Marvel Comics released X-Factor #3 on September 9. Writer Leah Williams, artist David Baldeon, color artist Israel Silva, and letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna continue X-Factor’s investigation in the Mojoverse for a missing mutant, discovering her fate, as well as the fate of another mutant.
The search for the missing mutant in the Mojoverse comes to an end as X-Factor discovers that the identity of the disappeared mutant is, in fact, Wind Dancer! A tragic but brilliant panel accompanies this discovery by the entire creative team.
Silva,’s colors work well this issue, the use of black and red in this panel is accentuated by Baldeon’s linework, making for a really striking image as Prodigy watches Wind Dancer take her own life for more streaming views. The use of the blood splatter across the “BLAM” adds to the shock and communicates the horror of Wind Dancer’s death that Prodigy views off-panel, while Caramagna’s use of the negative white space between panels that bleeds into the “BLAM” is another nice touch.
While Wind Dancer’s fate is uncovered, X-Factor discovers that another mutant has fallen into the Mojoverse’s thrall–Shatterstar, who has the top stream in the Mojoverse. We learn through his interactions with Polaris, as well as one of Caramagna’s well-designed prose sections that Shatterstar is a captive in the Mojoverse. Polaris promises him that they will return for him, so a return to the Mojoverse seems to be in order for this title (every X-book appears to be cornering a different part of the X-world for itself).
Overall, this was a decent issue that allowed each character’s individual personality to shine forth a little bit more (as opposed to just being interchangeable quipsters). Despite lacking the “Path to X of Swords” banner on the cover, the issue does end with several X-Women sitting around a bar on Krakoa before being surrounded by the same rainbow effect from the end of Wolverine #5, with one of the characters wryly noting, “Don’t worry. It’s just a tie-in.” It is a bit odd that this minor tie-in doesn’t actually contain any of the main cast from X-Factor, but nevertheless, it indicates that X of Swords is upon us!
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