Only One way to find out.
I'll be completely honest here for a second, despite my love for peter davids writing I've never felt compelled to read X-factor. It's true that I've considered it a couple of times, but I never cared for any of the characters and quite frankly the series was too far gone issue count wise and I didn't have the time to read it. This is a fresh opportunity to jump back and read what Peter David has in store for us. Now I don't really now much about Gambit, Larna, etc. What I'm trying to say is that I know who they are but I haven't read many stories with then in it, so I'm a newcomer and this review will be dedicated to my first impressions.
Now reading through this I understand that since this is a new jumping point there had to be a lot of explanations, because not many know what the X-factor is nor what their agendas are. This is absolutely fine, because Peter David managed to write it within context, meaning that the explanations were needed for the plot, other wise one of the characters would have looked slightly dump or too trusting, therefore, This was a great introduction. moving on, The characters are presented in a way that will catch your attention and arouse interest. Gambit seems pretty funny and interesting and I'm look forward to read more about him, and consider that I have literally never cared for Gambit in my entire life, I don't doubt that he is a great character, but in all honesty he has never caught my attention. I'm not gonna pretend that he's my favorite character suddenly but he's definitely interesting, plus it's a long time since I've read about someone who I have no clue about. Usually in my reviews I always have at least a limited grasp on what the character SHOULD be like( unless it's a completely new and none-established character), but here, I'm completely new so it's the writers job to keep the reader ( me) captivated, which is something Peter David has no trouble of doing. Personally though, the one character who really managed to intrigue me the most is Polaris, I had though that she was basically a girl version of magneto( shows how much I know huh?), but there was so much more to her than I had thought. Peter David managed to reference some of her past activities and her personality seemed fleshed out and amazing. Moreover, the story seemed to flow pretty well and the villains at the very least seemed cool, however I won't be able to make a full comment until i get to see more of them. (Though I hope they are not all MUTANT related enemies, then again David is pretty versatile in the imagination department so that won't really be a problem). I'm also glad that Peter David still loves to add his great sense of humor to the stories. A couple of scenes are really charming, witty and downright funny. But that has always been Davids strong suit hasn't it? He can't go wrong with dialogue. Speaking of which, the character interactions are top notch, because it feels real and natural, and not at all forced. If I have to nit pick, I'd say that a One particular moment felt forced and cheesy.
The art for the most part was Radiant and consistent, which is cool because I really liked the character designs, even though many fans have expressed that Gambits costume for one seemed off. The facial expressions at times however needed some slight improvements.
Overall, this In my opinion is a great jumping point for fans who are long time readers and new comers. The writing is sharp, funny and witty, and the art is pretty great, so this should be good for everyone.
