Nostalgia Week: X-Factor

Today, it's a look at the first issue I read of what became (and remains) my favourite ever series. X-Factor #53 (1990). Written by Louise Simonson, art by Terry Shoemaker and Al Milgrom.

I bought this one night in the city. I was with my mother and we were going to the opera. I went often, dad was in the orchestra and we would get cheap seats. We had some time to kill, so I stopped by this small magazine shop to get a comic. At that stage I think I was still pretty new to the comic world proper- I certainly wasn't familiar with the X-Men yet. I don't know why I picked this comic that night.

I recall that I didn't particularly like this when I first read it. It's a pretty quiet issue, lots of the character moments that are really what made this series great, but as a first introduction it seemed kinda boring.

Archangel was still cool though. Drugged (in the midst of a most excellent story arc involving pseudo-vampires), and then maimed by Sabretooth, he's busy hallucinating and bleeding to death on a rooftop, only to be assaulted by poor troubled Caliban.

Love this bit:

Very creepy. So too is this:

I always loved that angle of him vs his wings. Of course, Scott Lobdell later came along and erased it all in the space of 3 panels, but Archangel was a much more interesting character when he was tormented (and had metal wings. What can you do with feathers other than fly? Nothing *yawn*).

Cyclops and Marvel Girl are out on the town. However, Jean seems to've been on drugs also, since she's seeing things. Having recently aquired the memories of her "clones", she's having flashbacks of the lives of Phoenix and Madelyne. At the time I had no idea what the hell was going on, all I knew was she was seeing things and attacking random people.

Never mind, Scott will make everything alright!

Awwwww, yay. Just so long as he doesn't spoil it by doing something stupid, like proposing...

Not such a great thing to do when your girlfriend can flashback to the time you asked her clone to marry you. It gets a predictable response.

Time to pay Iceman a visit. He's trying to go on a date, but failing miserably
Oooops. Works out ok in the end though, he gets invited back to her place.

They get followed by a mole-guy, who has a crush on the girl (Opal). He's harmless though, except for the part where he accidentally drops a crane on them...

I didn't read another issue until a year later, jumping on board for the brilliant final story arc for the original team, "Endgame" I think it was called. I got hooked quickly, and over the next few years would hunt down all the back issues. I still don't have #61...