X-Factor #6-12

X-Factor #6-12

Originally released in 1986

Written by Louise Simonson

Art by Jackson Guice (#6-7), Marc Silvestri (#8, 12), Terry Shoemaker (#9), Walt Simonson (#10-11)

In a way, X-Factor was a return to X-Men's past, reuniting the original five members under one team. They're posing as mutant hunters in order to find mutants who need their help, while making anti-mutant bigots pay the bill.  However, all of the aspects of this are starting to backfire - mutants don't trust them, their ad campaigns are increasing paranoia and bigotry, and even the fact that they're charging money (an amusing gag at first) caused bigots to take mutant-hunting into their own hands

However, the traditional threats that the X-Men faces in the sixties don't seem to be around.  Magneto is now running Xavier's school, while the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (led by Mystique and Destiny) are working for the US Government as the Freedom Force in exchange for full pardons.

A new threat is needed, and that threat takes the form of Apocalypse, who first appears in these issues. Apocalypse is a firm believer in survival of the fittest, and while he starts out by kidnapping a mutant drug addict to take advantage of the addict's ability to boost the mutant powers of others, he develops a more long-term plan as the series goes on, recruiting three of his four Horsemen. The fourth, Death, isn't revealed in this batch of issues, though given that Angel's wings are damaged and likely to be amputated, and there's a story arc where Apocalypse turns him into Archangel, he's the most likely candidate.

As for X-Factor, a love triangle is brewing between Cyclops, Angel, and Jean Grey, complicated by Cyclops's marriage to Madelyne Pryor (who has disappeared) and Angel's relationship with Candy Southern. Cyclops and Jean love each other, but Cyclops is keeping his distance since he's still married to Madelyne and has a kid with her. (Jean calls out Cyclops's abandonment of Madelyne as out of character, though it's never explained why he did that)

Another thing that is called out by the story is how X-Factor is doing more harm for mutantkind than good, with Angel's business partner Cameron Hodge having several moments where he seems this close to throwing out an anti-mutant slur. Anti-mutant bigotry has gotten to the point where police officers and other New Yorkers feel comfortable with bad-mouthing the Avengers and Fantastic Four.

However, all of this is interrupted by the massacre of the Morlocks, a group of disfigured mutants who live in New York's sewers.  The attack is carried out by the Marauders, though I'm unfamiliar with who the members are beyond Sabretooth, or who leads them, or what their goals are.

The storyline is carried out over several books, though I focused on the X-Factor issues.  X-Factor does what it can to save the Morlocks, though in a darkly amusing detail, even among the social outcasts living in New York's sewers, the Morlocks are divided into groups and look down on each other.

Some of the Morlocks firmly reject X-Factor's offer for help, another case where their reputation comes back to haunt them. Seemingly the only people who accept mutants for who they are were a bunch of teenage outcasts at an arcade.

The Morlock massacre didn't have as strong of an impact on me as it would have for longtime fans from this era, likely because I'm not familiar with the Morlocks in general (the only ones that I knew about, Leech and Caliban, survives) and I didn't get the full picture because I only read one series rather than the full storyline.

As for Apocalypse, his start wasn't as strong as I was expecting, though I'm interested to see how the plot with his Four Horsemen pans out, and how the team reacts to Archangel's deal with the devil. (Though I suppose that could happen later and someone else serves as Death in this storyline) However, he has a good design right from the start, and his characterization is in line with what I expected of him. I'm curious to see what his bigger storylines are like.