All-New X-Factor vol. 3: Axis

Call it a twenty-issue victory lap.  After Peter David managed a 100-plus issue run on the latest incarnation of “X-Factor,” he leapt right into the next one with a substantially different cast and setup.  It’s been fun, assuming you’re a fan of David’s style, but nothing all that special.  You get  the feeling that after years of service to the company, the writer is assured of at least one ongoing book to write at the company.  With “All-New X-Factor” sales in the cancellation zone and “Spider-Man 2099” doing quite nicely for itself, it’s not surprising that the former title is wrapping up with its cast and subplots migrating into the latter title.  If you think that means there’s not a whole lot of closure here in this final volume, then you’d be right.

Instead we get some good character-driven issues as Quicksilver gets to bond with his daughter Luna; Polaris, Scarlet Witch, and Danger go for a girl’s afternoon out on the town; and the team takes part in the “Axis” crossover by taking the President’s nuclear football out of play.  All of this is well-crafted superhero entertainment if almost completely devoid of surprise in its execution.  Only two moments from the eight issues collected here really stand out:  The one night stand between Doug Ramsey and Danger (Nobody tell Madison Jefferies!), and the revelation of just where Serval CEO Harrison Snow’s true loyalties lie.  That latter bit is actually pretty interesting in how he’s shown to be not really good or bad, just ends-justify-the-means-y.  It’s also done in a way that dovetails particularly well with “Spider-Man 2099,” so if you’re reading that title you might want to check this out to get some insight into future plot developments in that one.

As for me, I think I’ll call it a day.  I don’t regret buying these three volumes of “All-New X-Factor” at all.  Yet after twenty issues I realize that I could’ve just as easily left them on the shelf as well.