There have been multiple mutant teams in Marvel Comics using the name X-Factor, going back 40 years. There’s never been a solid “mission statement” for the team, as mutant hunters, a government strike force, and mutant private investigators have all used the name. But soon, in the second season of X-Men ’97, the team we’re introduced to is perhaps the most iconic roster of all, the team from writer Peter David’s run, which lasted from 1991 to 1994.
Cyclops’ brother Havok leads this version on the Disney+ series, a.k.a. Alex Summers. Alongside him were Polaris, Wolfsbane, Strong Guy, and Multiple Man. For X-Men ’97, the sonic screamer Siryn is also on this team. They actually all appeared as a team before, in the original X-Men: The Animated Series episode. But before we get to that version, we have to look back to where it began: with the original five X-Men.
The Original 5 X-Men Reunite as the First X-Factor Team
By 1985, Uncanny X-Men was Marvel Comics’ biggest title. The series earned its first spin-off, a junior X-Men series titled New Mutants. But sales were very strong, and warranted a third title. Marvel’s EIC Jim Shooter had the idea of reuniting the five original X-Men, who hadn’t been together as a team since 1970. They’d come together with a new name and mission as X-Factor. There was one small problem, however. The lead female hero on the team, Jean Grey, had died five years earlier in a fairly high-profile story, The Dark Phoenix Saga.
After debating several characters for the fifth member, including Dazzler, Marvel decided to resurrect Jean Grey. She rejoined her great love, Scott Summers/Cyclops, as well as Beast, Angel, and Iceman, who had just quit the Defenders. Starting in 1985’s X-Factor #1, they would pose as mutant hunters, working for Hodge Industries. While working for Hodge, they were secretly taking the young mutants they apprehended and training them in using their powers as Professor X had trained them as teens. A major X-Men villain, Apocalypse, debuted in the pages of X-Factor in 1986. This version of the team lasted 70 issues, until 1991, when the original five rejoined the X-Men in Marvel’s massive “Mutant Genesis” relaunch.
Cyclops’ Brother Havok Leads the Second X-Factor Team of Government Heroes
X-Factor was now a popular title without a team. The U.S. Government operative Valerie Cooper co-opted the name X-Factor for her government-sanctioned mutant hero team, which would operate in a high-profile capacity. This lineup included two early X-Men, Havok and Polaris, Cyclops’ brother and Magneto’s daughter, respectively. Former New Mutant Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane) joined them, as did the replicating Multiple Man (Jamie Madrox), and Strong Guy, musclebound former bodyguard to the stars. Occasionally joining them was Magneto’s son, Quicksilver. This version of the team mixed sitcom humor with soapy drama and superheroics, similar to what would come later in pop culture with shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This team was together from X-Factor #71 to #100.
Eventually, this lineup would split up, but Valerie Cooper soon drafted other mutants into service. Forge led this more paramilitary team, which also included shapeshifter Mystique, Bishop’s sister Shard, Wild Child, and the villain Sabretooth. By the time these characters joined, Peter David had left the title, and G.I. Joe writer Howard Mackie replaced him. Without David at the helm, the popularity of the team dropped. Although, as an X-Men spin-off, it always sold rather well. X-Factor volume one ended in 1997 with issue #149. The team name “X-Factor” would then remain dormant for almost a decade.
X-Factor Becomes a Mutant Private Investigations Operation
Eventually, Peter David returned to the team he helped popularize in a new relaunch in 2005. He reimagined the concept for the 2000s. Instead of a government team, he brought back Jamie Madrox to create X-Factor Investigations, a P.I. firm serving mutant interests. Among the cast were former X-Factor members from David’s earlier run, like Strong Guy and Wolfsbane. Now joining them were former X-Force members Rictor, Shatterstar, and Siryn. Eventually, Havok and Polaris rejoined the team as well, along with former X-Men like Longshot and Darwin, and Generation X’s Monet St. Croix. This version of X-Factor would canonize long-held fan theories, making Rictor and Shatterstar a gay couple. X-Factor volume 2 lasted for eight years, running from 2005 to 2013.
X-Factor, the Corporate Superteam
X-Factor rebranded yet again, once again with Peter David at the helm. This time, in the All-New X-Factor series, which lasted all too briefly. In this iteration, Polaris led the team, now backed by the massive corporation Serval Industries. Essentially, instead of working for the government, they were on a corporate payroll. This brought the concept back to its ’80s roots. Among the members were Gambit, Quicksilver, former New Mutants Cypher and Warlock, and even the former villain Danger. Sadly, this series only ran for twenty issues. And it was Peter David’s final run on a comic book titled X-Factor. Overall, David wrote 13 years of X-Factor comics.
X-Factor in Modern Marvel Comics
During the Krakoan era, when mutantkind lived in its own prosperous nation, the name X-Factor was used for a special team led by Northstar. This roster included Polaris, Prestige, Aurora, Daken, Prodigy, and Eye-Boy. They investigated mutant crime, as even in their special paradise, mutant crimes did occur. After the Fall of Krakoa, a new X-Factor team was formed, with original member Angel (Warren Worthington) in charge. This was once again a government sanction teamed, and included Havok once again. This series was also short-lived. But without a doubt, a new X-Factor team will rise again. Simply put, after four decades, they’re too much of a Marvel Comics staple to stay on the sidelines too long.
The post X-MEN 97’s Mutant Heroes X-Factor, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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