Writer: Peter David
Artists: Pablo Raimondi, Brian Reber (colours)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Jamie Madrox is captured by Hydra and is submitted to psychological torture in an attempt to turn him into a green and yellow suit wearing fanatic. Things don’t go as planned. Meanwhile, Monet and Siryn enjoy some quality bitching time in Paris before getting involved in an anti-mutant riot and ending up in the tender care of the gendarmes.
Jamie gets side-tracked from his quest to round up his stray dupes by Hydra who mistake him for his S.H.I.E.L.D. agent dupe. Their plan is to brainwash him, à la “Enemy of the State,” and use him to infiltrate the world’s number one spy agency. To do so, the obligatory crazy evil doctor tries to fracture his multiple personalities in order to expose the bare core that is the true Madrox. And that’s where their problems start. David’s take on the Multiple Man has been a very interesting and entertaining one, each of his dupes manifesting a different aspect of his personality. But who is the one true Madrox? A better question would appear to be: is there a one true Madrox? By probing his mind, the psycho Hydra doctor stimulates an inner sense of guilt that Jamie feels regarding his parents’ death, leading to his belief that he is a “bad boy” and his self-punishing himself. After splitting his mind, and body, to such a degree, he finds himself again and comes to the realisation that being a Multiple Man has left him hollow with no real emotions of his own.
Whilst Madrox is wondering where his mind is, Monet and Siryn are shopping in Paris and, as has become custom, they make the most of their time by bitching at each other. This is cut short when this week’s stereotypical mutant haters are wheeled on to protest against the presence of ex-mutants in a nearby building. Being two of the harder X-women around, they intervene in a no-nonsense manner that leads to a short scuffle and Monet reminding us that she’s bullet-proof. (Side thought: not all protesters are raving gun-totting maniacs, especially in France; they just burn cars instead.) When their actions land tem in jail, Siryn tries to play the voice of reason and calm Monet’s slight anger issues. However, even her vast powers of persuasion prove ineffective when one of the protesters is brought in who took things a bit far and Monet takes executive action to ensure he won’t have the chance to become a repeat offender.
There’s no time to check in with the other cast members this month, but to be honest I don’t miss them all that much, except Layla Miller. In the space of 15 issues, David has succeeded in taking a rather random selection of X-Men cast-offs and shaping them into an utterly dysfunctional but absolutely captivating team. His characterisation of Madrox is really what sells the book, but he’s done a cracking job on Monet and Siryn as well. It’s easy to dislike Monet; she’s aloof, insulting, cold, detached, but all the more fascinating for it. She’s definitely vying with Layla for my second favourite character spot. Siryn has been put through the ringer: kidnapped, tortured, her dad’s died, the man she loves was cheating on her with her team-mate. She’s going to snap soon, and I pity the fool who’s around when it happens. And this might happen sooner rather than later; Monet’s little “outburst” spells trouble for the girls with a capital “T.”
Pablo Raimondi turns in his third issue on this title that hasn’t been able to hold down a regular penciller since it launched. Here’s to hoping he makes this position permanent. Sook’s dark pencils on the first issues were outstanding and fit the tone of the book, but Raimondi’s do just as well, albeit in a different way. The characters that stand out this month are Jamie, with his innumerable dupes, and Monet, who’s conceitedness oozes out of the page. There is one slightly confusing sequence in which Monet bemoans the loss of a Fabergé Egg to a stray bullet. The only visual evidence is a small impact symbol on a shopping bag that looks slightly out of place.
X-Factor continues to be my favourite X-title currently on the stands. If this creative team can stick together and navigate the muddy waters of Marvel’s upcoming big X-event of 2007, then their run on this book could turn out to be something quite special.
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