X-Factor #5: Suite No. 5 First Movement Finale; "After a Summer of Allostatic Overload"

[superboyprime]

"He was a really good dude. I mean, because if I remember correctly, tell me if I’m wrong about this, he basically started as like a background gag, right? Like he just was like a big dude who looked like the Thing. [...] And it was like, don’t worry about it. He’s not a character. And then he became a character and the character he became was absolutely a very moving character because he was good. He tried to do what was right. He was very heroic. Him and Anole–the two of them are absolutely a great pair and they would be superheroes together. Like, it was awesome. And those stories are still awesome. And I’m sorry, he’s dead." - Jordan D. White

Comments

[stubbleupdate]

The Box is an excellent metaphor.

Lauren Laverne write about it in 2014 with the addition that

How you end up in there is the biggest trick – I never managed to work that one out. Maybe you think it’s a treasure box at first: you’re in there because you’re special.

Her article really helped me to come to terms with a relationship I left, and sharing it made a friend of mine have serious thoughts about the state of their marriage
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/sep/07/time-to-make-emotional-abuse-a-crime

[chalicother]

"....he basically started as like a background gag, right?"

Does that matter ?

"And it was like, don’t worry about it. He’s not a character. And then he became a character and the character he became was absolutely a very moving character because he was good. He tried to do what was right. He was very heroic."

So you knew nothing about the character and killed him for shock value.

"And those stories are still awesome. And I’m sorry, he’s dead."

WOW.
You could have at least killed a character that you had emotional investment in.

[themajesticmoose]

I loved this issue so much!

It was so wonderful seeing the New X-men again and seeing them actually having fun, enjoying themselves and not being killed off or mistreated.

And best of all we got to see that Bling! and Mercury are still together, living their best lives and breaking in that couch

I'm still very sad about Rockslide but I'm glad that at least his death isn't going to be a throw away thing, it's going to have consequences and the new Rockslide is going to be developed. Lorna looking after him here is a very cute scene and so is the Beaubier Twins moment here. After all the two of them have been through it's nice to see them happy here

Honestly one of the things I most love about the new status quo for the X-books is how it's finally letting mutantkind have victories and happiness after so many years of increasingly depressing and miserable plotlines

Also the scene with Emma here is absolutely wonderful and as Emma Frost is one of my favourite heroes not just in the X-men but in the entire Marvel universe I am so glad about how she's finally getting good writing for her character again both here in this issue and in books like Marauders and X-men.

I've missed goodness like this over the past few years of absolutely atrocious writing that has unfortunately infested the X-men comics with garbage like X-men Blue and Gold or that utterly godawful and moronic "Uncanny X-men" book before House/Powers of X came along and brought with it some actual talented writers to work on the X-books and some proper plotting

While there have been some misfires (Ed Brisson's atrocious New Mutants run and X-force come to mind) on the whole I am so happy that we're getting books like this one again. X-factor is definitely one of my favourites of the new X-line

[onsokumaru]

This is where I go all "screw that, screw the X-books, they'll never change"
The first real death of the Krakoan era didn't have to be one of the New X-Men. But they did it anyway, they killed Rockslide. In a story that wasn't even about him, but about Polaris' main-character tears.
The issue may be well written, but I don't even care. What it tells me is that there is no hope for the X-kids in the X-books, no reason to care. They'll always be fodder used to show that there are stakes and to get emotional reactions from the X-Nobility. They have little more agenda and relevance than kid Illyana or Dani's horse.

[arilou_skiff]

The funny thing is I would put Polaris in the rung of characters that tends to get killed off for Drama. She's definitely a second-tier X-man.

[scorntx]

Actually, in death terms, Lorna's actually been pretty lucky.

Now, being brainwashed / possessed / driven insane / traumatised / any combination thereof on the other hand...

Not killed, but she is one of the X-Franchise's go-to punching bags.

[alliterator]

"What it tells me is that there is no hope for the X-kids in the X-books, no reason to care."

X-FACTOR: *dedicates an entire issue to having an X-kids reunion and prom, reintroducing characters who, previously, only appeared for ONE panel*

...yeah, I think you took the wrong lesson from this issue.

(Also, Rockslide died because he befriended Summoner. We actually SEE him befriend Summoner over several issues, so his death actually comes from his compassion and benevolence. Rockslide's death is a tragedy but it also isn't something they are glossing over and it's not something that randomly came out of nowhere.)

[donnblake]

Wait, Gorgon got resurrected from Otherworld? I thought that was the one place that couldn't happen.

[alliterator]

No, a resurrection is possible, but the resurrected mutant isn't the same version as before. Because Otherworld is a nexus of all realities, the resurrected mutant is, basically, an amalgamation of all versions of that mutant, basically making a brand new mutant.

[scorntx]

-"I'm sorry, he's dead."-
Hmm.
Now, I could assume that's a mistake or a spelling error, because with that one, tiny little comma, that reads more like a "I'm sorry you were upset".

And heck, why would anyone be upset that a character was murdered solely for drama, with the narrative going extra hard to ensure they're ultra-dead, their body turned into a damn rockery, and then afterward completely forgotten by everyone involved, then replaced?

Meanwhile, Gorgon gets a resurrection because of course he f**king does.
Can't keep a writer's pet character dead.

[aperturedreams]

That's not accurate, they haven't shown him yet but the presumption is that Gorgon is just as much a different character as Rockslide is now

[thezmage]

"This character is dead and their body is now being essentially puppetted by a completely different character that I'm building up from scratch" has always been the biggest "Fuck you" a creator can give fans to my mind. Except pairing it up with the "Everyone gets resurrected all the time" approach of Krakoa makes it somehow even bigger?

[deh_tommy]

This is a bold new era for X-Men, where the X-Men have finally a place to call home or like the fifth time, everyone still drops like flies, doomsday is always a hair’s width away, people hate and fear them and obscure but cult classic characters are permakilled to show the danger of the situation.