Book of Doom: X-Factor #16

Jean-Claude Van Doom: “Man, I freaking love X-Factor. This is, by far, the best superhero team book on the shelves right now. And this issue is just a perfect example of why it’s so great.

Madrox’s hunt for the loose dupes allows Peter David a chance to set Madrox apart and really delve into his character, which is frail and fractured as ever. And what David does best is put his characters into situations that force them to make horribly difficult choices. In this issue, Madrox finally makes a firm decision when put to the test, a payoff for those of us who’ve read the character closely for the past few years. Beyond that, David also really fleshes out the dupe, which makes the story just that much richer.

One of the complaints about the book has been that there’s not enough action (I wholly disagree), but David also sets out some serious bait for a little more traditional superhero action by tossing in the “mysterious hooded villain lurking behind the scenes.” It’s just another complication for David to throw upon his characters, to give them another chance to face challenges and react and grow. Because that’s the thing about X-Factor. It’s all about character.

PS – In case you couldn’t figure it out, this was my book of the week.”

Doom DeLuise: “I, unlike most everyone else, don’t read X-Factor. Never have. Until this past Wednesday, when it was chosen as the Book of Doom for this week. Peter David seems like he’s a good writer, so I figured that it’d be pretty decent. Plus, everybody is constantly singing its praises.

As a jumping-on point, however, this issue is pretty tough. Not knowing any of the characters, not knowing any of the storylines, well, I didn’t know what the heck was going on.

So, what’d I think of it? It was terrible! No, wait, it was awesome! No, wait, I really don’t have any clue what I just read. Was that Multiple Man? Is this a comic-book adaptation of “The One” with Jet Li? What the bloody hell is happening?

I’ll say this. It’s pretty to look at, and there’s words that explain stuff that happens.

Go for it!”

I saved my own comments for last, because quite simply, I couldn’t think of anything to say about the issue. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the issue, as I have loved every issue of X-Factor. Peter David’s a tremendous writer, and Pablo Raimondi is a great artist who will hopefully provide the book with the stability it deserves. I don’t know why I love this book so much. I just do.

One very interesting thing about this particular issue is that this was only the second stop on Jamie Madrox’s journey to complete himself, and Jamie decided to not absorb his dupe. My first reaction to it was that it would have a whole lot more emotional resonance if Jamie had been reabsorbing dupes left and right, then finally got to one who was truly a good man that he let remain unreabsorbed. Then I got to thinking, starting this so early means Jamie’s going to be dealing with this over and over on his quest. Who is Jamie Madrox to decide whether another man (albeit a carbon copy of himself) deserves to live or die? These people shouldn’t exist, but they do. They have lives, and there are people in their lives who will be greatly affected by the dupe suddenly not existing. These dupes have wives, sons, daughters, friends, co-workers…what kind of emotional toll is taking these dupes away from them going to have on Jamie Madrox? If Peter David wouldn’t have included this story when he did, the rest of the arc would have had a much different feel to it.