X-Factor 8: Overtime

Book 6 of the X-Factor series, "Secret Invasion", was quite rightly panned by fans. More than one fan, including myself, began to think that the series was going downhill.We needn't have worried. Whatever went wrong in Volume 6, it's over now. Volume 7 brought back a great story, which is wrapped up in this new Volume 8. X-Factor is back on track and gives we readers everything we want from our favorite superhero team.Peter David is a writer that knows how to give fans what we want--drama, action, adventure, romance, mystery--and yet he almost always does it in a way we don't expect, keeping things fresh. In this one volume we find friends turned enemies, enemies who are suddenly friends, and the rekindling of an old romance that readers have long been clamoring for. The identity of Cortex, the villain introduced in volume 7, is revealed--but what does his identity have to do with threats from the future coming back to kill our heroes? And is he really our villain, or has another, more sinister, threat been behind him all along? Storylines left hanging from X-Factor's earliest issues are wrapped up, and in my opinion, not a single one of the explanations was disappointing or boring.All that is spaced out with wonderful character moments and very funny bits of dialogue that make a person want to keep reading. The art is very easy on the eyes, too, so if you're big on that you won't be disappointed. The "Cortex" storyline ends here, but Jamie and his team are so fun and interesting I again look forward to what's next.

I genuinely did not think that it could get better than Book 7 "Time and a Half" but this really came through for the win. I love the Summers Rebellion Storyline, I love the addition of Shatterstar, the return of Layla, and the introduction of Cortex. Yes this book does just continue and conclude the storylines that were established in the last book, but it does so in the best way possible. Peter David is truly iconic for this.

Though it doesn't top the previous volume, this is still a strong conclusion to this arc of X-Factor. The grim future of the Summers Rebellion is full of interesting heroes and villains. I love the design of Ruby, Cyclops's daughter. Her red skin and black eye beams make for a visually compelling character. Elderly Doctor Doom is also really enjoyable, using a few random bits of junk to craft deadly weapons. In the present, Shatterstar reunites with Rictor, making Strong Guy uncomfortable. We get some humorous dialogue as he asks Rictor about his sexuality. My only gripe is that Madrox and Layla Miller are once again forced apart. Their dynamic is so good that I feel like the book suffers when they're not together.Art from Valentine De Landro is perfect, balancing the gritty with the outlandish. Jeremy Cox's coloring gives the more fantastical elements a nice pop. Could look at this art all day.

I was loving this storyline: characters, teasers, plotting, developments, clues, twists, it had it all. But the pace suddenly shifted during the last ten or twenty pages (this would be the second half of the giant size X-Factor #50 of volume 3 in the actual comics). And it didn't downshift, it certainly didn't lose the race, no it sprinted like hell for the finish. Some eyebrow raising moments: Dr. Doom in a frail state can assemble a force blaster in the back of an ordinary truck "from spare parts" (I'll even buy he had it hidden on him), but that's nothing compared to overtaking a cyborg's mind within a few moments of being alone with him, who is already very wary of Doom being around at all. Not that these by themselves are implausible in the world of comics, it's more that they so drastically break with the established pace of the story. It's like someone just hit the highlights of the plot because they knew they were running out of pages to actually develop it. But the real kicker is when things are compounded by the "Voltron" of sentinels (seriously, what the..?!) and a standard sci-fi child-angst-paradox. Maybe it's because I never liked Sentinels as enemies, too Johnny Quest or something, that I didn't care for that part of the story. I think if there were maybe another ten pages inserted to develop some of these big question marks (and there were others, these are just the real biggies) this book would rank as one of David's best. Even so it's still definitely one of X-Factor's most interesting storylines. Again, overall, I loved it. It's just that the sudden sprint at the end completely shifts gears to wrap it all up. 5 stars for the plot but only 3.5 for the full story.

Within this book, Dr. Anthony Falcone, Science Advisor to the President, with the help of Dr Doom, tries to eliminate what remains of the mutant race from the face of the earthThis was written in 2008-2009, and I'm not kidding.