X-Factor #21

Written by Peter David

Art by Pablo Raimondi and Brian Reber

Marvel Comics $2.99

“The Isolationist”

 

 

With the introduction of a new villain, a mysterious obsessive-compulsive man who appears to have followed Monet and Theresa back from France, Peter David really goes out of his way to show what the maximum capacity a 22 page comic book can accomplish.

In only three pages, using 16 panels, he shows how getting caught up with Pietro’s plan to rule over people has destroyed Rictor. By regaining his powers and then losing them so quickly, Ric is devastated. Dwelling in his bedroom with the lights out, refusing to eat or leave the room, despite Rahne trying to help him get his mind off of the recent past. The monologue that runs throughout the book is a commentary on loneliness, how it can drive some people crazy, how it’s unnatural, but beneficial for short periods of time, but how in the end it’s not really in our nature to be alone. We are social creatures, the monologue insists, “the greatest instinct we have is to survive. The more people there are, the better the chances of survival. It’s easy to pick off individuals…but there’s strength in numbers…even if that number is only two.” After sitting with him and trying to cheer him up, get him to eat, anything that resembles real human activity, Rahne walks away after being kissed by Rictor. Then she stops at the door, taking off her shirt and running to the bed, kissing him back.

David does an excellent job at balancing what I would call real humor, that is, not these forced jokes, but honest humor into the dialog between the characters. This is usually done in part by Guido, who is just a generally funny, good-natured person. As Monet and Theresa tell Jamie that they’ll forgive them for two-timing them if he tells them which was better in bed, Guido whispers to Jamie, “DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!” By adding humor and an almost soap opera tension among very serious situations, it tends to balance everything out, which stops this book from ever feeling like a superhero book or a detective book, though it’s both, but much, much more.

With everyone else seemingly out of the house or working on a case, Layla and the little girl Monet and Theresa rescued from an angry mob in France are eating breakfast, when the girl shows Layla a pregnancy test that someone flushed down the toilet.  It came back and it had a plus sign on it.  This is a perfect example of Peter David’s ability to soap opera it up, because it could be any of the three women, but I’m sure a big chunk of anticipation and real time will go by before we get some answers.  In the meantime, Guido meets up with Val Cooper from the government agency O*N*E*, where he believes he is to be offered a bribe to spy on the team. He is shocked to learn that Cooper is actually asking him to be in charge of the police force in the mutant disctric where X-Factor’s offices are. While he’s being suspicious of Cooper, Jamie is drinking early in the day, where is greeted by the man who followed the girls from France. He introduces himself to Jamie as Josef Huber, saying to Jamie, “I’m an isolationist, being alone, it’s a terrible way to live…don’t you think?”

The agency’s services are required to track down a pair of children who are famous for singing racist, propagandistic songs about the end of homo superior and the girls gladly take the case. These stories work best when David breaks up the cast of characters on multiple assignments and they generally all head towards a unified collision course so that, once they are reunited, the full cast shines at the climax of the story arc. It looks like this book has hit it’s stride and hasn’t really been affected by having the same writer for nearly two years. In fact, it’s considerably stronger for having a consistent writer who just happens to be one of the most talented writers in comic books today. If Peter David left X-Factor, I’d seriously consider about canceling from my pull list.