X-Factor #2: It’s my house, and I live here…

Meet your newest celebrity mutant superhero team that’s sanctioned by the United States government! We get some new faces, as well as some levity. a brand new faction called the Mutant Underground, who seem to be gearing up to be a thorn in X-Factor’s side. Are our merry mutants handlers up to the job of having the wellbeing of the heroes assembled? We’ll have to wait and see as we sit down to review this newest chapter of the new X-Factor book!

Mark Russell and Bob Quinn’s X-Factor revival is now in its second issue, and while superior to the first issue, still has a lot to be desired from it. We see Alex take the reins of the ship, as well as Frenzy and Cecilia Reyes to the cast, but is this book just going to be a constant revolving doors of characters coming to take the place of the mutants who die on their missions? Or will we get a stable cast out, and get some much needed character development? Because the book seems to be sorely lacking thus far. Is Russell not comfortable with his cast? Or was this all intentional from the beginning? We literally don’t know who anyone is, or what they’re doing here. when you’re boasting a cast that’s as impressive as this, you really need to hit the ground running.

It’s a huge disappointment to see Polaris and Havok back together after their long desperation. The two seem to be stuck in the perpetual loop of together, toxic, separated, wash, rinse and repeat, and that’s what it looks like we’re going in this direction again, but it’s going to be messy. Havok’s on the government’s payroll, but Lorna’s hitching her tent up with this new Mutant Underground. Speaking of, this new Mutant Underground seems like a very interesting concept, unfortunately the characters introduced haven’t caught my attention. We have the ringleader, Bruin, named so because he’s just a big brown bear in a suit, who is trying to convince Alex to leave X-Factor, and join them in this new group that’s more than likely going to be labeled a terrorist organization. Unfortunately Havok’s bugged, and the mutant underground definitely aren’t happy about this.

The whole point of the From the Ashes era is to give us a familiar world that we’re used to from before Krakoa, but also to keep it fresh, and I have to say the MU is probably the most interesting group introduced thus far. Because most of the mutants in the Underground seem to have physical mutations, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them become a new sect of Morlocks. They seem to be far more exciting than the new Upstarts that debuted over in X-Men this week, but they’re both pretty new, so I’m going to give the team the benefit of the doubt.

Bob Quinn’s art on this issue has been fantastic. I wasn’t that big of a fan when I saw his work on the Way of X, but he definitely grew on me. Especially the fantastic job he did capturing the magical adventures of the Knights of X, featuring Captain Britain, Askani (Rachel’s fetch code name), Shogo the dragon, and the rest of the assorted cast, so I’m eager to see how he handles this cast. I especially like his Cecilia Reyes and Frenzy. Frenzy’s commanding and powerful, and Cecilia’s just fantastic. I’ve waited years with the hopes of seeing her become a regular in a book, so Marvel don’t blow your chance!