X-Factor #44

It's time for another installment of my favorite monthly X-book, X-Factor! Last month's issue wasn't quite up to the phenomenal standards this series had been reaching as of late, but was still quite good. The writer here is one of my long-time favorites, Peter David.

-We open 80 years in the future where Jamie has wound up. After some mushy stuff with Layla, Jamie meets up with Scott and Ruby and they all decide to go to Detroit to meet... Well, we never find out. According to Jamie, it's someone "like" Reed Richards, but only half alive and totally insane.

-Back in the present, Monet seems to come out of whatever was controlling her actions at the end of the last issue and suddenly begins to flirt with Darwin... Huh, that's strange.

-Siryn, Longshot, Darwin and Monet regroup back at X-Factor's offices and decide to hide the ex-mutant who "Cortex" is after in a fancy hotel penthouse set up by Monet. The ex-mutant decides she would rather have Darwin protect her(Longshot did a pretty crappy job last issue)and before Darwin and the ex-mutant leave, Monet shows up(looking pretty provocative)and says she'll come along to support Darwin.

-At the hotel, the ex-mutant gets sloppy drunk and passes out and Monet decides to put the moves on a totally shocked Darwin. After Monet strips out of her clothes, Darwin realizes something is very wrong and he resists Monet's advances... Yeah, I can tell you right now that's not quite what I'd have done! After Darwin turns her down, Monet transforms into some kind of pink robot woman and flings Darwin into the wall. This issue ends with Monet advancing on Darwin while saying that although he wasn't on Cortex's list there is always room for one more.

That was it? Really??? But what about Rictor, Guido and Shatterstar?!? That's actually what I was looking the most forward to. As much as I love Peter's work(and I really do)this comic was very slow and plodding. Nothing of note really happened. Jamie went from Atlantic City to Detroit in the future(and didn't accomplish anything)and this issue ended nearly identically to he last issue, with Monet getting possessed and attacking a teammate. I easily could have skipped reading this comic and just read the next one without losing much of the story. For a score, I couldn't possibly give this comic any higher than a 6 out of 10. As much as it pains me to say it, I wouldn't recommend this comic. Hopefully this was just a one month hiccup, and next month will see things pick back up again.