Era #5, Part 07: X-Factor #51-59

Grade: D

Nearly all super comics have an element of soap opera drama. It is much stronger in this run that focus on the team's personal relationships. Ship lands on the X-Factor property changing the Manhattan skyline, but despite some local grumblings about the imposing presence, their popularity as superhero celebrities remains unusually high for mutants. Iceman finds a new girlfriend, Opal Tanaka, and Archangel becomes closer to Police Officer Charlotte Jones. It is not all good news. Beast and Trish Tilby slowly drift apart, and Jean Grey pulls away after Scott proposes to her.

The romantic undertone is coupled with a slow pace and uninteresting villains. Louise brings back Locust (from the 1966 X-Men #24) and introduces Crimson and the Ravens (and their incessant use of "four and twenty blackbirds" to identify themselves which makes absolutely no sense). Sabretooth and Caliban each make a conspicuous and awkward appearance that doesn't seem to really fit, but I am glad to see a glimpse of the Right hinting at the next big storyline. 

[2-Stars] 51 - "Home!" X-Factor returns to Earth, and Ship surprises them with a landing that ensures everybody in the NYC will notice. Meanwhile, Sabretooth is on the prowl hunting defenseless Morlocks. Caliban can no longer contain his rage and prepares to get his revenge on the savage Marauder. This issues marks the first appearance of Charlotte Jones.

[2-Stars] 52 - "Celebrity!" Sabretooth finds a more suitable target in Archangel; Iceman meets and falls for Opal (in her first appearance) who is hiding one of the frightened Morlock; and a double date (Cyclops / Marvel Girl and Beast / Trish Tilby) at an expensive restaurant is interrupted by Locust and his giant cockroaches (I am not even kidding). 

[2-Stars] 53 - "Ghosts" Caliban takes on both Sabretooth and the injured Archangel. Scott proposes to Jean.

[2-Stars] 54 - "Crimson" Iceman and Beast are on a double date with Opal and Trish when they run into an amnesiac Colossus who is content to be a struggling artist and not a superhero. Unfortunately, the psychic vampire known as Crimson finds the mutants a better meal than society's invisibles. 

[2-Stars] 55 - "Desperately Seeking Vera" Beast's old girlfriend, Vera Cantor, is a pawn in Mesmero's plot to...? All I can do is sigh deeply for this fill-in story that doesn't make too much sense when the actual puppet-master is revealed. 

[2-Stars] 56 - "Ravens" Crimson is part of a larger coven called the Ravens (which numbers 24 because that is what the nursery song says). They now have a taste for mutants, and Crimson has her sights set on the most troubled one in the news, Archangel who has become unhinged after his battle with Sabretooth and Caliban. 

[3-Stars] 57 - "Reflections" X-Factor's search for the delusional Archangel is slowed by an unprovoked attack by the mutant hating terrorists, the Right. Forge and Banshee lend a hand and discover that Warren's behavior is likely a result of a poison he received during his battle with Sabretooth.

[2-Stars] 58 - "Nevermore" The Ravens have Archangel and prepare to add him to the coven after he killed one of their number (which must be 24). They abduct Charlotte Jones to use as his first victim in this final chapter of the Crimson/Raven arc.

[2-Stars] 59 - "Yesterday's News" Archangel gets closer to Charlotte Jones, Iceman spends time with Opal and Scott & Jean agree to forget the marriage proposal (for now). Trish Tilby's coverage of Archangel's recent and very public problem created a rift with Beast that they may not be repairable.