JD Francesco
Apr 22, 2008, 10:39 am
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/XFACT030_col.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/XFACT030_colt.jpg " hspace=10 align=left alt="X-Factor #30"></a> Reviewer: JD Francesco, vos_attestor@yahoo.com
Story Title: The Only Game In Town, Part 2
“Why think small when you can think big? Why be timid when you can be boulder? Boulder? Bolder? Get It? *sigh* Never mind..”
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Valentine De Landro
Inks: Andrew Hennessy
Colors: Jeromy Cox
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com/)
Contains some spoilers!
The title to this story arc takes on a whole new meaning as the only publicly known mutant team remaining after Messiah Complex find themselves under attack by none other than Arcade. Right off the bat I have to confess that Arcade is far from my favorite X-villain. The character is not without his charms but too many stories involving him tend to follow a classic plot. He uses some variation of Murderworld in an attempt to kill some super hero or the other, they eventually break free and then he escapes. This story doesn’t appear to be much different but Peter David has managed to tweak the formula a bit. Instead of merely building a Murderworld complex in a secret location, Arcade has decided to use the entire Middle East Side. It’s a brazen move to say the least as this has naturally attracted the attention of local authorities. Not that they can do anything about it. Arcade erected an energy field around the entire area to ensure no one interferes with his little game and also none of his playthings get away.
It has been said that by now the only point of intrigue in a story involving Arcade comes down to who hired him in the first place. As long as a writer is going to stick to the usual standard I can’t help but agree. This time around the employer turns out to be Taylor. Readers will remember him as that guy who let Rictor into the Purifiers during Messiah Complex. Thanks to the New X-Men’s screw up Rictor had to blow his cover and escape early on in the plot. It turns out that as punishment for his poor judgment the Purifier’s kicked Taylor out. I’m not so sure that merely getting kicked out would have been a believable punishment coming from a homicidal terrorist group, but there you go.
From the conversation between Arcade and Taylor we learn that Rictor isn’t the only intended victim in Taylor’s quest for revenge. Every resident of the Middle East Side is a target, though I don’t feel it was made very clear whose idea this was. It could have been a part of Taylor’s plan from the beginning but the dialogue suggests that he came to Arcade out of blind vengeance and it was Arcade’s plan to expand the idea further. I admit that I haven’t read every single appearance of the character but from what I have read Arcade never came across to me as the type to care one way or the other regarding the mutant issue. The idea of touching on his politics is an interesting angle to explore. If nothing else it’s different which in my book is good. Of course I could be reading a little too much into things and it may just turn out that the only motivation driving him as always is the thrill of the game.
As for X-Factor, they spend most of this issue reacting to the multiple traps before finally rescuing Rictor and surprise, surprise Arcade escapes just in time. Monet goes after him and if he actually gets caught this time around (without some silly twist like him turning out to be a robot all along) this would be a welcome change of pace. Just what would Arcade do if he was thrown in jail and all his assets were seized by the government? I guess we’ll find out what comes of Monet’s pursuit next month. As priorities go the bigger issue is beating that pesky failsafe plan and judging by the last panel our heroes will have their work cut out for them.
Despite the stock plot I actually did enjoy reading this. The stakes are raised, Arcade is pretty much acting out in the open putting an entire community in jeopardy. If he does get caught there will be hell to pay and rightfully so. Plus after two issues of moping about whether or not the team can go on, it’s nice to get one of our heroes fighting against an unrepentant villain on behalf of hundreds of innocent people. It’s a breath of fresh air and hopefully will lay to rest any doubts Jamie may have concerning whether keeping X-Factor together is worth it.
RATING:
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Buy X-Factor at X-World comics and save! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=26705)
Story Title: The Only Game In Town, Part 2
“Why think small when you can think big? Why be timid when you can be boulder? Boulder? Bolder? Get It? *sigh* Never mind..”
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Valentine De Landro
Inks: Andrew Hennessy
Colors: Jeromy Cox
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com/)
Contains some spoilers!
The title to this story arc takes on a whole new meaning as the only publicly known mutant team remaining after Messiah Complex find themselves under attack by none other than Arcade. Right off the bat I have to confess that Arcade is far from my favorite X-villain. The character is not without his charms but too many stories involving him tend to follow a classic plot. He uses some variation of Murderworld in an attempt to kill some super hero or the other, they eventually break free and then he escapes. This story doesn’t appear to be much different but Peter David has managed to tweak the formula a bit. Instead of merely building a Murderworld complex in a secret location, Arcade has decided to use the entire Middle East Side. It’s a brazen move to say the least as this has naturally attracted the attention of local authorities. Not that they can do anything about it. Arcade erected an energy field around the entire area to ensure no one interferes with his little game and also none of his playthings get away.
It has been said that by now the only point of intrigue in a story involving Arcade comes down to who hired him in the first place. As long as a writer is going to stick to the usual standard I can’t help but agree. This time around the employer turns out to be Taylor. Readers will remember him as that guy who let Rictor into the Purifiers during Messiah Complex. Thanks to the New X-Men’s screw up Rictor had to blow his cover and escape early on in the plot. It turns out that as punishment for his poor judgment the Purifier’s kicked Taylor out. I’m not so sure that merely getting kicked out would have been a believable punishment coming from a homicidal terrorist group, but there you go.
From the conversation between Arcade and Taylor we learn that Rictor isn’t the only intended victim in Taylor’s quest for revenge. Every resident of the Middle East Side is a target, though I don’t feel it was made very clear whose idea this was. It could have been a part of Taylor’s plan from the beginning but the dialogue suggests that he came to Arcade out of blind vengeance and it was Arcade’s plan to expand the idea further. I admit that I haven’t read every single appearance of the character but from what I have read Arcade never came across to me as the type to care one way or the other regarding the mutant issue. The idea of touching on his politics is an interesting angle to explore. If nothing else it’s different which in my book is good. Of course I could be reading a little too much into things and it may just turn out that the only motivation driving him as always is the thrill of the game.
As for X-Factor, they spend most of this issue reacting to the multiple traps before finally rescuing Rictor and surprise, surprise Arcade escapes just in time. Monet goes after him and if he actually gets caught this time around (without some silly twist like him turning out to be a robot all along) this would be a welcome change of pace. Just what would Arcade do if he was thrown in jail and all his assets were seized by the government? I guess we’ll find out what comes of Monet’s pursuit next month. As priorities go the bigger issue is beating that pesky failsafe plan and judging by the last panel our heroes will have their work cut out for them.
Despite the stock plot I actually did enjoy reading this. The stakes are raised, Arcade is pretty much acting out in the open putting an entire community in jeopardy. If he does get caught there will be hell to pay and rightfully so. Plus after two issues of moping about whether or not the team can go on, it’s nice to get one of our heroes fighting against an unrepentant villain on behalf of hundreds of innocent people. It’s a breath of fresh air and hopefully will lay to rest any doubts Jamie may have concerning whether keeping X-Factor together is worth it.
RATING:
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Buy X-Factor at X-World comics and save! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=26705)