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X-Factor (1986-1998) #36-50, Annual #3
Essential X-Factor, Vol. 3
One's married to his ex-girlfriend's clone, the other's fighting a monster possessing HIS ex-girlfriend True love has never run smoothly for either Summers Brother, but at least X-Factor's adventures make for an interesting babyhood for the infant eventually to be known as Cable Demons, cyborgs, trolls, aliens and, of course, the Terrors of the Eighties, Mr. Sinister's Marauders Featuring the X-Men, New Mutants, the X-Terminators, and Freedom Force Collects X-Factor #36-50, Annual #3;
Uncanny X-Men #242-243
Uncanny X-Men #242-243
536 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1989
5 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Louise Simonson
965 books101 followersLouise Simonson (born Mary Louise Alexander and formerly credited as Louise Jones, when married to artist Jeff Jones) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman, and Steel. She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Weezie".
Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson
Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 27, 2021
This volume mostly covers X-Men: Inferno centring around X-factor's Cyclops and Marvel Girl - and what a momentous tale it is! Louise Simonson however is not satisfied with just that, and unlike the other mutant titles, in addition she crafts the amazing stand-alone Celestials primed 'Judgement War' story arc, crafting one of the best interstellar tales ever (at the time). Through all this, can the team remains together despite been changed at such a deep level? There's also the New Mutants and the X-terminators becoming a single team and joining X-Factor in Ship, whose origin is finally revealed. Louise Simonson truly never seemed to get the recognition for her work with the mutant titles as Chris Claremontt did! Outside of Peter David's work, this is some prime X-Factor. 8 out of 12.
Collects X-Factor #36-50 and The Uncanny X-Men #239-243.
Collects X-Factor #36-50 and The Uncanny X-Men #239-243.
April 25, 2020
Phew! I missed a LOT by not keeping up with superhero comics after ~ 1985, apparently. This was quite the collection with all sorts of stuff happening, culminating in the "Judgement War". As to the latter, it reminded me of the first time that I read "Dune" - it was a slow-going slog at first, but once I caught on, it moved VERY quickly. Phew.
I gave it a 4 vice a 5 because although I liked Louise Simonson's writing, her husband, Walt's illustrations left me cold. Nice that they could work together, but his style just did not do it for me. YMMV.
I am going to take a short break from comic book anthologies as I have some other books that have arrived that I would like to read next.
I gave it a 4 vice a 5 because although I liked Louise Simonson's writing, her husband, Walt's illustrations left me cold. Nice that they could work together, but his style just did not do it for me. YMMV.
I am going to take a short break from comic book anthologies as I have some other books that have arrived that I would like to read next.
August 21, 2016
Again I love this series!
There's a wonderful 2-parter with Arthur Adams artwork that has to be one of my all-time favorite X-men adventures. It's a full-on Fantasy tale with Trolls set in London.
On the downside, there's a six-parter, "Judgement War" at the end of the book that's not quite up to snuff.
There's a wonderful 2-parter with Arthur Adams artwork that has to be one of my all-time favorite X-men adventures. It's a full-on Fantasy tale with Trolls set in London.
On the downside, there's a six-parter, "Judgement War" at the end of the book that's not quite up to snuff.
February 6, 2024
Pues seguimos con Factor-X, y aunque este tomo americano incluye los números incluidos en Inferno, como ya hemos hablado por aquí de ese crossover en concreto, vamos a dedicarnos a los números siguientes. Y justo después de Inferno y sus consecuencias, nos vamos a encontrar con una visita muy especial, la de Arthur Adams, que durante dos números, va a encargarse de los lápices en una historia muy particular, ya que supuso el debut (y casi despedida, para que el personaje tardó como veinticinco años en volver a aparecer) de Alquimia, un mutante capaz de convertir unos elementos en otros (el plomo en oro, por ejemplo), y que será perseguido por unos trolls que quieren desestabilizar la economía británica para que los humanos abandonen Britania y puedan volver a hacerse con ella.
Y tras Arthur Adams, llega un nuevo dibujante a la serie, Paul Smith, que ya había pasado por Patrulla-X en una de sus etapas más representativas... y que aquí en esta colección, con tintas de Al Milgrom, va a estar bastante menos afortunado. Louise Simonson y Paul Smith se van a llevar al equipo a un largo viaje espacial, al ser "secuestrados" por su propia nave inteligente, la Nave Celestial de Apocalipsis, y arrastrados a un mundo muy lejano, que está a punto de ser juzgado por los Celestiales (de ahí que la Nave se vea empujada a viajar hasta allí), y en el que Factor-X se va a ver de pronto inmerso y dividido en un enfrentamiento entre dos grupos opuestos, que recuerdan más que un poco a las dos razas de La Máquina del Tiempo. Se trata de un mundo donde todos son mutantes, pero por un lado los Desechados son criaturas con evidentes mutaciones físicas y que siguen reproduciéndose de un modo... ejem... normal, mientras que los Privilegiados muestran un aspecto "perfecto" y son criados en cubas genéticas. Y a la llegada de Factor-X, mientras la Bestia y Jean permanecen con los Desechados (Hank como un Desechado más, y Jean como prisionera), Arcángel es capturado por los Privilegiados y obligado a luchar en el circo, y un amnésico Hombre de Hielo se convierte en uno de los Duales, los Privilegiados capaces de cambiar de forma. Y Cíclope, se une a Los que empiezan de nuevo, un "grupo mixto" que intenta que los dos pueblos alcancen la paz por temor al juicio Celestial. Ah, bueno, y el pequeño Nathan, que también estaba con el equipo cuando la Nave fue arrastrada al espacio, se queda también con los Privilegiados.
Y bueno, es una historia muy pasable, la verdad, a mi se me ha hecho hasta larga. Bueno, es larga, pero me ha costado terminarla, y no sé si es por lo predecible de la trama, los personajes encasillados, el dibujo de Smith o probablemente, la suma de todo ello.
Y tras Arthur Adams, llega un nuevo dibujante a la serie, Paul Smith, que ya había pasado por Patrulla-X en una de sus etapas más representativas... y que aquí en esta colección, con tintas de Al Milgrom, va a estar bastante menos afortunado. Louise Simonson y Paul Smith se van a llevar al equipo a un largo viaje espacial, al ser "secuestrados" por su propia nave inteligente, la Nave Celestial de Apocalipsis, y arrastrados a un mundo muy lejano, que está a punto de ser juzgado por los Celestiales (de ahí que la Nave se vea empujada a viajar hasta allí), y en el que Factor-X se va a ver de pronto inmerso y dividido en un enfrentamiento entre dos grupos opuestos, que recuerdan más que un poco a las dos razas de La Máquina del Tiempo. Se trata de un mundo donde todos son mutantes, pero por un lado los Desechados son criaturas con evidentes mutaciones físicas y que siguen reproduciéndose de un modo... ejem... normal, mientras que los Privilegiados muestran un aspecto "perfecto" y son criados en cubas genéticas. Y a la llegada de Factor-X, mientras la Bestia y Jean permanecen con los Desechados (Hank como un Desechado más, y Jean como prisionera), Arcángel es capturado por los Privilegiados y obligado a luchar en el circo, y un amnésico Hombre de Hielo se convierte en uno de los Duales, los Privilegiados capaces de cambiar de forma. Y Cíclope, se une a Los que empiezan de nuevo, un "grupo mixto" que intenta que los dos pueblos alcancen la paz por temor al juicio Celestial. Ah, bueno, y el pequeño Nathan, que también estaba con el equipo cuando la Nave fue arrastrada al espacio, se queda también con los Privilegiados.
Y bueno, es una historia muy pasable, la verdad, a mi se me ha hecho hasta larga. Bueno, es larga, pero me ha costado terminarla, y no sé si es por lo predecible de la trama, los personajes encasillados, el dibujo de Smith o probablemente, la suma de todo ello.
July 5, 2024
Once this gets going, it doesn't stop. The first few issues in this book are fairly clunky reads, but after Louise Simonson finds her footing again, it's a fun ride. The whole Inferno crossover with Uncanny X-Men is good fun, ditto the 6 issue Judgement War arc. The only downside to this book is Walt Simonson's artwork on several of the issues. Yes, that's right, I said it. I am not a fan of his scratchy looking artwork, never have been. He has legions of fans, but I am not one of them.
September 10, 2025
This collection had The Good Stuff in it!
The Inferno event that everything has been building towards - Mr Sinister, Goblin Queen and X-Factor realising the X-Men aren't actually dead.
The was awesome and why this gets 4 stars!
After that it's "The Judgment War" which is very dull and I think completely skippable.
The Inferno event that everything has been building towards - Mr Sinister, Goblin Queen and X-Factor realising the X-Men aren't actually dead.
The was awesome and why this gets 4 stars!
After that it's "The Judgment War" which is very dull and I think completely skippable.
December 1, 2019
Inferno has its charms but Judgement War does not. The Art Adams drawn issues give a glimpse of a good version of X-Factor that we never really got.
May 21, 2015
It's pretty much another run through the "Chris Claremont X-Men Universe", although in this case, the Louise Simonson version technically. But her style bears similar similarities, good ones, to Claremont's decades long run about these well meaning mutants who get picked on by humanity and have to fight other mutants.
The strength of all these X-Men comics (between Classic X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, and others, like twenty essential volumes alone!), which this one is no different, is the emotional attachment to the characters. Cyclops, Angel, Jean Grey, the Beast, Iceman, they deal with a lot of complicated and violent crap with close to best of intentions. And in order to make us feel for all these nice people, it all goes to shit.
There's an obsessive quality to torturing our X-Men friends. Often the heroes get transformed into villains against their will, they get some kind of bodily mutilations, their babies get kidnapped (Christopher, Jean and Cyclops' baby, gets kidnapped at least 3 times in this book alone!). Or they have to kill or attack a loved one. Or just almost die, like an almost old fashioned comic book.
Basically, it's like an old Hollywood serial, turning the page, hoping everyone just gets to be happy!
What undermines, but not totally, this awkward lovefest of "please don't die" is this wonky information dump. It works on multiple levels. The X-Men often fight multiple bad guys, all with funny names, and the battles often refer to a larger Marvel Universe thing (sometimes these referrals are just in passing, too!). Plus the dialogue that Simonson writes is not stale or overdone, but it's bulky. Like a well maintained giant boulder, not a bad boulder...
Like for example, the Annual, #3, in which the High Evolutionary and Apocalypse get involved in a fracas that involves X-Factor preventing the genocide of some random subterranean peoples. Well meaning stuff, but such prolonged battle sequences. And you have to establish the cave people. And you have to have the preachy dialogue between the High Evolutionary and Apocalypse, because you got two got two God characters. And the ending, meh, I mean it was nice, but it was sort of predictable.
And then there was the giant crossover between X-Factor and X-Men (i.e. the original X-Men from the 1960s and then everyone else you know as X-Men, in that order, to briefly initiate those not in the know), where New York gets turned into a projection of Hell, and Mr. Sinister shows up. Definitely played up the "oh God, no!" love for those lovable X-people, what with babies kidnapped, Madelyne Pryor brainwashed, everyone X-person with a crazy flashback, plus the action was nice. But it was several issues too long. And I would've made it more personal and less distant. You literally have like 13 of the coolest comic book characters together, let them interact more.
The repetitive issue of too much in the dialogue and plot department with good emotional entanglement just gets bigger with the 9 or so issues of "Judgment Wars", in which those humdinger celestial Eternals decide to "poof" the X-Factor to an univisited upon world where 3 (at least 3) different types of alien mutants wage class warfare (i.e. with armies), and the Eternals are judging the planet. The X-Factor people are definitely in that weird "bodily/emotional/mental" punishment thing that makes you love them and cling for them to survive.
But oy, we get all kinds of weird terminology about what types of aliens are, all these character names, philosophies, and then X-Factor with their knowing commentaries relating to Earth philosophy, and the Eternals can't even talk, so that's more dialogue, ugh.
So basically, what we have is a repeating series of strong emotional cores, likable characters with good sense of humors, but God they talk too much!
5/5
The strength of all these X-Men comics (between Classic X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, and others, like twenty essential volumes alone!), which this one is no different, is the emotional attachment to the characters. Cyclops, Angel, Jean Grey, the Beast, Iceman, they deal with a lot of complicated and violent crap with close to best of intentions. And in order to make us feel for all these nice people, it all goes to shit.
There's an obsessive quality to torturing our X-Men friends. Often the heroes get transformed into villains against their will, they get some kind of bodily mutilations, their babies get kidnapped (Christopher, Jean and Cyclops' baby, gets kidnapped at least 3 times in this book alone!). Or they have to kill or attack a loved one. Or just almost die, like an almost old fashioned comic book.
Basically, it's like an old Hollywood serial, turning the page, hoping everyone just gets to be happy!
What undermines, but not totally, this awkward lovefest of "please don't die" is this wonky information dump. It works on multiple levels. The X-Men often fight multiple bad guys, all with funny names, and the battles often refer to a larger Marvel Universe thing (sometimes these referrals are just in passing, too!). Plus the dialogue that Simonson writes is not stale or overdone, but it's bulky. Like a well maintained giant boulder, not a bad boulder...
Like for example, the Annual, #3, in which the High Evolutionary and Apocalypse get involved in a fracas that involves X-Factor preventing the genocide of some random subterranean peoples. Well meaning stuff, but such prolonged battle sequences. And you have to establish the cave people. And you have to have the preachy dialogue between the High Evolutionary and Apocalypse, because you got two got two God characters. And the ending, meh, I mean it was nice, but it was sort of predictable.
And then there was the giant crossover between X-Factor and X-Men (i.e. the original X-Men from the 1960s and then everyone else you know as X-Men, in that order, to briefly initiate those not in the know), where New York gets turned into a projection of Hell, and Mr. Sinister shows up. Definitely played up the "oh God, no!" love for those lovable X-people, what with babies kidnapped, Madelyne Pryor brainwashed, everyone X-person with a crazy flashback, plus the action was nice. But it was several issues too long. And I would've made it more personal and less distant. You literally have like 13 of the coolest comic book characters together, let them interact more.
The repetitive issue of too much in the dialogue and plot department with good emotional entanglement just gets bigger with the 9 or so issues of "Judgment Wars", in which those humdinger celestial Eternals decide to "poof" the X-Factor to an univisited upon world where 3 (at least 3) different types of alien mutants wage class warfare (i.e. with armies), and the Eternals are judging the planet. The X-Factor people are definitely in that weird "bodily/emotional/mental" punishment thing that makes you love them and cling for them to survive.
But oy, we get all kinds of weird terminology about what types of aliens are, all these character names, philosophies, and then X-Factor with their knowing commentaries relating to Earth philosophy, and the Eternals can't even talk, so that's more dialogue, ugh.
So basically, what we have is a repeating series of strong emotional cores, likable characters with good sense of humors, but God they talk too much!
5/5
November 30, 2016
Poor Weezie. Writer Louise Simonson took over the X-Factor series, starring the forgotten and lame duck original X-Men, and revitalized it right out of the gate with the creation of the powerful mutant antagonist Apocalypse. She continued to write many of the original X-Factor's best comic moments, including the transformation of the Archangel, and the first big X-Men crossover, the Mutant Massacre. But she never really got respect for being such a huge influence in the X Universe, partly due to the popularity of other book's characters and the underwhelming art her books were often saddled with.
This particular collection holds the fan-reviled crossover event Inferno, which had its moments but overall was a mess. I've just read the other main story arc, Judgement War. I was intrigued by the involvement of the Celestials, but the bulk of this series focuses on a squad of C-level characters on an alien world with no real ongoing stakes for the main characters. And the decent Liefeld/McFarlane cover aside, the art continues to struggle in this series. Battle sequences are filled with motionless figures, and the original print itself was awful, plagued by poor quality.
There is much to commend in the old X-Factor comics, but you won't find much of that in this Volume.
This particular collection holds the fan-reviled crossover event Inferno, which had its moments but overall was a mess. I've just read the other main story arc, Judgement War. I was intrigued by the involvement of the Celestials, but the bulk of this series focuses on a squad of C-level characters on an alien world with no real ongoing stakes for the main characters. And the decent Liefeld/McFarlane cover aside, the art continues to struggle in this series. Battle sequences are filled with motionless figures, and the original print itself was awful, plagued by poor quality.
There is much to commend in the old X-Factor comics, but you won't find much of that in this Volume.
July 20, 2017
5 Trolls, 14 Mutants,and one baby all for a buck.
Merged review:
Judgment War part 1-When Call The Celestials
Merged review:
Judgement War part 5-Divided We Fall
Merged review:
Judgement War part 6-Archangel vs Iceman to the death?
Merged review:
The Mutant boy Alchemy gets a grasp of his powers and Londoners are all the better for it.
Merged review:
From the depths of memory.....comes the depths of pain.
Merged review:
Judgement War part 3-Archangel battles to the death in the arena.
Merged review:
Judgement War part 4-Exchange
Merged review:
Judgement War part 2-Trapped on another world Archangel battles for his life against The Chosen.
Merged review:
Was all set to give this The Judgement War finale 4 stars until the very end when Apocalypse and Loki had a confrontation heralding in the Acts Of Vengeance storyline.Those few pages were epic and the conversation between them is as good as it gets in comic books.
Merged review:
Judgment War part 1-When Call The Celestials
Merged review:
Judgement War part 5-Divided We Fall
Merged review:
Judgement War part 6-Archangel vs Iceman to the death?
Merged review:
The Mutant boy Alchemy gets a grasp of his powers and Londoners are all the better for it.
Merged review:
From the depths of memory.....comes the depths of pain.
Merged review:
Judgement War part 3-Archangel battles to the death in the arena.
Merged review:
Judgement War part 4-Exchange
Merged review:
Judgement War part 2-Trapped on another world Archangel battles for his life against The Chosen.
Merged review:
Was all set to give this The Judgement War finale 4 stars until the very end when Apocalypse and Loki had a confrontation heralding in the Acts Of Vengeance storyline.Those few pages were epic and the conversation between them is as good as it gets in comic books.
January 24, 2016
Okay so: inferno is very good. The orphan maker and nanny story is very good. The trolls and gold two parter is fun. The single Archangel story is great. Judgment wars? Ummmmm....too long. Predictable, convoluted, heavy handed and overlong. It's a six part story! With very little of consequence happening outside of Xavier sensing them in space and Ship gaining some stronger perspective and sense of self. Not s great way to close out and ther wise strong trade, though those strong parts are mostly Inferno which I just read in uncanny volume 8
January 11, 2014
A good collection of x-factor comics. The story is a little difficult to follow at first if you have no prior knowledge of x-factor, but then it all clicks into place. I greatly enjoyed reading this one.
April 3, 2011
Inferno and space battles. Some really good stuff here, the Maddy storyline is finally finished.
April 6, 2023
Absolutely glorious art from Walt Simonson and Paul Smith, but mama, I have never cottoned to Louise Simonspn's storytelling. (It may be that I've just never forgiven her for Bird Boy.)
March 9, 2015
3.5, really.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews