Review #16: X-Factor (vol.2) #4

Let me try to set this up…Years ago, there was a government backed team of mutants called X-Factor. It first consisted of the original X-Men, and then switched to a group of second stringers. I don’t know what ended up happening to that team, but most of them are in this new incarnation. One of them is Jamie Madrox, The Multiple Man. He can make clones of himself. Last year there was a series I only caught th first issue of called Madrox wherein Jamie starts an investigation agency. Jump ahead to late last year, that House of M fiasco the Marvel Mutants had to deal with…Thanks to Scarlet Witch, most mutants lost their powers leaving only 198 mutants on earth. I think that was a great idea because it seemed like they were popping up everywhere. Most of them were probably trendy metromutants anyway. In the aftermath of M-day (a mutant related thing that doesn’t start with X?!? How novel.) Madrox forms a group of muties, some from the old X-factor, some from other x-teams that are now defunct (x-force, Generation-x). So is born the non-government related X-factor investigations. This book is written by comic superstar Peter David who made the Hulk famous. He does a good job setting up the story. The group just solved the murder of a woman by a movie star. While this too four issues, it seems in doing so they ruffled the feathers of another agency, Singular Investigations. SI also had a hitman sent back to them in a pine box courtesy of Layla Miller. Now who the hell is she? That’s the question. In the first issue, she shows up and no one knows who she is. She’s this little blonde girl who keeps saying she “knows stuff”. It gets kind of annoying and I thought she was some lame Veronica Mars knock off. Then in the end of issue three, she killed that hitman then sent him back in issue four. No one else on the team has any idea about this exept for Monet, who only really thinks about herself. So, like I said, the question is who is she and whats her game? I like the art by, good lord, I just looked and it’s a team of FOUR artists…I’m not gonna list them. Anyway, it’s got a film noir-ish look to it, which I think is the goal. Sometimes it looks funny, like Rhane looks like Shenade O’Connor with a mane. Some parts look really good, though, like the last page of issue four where Syrin gets beaten good by the son of the head Singular guy. Am I going to keep reading this? Hell, yeah.