X-factor vol. 3: The Many Lives of Madrox

By Peter David, Pablo Raimondi, and Khoi Pham

Collects X-Factor 13-17

The LowDown: After a confrontation with Singularity Investigations, X-factor gets some much needed therapy which causes Madrox to pursue a journey to collect his wayward dupes and Siryn and M to spend some "quality" time together.

Review:

There will probably be spoilers about previous volumes every new edition from now on.

This is a story about 7 superheroes, forced to start a detective agency, find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start being real. The Real World: Mutant Town.

God, I hate MTV! Is that show even relevant anymore?

Anyways, we return with another edition of X-factor and this volume has a couple of excellent issues packed in.

First, we have issue #13, which is a semi-sequel to the classic X-Animations issue (#87) from Peter David's original run. You don't necessarily need to be familiar with that issue, but you'll get a lot of this one if you do. It's right up there with the best issues of this series thus far, as it takes each one of the members of X-factor and does a psychiatric evaluation on their place in life and any current issues they may have. It shows how dysfunctional these members are, no matter their outward facade, all these superheros are still people that suffer from something deep down. It's a fantastic issue where we learn new things about each and every member. It also continues the plot lines from last volume with Madrox's sexual encounters with Siryn and M. It puts Madrox in a very interesting predicament, and it's the last straw for Madrox to really journey out and gather wayward dupes.

Madrox's journey to gather his wayward dupes makes up the bulk of this volume, as he gathers up his dupe from S.H.I.E.L.D. in a two part arc, gathers his married with one kid pastor dupe, and his detective dupe. Along the way, we find out a lot about Madrox's personality and see different sides to Madrox. The SHIELD arc, is the most superheroic endeavor as Madrox gets mixed up in the ever-ongoing war between S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA. It's a very quick paced arc with the least depth but it does tell us a little bit about Madrox's guilt issues regarding his childhood, and shows that Madrox suffers from a ton of self-loathing due to his lifestyle. It also kind of shows how unbareably unsympathetic Madrox is in terms of gathering up his dupes and not caring about what consequences their sudden disappearances may cause.

Issue #16 is really the first instant classic in this series. It deals with Madrox gathering up his dupe that he sent off to study religion, only to find that the dupe doesn't want to go back. The less said about this issue the better, as it's a fantastic issue, that really puts Madrox face to face with the consequences of his dupes actions and face to face with himself, at least more than normally. It's really shows the questions of ethics in what Madrox is doing and Peter David weaves religious themes, text, and subtext into this issue beautifully.

Madrox also gathers a wayward "detective" dupe in Issue #17, but it reintroduces the next arc and the main plotline. Throughout Madrox's quest, M and Siryn go off to France and are confronted with mutant racism which helps realign the two after their debacle with Madrox putting them at odds. It's a very simple B-Plot arc, and helps keep the story updated with what's going on with some of the other members and the larger plot line about the mutants who lost their powers and their struggle to understand what happened, to survive without their powers, and for some, to get them back. That's what we are confronted with in Issue #17 as the next arc begins here really. Mutant terrorists who blame the government for the loss of their powers. It's actually quite understandable and realistic that people would believe the government had something to do with M-day, and Peter David tries to weave this idea into the fabric and the current ongoing storylines of X-factor and their struggle for Mutant survival. Ultimately it's the weakest issue of the volume, as while the Madrox stuff is still quite strong, it's just too superhero-ey for a book the prided itself on being a little bit different.

There's a lot of build up for the ongoing meta-plot of mutant survival. The plot-line involving the Tryps gets lost here. I'm not sure if David is planning to return to it, or if it was just a small one-off piece of the larger meta plot, used to help make big reveals about the future last volume. It's still a complain though since it was still left a bit in the air with Future Tryp's seeming survival and appearance to Layla Miller.

Conclusion: This is more Madrox focused than previous volumes, and as a fan of the character and this take on the character it is much appreciated. There's a couple of very excellent issues amidst some above average, but still fun, issues. This series continues to roll along and is a delight, especially in terms of David's mastery at weaving small minor plots, street level plots, character arcs, and this large meta plot. It's on par with volume 2 but still weaker with than volume 1's neonoirish beginnings. This volume is an obvious transition to more superhero like plots and it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just disappointing.