I have to say this weeks All New X-Factor #1 really presents a great real world venue for a super hero team to make Marvel super heroes relevant in a very unique way. In my view Marvel's marry band of mutants haven't really found a formula until today for being politically relevant since the early 2000s when Magneto controlled his own Island of mutants and humans which became a metaphor for Israel and later Iraq when he went power mad. This comic really was Peter David at the top of his game with the highest profile cast of characters any X-Factor title has had since the original five X-Men were on the title. Polaris recruits Gambit for serving Serval a weapons and technology firm that wants a superhero team to serve the interests of the company. For those that don't know back to Lorna's botched wedding Lorna has a bit of a sexual attraction to Gambit. Meanwhile unbeknownst to Lorna Serval's CEO has recruited Lorna's brother Quicksilver for the team. Peter David has been recovering from a stroke and this issue shows his wit is back in force. All in all this issue was a great set up for one of the best ideas for an ongoing series I have seen in years.
I love PAD's work, especially his X-Factor run (which is one of my favorite comic runs ever) so I definitely liked this first issue. The premise isn't exactly perfect, it could easily lead to the generic "supposedly friendly corporation is evi/becomes evil" cliche, but its PAD so I'm betting it doesn't become that simple. I'm not a huge fan of some of the team members, Gambit and Quicksilver especially, but its PAD, so he gets the benefit of the doubt. Heck, by all reports the hardest team member to make work hasn't even shown up yet Spoiler: All New X-Factor Danger, the kind of lame creation of the only bad part of Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run, is apparently joining the team. I don't hate her, but she wasn't a great idea when she was created and she's flip flopped between decent and boring depending on who has written her. Still, its PAD, so maybe he can make her into a break out character, he sure did a lot with the cast members in his last X-Factor book. I'm excited to see what comes next. PAD's my favorite comic writer, so I'm sure the book is going to end up being great.
It was certainly a very strong set up issue and this series is quite socially relevant to the modern era. Who knows about modern audiences and what they find appealing, but we will know soon enough if its popular with fans.