All New X-Factor #7 Recap/Review (Spoilers)

[jmc247]

The issue begins with an anti mutant father shooting a computer. Lorna is bitched out by Snow for not taking down Magus. Team X-Factor argues if they should save the girl or not. Lorna is conflicted, but decides to do so. They go out of uniform to the house which is well armed, but they were holograms. The girl doesn't want to go with them as daddy bought a new laptop. Doug tries to make her and her mutant power manifests and she seemingly kills Doug.

Review: I see certain aspects of a Orson Scott Card gay rights boycott debate play out between Danger and Pietro about the merits or lack of merit of boycotting a literary work because of the personal views of the author that are unrelated to the work. Interestingly Lorna really for the first time has a moment where she listens to all sides in a debate and makes a leadership decision. She decides on not telling Snow and one would think he would know anyway because of her eye camera, though I am not sure about that given the weird thing Lorna does with her face and eyes before embarking on the mission.

Having the girl not want to go with X-Factor was a good touch and then Doug's quick demise was quite unexpected, though not unappreciated. I don't know if he will stay dead, but I could do with a cast of five on the title and see how Warlock lives without him. Heck, as far as we know the young girl might join the cast of X-Factor. Interestingly Lorna and Pietro I guess from their high profile positions on the government run X-Factor and/or their high profile positions in the Genoshan government are well known by the girl.

The characters get some in-depth discussion on what it means to be a super hero and the mandate of super hero teams and helping the helpless vs. helping mutants. Lorna and Gambit actually have a non hate filled discussion on the matter.

The art continues to be top notch and I can't say enough good things about Camine Di Giandomenico art. The rest of the artistic team deserves kudos as well. As for the content it had the kind of real to life political debates and was socially relevant in a way that so many modern comics are not. Mindless action scenes with super heroes battling massively powerful villains is not why I buy modern comics. This issue focusing on the shall we say human side of super hero teams along with the social and political issues it brought up are something that is very much lacking in comics today including many x-titles in recent years.

For that reason and the many others this issue was very much worth buying and I would argue for those fans that have taken the title off their pull lists or thinking of doing so because they couldn't stand uber incompetent Lorna its worth giving the title another chance as she is starting to act competently and is listening to advice and making decisions. In the end ironically after Doug dies Gambit is hugging Lorna a funny scene after all their vitriolic fighting. Perhaps for Gambolaris shippers hope is not yet dead.

Lorna and Pietro still haven't had much of an in-depth talk in this series, but perhaps that will come in time. I do feel the potential of having two children of Magneto on the same title has so far not been realized on ANXF though issue #5 was a bit of a step in the right direction.

Low key issues like this one can be quite good. This issue was socially relevant, interesting and worth putting in the buy pile.

[Flight]

Well, at least Doug wasn't around for long teeeheee~~~~~~~~~!!

great charactisation in this issue, did you notice too that Gambit immediately tried to cover Polaris when the shooting began?
My favourite scenes are becoming the brief exchanges between Warlock & Danger - Warger! I also love that Havok is a big part of this book without being part of the team, I love PAD's Havok

[Synthetic Innocence]

There is also a lot of good character interaction, meta to be certain but follow able if you're paying attention. Warlock's praising of Danger is almost as cute as his reaction to her criticism of his speech patterns. Doug reassuring Warlock is a nice nod to their friendship too.

Gambit putting his foot down with Georgia's playing down of her father's violence is pretty much in character. It feels a bit like he's getting tired of the "hero" thing again when you couple that with his conversation with Lorna on the plane and it's pretty clear that something is up with Remy.

The ending was okay but even for a cliffhanger it seemed a bit rushed.

I'm still wishing the issues were longer, even if only by a page or two would help them not seem so brief.

[Synthetic Innocence]

Well, at least Doug wasn't around for long teeeheee~~~~~~~~~!!

great charactisation in this issue, did you notice too that Gambit immediately tried to cover Polaris when the shooting began?
My favourite scenes are becoming the brief exchanges between Warlock & Danger - Warger! I also love that Havok is a big part of this book without being part of the team, I love PAD's Havok

Gambit's hologram as created by Danger not the actual Gambit, that's kind of an important distinction to make.

[remydat]

This was a pretty good issue. I think the exchange between the team was great as they debated several issues from the Card thing to the role of Superhero teams and I like the fact that Gambit was pretty frank about his views and the fact that part of his interest was because of Dakei being anti-mutant. I think Cypher's reaction to Georgia made sense given where he is mentally and I did like Lorna listening to everyone before making decisions and her hiding her decisions from Snow. All on all a good character development issue.

[LegacyEra]

Very good Lorna issue. ..Danger continues to impress. The Havok thing is gonna lead to a violent explosion by Lorna...can see it coming from a mile away. Good team dynamics in this with a simple message of doing the right thing. 7/10

[All-New Valar Stercus NOW.1]

Poor dead Doug...

Love Warlock constantly making flowers/birds whatever to woo Danger. And that wacky grin of course.

Seems kind of weird for Quicksilver to be taking orders from Havok in this context.

[Sea Hound]

I'm assuming Doug's not gone forever, in which case:
Solid issue. Funny, intelligent, assured and thought provoking. It's reading like a proper Peter David comic.
I'm getting really fond of the Quicksilver/Havok interaction. Each time QS seems to leave more abruptly and be even more brusque; as though spying on Lorna is becoming increasingly distasteful to him.
The art is expressive, full of movement, enjoyable to look at, and very very yellow.

If Doug is gone for good, then it was a cheap death, and I'll be cranky about it. I'm speculating that him still being infected with the techno organic virus will give him a way back. It's a wait and see policy for me.

[Quicksilverfan]

I liked Quicksilver's reaction to seeing the video. I think he was reminded of the time he exposed Luna to the mists, and what a terrible father he was then.

[remydat]

I can't imagine Cypher's death sticking. I am guessing it was a Danger hologram or that Georgia's powers attack organic matter and the techno part of him will allow him to repair the damage.

Interesting thing I just noticed too is how after Cypher apparently dies, Gambit puts his arms around Polaris to hold her back. It seems, he has a "Polaris bout to fuck up shit" radar which I can't really blame here as Georgia did come off as a cold hearted crazy chic afterwards, lol.

[Neko]

Loved all the characterization. Gambit's views about super hero gig was spot on for his character. That he is his own person was also nice to see. The cliff hanger was surprising and I hope that isn't the end of Cypher. Danger picking on Warlock amused me and Cypher telling Warlock to let go was great too.

[Andru]

I doubt Doug is actually dead. Like others have mentioned, the techno organic virus will probably keep him alive.

He was awfully pushy with Georgia. However he does have the ability to read all types of languages. So maybe he realized her body language contradicted what she was saying.

First hint at Lorna realizing there is a camera in her eye? She took off her glasses and squeezed her eyes as if they were under strain.

[Raye]

Yeah, PAD wouldn't kill Doug like, the issue after joining the team.... would he? nah. But she clearly did SOMETHING bad to him. I'm not sure what to think of Georgia at this point, initially my thoughts pretty much mirrored the team's thoughts, but then she got creepy REAL fast.

[Quicksilverfan]

Yeah, PAD wouldn't kill Doug like, the issue after joining the team.... would he? nah. But she clearly did SOMETHING bad to him. I'm not sure what to think of Georgia at this point, initially my thoughts pretty much mirrored the team's thoughts, but then she got creepy REAL fast.

Maybe the fact that she's so nonchalant about "killing" Doug means she didn't kill him? Maybe her powers just knock people out. I mean she's the only person who knows what her powers are and she's not worried so... I do agree that Doug looks to be in pretty bad shape. Is this storyline going to wrap up in two issues as well, or do you guys think it'll take longer this time?

[Synthetic Innocence]

Maybe the fact that she's so nonchalant about "killing" Doug means she didn't kill him? Maybe her powers just knock people out. I mean she's the only person who knows what her powers are and she's not worried so... I do agree that Doug looks to be in pretty bad shape. Is this storyline going to wrap up in two issues as well, or do you guys think it'll take longer this time?

I certainly hope it gets more than two issues. I feel like we get tiny glimpses of a story with how short these issues are, it makes things feel cut short, like a movie that's been edited for TV. It gets a little disjointed and the flow just isn't as nice as it could be. I love PAD and I love this X-Factor I just wish they'd give him a few more pages per issue to work with.