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Jackson "Butch" Guice

X-Factor, Vol. 1 – The #31 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

June 2, 2017 by krisis

(Note: This post was originally scheduled for June but is being stickied to the top of the main page during the week of November 27th so current readers don’t miss it! Regular updates continue, below.)

X-Men fans who know the team from cartoons and movies are familiar with that single title acting as an umbrella to all of the various incarnations of the franchise.

That’s about to change in 2018. Fans will get their first taste of a X-Men spinoff title with the release of New Mutants, a movie based on the third generation of young mutants at Xavier’s school who were spun off into their own title in 1984. Either that film or Deadpool will likely lead us to another movie named X-Force, which would show off a more-proactive, bloodier version of X-Men on film.

Those spinoff titles – “new” and “force” – are explicit in describing what their teams represent. That’s one of many reasons why the film franchise is skipping over another X-Men spinoff title: X-Factor.

X-Factor (1986) #1

We might eventually see an “X-Factor” movie or TV show thanks to a 2006 incarnation of the title, which envisioned it less as a team and more as the motley crew staffing a mutant detective agency.

What we probably will never see is an adaptation of the original X-Factor, which was dedicated to reassembling the original comic book X-Men – Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Jean Grey returned from the dead. That’s because the film series has always been smart enough to realize that those five characters are a boring combination that’s quickly dominated by the Cyclops/Jean relationship.

If the original X-Men are so boring, why were they reassembled? And, is it worth reading about over thirty years later? Those two questions are answered by the #31 vote on this year’s Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibus ballot.

(Note that this post was published in November, as the originally scheduled post was interrupted by coordinating my move to my new home in New Zealand).

X-Factor, Vol. 1

X-Factor, Vol. 1 is tied as the #31 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot. Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes and collect all of these issue right now as detailed in my X-Factor Guide

Past Ranking: X-Factor was #13 last year, making it one of the biggest drops in rank in 2017.

Probable Contents: Fantastic Four #286, Avengers #263, X-Factor #1 to 26 or 32, plus Annuals #1-3.

Creators: Written by Louise Simonson with Bob Layton and Walt Simonson. Penciled by Jackson Guice (#1-7) and Walt Simonson (#10-11, 13-15, 17-19, 21, 23-31, & Annual 3) with Marc Silvestri (#8 & 12)

Can you read it right now? Not entirely, and what you read will be in an hodge-podge of formats. The whole run isn’t even on Marvel Unlimited! Visit the X-Factor Guide for the full story.

What’s in the X-Factor, Vol. 1 omnibus?

X-Factor marked the first time the original five X-Men were reunited in over a decade.

It was a clever solution to a non-existent problem, but also very nearly a dead-on-arrival dud. Even though it turned out to be good, I’m still convinced it was the first big misstep of the X-Men franchise.

Let’s start at the beginning.

The year is 1985. Jean Grey is still dead. Cyclops represents the “old guard” in Uncanny X-Men and is increasingly unnecessary to the team, though he continues to get pulled back into their adventures despite starting a new life (and family) with Madelyne Pryor (later decided/revealed to be a clone of Jean!). Angel, Beast, and Iceman are roughly half of the New Defenders in a title headed for cancellation. [Read more…] about X-Factor, Vol. 1 – The #31 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

Filed Under: comic books Tagged With: Apocalypse, Bob Layton, Jackson "Butch" Guice, Jean Grey, Louise Simonson, Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus, Walt Simonson, X-Factor

Iron Man by Michelinie & Layton – The #33 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

May 31, 2017 by krisis

Have you been anxiously waiting for me to tackle the top half of this year’s Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus poll? Well, the wait is over. Now that I’m totally settled in New Zealand (along with my massive comics collection) I’m finally able to focus on completing this monstrous series if posts. I’ll be posting them with their originally scheduled dates from this spring.

If you’ve been waiting for more of this series with bated breath, please consider chipping in to Crushing Krisis’s Patreon campaign. I don’t have the personal budget to keep CK alive with support from readers, and your contribution of even $1 a month accounts for about 1% of my hosting costs.

Iron Man by Michelinie & Layton is tied as the #33 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot. Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes and collect all of these issue right now as detailed in my Guide to Iron Man.

Past Ranking: Ranked #11 in 2016

Probable Contents: Iron Man #215-250 and material from Annuals 9 and 10.

Your eyes do not deceive you – this Iron Man run is actually not sequential to the Michelinie and Layton run that was already Omnibused ending with #157. Denny O’Neil writes the majority of the intervening issues before Michelinie and Layon return.

The cover of issue #250 bears the Acts of Vengeance banner, but it doesn’t continue directly to the next two issues with the banner, so the omnibus can safely end there (although, Layton did return for #254 and 256, and the next Epic Collection begins on #257, suggesting this could continue through #256).

Creators: Co-written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, Sr. Co-writing and art (including colors) by Barry Windsor-Smith on #232.

Bob Layton, Sr. provided a range of art through the run, from pencils to finishes to inks. Pencils and/or breakdowns were drawn by Mark “Doc” Bright through #231 and by Jackson ‘Butch’ Guice from #233 (with Denys Cowan on #241, Alan Kupperberg on #242, and Paul Smith on #245). Additional inks by Don Hudson (#239), Barry Windsor Smith (#243), Roy Richardson (#245), Herb Trimpe (#246), Tim Dzon (#247), and a massive team on #244.

Colors by Bob Sharen (#215-243) and Paul Becton (#245-250) with Julianna Ferriter (#217), Nelson ‘Nel’ Yomtov (#226), and a team on #244. Letters by Janice Chiang (with Bill Oakley on #232).

Can you read it right now? Mostly. Issues #215-232 & Annual 9 are collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: Stark Wars, but #233-248 remains an unreprinted gap. Plus, every single issue is on Marvel Unlimited!

The Details:

Co-writers David Michelinie and Bob Layton returned to Iron Man in 1987 after five years away writing (and, in Layton’s case, illustrating) other titles. [Read more…] about Iron Man by Michelinie & Layton – The #33 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

Filed Under: comic books Tagged With: Barry Windsor-Smith, Bob Sharen, David Michelinie, Iron Man, Jackson "Butch" Guice, Janice Chiang, Mark "Doc" Bright, Marvel Comics, Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus, War Machine

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