X-Factor #7 Review

What do you think the standard should be for copying from yourself? I think the first thing it does is eliminate that (sometimes unspoken) sense of "maybe it's just a coincidence that the stories are so similar" from the discussion, as, if you wrote it in the past, it is reasonable that you know you wrote it. But, beyond that, do you think it should be held against a current story if it redoes a story the writer has done before? Does it really matter, if the story itself is good?

I am not sure, myself, but I couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed by the scene in X-Factor #7, where Siryn, upon learning that her father was dead, reacted in the metafictional way of "Yeah right, X-Men never actually die," which is a plot that writer Peter David has used before, in the pages of the Incredible Hulk, when Nick Fury was "killed" by the Punisher, and his friends all doubted he actually died. There IS a slight difference, in that in that story, at the end, they eventually admitted he was dead, while Siryn has yet to reach that point by the end of this issue. Then again, in that issue, the characters were guest-stars, so there would not BE a chance for David to deal with their coming to terms, while here, Siryn is a cast member, so he would be able to deal with her coming to terms with Banshee's death.

Outside of my misgivings with this scene, this issue was strong, especially the very nice artwork from Ariel Olivetti, whose art has a much lighter touch than usual. Jose Villarrubia is still doing the color art, though, so he keeps the book looking consistent. Although, we didn't get to see if he drew Wolfsbane with the stupid giant wolf head or not, so that's a shame (On that note, check out how cool Dennis Calero is - he's doing a contest about the typid Wolfsbane head topic. VERY cool of him, even though it doesn't really detract from the lameness of Wolfsbane's giant wolf head).

The exchange in this issue between Madrox and Singularity Investigations is excellent. From their offers to give the X-Factor crew exclusive contracts, and later, to just buy out X-Factor, to the interesting banter between them over Jamie Madrox's insistence on finding out WHO was behind Decimation (which will, of course, ultimately lead to an awkward exchange when Jamie finds out who it actually was), to the window breaking scene that inspired the cover. Top notch stuff.

In addition, the tape Banshee made for his daughter was funny, and nice. And the "Shaun Cassidey is dead?" scene borders on the "too dumb to be funny" line, but just toes the line, I think.

Also, I am confused - I thought Banshee ended up NOT saving the lives of the people on the other plane, which they say he DID in this issue. Was Cyclops just lying, or is that a communication mistake between editors? Also, how lame was it that Banshee didn't even save the civilians?

So, all together, it was a good issue, I think. I would recommend it, with the reservation that it is pretty dorky to reuse story ideas.

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