“We Could Be Heroes”
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Russell
Art: Bob Quinn
Colors: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
POLARIS VS. X-FACTOR! There’s a new mutant rebellion, and Polaris is at the forefront of it all! But how do they know so much about X-Factor’s classified missions? Havok must seek out a traitor on the team…but how can he if it’s him?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
X-Factor was one of those books when it was first launched decades ago was just so much fun since it brought back the original team and reshaped the way it could work. While I fell out of comics in the mid-90s and that book, the title always held a special place for me, so trying a relaunch of it in the modern era felt like an easy thing. And especially since it has such a strong creative team that I like, particularly from their Red Sonja work years ago. Mark Russell is a thoroughly fun writer who can handle this kind of approach well – if it’s given the chance to slow down and not operate at internet speed. I don’t want to see the book become the Suicide Squad of the X-books but it has the potential to clean up a few loose ends. Bob Quinn is a talented artist and he’s got some great layouts here as the character artwork is spot on and the expressiveness a big plus.
The opening installment of this didn’t win me over too much since it was trying to do so much and that’s the case here once again as it’s trying to break down a lot of stuff with one particular couple. The focus is heavily on Alex and Lorna as Havok and Polaris as she’s gone all-in on the mutant side and no longer wants to be called Lorna anymore. She’s frustrated with Havok working for the government and what happened with the last mission and is trying to get him to come to a meeting with other mutans to just talk through stuff. Havok’s committed to trying to do right by his people and working with X-Factor is part of that, especially with Angel now out of commission for a while. Even though he’s trying to listen to Lorna he’s also dealing with being thrust into the leadership role and getting Pyro of all people as his second in command.
The time at X-Factor is trying to do the thing of getting us to know the team cast which is just kind of haphazard and doesn’t actually make me like or become interested in anyone since they come across as party bros more than anything else. We do get to see how the government and corporate side are trying to manage things, which includes Alex being given a 4K button cam, but that just causes him more trouble when he attends the meeting while dealing with insinuations that Polaris is working with the mutant underground. That the whole thing turns out to be a kind of intervention and attempt to get him to join this particular group and leave X-Factor, it’s just a mess on top of a mess because of how the military oversight deals with what they recorded and trying to keep Alex on their side. It’s a fast end to the relationship between Alex and Polaris as well, which makes sense in the abstract but just feels rushed.
In Summary:
I last saw Polaris in a story before the end of Karoka when she popped up in Scarlet Witch and that was interesting and well done. Here, it’s pretty basic with no real nuance and just gets to the point in a straight enough fashion that there are no surprises. The idea of how mutans will deal with this new world for them makes sense and her approach to it after all that’s happened over the years. But it just feels so rushed and simplistic that it doesn’t land well at all and even with more knowledge overall of the characters and what they’ve faced it might work better. As someone relatively new to the current settings for the X-cast, it just feels too simple and without any nuance or character to really make it work. Which is unfortunate as I’ve always had an affection for Polaris.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: September 18th, 2024
MSRP: $3.99
