X-Factor #13-20

X-Factor #13-20

Originally released in 1987

Written by Louise Simonson

Art by Walt Simonson (#13-19) and June Brigman (#20)

I'm jumping back into the ongoing soap opera that is the lives of the original X-Men. As X-Factor continues, Scott Summers leaves for Alaska to try and resolve things with his wife Maddie.  He says goodbye to Jean, but they both manage to send something of a mixed message in the process.

Upon arriving in Anchorage, Alaska, Scott quickly discovers that there's no evidence that Maddie or their child existed at all.  Everyone who could confirm their existence (including Scott's grandparents) suddenly left on August 5th, the day that Scott found out that Jean was alive and left Maddie.

As Scott starts hallucinating, it's unclear what happened to Maddie.  Did she ever exist? Was she kidnapped and subjected to an elaborate cover-up? Is she some kind of manifestation of the Phoenix Force? A decomposed body with vibrant red hair is found, which only raises further questions.

Meanwhile, Master Mold, a massive Sentinel that serves as a Sentinel factory, has reawakened off the coast of Alaska with knowledge in its databanks that seems to have driven it to become more dangerous than ever.  It has concluded that every single human has the potential to create mutants, and therefore, every human and mutant are now its targets.

Master Mold is specifically targeting a group called "the Twelve", twelve mutants who will become powerful leaders and need to be killed before that happens.  We don't see a complete list, but aside from Cyclops (who has become its primary target due to him being so close), we also see Storm, Apocalypse, Jean Grey, and a young boy who might be Franklin Richards.

Back in New York, the mutant kids that X-Factor rescued act as audience surrogates for the relationship drama (along with having their own relationship drama, as forcefield-using Morlock Skids and fire-wielding Rusty start a relationship) while Angel is forced to have his wings amputated in order to save his life.  Even if it's for his own good, Angel prefers death over being unable to fly, becoming increasingly erratic as time goes on.

Claiming that he wants to fly one last time, he sneaks out of the hospital and takes his private plane for a flight.  The plane explodes, though given his state of mind, it's unclear whether this was suicide on his part or if he didn't check the plane closely enough.

After his funeral, it becomes increasingly clear that his friend and the man in charge of X-Factor's advertising, Cameron Hodge, doesn't have the best interest of mutants in mind.  When a mutant named Rictor claims that he's going to destroy San Francisco with his earthquake powers, Hodge says that X-Factor is in mourning and unable to help; when they go to help anyway, it's clear that he's behind this event.

Upon being rescued, Rictor is terrified of Hodge, as his voice sounds like the leader of the anti-mutant hate group The Right that kidnapped Rictor and planned to use him as a scapegoat to blame untold devastation on mutants.  I've already seen Hodge's grisly end during the Inferno event, though at least the team suspect that he's got sinister motives rather than taking him at his word.

Cyclops is unsure about who he truly loves - Jean, Maddie, or maybe it was just the Phoenix Force when it was using Jean's body.  Hodge does his best to stoke the flames and increase Scott's paranoia, leading to a fight between Scott and Jean when Scott believes that Jean has been possessed by the Phoenix once more.

Between the deaths of Angel, Madelyne Pryor, and the baby Nathan Summers, Scott is shaken, and his faith in his leadership is fading.  However, Angel isn't dead. (neither are Madelyne Pryor or Nathan, though that won't be revealed until later)  Rather, he's been taken by Apocalypse and slowly but surely molded into his fourth Horseman: Death.  He's giving Angel new wings, but at a cost - Apocalypse is slowly but surely brainwashing the former X-Man to do his bidding.

While Apocalypse is building up his Horsemen and encouraging them to work together, X-Factor aims to track down Hodge and the younger members aim to control their powers. (which is a recurring theme with them - Rictor causes earthquakes when he gets angry, while Leech shuts off the powers of others when he's near them without meaning to)  The Simonsons have been doing a great job with this series - I'm invested, not just in the mutants that I'm familiar with, but the younger mutants as well (which can be tough to do with young characters at times), and Jean's heartbreak and Warren's depression are plainly visible on the panels.  It really puts things into perspective when I think about how the issues I covered today released over the course of eight months, but I'm nearing the point where Angel becomes Archangel.