X-Factor #87, February 1993
The X-Men had the heavy hitters, your Wolverines and Storms
and Rogues. X-Force were the hip new extreme strike force led by a white-haired
commando from the future who carried big guns and wore even bigger metal shoulder
pads.
X-Factor had Cyclops‘s brother, Magneto’s son, and guys named
Strong Guy and Multiple Man.
But that’s the
magic of Peter David, who has spent the better part of 23 years collecting
misfit mutants under the
X-Factor banner and making people care about them. And perhaps the best
early example of this is X-Factor #87, the “X-aminations” issue in which the
team is checked out by Doc Samson, personal gamma-powered, green-ponytailed
shrink to the Incredible Hulk, who was also written by David at the time.
It is in this issue we learn that Wolfsbane yearns for a
kindly authority figure, Quicksilver sees everyone as slow and aggravating due
to his super-speed, Polaris has body-image issues, Strong Guy is in constant
pain due to his mutant power but doesn’t want anyone to see it, Jamie Madrox
can’t stand to be alone, and Havok is constantly afraid he won’t measure up as a
team leader, especially to his brother. Also, Val Cooper, their government
handler, is completely oblivious to all of it.
Also, dig that crazy opening splash page, in which Wolfsbane
and X-Force’s Feral are drawn as then-Nickelodeon sensations Ren and Stimpy. The
penciler of this issue was some kid named Joe Quesada, whom I’m sure was never
heard from again.
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