X-POSITION: Peter David Preps "All-New X-Factor" Finale and "2099" Return

[CBR News]

Fan-favorite writer Peter David takes time to answer your questions about his decade-long run as X-Factor's boss across several incarnations.


Full article here.

[Hariel0079]

2099, intriguing.

[IdaqiBeauty]

This is sad. I just realized that it's our last x-position ever with PAD.

[just another user]

This is sad. I just realized that it's our last x-position ever with PAD.

This is sad. I just realised Madrox was 10 years ago.

[Purplevit]

Thanks for answering. I am excited to see Gambit and X-Factor in Spider-Man 2099.
I hope PAD will get a new X-project asap.

[MindTricked]

I've really enjoyed this run of X-Factor, more-so than previous runs if I was to be honest. I especially enjoyed the interactions Polaris had with both Quicksilver and Gambit (great to see him out of Rogue's shadow), and those laugh-out-loud moments caused by Danger will be missed.

[bkart1978]

I think PAD has been stuck with one of the longest lists of B and C-list artists since the Madrox-led X-Factor launched. And that's not a slight to those artists - Valentine De Landro did some of my favorite Marvel work during his X-Factor stint (the Layla Miller special in particular was gorgeous), it was the first place I saw Emanuela Lupacchino, and Carmine Di Giandomenico has even grown on me enormously since All New launched, due largely to his being good fit for the tone of the book. (They also saddled PAD with Larry Stroman for two issues back in the day, but that's best forgotten). Will Sliney has shot up my personal list since Spider-Man 2099 came out too. But PAD hasn't had a true A-list artist even for a few issues to guarantee a few thousand bonus sales on name/reputation alone. Like I said, Di Giandomenico is actually a wonderful fit for X-Factor, but he's gotta be a hard sell to folks just grabbing random books off a shelf and deciding what to buy, regardless of whether it's an event book, a character piece, or anything else.

I would've loved at least another 20-30 issues with the team as it stands, but I guess 50 issues is a tough milestone for any new book these days (the last 3 X-Force titles combined are only just hitting that number) so I guess I'll just have to be grateful for the time we had with this entertaining gang of mutants, and hope PAD is back at the helm of a new X-Factor before too long.

[salarta]

This X-Position was really good. If this were an X-Position for anything other than the end of ANXF, then I would think otherwise, but I think it's good for the circumstances.

First thing I want to say is that Lorna's very prominent in most of the preview material, which I was pleasantly surprised by. Everything I see here looks good and exciting, which makes me disappointed we only have a few issues left.

Several of Peter David's responses come across pessimistic, but I think the pessimism is perfectly understandable, and as such I fully empathize with the responses he gave to certain questions (even though I disagree with some of them). Even so, I wish he'd shared more about ideas he had for the team. He may plot in six month increments, but I know he had to have a lot of ideas on what could potentially get included, e.g. stuff like revealing Lorna's middle name as Sally. Perhaps he's keeping that to himself so it doesn't mess up what any future writers write, or because he might use it later.

I think in his response about Lorna and Pietro's relationship, he's somewhat getting across that no matter what, he can still write something meaningful at least for that moment, even if some other executive, editor or writer later decides to change the whole situation.

I'm honestly a lot more interested in what Peter David said about characters appearing in Spider-Man 2099. I think we all expected Georgia, Snow and Serval would wind up over there, but Peter David's answer is open-ended enough to sound like members of the team may pop up over there from time to time too.

I can't think of anything else to say right now, so I'll leave it at that.

[BamaRainbow]

(snip) (They also saddled PAD with Larry Stroman for two issues back in the day, but that's best forgotten). (snip)

I don't think it was a case of "saddled" as much as it was a "hope to recapture the glory" as Stroman was PAD's first regular "X-Factor" artist--WAY "back in the day" (1991/1992). I was pretty excited to hear about Stroman's return but after I saw the artwork, I couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was almost as if Stroman had just turned in some very basic sketchwork and left the real artwork for Jon Sibal (credited as inker). I mean, even comparing those issues of "X-Factor" with Stroman's own "Tribe" (for which he did all the art), it was as if Stroman just didn't want to do the work at all but was being forced to.

[Quicksilverfan]

I was more interested in PAD's answer to the Quicksilver retcon. It looks like nobody at Marvel told him what they had planned for the twins. Also, as to his later statement that things always get undone in comics, I don't know if he means the Axis 7 retcon will probably be undone at some point, or that he always assumed the Magnus family could be "dismantled"...I like to think PAD is against the Axis 7 retcon but won't say it because he's a Marvel writer.

[Kurolegacy]

From the looks of X-Factor 20, Shiro joins the team after Axis. Sadly we won't get to see him with the team since the book is ending.

[juan678]

[just another user]

I don't think it was a case of "saddled" as much as it was a "hope to recapture the glory" as Stroman was PAD's first regular "X-Factor" artist--WAY "back in the day" (1991/1992). I was pretty excited to hear about Stroman's return but after I saw the artwork, I couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was almost as if Stroman had just turned in some very basic sketchwork and left the real artwork for Jon Sibal (credited as inker). I mean, even comparing those issues of "X-Factor" with Stroman's own "Tribe" (for which he did all the art), it was as if Stroman just didn't want to do the work at all but was being forced to.

I thought the Stroman art was great and was kinda disappointed when IIRC PAD blamed him for losing readers.

[Karmadelic]

I definitely remember the Stroman issues as being "disappointing." Until that point I was buying both individual issues for my collection and hardcovers for my library. There was no chance I was buying two copies of that.

[MYCMTSC]

I really wish this volume was a hit, but I really didn't gravitate towards this title whatsoever.

I think its unfair to say readers don't buy character-driven stories because there have been some to rise above the pack or at least maintain its audience's attention, but IMO this book didn't succeed because of creative missteps, like the following:

• the muted coloring,
• the benign characterization of second-stringers,
• and a slow-cooking, overarching plot without a notable X-Factor to differentiate it from similar concepts

Polaris and Gambit have dedicated fanbases, but I didn't really see these characters breaking out beyond those tiny niches of fans or fans of PAD himself. Character-driven stories really need to dig deep into their characters and create passion, relatability, hatred, divisiveness, ambivalence even, but I was left mostly indifferent.