X-Factor #228:
Summary: We get started right where we left off last issue, with Madrox laying dead at the feet of his Bloodbath possessed dupe. The team attacks the Bloodbath dupe, and after a bit of a skirmish, manage to kill the dupe. Which causes Bloodbath to jump back into his original body... Yep, he's not going away easily! Bloodbath heals his original body and attacks the team anew. Meanwhile, Hangman's son, who was rescued from Bloodbath by X-Factor, rushes outside to his father and asks him to assist X-Factor since they were in trouble. Being a criminal, Hangman says nuts to that and is ready to book with his son, at least until the boy asks if Hangman was a hero like his mother had told him or not... Meanwhile, Bloodbath reveals to the team(while beating them up) that Guido didn't have a soul, and that it was probably due to Layla bringing him back from the dead. The team wants to know if this was true, so Layla responds affirmatively. With the cat out of the bag, Layla kneels down next to Madrox and is prepared to bring him back, but first asks if anybody was going to stop her. Banshee tells her to do it while Monet warns her to stop, which is interesting since I'd have expected the two to act opposite to how they did. Bloodbath decides to stop Layla, since he couldn't really harm people without souls, and attacks the team with a renewed vigor. Before he can do anymore damage, Hangman's noose drops around Bloodbath and drags him into the air, at which time Shatterstar decapitates the villain. Unfortunately, Bloodbath hops into Madrox's corpse and throws some taunts at the team, at least until Layla starts an exorcism spell. Bloodbath panics, but is unable to find a body to jump into and is banished back to Hell, where he belongs. With Bloodbath finally gone, Layla tries to bring Madrox back, but discovers that she had waited too long to do the resurrection spell, and as such Madrox was dead for real.
Thoughts: Well this was an action packed little issue, now wasn't it? There was a lot of good here, namely the dialogue(as always), the action, the villain of the piece, Bloodbath, was a great threat who I hope we see again, and the story, while not one of Peter David's best, was solid. Now there were a few things that bugged me, namely the team ceasing their fight with Bloodbath because Bloodbath accused Guido of having no soul... I mean first of all, he's the bad guy, why the hell would you listen to him?! Secondly, who stops a battle to ask a team member if she brought one of their members back from the dead... While the villain is standing RIGHT THERE?! That whole scene seemed forced and would have been better served coming out at a different time, although I get why David did it then and there considering the end of this issue. Still, it seemed woefully out of place. So overall this was a strong comic, one that I can't wait to read the next issue of.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Yeah, let's stop fighting to discuss Guido's soul...
I like this series so much that I even read the readers letters and there readers always keep asking about Mojo and the Mojoverse,
ReplyDeletewhat's that?
Ugh... Mojo... Mojo is one of the characters I hate the most in the Marvel Universe. He's like Marvel's version of Penguin to me. That's how much I hate Mojo! :P Basically Mojo is this big, fat yellow thing from another dimension where the ruler is the person who puts on TV shows that get the highest ratings. Mojo is an unfunny joke, sort of like Larfleeze. People usually ask about Mojo because Longshot is from the Mojoverse, while Shatterstar is... well, kind of from there depending on which version of Shatterstar's origin you want to believe... It's complicated. But on the plus side, I'm glad you like this series, it's def one of my favorite X-books.
ReplyDeleteI just hope that this book don't get messed up with the AvX stuff
ReplyDeleteWhy the Penguin hate so much? The physique? Come on. When you manage to be a Batman villain who 's rather unimpressed when dealing with Joker or Two-Face that definitely saves from the worthless accusation.He's not crazy, he's not super-strong, he's not endowed with any real overriding mania or fixation. He has motifs, yes, but ultimately he's perfectly sane. He doesn't go to Arkham, he goes to real big-boy jail.
ReplyDeleteWhen well written he has an abundance of pure, unadulterated spite. He's a short man with a punch and a beakish nose. He's been picked on and derided and underestimated his whole life, dismissed by his social betters and spit on by women. He's ruthless and cunning and amoral because those are the cards life dealt him.My favourite version is the TAS+ DeVito one.
"Mojo is an unfunny joke"
Not quite. Not by a long shot. Like Deadpool or Howard the Duck, he may sound like one but isn't AT ALL, the more you'll think about it, the creepier he 'll become. When you casually kidnapp people, "reprogram" them with, or replace their limbs with ... whatever you have as torture instrument (what he did to Rita Wayword, that's the stuff nightmares are made of!) & then use said victims for entertainment , that doesn't make you a joke, that makes Jason Voorhees look like Barney by comparison.
Mojo was originally a great villain & worked perfectly in the context of the original Longshot story by Ann Nocenti and Art Adams (THAT Mojo was, I maintain, a true to blood Nightmare, his Mere Presence can fuck up the earth gradually!). He became horrid the moment Chris Claremont tried to shoehorn him (or anytime he used him) into X-Men continuity. Mojo's concept doesn’t make any sense as an X-villain, or really, as a villain for anyone but Longshot. However, in Exiles he definitely had a dust-off in the 2 parter "So lame...". So, no. I definitely don't think he'll be used by PAD & that's for the better.
But I gotta hand it to Mojo in TAS when he said "They WANT BLOOD, THEY WANT EXPLOSIONS, DEATH, MAIMING! THEY WANT ENTERTAINMENT...". On the other hand, Major-domo was always awesome, guy's gotta have the patience of Job with bag of pus of a boss...
Saidi
"I just hope that this book don't get messed up with the AvX stuff" So far Peter David has done a pretty good job keeping his book unconnected to the rest of the X-books, Alien. While everybody was living on Crazy Mutie Island, the X-Factor crew was still doing their own thing. I'm pretty confident that if this series does tie-in to the AvX stuff, it won't interfere with the main happenings here that much... Hopefully! :P
ReplyDeleteUgh, Penguin... Besides being a fat midget in a tuxedo, besides the trick umbrellas(really?) and hideous features, besides the propensity to make bird noises, I feel there are WAY better characters to fill Penguin's role in Gotham. Take Black Mask for example... You want a "legitimate businessman" type of character, use Black Mask. He gives off a real bad ass vibe. Penguin is such a terrible period piece. Back when Batman and Robin would dance the Batusi, he fit. But in 2011? He needs to be put out to pasture. As for Mojo, I've never actually read the early Longshot mini-series(I have it, just never got around to it), but everything else I've read Mojo in(or even that horrible TAS version) has sucked. Plain and simple. Just my opinion and all, but yeah, I've never read something with Mojo in it and sat back and thought to myself, "Ah, he COULD be a serious, major villain!"
Sorry Saidi, I'm with X on this one. The idea of Mojo has potential, but I see that character and think to myself "this is why people think comics are for kids."
ReplyDeleteSpiral, on the other hand - awesome character. I thought ultimate spiral was sick, and 616 spiral...has usually been used poorly, though her "body shop" stuff is interesting. Wasn't she the one who helped create Deathstryke and made Psylocke asian?
"this is why people think comics are for kids." Yup, that right there. I could see Mojo II as a more serious threat, if only due to the look, than Mojo.
ReplyDeleteIf they moved Spiral FAR away from Mojo, she could def work. She has some sorcery, which is something the X-Men don't usually deal with, and she's done some sick stuff. Surround her with some horror movie-esque freaks, have her do some horrible acts, and you have a character that could go a long way. Look has a lot to do with making a good villain(and hero) imho, and Spiral has the right look.
Surround her with some horror movie-esque freaks, have her do some horrible acts, and you have a character that could go a long way.
ReplyDeleteX, she already does that. in fact Spiral 's complete M.O. is about these operations. As for Mojo, reread what I said,He became horrid the moment Chris Claremont tried to shoehorn him (or anytime he used him) into X-Men continuity!
But as a kiddie sort of villain, I would not really advertise a bag of pus with seringes deep inside his skull , hooks in his eyelids,& a touch that dehydrates the moment a contact is done to kids.I mean what's next ? Chtuhulu plushies?
But trust me the Longshot mini-series is not bad at all.Even though I'm someone who thinks Longshat is WAY too over the top to be on earth....
I saw the previews for the next issue of this series, looks intriguing. Though x-factor runs a little weird for my tastes, I may just pick that next issue up. At 2.99, I figure I can't go wrong.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Like you said, for $3, it's at least worth a shot, TRobb.
ReplyDelete