X-Factor #245 Review

Another month, another mile in Peter David’s marathon revamping of X-Factor. This time, we say goodbye to another member of the team and work through some fresh emotions left buried for far too long. As a whole, the book is a solid group of character studies bereft of major action pieces, which may not tickle every X-Factor reader’s fancy.

If you’re not into hearing about emotions and implications, this may not be the best book for you. There are hurt feelings and cute, romantic moments to be found but not much in the way of action. Now, you may be saying, “But Poet, David’s character work is the best part of X-Factor! It’s the reason I keep coming back!” Fear not, gentle reader. I understand where you’re coming from, and you stand a very good chance of enjoying this story. Monet provides some nice moments of levity to contrast the seriousness of Lorna’s engaging dilemma. The problem is, not every reader will have the necessary attention span or interests for an episode of Gilmore Girls in comic form.

Peter David’s trusty comic book partner, Leonard Kirk, is once again the artist in charge of X-Factor, but his work fails to meet his usual standard. It’s not too tough to find instances of stiff character posture, and some images seem a bit rushed, with inker Jay Leisten needing to guess at facial features in some backgrounds and smaller panels. The expressions on characters' faces – usually Kirk’s strong suit – are noticeably inconsistent as well, especially during the confrontation in the bedroom. The small degree of visual spice to be found here is underwhelming, with most large format images serving better to chew up space than to improve the story.

Don’t let the score sway your opinion, here. This is one of those issues that will appeal strongly to one type of reader and repulse another. It’s not terribly difficult to find technical flaws in this issue, but, overall, it’s a sturdy episode. When deciding on this one, it’s best to be honest with yourself about whether or not you can stand an issue entirely comprised of superheroes emoting.

Poet is a freelance writer, mid-core gamer, and frequent IGN contributor. Follow Poet on Twitter @PoetMase, or post a message on his IGN profile PoetMase.

Source : ign[dot]com