A double-size debut for a book about the original 5 X-Men, and it’s not written by Chris Claremont? That’s strange.
The premise of the story is that this team will investigate and rescue newly discovered mutants who get sidewise with the law or their communities—as the U.S. Government steps up efforts to corral and imprison people with powers.
And it wouldn’t be an X-book without melodrama. Scott and Jean are reunited for the first time since she was pulled out of the Hudson River in a cocoon, and Cyclops is interrupted before he can tell her he’s married and has a child.
Also, since it’s a first issue, we get the nice little individualized “come together” scenes, with Beast, Angel and Iceman still reeling from the breakup of The Defenders. It’s the news, delivered in a cameo by Mr. Fantastic, that Jean is alive that brings the five together again.
The only disconnect for me in this is the premise. Having a strike team, like X-Force, that saves mutants is perfectly fine—it’s consistent with Professor X’s original vision—but Angel hooks up with an ad exec and decides they should do this for money. That’s never been a motive for them before, and Angel already has enough money.
But that’s the twist.
At the end of the issue, it becomes clear that they’re billing the person who feels THREATENED by the mutant in order to essentially get paid to rescue the mutant.
Nice.
The mutant rescued in this issue is Rusty Collins, aka Firefist, who will be a part of the team for good, long time. His powers are out of control.
Having a new, young character is a good entry point for new readers. It’s also a nice counterpoint for the premise: These 5 heroes were kids the last time they all teamed up, and now they’re not—and new kids are coming into the fold.
Writer Bob Layton does a good job of tying into the Claremont universe with respect and solid, consistent characterization, and this early art by Butch Guice is solid. It’s kind of a cleaner take on Paul Smith, a fan-favorite X-Men artist.
There’s nothing at all “strange”, as you say, about having a book about the Original X-Men not being written by Chris Claremont, given his vocal, public contempt for them. If I were the decision-maker in this matter at Marvel, Chris Claremont would be the LAST writer I would give this assignment to! He’d just have all the O. X-Men killed off by the end of the first issue! The first writer I would offer it to would be John Byrne, whose opinion of the O. X-Men is the total, complete opposite of Claremont’s!! Byrne absolutely LOVES the O. X-Men, a point of which he has made very clear! When Cyclops left the X-Men of 1980 to go and grieve for the recently-killed Phoenix, ( not to be confused with the actual Marvel Girl, of course ) Byrne lobbied for the reenlistment of the Angel, because he believed at the time that the team needed at least one charter member on the team, to continue to make it recognizable as ‘The X-Men’. ( a problem that, admittedly, no longer exists ) Byrne’s work on “X-Men: The Hidden Years” fourteen years later would be simply exhilarating for all us hard-core, die-hard O. X-Men fans! I believe Joe Quesada’s decision to cancel the title twenty-two years ago, for extraordinarily specious reasons, is what led to the disintegration of Byrne’s relationship with Marvel, and the start of a nasty personal feud between himself and Joe Quesada. I would have reacted the same way. That series was GREAT, and made the original iteration of ‘X-Factor’ seem anemic by comparison. I realize that “X-Men: The Hidden Years” was what we in the know call a “limited concept premise”, because, eventually, and in a reasonable amount of time, the Beast leaves for the Brand Corporation, turns himself into an ape, the rest of the team gets involved with Magneto ( ‘Avengers’ #110-111 ) and the Secret Empire, ( ‘Captain America & the Falcon’ #’ 172-175 ) and, eventually Krakoa Island shows up to totally ruin everything. But I do believe that Mr. Byrne could have gotten in around a hundred or so issues, before all that continuity would have eventually had to come realistically calling. Three points on ‘X-Factor’#1: 1) “The New Defenders” series, containing three-fifths of the O. X-Men, was one of the most unenjoyable series that Marvel has ever published. I would reread the entire ‘Godzilla’ series, or ‘The Eternals’, or ‘Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy’ series, or the entire “New Universe” line of titles, before I would reread “The New Defenders”. So, in mid-1985, when I heard that Marvel was euthanizing that wretched series in favor of reorganizing the Original X-Men, I was positively on Cloud Nine. “The New Defenders” simply, and definitely, had to GO!! 2) Also, when I heard this series, ( “X-Factor” ) was in the pipes, I wondered how is the writer going to orchestrate where all the Original X-Men are now with what’s all currently happening in the regular ‘Uncanny X-Men’ title. The solution: Well, the “New” X-Men simply DON’T appear in this issue, at ALL!!! I was simultaneously flabbergasted, and deeply impressed, by how adroitly “Babyface” Bob Layton pulled this off!!! Nice work, young man! Who needs the “All New, All Politically Correct X-Men” ( besides Storm, of course ) anyway-?? 3) I agree with Butch Guice being a good artist, with his “cleaner take on Paul Smith”, but, given a choice between these two, I would have rather seen Paul Smith on ‘X-Factor’! Paul Smith’s pencils ARE “clean”, and he draws some really sexy X-chicks!! ( especially Storm ) And, lastly, a time or two ( or three ) in the above narrative, Marvel Girl is mentioned as having been rescued from the bottom of the Hudson River. It’s been a while since I read those issues, but I believe Marvel Girl was cocooned at the bottom of, and later rescued from, the bottom of Jamaica Bay, not the Hudson!! As bodies of water go in New York City, I assume there’s a difference- ( ?? )