Much like the Hellfire Gala, our time with X-Factor is at and end. Leah Williams, David Baldeón, David Messina, Lucas Werneck, Israel Silva and Joe Caramagna take a bow with X-Factor #10.
Cori McCreery: Well here we are, Andrea. The end of the road. I’m going to very much miss this team, but even more, I’m going to miss collaborating with you.
Andrea Ayres: Cori, getting to know you better through our discussions has been a singular joy. I can’t believe we are here, at the end of all things.
Save the Last Dance
Cori: So not only are we at the end of the X-Factor, we’re also at the end of the Hellfire Gala as a whole. Most of the big secrets have been revealed, from Beast’s coup attempts to the colonization of the red planet, to the roster of the new X-Men. But rather than a fun, raucous party, everything just felt a little bittersweet, knowing that this is the end of one of the best books of the Krakoa era. It’s just not fair, Andrea.
Andrea: You nailed it, Cori. From the first page, there’s a sense of all we are leaving behind. It’s all so damn melancholy. I’m going to miss this crew so much.
One component of the Krakoa era I’ve sometimes been on the struggle bus to get behind is the overwrought writing that’s impeded some of the other books. Leah Williams and David Baldeón have such a playfulness to their dialogue. Even when discussing trauma, as we see in the opening panel series, that feels real. It feels human. People don’t always discuss their trauma in these beautifully poetic ways. Sometimes it’s a joke, a one-off remark. Williams and Baldeón’s understanding of natural dialogue feels like something others could learn.
Cori: We didn’t get a lot of the team at the Gala proper, but what we did get was a delight. It was the little things that got me in those brief scenes, just tantalizing glimpses of things we may have gotten with a longer run. Kate with Amazing Baby. Lorna getting schwasted despite daddy’s wishes. And of course, Lorna’s conversation with Northstar after the election. What was your favorite character moment from the party?
Andrea: I’m so freakin’ ticked off that I don’t get to see more of Rachel’s mother forkin’ costume. That was a personal favorite. Naturally, as a hopeless romantic, seeing Akihiro and Aurora dance together warmed my soul.
The Story of the Prodigal Son
Cori: One thing that I’m incredibly impressed with in this final issue is just how well Leah Williams and David Baldeón were able to tie up the remaining loose ends of the run. These were probably intended initially as longer plot threads to continue looking into as the series went on, but with the sudden cancellation, there was a need to close some of those threads early. We saw a bit of that in issue #9 and more of it here. Before we get to David’s story, I want to touch on the end of the other ongoing thread on just what happened with Aurora. I do wish that we had more time to delve deeper into that, but all the same, it was nice to have that closure and incredibly wonderful that Akihiro is putting his own life at risk to help protect this woman he’s fallen madly in love with.
Andrea: I genuinely do not envy the task of having to tie up everything in a sudden, final issue. I remember when Williams was on Battle of the Atom podcast discussing their long-term vision for the series. There was so much to explore.
As you say, the threads are tied up about as nicely as they could under the circumstances. As far as Aurora goes, we are denied additional exploration into her relationship with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I would have loved to see how the plot with Eddie would have unfolded as well. Had the series continued, there would have been fascinating questions surfaced regarding Akihiro’s actions towards the rest of Eddie’s mutant hate group. Williams and Baldeón felt better equipped than most to expose those thorny ethical, moral issues of mutantdom.
The lovely bit of dancing between Akihiro and Aurora is interrupted by a call from Shatterstar. What’d you think about their return?
Cori: I think the Shatterstar stuff was covered here a lot better than it was in Excalibur, for sure. Something about his reunion with Rictor in that issue just felt off to me, while here, things felt a bit more natural. It is another plotline that I’m sure we would have seen more if the series continued. I feel like this one felt like there was enough here that it doesn’t feel incomplete or even rushed.
On the other hand, is Prodigy’s story, which did feel a bit rushed, and probably suffered for it in the end. It’s clear that that story was meant to play out throughout several more issues and that Williams had to tie it up as neat as she could. The problem here is that the subject matter needed that room to tell this in as delicate a way as possible. Being forced into a single issue makes things more raw, more painful, and makes it seem like it’s all coming at the reader a million miles an hour. It’s extremely sensitive material. I wish it could have been given the space it needs.
Sexual violence against queer Black men is something that is an all too real threat, and one that Williams was absolutely trying to broach as delicately as possible. However, given the constraint of doing it in a single issue, it loses some of that nuance. What did you think of David’s story?
Andrea: I am so happy you brought this up, Cori. Prodigy’s story, we know from past issues, was slowly rolling out. With the sudden cancellation of the series, what deserved time and thoughtfulness wraps in a few pages. Compound violence against queer people of color cannot be or have the appearance of a plot device or throw-away item. I’m not suggesting that was Williams’s intention at all. However, the constraints of the cancellation will, unfortunately, leave what is a necessary story without the time or consideration it deserves.
I think what crushes me about the way David’s story wraps is that the way the writers have dealt with trauma up to this point has been so careful and nuanced. I fear the focus will be on the speed with which we are subject to what happened to David, the resulting violence, instead of what the focus should be on. X-Factor is about how victims of violence come to reclaim themselves. It’s been about how you come to own your story, your narrative, in whatever way empowers you. [Ed. note: CXF contributor Corey Smith had his own perspective as a Black and queer reader that is worth checking out for a different point of view on this plot point.]
I just have to say; I’m upset that I know the creative team will receive the brunt of people’s ire for a corporate decision to cancel the series. It’s a topic for another day, another time, but it is worth discussing how creative teams can be supported by corporate.
[Blank] Was Murdered in the Bushes
Cori: Continuing the trend of bittersweet things is the appearance of Tommy just as the festivities are drawing to a close. As Tommy is wearing a Krakoan flower, iong seems like that’s final proof that indeed the Maximoff retcon has made it, so he and his brother are also no longer mutants, which is sad, but whatever. For the charming scene of him and David seeing each other here at the end of the night, that’s not what this encounter is about; no, do you want to tell us the elephant in the room, Andrea?
Andrea: Oh gosh, that’s a lot of pressure. Of course, it is less pressure now, thanks to leakers who delight in ruining everything for everyone.
We knew that the embrace of Wanda and Magneto at the end of SWORD wasn’t going to be the last thread of that story, didn’t we? And here we are. What a fucking scene to behold. Tommy getting a glimpse of Wanda’s iconic red costume as the rest of her body is off-panel while he screams, “M-mommy!” is not a fun scene to behold.
Wanda’s body is sprawled on the grass, her face obscured. The focus of the reader isn’t on Wanda but instead on Tommy’s reaction. The horror of witnessing his response before focusing on Wanda’s body is a real emotional gut punch. There will be so many opinions, Cori. Is this a gratuitous depiction of violence? Does centering the focus on Tommy take away from Wanda’s humanity? The internet is going to be hell. I hasten to formulate an opinion before I see how the rest of the storyline plays out.
The panel doesn’t strike me as gratuitous or overly sexualized violence. Like, I don’t think we are witnessing the “fridging” effect in action. The lighting of the scene isn’t there to accentuate the form in a sexual way. The way people internalize this scene largely depends on how we see violence culturally. People apply a gendered lens to violence, as Dr. Karen Boyle’s 2004 book Media and Violence: Gendering the Debates articulates. Oh no, I clearly have more to say on this, but I’ll move on.
Wanda’s neck appears in the foreground of the panel and has distinctive marks around it. Was she strangled, or is it a red herring? If so, by what or who is the question. Is it an obvious set-up for Leah’s next book, Trial of Magneto? I guess we’ll find out. Forgive me for this pun. I’m dying to know your thoughts.
Cori: I’m not the biggest Wanda fan (though she used to be one of my favorite Avengers before the Bendis years), but the way this scene played out was unmistakably tragic. A child finding the brutally murdered body of his mother is tragic enough, but when it’s coupled with that reunion we just saw? This is just heartbreaking. And obviously, Magneto is suspect number one because of the vitriol with which he has spit her name over the last years. As the audience, we have a different perspective. So who do you think framed him?
Andrea: Oh hell, if I knew that I would be writing these comics and not writing about them. Cori. I’m going to miss writing with you about our X-Factor team. We hardly knew thee.Cori: I’ll miss you too Andrea, but neither of us are going far, and I’m excited to have you as our editor on my new book! I’m sure we’ll make beautiful music together there too.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Standard disclaimer that Leah supports the CXF Patreon and is a friend of Cori and our Editor-In-Chief, but we cover her like anyone else.
- IT’S NOT FAAAAAAAAAIR.
- I want to talk to the person who canceled the series, please.
- Just meet us at the Denny’s Mr. Marvel.
- Despite only being ten issues, Cori now has three pages from this run. Ask her and she’ll show you.
- Andrea will be following this thread in X-Men: The Trial Of Magneto
- Cori will be following Polaris over to X-Men
- Krakoan reads: TRIAL OF MAGNETO
