town burning and Madrox overcome by despair, felt slightly odd when placed alongside the comedy that has always characterised the book. The easier tone here is a great relief. Another part of this success is the resolution of the slightly forced grievances between the cast members, and the appearance of a familiar face. The manner of Layla Miller’s partial return to the book should irritate, but the sheer check of David’s approach eventually wins the reader over. Her new status as Madrox’s imaginary friend allows the reader to enjoy some of David’s sharpest dialogue, and allows us to hear the main character’s thoughts without the sometimes-clunky use of narration.

A slight fly in the ointment is the confirmation that Val Cooper will be an ongoing part of the book’s furniture. Despite her longevity, she’s a character who has acquired remarkably little depth, and the sheer number of anti-mutant bigots she’s worked with makes it hard to accept her claims a responsible approach to mutant affairs at face value. David uses this in an excellent gag during her first meeting with Rictor, and it’ll be interesting to see if the writer is finally able to imbue her with a more rounded personality. The final page makes explicit her role in X-Factor’s pseudo-noir world. She’s the all-powerful mob boss, whose dirty work the team will occasionally have to do to stay in business. The agency’s relocation to Detroit gives a strong feeling that David has finished his adjustments, taking the strongest elements of the concept’s original incarnation, and transplanting them to a setting more compatible with the X-Franchise’s new direction.

With Carey’s increasing handle on the property and Brubaker/Fraction’s promising-sounding run, PAD’s position of writing the best X-book isn’t as secure as it once was, but that reflects the improving quality of the line rather PAD getting any worse. Even so, the events of Messiah Complex meant that the X-Factor’s stride wasn’t simply broken, rathar that its kneecaps were shattered.

To compensate for this, PAD has attempted to writte the events of Messiah Complex into a larger arc, putting X-Factor at their absolute lowest ebb - no plan, missing members and now no office. It does work to a point, but it still feels like a stumble compared to the way the book had been running in the past.

Taking X-Factor out of Mutant Town does make sense - after all, there aren’t any mutants there and since they’re more or less uncovered the conspiracy behind M-Day, there’s little to tie them to the concept of Decimation now. With the Messiah Complex shakeups still evident, it’s time to establish a new status quo, and the first part of that is getting rid of the old one. PAD does this by burning down Mutant Town.

It makes for an issue of fairly standard superheroics as X-Factor run around trying to rescue the few people left, and escape themselves. The sense of scale takes a bit of a knock, though - I get that Mutant Town is supposed to be empty now, but but showing almost no-one turn up to watch it get destroyed, it’s hard to get the sense that anything significant has happened. I gather from the writing that Mutant Town is pretty much gone for good, but that’s not what it looks like on the page, in part due to the small number of extras.

After an issue as the main villain, Arcade is fairly quickly shuffled off, having accomplished his remit of bringing random and pointless destruction to the cast without any discernable motive. It’s not exactly a strong idea, but PAD gets plenty of mileage out of it with some fairly good groaners along the way. Even so, the tone of X-Factor is largely serious, so it’s a pretty odd juxtaposition to have Arcade running around like a 60s Batman villain, and his flamboyant character design doesn’t remotely work in Raimondi’s fairly conservative style.

It’s not the best issue of X-Factor by a long shot, but it does at least do everything it needs to. Next issue establishes where the title’s going from here on in, and as such, it’s an ideal starting point for anyone looking for a good read. By comparison, this issue’s very much a sendoff, and with a strong sense of melancholy there’s no doubt that it certainly feels like one.