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Louise Simonson

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

Oversize X-Men: A map of every existing omnibus, plus what’s missing (Part 1: 1963 to 1991)

April 24, 2017 by krisis

The Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot allows collected editions fans to play “Fantasy Collections Department” by picking the runs they’d most like to see in an oversized format.

Now that I’ve recapped the history of past years of the Ballot, we’re up to two weeks of the really fun stuff – thinking up dozens upon dozens of suggestions for Marvel omnibuses we’d love to see on our shelves!

I highlighted 50 runs that deserved an omnibus at the close of the survey last year, but this time I’m going to be a lot more comprehensive.

I’ll begin on my home turf: The X-Men. It’s how Crushing Comics guides began, and I own every issue of X-Men in either single issue or collected format, so I’m accutely aware of the gaps in oversized content.

Today I’ll cover both existing and potential Omnibuses for X-Men from their debut in 1963 through the launch of X-Men, Vol. 2 in 1991. Then, tomorrow we’ll look at the tumultuous and under-collected 90s, before finishing up on Wednesday with the pair of most recent X-Men eras – from Grant Morrison’s New X-Men in 2001 through present day.

After that, we’ll rinse and repeat this exercise in reverse for the entire Marvel Universe, working backwards from the current All-New All-Different Marvel to look at the top possible omnibuses across the entire line from every period until we’re back to the few books still left uncollected from the 1960s.

So, if you haven’t yet voted in the poll or just need a few more books to fill out your personal Top 20, get ready – the next two weeks of CK will have over 100 omnibus suggestions for you to choose from!

Now, let’s get to some X-Tensive X-Men omnibus mapping, staring with the Classic X-Men era from 1963-1974, before moving on to Chris Claremont’s tenure on X-Men from 1975-1991 (plus, all of the tie-in series from that era.

There are 19 potential omnibus volumes in this material! Collected Edition mapping can be exact and contentious work, so if you have a correction or disagreement don’t hold back – sound off in the comments below!

  • Classic X-Men (1963 – 1974) (plus X-Men: The Hidden Years and X-Men: First Class)
  • Claremont X-Men (1975 – 1991)
    • Uncanny X-Men #94-280
    • Dazzler (1981) (plus Uncanny X-Men: First Class and Wolverine: First Class)
    • New Mutants (1983) (plus Fallen Angels #1-8)
    • X-Factor (1986) #1-71
    • Wolverine (1988) #1-48
    • Excalibur (1988) #1-41

[Read more…] about Oversize X-Men: A map of every existing omnibus, plus what’s missing (Part 1: 1963 to 1991)

Filed Under: comic books Tagged With: Alan Davis, Chris Claremont, Collected Edition Mapping, Collected Editions, Dazzler, Excalibur, Larry Hamma, Louise Simonson, Marc Silvestri, Marvel Comics, Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus, New Mutants, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, X-Factor

Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #15, 14, and 13

June 13, 2016 by krisis

Omnibus on ShelfWelcome to week two of my journey through the Top 50 Most-Wanted Omnibuses from Marvel, per an annual secret ballot conducted by major fan TigerEyes. I covered #20-16 in the last installment.

The books ranked from 15 to 1 are some of the most-consistently demanded Marvel material, although two thirds of it is already readily available in color. Particularly, this group of books shows how important cinematic depictions of the Marvel Universe have become even to long-time fans – every book corresponds to a specific screen property.

If you have any extra intelligence to add about the probable runs or opinions about the comics therein, please leave a comment! Even when it comes to X-Men, I’m far from a prohibitive expert on these books. I’d love to hear your perspective.

Want to learn more about the Marvel Omnibus editions that already exist and the issues they cover? My Marvel Omnibus & Oversized Hardcover Guide is the most comprehensive tool on the web for tracking Marvel’s hugest releases – it features every book, plus release dates, contents, and even breakdowns of $/page and what movies the books were released to support. [Read more…] about Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #15, 14, and 13

Filed Under: comic books Tagged With: Adam Warlock, Apocalypse, Aunt May, Bob Layton, Brian Bendis, Collected Editions, Dazzler, Fall of the Mutants, Garth Ennis, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, Jackson Guice, Jean Grey, Louise Simonson, Mark Bagley, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Comics, MAX, Netflix, Omnibus, Punisher, Secret Wars, Spider-Man, Thanos, Ultimate Comics, Walter Simonson, X-Factor

Collecting X-Factor as Graphic Novels

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade reading order on collecting X-Factor comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Collecting X-Men: A Definitive Guide. Last updated June 2020 with titles scheduled for release through February 2021.

XFa - 0250 variantMarvel launched X-Factor in 1986 as an outlet for the original X-Men team of Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel – and, in a late-breaking decision, the return of Jean Grey.

That incarnation lasted for half-a-decade, but it would never return after those X-Men were permanently reabsorbed by the main flagship books. In their wake, they left the team that would come to define X-Factor for over 25 years – a gathering of cast-offs including the 6th and 7th X-Men, Havok and Polaris, a little-known mutant named Jamie Madrox – The Multiple Man, New Mutants refugee Wolfsbane, an overgrown bouncer generically named Strong Man. [Read more…] about Collecting X-Factor as Graphic Novels

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