David (w) and N. Edwards and Leisten (a) and Milla (c)
The final issue of X-Factor kicks off focused on Layla as she discovers that, at perhaps the worst possible time, she's pregnant. Old X-Factor enemy Tryp shows up to threaten her a bit and to tell her of something new coming, another version of him, more or less, who she would perhaps call the "good" version, coming to replace the bad. Before dying, though, he does call the police on her for "trespassing" in the house she's staying at, which is a Madrox family farm. Though she's Jamie's wife, no one really officially knows that and Jamie himself is a goat-headed demon being hidden in the barn. Layla tries to bring him food and he breaks free, launching himself at her. He pins her down and she screams that she's pregnant, which is enough to send him fleeing back to the barn. As Layla begins to return to the house, the police arrive. Meanwhile, Jamiegoat seems to pray to something and something seems to answer. As the police begin to take action against Layla, we see Siryn, now the Morrigan, talking with Jamie. The police brought weapons to handle Layla, knowing her powers and knowing she has something in the barn. Siryn joins in the fight against the strange special agent the cops have brought and Jamie, no longer a goathead, jumps in to prove his identity and that they belong in the house, finally sending the police away. Later, Siryn briefs the couple on the rest of the team's whereabouts and asks if they want her to bring them all back together. They think it over briefly but decline, saying they have a family and a farm to get back to.It's a sweet little ending for X-Factor and one that ties up what remaining threads may have been out there. Great to get Jamie back to his normal self, even if he is in a nondescript white tank and jeans instead of his trademark green duster and if he's not exactly brimming with personality in this issue. Still good to get everything wrapped up and a nice little close for the series. Some intrigue with the strange police special agent with a specially prepared weapon. Also a nice wrap-up note from Peter David at the end of the issue to assure that he wasn't wrapping the series because of his recent stroke or anything of that nature; instead, they wrapped because it was a good time to wrap and they had a story that could do it nicely. He also promised something new coming up that was hinted at in 260 (the issue with Polaris and Quicksilver wherein Polaris was offered a job of a sort). Sad to see the series go but perhaps it was time.
X-Men Legacy 16
Spurrier (w) and Davidson (a) and Rosenberg (c)
David is ready to dispense some filial justice but he actually has to track his father's killer first. No easy feat as Cyclops has dedicated himself to not being found in recent days (not well, they keep running into traps, the dummies). Watching all sorts of international news programs, David begins to track Cyclops' movements and is able within a few hours to figure out Cyclops' location. He bursts in, riding down on thunderbolts and lightning (very, very frightening) with Blindfold and begins to set to work taking out Cyclops' team one-by-one. There are several nice moments in here, including him putting the new mutants on Cyke's team down first (gently and thinking to himself about the ugly legacy his father built of sending children into battles like this) before attacking the big guns on the team. He dispatches them nicely (his feelings about the members also come out, including his calling Magneto a grandfather and Emma Frost a trollop) before turning to Cyclops. Cyclops tries very minimally to talk him down but knows he won't likely listen anyway. David, for his part, says that they won't use powers, just a man vs. man fight, to be continued next issue.I'm always a little surprised when this book sends an arc for multiple issues and I really shouldn't be at this point. Through 16 issues we've probably had, at this point, more to-be-continueds than not. Still, the feel of this book doesn't always lend itself to cliffhangers so it always catches me a bit off-guard. Maybe it's just that I'm eager to see every story to its conclusion so I am left a little disappointed when I don't immediately see the end. That's probably a good sign, though. Just means that I want to read more of this series. Good issue overall, really great stuff as he dismantles, one-by-one, one of the pre-eminent X-Men teams around. Granted, they're not at full power but the idea is still the same and his confidence-based powers are still on full display here. Solid work. Still a pretty great book. As this series has gone on, too, the art has grown on me again and again. Davidson's has typically been solid but I had to grow a little on Tan Eng Huat's stuff. I have, though, overwhelmingly, and I've really liked what's come recently. What a great book.
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