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X-Factor (comics))
X-Factor is the name of several teams of comic book superheroes owned and published by Marvel Comics that were featured in an eponymous series, which ran from 1985 to 1998. X-Factor was one of many spin-offs of the highly popular X-Men franchise. Like its parent title, the team's membership consisted of mutants born with various superhuman powers who fought against those who would exploit or oppress both mutants and ordinary humans.
The first group to called themselves X-Factor consisted of the same members as the original team of X-Men. The second group called X-Factor, formed in 1991, was a U.S. government-sponsored team that incorporated many secondary and tertiary characters from the X-Men mythos and other corners of the Marvel Universe.
The original X-Factor (1985-1991)
The line-up of the original X-Factor all debuted in X-Men #1 (1963) as the original X-Men, teenaged students of the telepathic Professor X. By the time X-Factor #1 was published in 1985, all of the original X-Men had entered adulthood and each had developed a unique history. They included:
- Cyclops (Scott Summers), who emitted powerful "optic blasts" from his eyes. Cyclops had led the X-Men's but had retired to marry Madelyne Pryor (an Alaskan pilot who bore a strange resemblance to Cyclops' first love, the supposedly deceased X-Man Jean Grey) and raise their son Nathan.
- Iceman (Bobby Drake), who could freeze the moisture around him and cover his body in a layer of ice.
- Angel (Warren Worthington III), who flew from two feathery wings extending from his back. Angel served as CEO of his family's multimillion dollar company.
- Beast (Hank McCoy), who possessed talons, blue fur and ape-like strength and agility. Since leaving the X-Men, Beast had become a respected scientist and a member of the superhero team The Avengers.
- Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), who possessed telepathic and telekinetic powers, and who had previously been believed to have died while bonded to the alien cosmic entity called the Phoenix.
The founding of X-Factor hinged upon the reunion of the original X-Men. This necessitated the return of Jean Grey, a decision that was highly controversial at the time. Her death in the seminal "Dark Phoenix Saga" (1980) was one of the defining points of the X-Men's history at that point. Furthermore, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter had laid down an edict stating that Jean Grey could not be brought back unless she were held accountable for the genocide of a sentient alien species that she had committed as the Dark Phoenix.
Future Marvel writer Kurt Busiek suggested a solution to this problem: Jean Grey had never actually been the Phoenix, as had been stated in the original "Phoenix Saga" (1976). Instead, the Phoenix entity copied Grey's identity and form, keeping her safe in a cocoon-like structure at the bottom of the Hudson River. Busiek related the idea to Roger Stern, who in turn related it to John Byrne. Byrne wrote and illustrated Fantastic Four #286 (1985), in which Jean was discovered and the truth revealed. In order to reunite the rest of the original X-Men, The Defenders was cancelled to free up Iceman, Beast and Angel, who were at that point members of that team, and Cyclops abruptly walked out on his wife and son in favor of reuniting with his friends and his first love.
The team debuted under the guise mutant-hunters for hire, the "X-Terminators", headquartered in downtown New York City, who as X-Factor secretly helped the mutants they captured control their powers and reintegrate into society. This rather unlikely move had been suggested to them by Cameron Hodge, Angel's employee and family friend, who was secretly an anti-mutant bigot himself and who manipulated public opinion of mutants through the activities of the "X-Terminators". Through their "mutant-hunting" they recruited a group of young wards:
- Boom Boom (Tabitha Smith), who created "plasma bombs"
- Rictor (Julio Estaban Richter), who produced powerful shockwaves
- Skids (Sally Blevins), who projected a protective force field around her body
- Rusty Collins, who could control flames
- Leech, who dampened the mutant powers of those around him and who had green skin
- Artie Maddicks, a mute child who could project hologram-like images of his thoughts and who had purple skin
Leech and Artie were the only two young children in X-Factor's junior division, the rest being teenagers.
X-Factor #6 (1986) introduced X-Factor's arch-nemesis Apocalypse, a 2,000-year old mutant who had been worshipped as a god of death in several ancient mythologies. He was determined to remake the world to fit his mad Darwinist philosophy. Apocalypse operated out of Ship, a huge, floating fortress run by a sentient computer.
Bob Layton and Butch Guise wrote and illustrated, respectively, the first few issues of X-Factor. They soon turned over creative duties to married collaborators Louise Simonson (writer) and Walt Simonson (artist). During the first two years of X-Factor, the Simonsons crafted a plotline that had a significant effect on Angel. In X-Factor #10, part of the "Mutant Massacre", the Marauders, a group of savage mutant mercenaries, severely injured Angel's wings to the degree that they were later amputated. Despondent, Angel attempted to commit suicide by crashing his airliner, but Apocalypse rescued him from the wreckage and transformed him into Death, one his "four horsemen". Death was a fearsome creature, loyal to Apocalypse, who possessed metal wings and blue skin. Angel escaped Apocalypse's control, but the physical changes to his body remained. He became known as Archangel and became a much darker character. At the same time, Beast convinced Apocalypse's Ship to abandon its master; the fortress subsequently served as the headquarters to, and an important ally of, X-Factor.
In the 1989 crossover "Inferno," Madelyne Pryor was revealed to be a clone of Jean Grey created by the nefarious mutant geneticist Mister Sinister. As the Goblin Queen, Madelyne allied herself with a group of demons and planned to sacfrice Nathan to open an interdimensional portal. X-Factor teamed up with the X-Men to defeat Goblin Queen and rescue Nathan.
During "Inferno", X-Factor's teenage wards starred in the X-Terminators miniseries, and shortly after, most of them joined the cast of the X-Men's junior team, the New Mutants.
In the last major storyline of the first X-Factor, published in early 1991 and illustrated by Whilce Portacio, Apocalypse kidnapped Nathan Summers, sensing that he would grow up to be a powerful mutant and possible threat. X-Factor rescued Nathan from Apocalypse's lunar base, but found him infected with a "techno-organic" virus that could not be treated in the present time. A clan of rebels from the future, known as the Askani, sent a representative to the present time to bring Nathan 2,000 years into the future to be treated. Fully grown, he would return to the 20th Century as the anti-hero Cable.
Shortly after this, X-Factor teamed up with the X-Men and a number of minor characters to fight the telepathic Shadow King. Afterwards, the members of X-Factor rejoined the X-Men, and several of the minor characters became founding members of the all-new X-Factor.
The second X-Factor (1991-1998)
Rather than end a successful series, Marvel hired writer Peter David and illustrator Larry Strohman to recreate X-Factor with new members, all of whom were already allies of the X-Men. The new X-Factor worked for the Pentagon, a relationship that was often strained and complicated. The new X-Factor, debuting in issue #71 (1991), included:
- Havok (Alex Summers), a former X-Man and brother of Cyclops who could generate powerful "plasma blasts." Havok served as X-Factor's leader.
- Polaris (Lorna Dane), Havok's longtime lover and also a former X-Man who could control magnetism.
- Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), a Scottish former New Mutant who could transform into a wolf-like creature.
- Multiple Man (Jamie Maddrox), who could create duplicates of himself.
- Strong Guy (Guido Carosella), a wise-cracking character who could rechannel physical energy aimed at him, transforming it into physical girth.
- Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), who possessed super speed. Quicksilver had been a member of the X-Men's adversaries - the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants - but reformed and served as a member of The Avengers.
- Dr. Valerie Cooper, a non-mutant who held the office of Special Chair of Mutant Affairs and acted as a liaison between X-Factor and the government's Commission on Superhuman Activities
The team often battled The Nasty Boys, a mutant criminal team lead by Mister Sinister. However, the action/adventure element of the series did not gain as much notice as David's use of humor and cultural references and his ability to flesh out characters who had previously been only been background characters of the X-Books.
David left in 1993. The series continued under writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Jan Duursema. During this time, Cooper was replaced with Forge, a government-employed weapons contractor whose mutant powers were his brilliant engineering skills.
By 1995, Multiple Man apparently died of the Legacy Virus, a deadly illness that attacked mutant genes (it was later revealed only one of his duplicates died), Strong Guy left after suffering a heart attack, Wolfsbane transferred to the European mutant team Excalibur and Havok left to infiltrate a mutant terrorist ring.
Writer John Francis Moore and illustrator Jeff Matsuda introduced a new X-Factor, consisting of Forge, who was the team's new leader, Polaris, and several new recruits:
- Wild Child (Kyle Gibney), who possessed heightened senses, fangs and claws.
- Shard, a holographic computer program that took on the personality of the X-Man Bishop's deceased sister of the same name. Bishop was a time-traveler from a distant future, where was a member the X-Men descendents the X.S.E. The original Shard was also a member of X.S.E. but died on a mission. The holographic Shard was brought to the 20th Century with Bishop.
- Mystique (Raven Darkholme), a shapeshifting mutant criminal and master of espionage. Mystique was forced to join X-Factor after being captured by federal agents. Forge attempted to use mechanical implants to keep her in line.
- Sabretooth (Victor Creed), a murderous mutant criminal who possessed talons, heightened senses and the ability to heal rabidly. Professor X had taken in Sabretooth in a bid to cure his homicidal instincts, but found him incurable and turned him over the federal government who, in turn, placed him in X-Factor. As with Mystique, Forge used special technology to control Sabretooth.
During the election year of 1996, writer Howard Mackie, taking over from Moore, helped write a plotline, in conjunction with other X-Books, in which Graydon Creed, son of Mystique and Sabretooth from a long-ago affair and an anti-mutant movement leader, launched a presidential campaign but was mysteriously assassinated in X-Factor #130. Afterwards, suspecting that forces in the government were responsible for Creed's killing in addition to other secretive and manipulative behavior, the team went underground.
By 1997, many fans had lost interest in X-Factor. Sabretooth and Mystique, two popular X-Man villains had failed to draw in more readers. In X-Factor #140, Mackie and artist Jaime Mendoza introduced yet another revision of X-Factor, consisting of Havok, Polaris, Multiple Man, Shard and several other members of the X.S.E., brought to the 20th Century:
- Archer, who could transmute his body into living energy.
- Fixx, who possessed telepathic and telekinetic powers.
- Greystone, a mentally unsound mutant who could increase his body mass and strength.
However, this version of the team failed to catch on and X-Factor was cancelled with issue #149 (1998). In that issue, Greystone built a time machine meant to take he and his compatriots back to their own time. However, the device exploded, killing Greystone and apparently Havok. Afterwards, X-Factor disbanded.
In actuality, though, the time machine transported Havok to a parallel world, populated by twisted versions of Marvel characters. He explored this strange world in the series Mutant X, which lasted from 1998 until 2001. Although it was originally stated that X-Factor would return with #150 after Mutant X ended, this claim was never actualized.
X-Factor miniseries (2001)
A four-issue X-Factor limited series was launched in 2001. This series focused on the government's new Mutant Civil Rights Task Force, humans who investigated anti-mutant hate crimes and inadvertently discovered an anti-mutant conspiracy within their own ranks. This series focused heavily on the “mutants as a metaphor for minorities” aspects of the X-Men concept.
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