Credits: Written by Peter David, pencils by Jae Lee, inked by Al Milgrom and edited by Kelly Corvese.
Plot: Charles Xavier has been shot and is being rushed into surgery, already at the hospital are the members of X-Factor (Havok, Polaris, Quicksilver, Wolfsbane and Multiple Man ) because of a Genoshan mutant who was beaten near to death. Havok sees Bishop and Storm there and they exchange pleasantries.
In New Mexico, X-Force decides to go an investigate things. Warpath and Siryn stay with Sunspot, while the rest check out the crime scene in the IPAC. Back at the hospital, but on a different floor, Polaris, Quicksilver and Multiple Man are with Prodigal, leader of the mutants that included the assault’s victim. They talk over the horrors of bigotry and Quicksilver questions whether Magneto has a point in his anti-human rhetoric. Downstairs Guido/Strong Guy arrives with Jo Beth, another of Prodigal’s people. Havok berates him for not checking in and as he see’s Wolfsbane going stir-crazy, sends both of them to check the crime-scene and see if they can find any clues. Nearby Archangel broods over his failure to stop Cable and then blames Apocalypse.
At the crime-scene, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane are shocked to see several members of X-Force. Feral, Shatterstar, Boom Boom, Cannonball and Rictor are all there and Wolfsbane jumps from cover as Strong Guy calls in and requests instructions. By this point, Rhane/Wolfsbane has confronts Cannonball. Rather than being a fight, it becomes a school reunion as Boom Boom, Cannonball, Rictor and Wolfsbane were all on the New Mutants together. As Feral confirms no trace of Cable’s scent, Guido tries to arrest X-Force and finds himself on the receiving end of Feral’s claws and then facing Shatterstar’s swords. Feral then goes after Rhane and the pair battle with animalistic ferocity. Guido is about to be impaled when Quicksilver shows up to fence with Shatterstar, signifying the rest of X-Factor has arrived. Havok, Polaris and Multiple Man join the fight and Cannonball, seeing that the odds are against them and that there’s no information to be had make a run for it.
Back at the hospital, the surgeons working on Charles find something inexplicable and alarming.
Cannonball regroups his team and they head out on the IPAC. Havok blasts it in what appears to be desperation, causing a smoke trail, which can be followed as a back up plan. Wolverine, Psylocke, Gambit, Rogue and Beast appear and offer to help, Havok is grateful for the assist, but asks where his brother Scott is.
We see Scott/Cyclops along with Jean Grey being delivered by the Horsemen to Apocalypse, although as the Horsemen leave, it turns out that Apocalypse has nothing to do with it, it was all Mr Sinister. Back once more to the hospital and we learn that the bullet contained a techno/organic virus which is transforming Charles’ body to a mechanical one. Multiple Man suggests that they take Charles back to the Mansion, because he should be allowed to die in his own home.
Notes: In part one, X-Factor was seen to be watching the concert on pay-per-view. At the start of this issue, they’ve been in the hospital all day, except Guido who was taking Jo Beth dancing. That from the beginning of this issue causes a bit of a disconnect. I don’t know if it was the last writer, the current writer or editorial, but someone dropped the ball here. I suppose the problem was that Peter David played his own little game with X-Factor. It had no big artist, nor big name characters and so he was often left to do his own thing, making X-Factor more of a workplace sit-com and less of a mainstream hero book, but he was still shoe-horned into these crossovers. It bothers me, because it would not have taken much to sort that out. But that was my big problem with this issue.
When I first read these comics, at the time of release, I was not a fan of Jae Lee’s take on these characters. Now, I can see he’s being more stylised than I liked when I was younger, but he does a great job with the characters, making big look huge and dangerous look lethal. The battle between Wolfsbane and Feral was only a page or so in total, but you felt how brutal it was and surprising that the shy and overly religious Rhane was so much more aggressive and animalistic that Feral. When the surrender order is given, Feral is quite happy to get out of there.
The art aside, it’s definitely a Peter David comic, with quips a plenty and a sense of whimsy that conflicts with the serious tone of the crossover, but still kind of works and with the new virus and the inclusion of Sinister, we get a feeling that there’s more going on here than the was in part one and I’m ready for more.
Verdict: Art – 4 out of 5 – Better than I remember, this is visceral and stylised art that differs from the rest of the X-office’s style, but it works for what we’re doing, it’s dark and moody and it makes all the action that much sharper.
Writing – 4 out of 5 – From the banter between team-mates to lines like “Jeez! You were worried about Feral hurting Rhane?” it is David trying his best to fit his own sensibilities in this crossover, mostly well, but with everyone in uniform at a hotel watching TV in part one and them in the hospital and/or dancing all night in part 2, it’s less smooth than needs be. That said, the Sinister reveal is a lot of fun and with the discovery of the virus, David ratchets up the tension nicely.
Overall: 8 out of 10 – A solid part 2 that delivers on its promise and whets your appetite a little bit more.
Next Time : More Spider stuff, more VR stuff, yay.
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