X-Factor (comics)
X-Factor | |
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X-Factor is a group of fictional
Publication history
Original team (1986–1991)
X-Factor launched in 1986 featuring a team composed of the five original X-Men that debuted in X-Men #1 (1963):
- Angel – A millionaire heir, capable of flight by means of two feathery wings extending from his back.
- Beast – A brilliant scientist possessing bestial strength and agility.
- Cyclops – Former X-Men team leader, with the ability to emit powerful "optic blasts" from his eyes.
- telekineticabilities.
- Iceman – A brash jokester, gifted with cryokinetic (the ability to lower temperature around him and form ice) abilities.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Angel, Beast, and Iceman wandered through various superhero teams. By 1985, all three were members of the Defenders. With the monthly Defenders series already due to be cancelled, Angel, Beast, and Iceman were freed up for X-Factor.[1]
A more difficult task was the return of Cyclops and Jean Grey. In 1980, Jean Grey was killed during the seminal
In order to join the team, Cyclops walked out on his new wife
The original X-Men disassociate with the current team because Professor X had placed their old nemesis,
- Artie Maddicks– A pink-skinned, mute child who could project hologram-like images of his thoughts.
- Tabitha Smith – A young woman who ran away from her abusive father, who can create handheld energy spheres that she can explode at will, which she calls "time bombs".
- U.S. Navy whose pyrokinesisfirst manifested uncontrollably, severely injuring a woman.
- Leech – A green-skinned young boy, who can dampen the mutant powers of those around him.
- Rictor – A Mexican teenager who can produce powerful seismic waves.
- Skids – A runaway who could project a protective, frictionless force field around her body.
Eventually, the team decides that the "mutant hunter" ruse did more harm than good by inflaming hatred, and blames it on X-Factor's original business manager, Cameron Hodge, who is revealed as a mutant-hating mastermind.
In X-Factor #6 (1986),
In X-Factor #10, the Marauders, a group of mutant mercenaries, severely injure Angel's wings, which are later amputated. Despondent, Angel attempts suicide by detonating his airliner mid-flight, but Apocalypse rescues him and transforms him into Death, one of his Four Horsemen, giving him metal wings and blue skin. Angel escaped Apocalypse's control, but these physical changes remain. He is renamed Archangel and becomes a much darker character, eventually rejoining the team in issue #36. Angel's replacement on X-Factor, Caliban, turns to Apocalypse for more power in issue #24, with Apocalypse leaving X-Factor his ship in return.
In the 1989
In the last major storyline of the first X-Factor series, published in early 1991, Apocalypse kidnaps Nathan Summers, sensing that he would grow up to be a powerful mutant and possible threat. X-Factor rescue Nathan from Apocalypse's lunar base, but find him infected with a
X-Factor, the X-Men, and several minor characters team up to fight the telepathic Shadow King in another crossover event, The Muir Island Saga. Afterward, the original members of X-Factor rejoin the X-Men and several characters from various X-Men-related series become founding members of a new X-Factor.
Government team (1991–1998)
X-Factor was recreated with new members, all of whom were already allies of the X-Men, and three of whom were involved in the Muir Island Saga. The new X-Factor worked for the Pentagon, replacing Freedom Force as the government's salaried mutant team.[7] Their relationship with their benefactors was often strained and complicated. The new X-Factor, debuting in issue #71, included:
- Valerie Cooper – A U.S. government agent with history as both ally and adversary of the X-Men who becomes X-Factor's government liaison, carrying over from her duties as liaison to a prior government-sponsored team of mutants, Freedom Force.
- Havok– A former X-Man and brother of Cyclops who metabolizes cosmic rays to generate powerful, but hard to control, plasma waves. Havok serves as X-Factor's leader.
- Muir Islandresearch center.
- Polaris – Havok's long-time lover, and also a former X-Man who can control magnetism. Later revealed to be Magneto's daughter.
- Quicksilver – A long-running Avengers character, and a former foe of the X-Men, who possesses super speed and a difficult temperament.
- Lila Cheney's former bodyguard.
- Wolfsbane – A Scottish former New Mutant who can transform into a wolf or a werewolf-like creature. Some artificial manipulation of her feelings causes her to love Havok, bringing her much conflict and frustration because she knows he loves Polaris.
In a 1995 story, Multiple Man apparently dies of the Legacy Virus, a deadly illness that attacks mutant genes, which is later revealed to have only killed one of his duplicates. Strong Guy is put into suspended animation after suffering a heart attack caused by the stress his extra mass put on his body. Wolfsbane, cured of her artificial love for Alex, transfers to the European mutant team Excalibur. Havok leaves to infiltrate a mutant terrorist ring.
A new X-Factor line-up was introduced, consisting of Forge as the team's new leader, Polaris, Cooper, and several new recruits:
- Mystique – A shapeshifting mutant criminal and master of espionage. Mystique is forced to join X-Factor following her capture by federal agents.
- healing factor. Like Mystique, Sabretooth is a captive member that Forge uses special technology to control.
- Shard – A holographic computer program with the personality of the X-Man Bishop's deceased sister of the same name. Bishop is a time-traveler from a distant future, where he and Shard are members of Xavier's Security Enforcers. The holographic Shard was brought to the 20th century with Bishop.
- Wild Child – A former member of Alpha Flight who possesses heightened senses, fangs, and claws.
The team later had a secession from government sponsorship. Multiple Man and Strong Guy appear again at the same time. Despite Forge managing to fix Strong Guy's problems, he does not rejoin the team. The popularity of X-Factor continued to dwindle and Mystique and Sabretooth, two popular X-Men villains, failed to draw in more readers. Wild Child mutates out of control, Mystique hunts down Sabretooth (who had kidnapped young Tyler Trevor Chase), and Forge breaks ties with X-Factor.
After various stories focusing on individual characters, a new team was gathered consisting of Havok, Multiple Man, Polaris, Shard, and other members of the X.S.E.: Fixx, and
The time machine's explosion transports Havok to a
Issues | Characters |
---|---|
#1–9 | Angel, Artie Maddicks, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl, Rusty Collins |
#10–16 | Angel, Artie Maddicks, Beast, Boom-Boom, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl, Rusty Collins, Skids |
#17–24 | Artie Maddicks, Beast, Boom-Boom, Caliban, Cyclops, Iceman, Leech, Marvel Girl, Rictor, Rusty Collins, Skids |
#25–33 | Artie Maddicks, Beast, Boom-Boom, Cyclops, Iceman, Leech, Marvel Girl, Rictor, Rusty Collins, Skids |
#34–70 | Archangel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl |
#71–93 | Havok, Multiple Man, Polaris, Quicksilver, Strong Guy, Valerie Cooper, Wolfsbane |
#94–102 | Forge, Havok, Multiple Man, Polaris, Quicksilver, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane |
#103–111 | Forge, Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy, Valerie Cooper, Wolfsbane |
#112–118 | Forge, Havok, Mystique, Polaris, Valerie Cooper, Wild Child |
#119–122 | Forge, Mystique, Polaris, Sabretooth, Shard, Valerie Cooper, Wild Child |
#123–128 | Forge, Polaris, Sabretooth, Shard, Valerie Cooper, Wild Child |
#129–142 | Forge, Mystique, Polaris, Sabretooth, Shard, Valerie Cooper, Wild Child |
#143–149 | Archer, Fixx, Greystone, Havok, Polaris, Shard |
Volume 2 (2002 miniseries)
A four-issue
Volume 3 (2005–2013)
X-Factor Investigations is a detective agency run by Jamie Madrox, also known as Multiple Man. The name is taken from the government-sponsored group the three founders previously served on. The initial staff consists of Madrox's best friend and special enforcer, Guido Carosella (Strong Guy), and former teammate Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane). Following the events of the "House of M" storyline, Madrox's new-found wealth from winning a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?-style game show allows him to recruit several of his former colleagues from the Paris branch of the now defunct X-Corporation. New members include:
- M (Monet St. Croix) – A wealthy ambassador's daughter with an array of superhuman powers.
- Rictor (Julio Richter) – A Mexican mutant who can produce powerful seismic waves.
- Siryn (Theresa Cassidy) – Banshee's daughter with similar sonic-based powers.
- Layla Miller – A young mutant who inserts herself into the group to keep them from discovering the truth behind the "Decimation" storyline.
The new series opens with a suicide attempt by Rictor, who has lost his powers. The series deals with the group's attempt to unravel the truth behind the "Decimation" and its aftermath, fighting with Singularity Investigations, and dealing with Madrox's powers and their consequences.
During the "
- Longshot – A genetically-created humanoid from Mojoverse with favorable probability outcomes.
- Darwin (Armando Muñoz) – One of Moira's early recruit with reactive evolution powers.
- Shatterstar (Gaveedra Seven) – founding X-Force member with that can open dimensional portals and channel vibratory shockwave through his swords.
All-New X-Factor (2014–2015)
The next incarnation of the series was All-New X-Factor, and depicts the corporation "Serval Industries" forming a new corporate-sponsored version of the team, which includes Polaris, Quicksilver,
Volume 4 (2020–2021)
X-Factor was relaunched and the new team investigates cases of missing mutants and presumed deaths for Krakoa, confirming if they can be resurrected:
- Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) – Team leader and former Alpha Flight member with superhuman speed.
- Polaris (Lorna Dane) – An X-Factor alumna who can control metal.
- Prestige (Rachel Summers) – A telekinetic and telepathic mutant from a dystopian future.
- Daken (Akihiro) – Wolverine's son with similar powers to his father.
- Eye-Boy(Trevor Hawkins) – A young mutant with multiple eyes all over his body.
- Prodigy (David Alleyne) – A former Young Avengers and Xavier Institute student that can mimic other skills and knowledge.
- Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) – The twin sister of Northstar with the same power.
The team works closely with The Five, a circuit of mutants introduced in House of X/Powers of X working in conjunction to resurrect fallen mutants:
- Goldballs (Fabio Medina) – Produces a limitless amount of unviable biological eggs.
- Proteus (Kevin MacTaggert) – Transforms the unviable egg into a viable one.
- Elixir(Joshua Foley) – Biologically kickstarts the process of life, initializing cell replication and husk growth.
- Tempus (Eva Bell) – Matures the husk to a desired age.
- Hope Summers– Enhances and synthesizes the other resurrection mutants' powers to ensure the success of each resurrection.
X-Factor members
In 1986, the team debuted in X-Factor #1.[11]
Character | Real name |
---|---|
Cyclops | Scott Summers |
Iceman
|
Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake |
Beast
|
Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy |
Marvel Girl / Phoenix | Jean Grey |
Angel / Archangel | Warren Kenneth Worthington III |
Character | Real name | Joined in |
---|---|---|
Caliban | X-Factor #17 (1987) |
Character | Real name | Active in |
---|---|---|
Polaris | Lorna Dane | X-Factor #71 (1991) |
Multiple Man | Jamie Madrox | |
Strong Guy | Guido Carosella | |
Havok
|
Alexander Summers | |
Wolfsbane | Rahne Sinclair | |
Valerie Cooper | ||
Quicksilver | Pietro Django Maximoff | X-Factor #72 (1991) |
Random | Marshall Evan Stone III | X-Factor #92 (1993) |
Forge | X-Factor #93 (1993) | |
Mystique | Unrevealed (alias: Raven Darkhölme) | X-Factor #114 (1995) |
Wild Child | Kyle Gibney | |
Shard | Shard Bishop | X-Factor #119 (1996) |
Sabretooth | Victor Creed | X-Factor #120 (1996) |
Fixx | X-Factor #149 (1998) | |
Greystone
|
Devlin Greystone | |
Archer
|
Unrevealed (in body of Jude Black) | |
Allies | ||
Doc Samson | Leonard Skivorski, Jr. |
Character | Real name | Active in |
---|---|---|
Multiple Man | Jamie Madrox | Madrox #5 (2005) |
Strong Guy | Guido Carosella | |
Wolfsbane | Rahne Sinclair | |
Siryn / Banshee | Theresa Rourke Cassidy | X-Factor, vol. 3 #1 (2006) |
Butterfly | Layla Rose Miller | |
M | Monet St. Croix | |
Rictor | Julio Esteban Richter | X-Factor, vol. 3 #2 (2006) |
Darwin | Armando Muñoz | X-Factor, vol. 3 #33 (2008) |
Longshot | ||
Shatterstar | Gaveedra Seven / Benjamin Russell | X-Factor #200 (2009) |
Havok | Alexander Summers | X-Factor #230 (2012) |
Polaris | Lorna Dane | |
X-Factor Investigations allies | ||
Ruby Summers | X-Factor Special: Layla Miller #1 (2008) | |
Pip the Troll | Pip Gofern | X-Factor #213 (2011) |
Tier Sinclair | X-Factor #250 (2013) |
Character | Real name | Active in |
---|---|---|
Polaris | Lorna Dane | All-New X-Factor #1 (2014) |
Gambit | Rémy LeBeau | |
Quicksilver | Pietro Django Maximoff | |
Danger | All-New X-Factor #4 (2014) | |
Cypher | Douglas Aaron "Doug" Ramsey | All-New X-Factor #6 (2014) |
Warlock | ||
Georgia / Decay | Georgia Dakei | All-New X-Factor #8 (2014) |
Allies | ||
Sunfire | Shiro Yoshida |
Character | Real name | Active in |
---|---|---|
Daken | Akihiro | X-Factor, vol. 4 #1 (2020)[15] |
Eye-Boy
|
Trevor Hawkins | |
Northstar | Jean-Paul Beaubier | |
Aurora | Jeanne-Marie Beaubier | |
Polaris | Lorna Dane | |
Prestige
|
Rachel Summers | |
Prodigy | David Alleyne |
Other versions
Ultimate Marvel
In the "Ultimate Marvel reality, X-Factor appears in Ultimate War #4 as a U.S. operated mutant prison camp in Cuba.[16]
X-Men '92
X-Factor appears in X-Men '92 as a peace keeping force that was formed following the X-Men's disappearance.[17]
In other media
The second incarnation of X-Factor appears in
References
- ^ DeAngelo, Daniel (July 2013). "The Not-Ready-For-Super-Team Players: A History of the Defenders". Back Issue! (65). TwoMorrows Publishing: 3–16.
- ^ "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #161". Comic Book Resources. June 26, 2008.
- ^ "Comics of 1986 #30 X-Factor". Revolution Science Fiction. September 12, 2006.
- ^ Harvey, Allan (August 2008). "Four Men and a Telekinetic Lady: The Birth of X-Factor". Back Issue! (29). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 69–72.
- ^ Cronin, Brian (2016-06-04). "Remember to Forget - That Time Cyclops Ditched His Wife and Newborn for His Ex-Girlfriend". CBR. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- ISBN 978-1-4165-3141-8.
- ^ O'Neill, Patrick Daniel (February 1992). "Peter David". Comics Interview. No. 105. Fictioneer Books. pp. 19–23.
- ^ Sunu, Steve (October 11, 2013). "NYCC Exclusive: David Resurrects the Team in All-New X-Factor". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013.
- ^ Sunu, Steve (November 4, 2013). "All-New X-Factor Images Reveal New Team Member". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on November 7, 2013. Archive requires scrolldown
- Di Giandomenico, Carmine (a). All-New X-Factor, no. 4–6 (May – June 2014). Marvel Comics.
- ^ "Look Forward to 'X of Swords' with a Look Back at 'X-Factor'". September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "X-Factor". Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "X-Factor Investigations". Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ Lealos, Shawn (September 12, 2020). "All-New X-Factor: How the X-Men Team Went Corporate". Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "Preview the Return of 'X-Factor' #1". July 2, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ Ultimate War #4. Marvel Comics.
- ^ X-Men '92 vol. 2 #6–10
External links
- Brady, Matt (August 22, 2005). "X-ploring the X-Factor with Peter David". Newsarama.