Iceman – A brash jokester, gifted with cryokinetic (the ability to lower temperature around him and form ice) abilities.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Angel, Beast, and Iceman wandered through various superhero teams. By 1985, all three were members of the Defenders. With the monthly Defenders series already due to be cancelled, Angel, Beast, and Iceman were freed up for X-Factor.[1]
A more difficult task was the return of Cyclops and Jean Grey. In 1980, Jean Grey was killed during the seminal Dark Phoenix Saga, and it was considered vital that the team have a female member.[2] In one of the most significant cases of retroactive continuity in comic book history, Jean Grey had never actually been the Phoenix. Instead, the Phoenix entity copied Grey's identity and form, keeping her safe in a cocoon-like structure beneath Jamaica Bay.[3][4]
In order to join the team, Cyclops walked out on his new wife Madelyne Pryor, an Alaskan pilot who bore a strange resemblance to Grey, and their infant son, Nathan Christopher.[5]
The original X-Men disassociate with the current team because Professor X had placed their old nemesis, Magneto, as its leader. The five original members set up a business advertised as mutant-hunters for hire, headquartered in the TriBeCa neighborhood of downtown New York City,[6] posing as "normal" (non-superpowered) humans to their clients. The mutants that X-Factor capture are secretly trained to control their powers and reintegrated into society. Through their "mutant hunting" they recruit a group of young wards:
Artie Maddicks – A pink-skinned, mute child who could project hologram-like images of his thoughts.
Tabitha Smith – A young woman who ran away from her abusive father, who can create handheld energy spheres that she can explode at will, which she calls "time bombs".
Leech – A green-skinned young boy, who can dampen the mutant powers of those around him.
Rictor – A Mexican teenager who can produce powerful seismic waves.
Skids – A runaway who could project a protective, frictionless force field around her body.
Eventually, the team decides that the "mutant hunter" ruse did more harm than good by inflaming hatred, and blames it on X-Factor's original business manager, Cameron Hodge, who is revealed as a mutant-hating mastermind.
In X-Factor #10, the Marauders, a group of mutant mercenaries, severely injure Angel's wings, which are later amputated. Despondent, Angel attempts suicide by detonating his airliner mid-flight, but Apocalypse rescues him and transforms him into Death, one of his Four Horsemen, giving him metal wings and blue skin. Angel escaped Apocalypse's control, but these physical changes remain. He is renamed Archangel and becomes a much darker character, eventually rejoining the team in issue #36. Angel's replacement on X-Factor, Caliban, turns to Apocalypse for more power in issue #24, with Apocalypse leaving X-Factor his ship in return.
In the 1989 crossoverInferno, Madelyne Pryor is revealed to be a clone of Jean Grey created by the mutant geneticist Mister Sinister. Manipulated by demons and tormented by Scott's rejection of her, Madelyne becomes the Goblin Queen and fights X-Factor before kills herself in a suicide attack on Jean.
In the last major storyline of the first X-Factor series, published in early 1991, Apocalypse kidnaps Nathan Summers, sensing that he would grow up to be a powerful mutant and possible threat. X-Factor rescue Nathan from Apocalypse's lunar base, but find him infected with a "techno-organic" virus that cannot be treated. A clan of rebels from the future, known as the Askani, send a representative to the present time to bring Nathan 2,000 years into the future to be treated. Fully grown, he returns to the 20th century as the antihero, Cable.[volume&issueneeded]
X-Factor, the X-Men, and several minor characters team up to fight the telepathic Shadow King in another crossover event, The Muir Island Saga. Afterward, the original members of X-Factor rejoin the X-Men and several characters from various X-Men-related series become founding members of a new X-Factor.
Government team (1991–1998)
X-Factor was recreated with new members, all of whom were already allies of the X-Men, and three of whom were involved in the Muir Island Saga. The new X-Factor worked for the Pentagon, replacing Freedom Force as the government's salaried mutant team.[7] Their relationship with their benefactors was often strained and complicated. The new X-Factor, debuting in issue #71, included:
Valerie Cooper – A U.S. government agent with history as both ally and adversary of the X-Men who becomes X-Factor's government liaison, carrying over from her duties as liaison to a prior government-sponsored team of mutants, Freedom Force.
Havok – A former X-Man and brother of Cyclops who metabolizes cosmic rays to generate powerful, but hard to control, plasma waves. Havok serves as X-Factor's leader.
Multiple Man – He can create duplicates of himself on physical impact. He was previously offered X-Men membership, but he declined, opting instead to work at the Muir Island research center.
Polaris – Havok's long-time lover, and also a former X-Man who can control magnetism. Later revealed to be Magneto's daughter.
Quicksilver – A long-running Avengers character, and a former foe of the X-Men, who possesses super speed and a difficult temperament.
Strong Guy – A wise-cracking character who can re-channel kinetic energy aimed at him, transforming it into muscular mass and power. Lila Cheney's former bodyguard.
Wolfsbane – A Scottish former New Mutant who can transform into a wolf or a werewolf-like creature. Some artificial manipulation of her feelings causes her to love Havok, bringing her much conflict and frustration because she knows he loves Polaris.
Forge, a former government weapons contractor whose mutant power is an instinctive ability to invent advanced technology, was later added to the group; first replacing Cooper as their liaison after she had been compromised by one of Magneto's Acolytes, and later as an active member. Cooper later becomes an active member as well, her marksmanship and athletic skills compensating for her lack of superhuman powers.
In a 1995 story, Multiple Man apparently dies of the Legacy Virus, a deadly illness that attacks mutant genes, which is later revealed to have only killed one of his duplicates. Strong Guy is put into suspended animation after suffering a heart attack caused by the stress his extra mass put on his body. Wolfsbane, cured of her artificial love for Alex, transfers to the European mutant team Excalibur. Havok leaves to infiltrate a mutant terrorist ring.
A new X-Factor line-up was introduced, consisting of Forge as the team's new leader, Polaris, Cooper, and several new recruits:
Mystique – A shapeshifting mutant criminal and master of espionage. Mystique is forced to join X-Factor following her capture by federal agents.
Sabretooth – A homicidal mutant criminal who possesses claws, heightened senses, and a healing factor. Like Mystique, Sabretooth is a captive member that Forge uses special technology to control.
Shard – A holographic computer program with the personality of the X-Man Bishop's deceased sister of the same name. Bishop is a time-traveler from a distant future, where he and Shard are members of Xavier's Security Enforcers. The holographic Shard was brought to the 20th century with Bishop.
Wild Child – A former member of Alpha Flight who possesses heightened senses, fangs, and claws.
The team later had a secession from government sponsorship. Multiple Man and Strong Guy appear again at the same time. Despite Forge managing to fix Strong Guy's problems, he does not rejoin the team. The popularity of X-Factor continued to dwindle and Mystique and Sabretooth, two popular X-Men villains, failed to draw in more readers. Wild Child mutates out of control, Mystique hunts down Sabretooth (who had kidnapped young Tyler Trevor Chase), and Forge breaks ties with X-Factor.
After various stories focusing on individual characters, a new team was gathered consisting of Havok, Multiple Man, Polaris, Shard, and other members of the X.S.E.: Fixx, and Greystone, that are brought to the 20th century. However, this version of the team disbands in the same issue in which they debut. In that issue, #149 (1998), Greystone builds a time machine meant to take him and his compatriots back to the future. However, the device explodes, killing Greystone and Havok. Afterward, X-Factor disbands.
The time machine's explosion transports Havok to a parallel world, populated by twisted versions of Marvel characters. He explores this strange world in the series Mutant X.
A four-issue X-Factor limited series was launched in 2002. This series focused on the government's new Mutant Civil Rights Task Force, which consisted of humans who investigated anti-mutant hate crimes and inadvertently discovered an anti-mutant conspiracy within their own ranks.
Volume 3 (2005–2013)
X-Factor Investigations, from X-Factor (vol 3) #224.1. Art by David Yardin.
X-Factor Investigations is a detective agency run by Jamie Madrox, also known as Multiple Man. The name is taken from the government-sponsored group the three founders previously served on. The initial staff consists of Madrox's best friend and special enforcer, Guido Carosella (Strong Guy), and former teammate Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane). Following the events of the "House of M" storyline, Madrox's new-found wealth from winning a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?-style game show allows him to recruit several of his former colleagues from the Paris branch of the now defunct X-Corporation. New members include:
M (Monet St. Croix) – A wealthy ambassador's daughter with an array of superhuman powers.
Rictor (Julio Richter) – A Mexican mutant who can produce powerful seismic waves.
Siryn (Theresa Cassidy) – Banshee's daughter with similar sonic-based powers.
Layla Miller – A young mutant who inserts herself into the group to keep them from discovering the truth behind the "Decimation" storyline.
The new series opens with a suicide attempt by Rictor, who has lost his powers. The series deals with the group's attempt to unravel the truth behind the "Decimation" and its aftermath, fighting with Singularity Investigations, and dealing with Madrox's powers and their consequences.
During the "Messiah Complex" storyline, Jamie and Layla travel to a dystopian future in which mutants are persecuted and imprisoned. Jamie escapes and returns to the early 21st century, but Layla is still trapped. Rahne fears (because of a glimpse she has had of the future) that she, while in her wolf shape, will murder Jamie and Layla. To prevent this, she quits the team and joins X-Force. Rictor also quits. Jamie travels to the future with the help of an aged Layla Miller and helps a rebellion led by a cyborg Scott Summers and his daughter Ruby, while the rest of the team is in the present. After battling Arcade, who captured Rictor (who then rejoins), the team meets one of Jamie's duplicates, who calls himself Cortex and is joined by new members:
Longshot – A genetically-created humanoid from Mojoverse with favorable probability outcomes.
Darwin (Armando Muñoz) – One of Moira's early recruit with reactive evolution powers.
Shatterstar (Gaveedra Seven) – founding X-Force member with that can open dimensional portals and channel vibratory shockwave through his swords.
The next incarnation of the series was All-New X-Factor, and depicts the corporation "Serval Industries" forming a new corporate-sponsored version of the team, which includes Polaris, Quicksilver, Gambit,[8][9]Danger, Cypher and Warlock.[10]
Genosha is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is an island nation that exists in the Marvel Universe and a prominent location in the X-Men comics. The fictional nation served as an allegory for slavery and later for South African apartheid before becoming a mutant homeland and subsequently a disaster zone. The island is located off the southeastern African coast southwest from Seychelles and northeast of Madagascar. Its capital city was Hammer Bay.
James Arthur Madrox, also called the Multiple Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Len Wein, he first appeared in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4.
Strong Guy is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz and first appeared in The New Mutants #29.
The Brotherhood of Mutants is a fictional group of mutants appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Brotherhood are among the chief adversaries of the X-Men.
Havok is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. He first appears in The X-Men #54, and was created by writer Arnold Drake and penciller Don Heck. Havok generates powerful "plasma blasts", an ability he has had difficulty controlling.
Polaris is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Jim Steranko, the character first appeared in The X-Men #49. Lorna Dane belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She can control magnetism in a manner similar to her father Magneto. The character has been known as Polaris, Malice, and Pestilence at various points in her history. Dane has also been a member of the X-Men and the X-Factor.
Wolfsbane is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is commonly associated with the X-Men. A Scottish mutant, Wolfsbane can transform into a wolf or a transitional state somewhere between human and wolf, similar to a werewolf. She honed her powers to shift between human and wolf characteristics but must keep her feral instincts at bay when she does.
Forge is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. A mutant with an unsurpassed brilliance in technology, he has had a lengthy career as a government weapons contractor. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Romita Jr., Forge first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #184.
Siryn is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Steve Leialoha, the character first appeared in Spider-Woman #37. Theresa Cassidy belongs to a subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She possesses a sonic voice providing various effects while her name refers to the Sirens of Greek mythology and their hypnotic voices. She is depicted most commonly in association with the X-Men. Theresa Cassidy is the daughter of the superhero Sean Cassidy. The character has also been known as Siryn and Banshee at various points in her history.
The Marauders refers to one of two teams of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Marauders team included mutant warriors and assassins employed by the X-Men's enemy Mister Sinister, a mad scientist villain often intent on creating a perfect race of superhumans. At different times, the Marauders have been tasked by Sinister to perform kidnappings, assassinations, mass murder, or simply fight Sinister's enemies. At different times, Marauders have been killed in combat, but often Mr. Sinister later uses his cloning technology to re-create them. This team of Marauders has appeared in many different stories of the X-Men franchise, as well as stories featuring other Marvel Comics heroes.
Valerie "Val" Cooper is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character works for the Office of National Emergency as the liaison for mutant affairs. She once claimed to have been inspired to government service by the interesting cases her brother, an FBI agent, encountered in his work.
"The Fall of the Mutants" was a comic book crossover storyline by Marvel Comics spanning January to March 1988. It spanned three issues each of The Uncanny X-Men #225-227, X-Factor #24-26, and New Mutants #59-61; unlike most crossovers however, the various titles' storylines did not intertwine, but were instead linked thematically as each team underwent major ordeals and drastic changes in their status quo.
X-Factor Investigations is a fictional detective agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The organization was created by writer Peter David for the comic book series X-Factor. The agency first appears under the name XXX Investigations in the first issue of the Marvel Comics limited series Madrox #1. In the final issue, Madrox #5, the name is changed to X-Factor Investigations, and later abbreviated XF Investigations.
Rictor is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily in the X-Men family of books. The character was created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Walt Simonson and first appeared in X-Factor #17. In subsequent years, the character was featured as a member of the original New Mutants team and the original X-Force team, and continued to appear in various X-Men franchise publications thereafter. In comic books published in the 1980s and 1990s, Rictor's mutant powers were to generate and manipulate seismic energy and creating tremendously powerful vibrations in any nearby object, inducing earthquake-like phenomena and causing objects to shatter or crumble. When the character was reintroduced in 2005, it was as one of many depowered mutants adjusting to civilian life. The character remained depowered until a 2011 comic.
Random is a fictional character and antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Peter David for the series X-Factor. He was originally presented as an opponent of X-Factor, but he later became their reluctant ally.
Layla Rose Miller, also known as Butterfly, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in House of M #4, and was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel. Peter David has developed the character, placing Layla at the center of the ensemble of mutant private detectives in his title X-Factor.
"X-Tinction Agenda" is a 1990 crossover comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics that ran through Uncanny X-Men and its spin-off titles, X-Factor and New Mutants. "X-Tinction Agenda" not only reunited the X-Men after a prolonged period in which the team had been scattered around the globe, but featured the combined might of the three mutant teams for the first time, in their fight against the mutant-exploiting Genoshan government.
"X-Men: Messiah Complex" is an American comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics from October 2007 to January 2008, which ran through the various X-Men books.
X-Men: Regenesis is a comic book branding used by Marvel Comics that ran through the X-Men family of books beginning in October 2011, following the end of the X-Men: Schism miniseries. This realignment of the mutant population is ahead of the 2012 Marvel event Avengers vs. X-Men which begins during Regenesis with the mini series Avengers: X-Sanction and brings back Cable, who was previously thought to be dead following the events of X-Men: Second Coming.
X-Factor is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team X-Factor and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original X-Factor comic book series which debuted in 1986.
References
↑ DeAngelo, Daniel (July 2013). "The Not-Ready-For-Super-Team Players: A History of the Defenders". Back Issue! (65). TwoMorrows Publishing: 3–16.
↑ Harvey, Allan (August 2008). "Four Men and a Telekinetic Lady: The Birth of X-Factor". Back Issue! (29). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 69–72.
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