X-Factor 32 - Inferno Prologue

X-Factor battle with the Avengers - or do they?

X-Factor #32

Plotter/Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Scripter: Louise Simonson
Guest Artist: Steve Lightle
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras

We're in the period when Walter Simonson was writing Avengers so it was perhaps inevitable that there would be an encounter with X-Factor at some point. But this comes on an issue from which Walter Simonson is notably absent and instead there's a plot from Tom DeFalco, who at this time was also now writing Thor. So rather than a natural encounter we get what has all the hallmarks of a fill-in issue just when major developments appear to be on the horizon.

In fairness the issue feels like it's been woven into the regular narrative rather than simply having a character suddenly flashback to a hitherto unseen adventure. That's particularly helpful as this issue came out and is set during a period of great flux in the Avengers. The Fall of the Avengers was an especially dark period for the team and this issue comes out midway through that storyline when the roster is down to four members - Thor, the Black Knight, She Hulk and Dr Druid - and this particular combination would last all of four issue. Things don't seem so bad on the opening pages as the team donate the site of the former Avengers Mansion as a public park but amongst the crowd are some mysterious strangers who analyse the Avengers and then turn out to be aliens. On board their ship they change into duplicates of the Avengers and reveal their plan - revenge on Thor for a past defeat that led to the leader's father's overthrowal as Supreme Warlord of Xarta, then conquest of Earth to use its resources to launch a bid to retake Xarta. However then they detect Ship over the Atlantic and opt to attack it.

Unfortunately there are no footnotes present to denote that these are the Carbon Copy Men from one of the earliest Thor stories in Journey into Mystery #90. In their original appearance they were poor copies of the Skrulls and even defeated the same way. DeFalco and Ron Frenz's Thor run was notable for being a particularly strong homage to the Lee-Kirby years with several obscure characters revisited so it's not that surprising to find the Xartans revisited. And shapeshifters allow for a battle that visually shows the two teams fighting in an era when it was no longer easy to engineer a fight between two superhero teams over some casual disagreement. But it is a very odd choice of foes for a fill-in issue of another series and so the main encounter is extremely forgettable. However there are attempts to weave ongoing development into the issue with the kids successfully convincing Ship to break its orders so as to let them help save the team from the aliens whilst Iceman reflects on his failures that led to the Beast nearly dying. We also get the introduction to the series of the demon N'astirh who has made a deal with the hooded leader of the mysterious group introduced last issue to have infant mutants kidnapped to serve as sacrifices in a special rite.

Despite these best intentions it's hard to deny the sense of frustration that the cliffhanger of the Beast's fate from last issue is left dangling as Hank lies on life-support throughout this issue rather than attempting to explain just what happened to him at the end. Some fill-in issues can hold up well when they don't feel too intrusive but this one comes at a very awkward time and so is less than welcome.