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X-Factor #9Issue(s): X-Factor #9 Review/plot: ![]() However, with anti-mutant sentiment running high, Freedom Force find themselves attacked by the onlooking crowd... ![]() ...and Rusty and Skids are able to escape. X-Factor, meanwhile, run into a different crowd, with reporter Trish Tilby also on the scene, that treats them like heroes. In both the X-Factor and Freedom Force scenes, we see comparisons to other super-powered hero groups (Avengers and Fantastic Four, respectively) and the basic sentiment in both cases is that those groups might as well be mutants too, compared to real human heroes like X-Factor. ![]() ![]() X-Factor happen to get stopped right near the Hellfire Club just as Magneto is arriving to propose an alliance with them, as per a parallel scene in Uncanny X-Men #210 (see the Considerations regarding this). The X-Men recognize Magneto and see his ability to walk free as part of the same trend that allows Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to rebrand themselves as Freedom Force. We'll see in the X-Men that Magneto is similarly disillusioned by X-Factor, but for this issue we just see him shout "Scott!" before turning away. ![]() Another interesting thing about this scene is that Jean Grey seems to recognize the Hellfire Club building, which of course is where the Phoenix Force entity that was impersonating her became the corrupted Black Queen. X-Factor then arrive at where the crowd is harassing Freedom Force, and put a stop to it, confusing their "fans". Hank says that X-Factor doesn't condone vigilantism, a statement that Trish Tilby is correct to find hypocritical. ![]() Freedom Force withdraws and X-Factor return to headquarters. Earlier, Artie was able to "see" Rusty and Skids fleeing into the Morlock tunnels, where very bad things are happening, but Cameron Hodge wasn't interested in Artie's "nasty little fit". ![]() Artie decided to go after Rusty himself. He isn't able to write a note, so he traces one of his visions onto the wall, and X-Factor find it when they return. ![]() Meanwhile, Artie is meeting with someone that will turn into a longtime friend. ![]() ![]() Rusty and Skids are having a less pleasant time, as they discover that someone has been slaughtering Morlocks in the tunnels. ![]() And then Freedom Force catches up with them. ![]() But luckily, so does X-Factor, now in their X-Terminators guise. The former Brotherhood recognize the team clearly this time, with Destiny saying that there was a possibility of Scott turning evil (she's off by a few years, but i guess she was ultimately right). ![]() After a fight... ![]() ...Destiny tells Mystique that they have to withdraw or they will all die due to the danger in the tunnels. Rusty was roughed up pretty bad by the Blob, so Jean Grey, Angel, and Skids take him back to the X-Factor compound... ![]() ...while Cyclops, Iceman, and Beast (possibly after a quick return to the HQ for a quick shower and phone call with the Wasp; see the Considerations) continue to look for Artie, who we see huddled with Leech and Caliban amidst the Morlock Massacre. ![]() The issue ends with Freedom Force getting chewed out by Val Cooper over failing to catch Rusty, and not interested in hearing the X-Factor/X-Terminators connection that they've discovered (i could almost believe that she's already aware of it and doesn't want the information to come out). Mystique instead decides to leak the info to the press (and check out the Blob's glasses). ![]() Last issue and this one are fun in their own right, with a nice set of battles with Freedom Force at the same time that the negative effects of X-Factor's anti-mutant premise are being fully realized, the fact that they are set against the backdrop of events in the X-Men book - first the Nimrod battle and then the Mutant Massacre (this book hasn't really become directly involved in the Massacre yet) - adds a sense of depth and importance to them. The tie-in also creates complexity regarding placement. But it's cool and ambitious for these books to tie in to each other. The Central Park storyline seems to have been a tentative stab in that direction followed by the full-throttle Mutant Massacre event. Even with the Mutant Massacre, it's a "non-crossover" crossover, and many of the events happen in parallel, as seen in this easy to follow flow chart: ![]() Quality Rating: B+ Chronological Placement Considerations: For starters, see the Considerations for X-Factor #8 and Uncanny X-Men #210. One more thing to contend with is the Beast's phone call with the Wasp in West Coast Avengers annual #1, a crossover with Avengers annual #15. This one is hard to realistically place. First, as mentioned above, X-Factor #9 takes place during the Mutant Massacre. So when looking at placement for the Beast appearance, we have to look at the Mutant Massacre in addition to these issues. In the "this takes place before the Avengers annuals" column, we have Spider-Woman, who appears in these issues as a member of Freedom Force, but in the Avengers annuals she leaves that team (Spiral going AWOL here doesn't seem to have been a problem). In the "this takes place after the Avengers annuals" column, we have Thor, who gets a broken arm in the Mutant Massacre but appears fine in the Avengers annuals. And we also have Black Widow and Daredevil. Daredevil #238 takes place during the Mutant Massacre. Daredevil #236 is the first meeting between Daredevil and Black Widow since Born Again. But in the Avengers annuals, the Black Widow is distracted by the fact that she hasn't reached out to Daredevil since hearing about his problems with the Kingpin. So the MCP has the Beast appearing for his phone call at the end of this issue, in between panels where i've indicated above. That's reeeeeeaaally hard to swallow; the best i can offer is that Beast ran ahead back to HQ ahead of Jean and Angel to make some preparations for Rusty and was quickly washing some sewer off of him when the Wasp called. Furthermore, the Magneto scene in this issue, which is concurrent with Uncanny X-Men #210, compresses an almost impossible amount of events into a very small period of time. You have X-Factor leaving for Central Park in issue #8 which is concurrent with the beginning of X-Men #209. Then somehow, even though it's "hours" later in X-Men #210 when Magneto arrives at the Hellfire Club, that's concurrent with X-Factor leaving the park. Even if X-Factor didn't arrive in the park until the tail end of the Nimrod battle, they couldn't have lingered long enough for all of the events in UX #210 (Rogue searching for Rachel Summers and shopping) to have occurred. Nonetheless, if you ignore specific references to time, the intended sequence is that the events are occurring simultaneously. I'm placing #210 first since it's officially the first part of the Mutant Massacre. See the Considerations in Uncanny X-Men #210 for more. I'm placing a number of issues, including the Avengers annuals, the X-Men and New Mutant annuals, some Daredevil issues, and a New Mutants issue (none of which have anything to do with the Mutant Massacre) before the next Massacre issue. References:
Crossover: Mutant Massacre Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (9): show CommentsThe characters appearing space is blank. Posted by: Michael | February 6, 2014 8:45 PM Thanks, i originally had this issue and #8 in the same entry but decided to split them out, and i didn't move the Characters. Posted by: fnord12 | February 6, 2014 9:36 PM The friendship between Artie and Leech is one of the highlights of the title for the next several years. Posted by: Chris | February 6, 2014 11:40 PM The same moment where Artie sees Rusty & Skids entering the Morlock tunnels, he also sees the murder of Tommy from the end of Uncanny X-Men #210. In fact, the body Rusty trips over is probably Tommy's if the events happen so close together in time. Posted by: Jay Demetrick | February 8, 2014 4:43 AM Rusty & Skids must have led Freedom Force on a merry chase all night it it's now the morning after the events of The Uncanny X-Men 209 & X-Factor 8. Also you wrote: "So the MCP has the Beast appearing for his phone call at the end of this issue, in between panels where i've indicated above. That's reeeeeeaaally hard to swallow; the best i can offer is that Beast ran ahead back to HQ ahead of Jean and Angel to make some preparations for Rusty and was quickly washing some sewer off of him when the Wasp called." The most surreal is Beast's response to Wasp's call which is: "--And though in normal times I'd rush to provide you with my services, I'm reasonably consumed by our old/new team just now! But if you really need me--!" With Rusty suffering a bad concussion and Artie lost somewhere down in the Morlock tunnels, it's rather an irresponsible and flippant response, especially after hearing Destiny's dire predictions. Posted by: Jay Demetrick | February 11, 2014 3:43 PM Did Destiny ever have "Cheery" predictions?:)I always thought she was a bummed-out person. Imagine having the power to see the worst in everybody's future. Especially the X-Men's. You would think she would use it to see the next day's lottery winnings once in a while. Posted by: clyde | February 11, 2014 4:12 PM Well, I'm sure the woman was IMPOSSIBLE to surprise on her birthday. Or maybe she was as vague and impressionistic about happy things as she was about upsetting things. "I see...friends...around me...great love...but it isn't clear..." Posted by: Todd | February 11, 2014 6:08 PM I admit I haven't read this issue in a long time, but couldn't Beast's phone call have been during the team's return to headquarters, when they changed into their costumes? This is another example of why I didn't try to do what you do. It was bad enough fitting in X-Men Annual #10, let alone all those other issues. In fact, most X-Men Annuals are hard to fit in, but I'll make that rant on the actual Annual. Posted by: Erik Beck | July 2, 2015 11:25 PM No, because Spider-Woman is still with Freedom Force during the final battle with Freedom Force (AFTER they changed into their costumes and went into the tunnels) and the phone call scene in West Coast Avengers Annual 1 takes place after Spider-Woman leaves Freedom Force in Avengers Annual 15. Posted by: Michael | July 2, 2015 11:54 PM for such a grim storyline that's a decidedly positive and festive flow chart! Posted by: Wis | December 23, 2016 1:55 AM That Mutant Massacre Map is pretty cool, but I think it's missing a dependency between Power Pack #27 and X-Men #212, regarding the Wolverine vs Sabretooth fight. Posted by: KombatGod | January 29, 2017 10:28 PM One weird thing is that the above chart doesn't contain the Daredevil issue or Uncanny #214 (these were also left off of the Mutant Massacre trade I bought.) Were these last minute additions to the crossover? Posted by: Jon Dubya | January 29, 2017 11:08 PM This books keep being stupid. I actually rooted for Freedom Force the whole time. They don't have the crazy double/triple identity as x factor they just want to get wanted fugitive to feds, they don't hurt anyone, their motives are probably better realized than X-Factor. They are the more positive guys here than X-Factor. Posted by: Karel | May 13, 2018 4:00 PM I love the Blob with glasses in that last panel! :) Posted by: Christian | July 1, 2018 11:20 AM Comments are now closed. |
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