All New X-Factor #16

By Peter David, Carmine Di Giandomenico & Lee Loughridge

Each new issue, All New X-Factor reaches ever closer to its end, which is an incredible shame given that this series has been one of Marvel’s best. Peter David’s great character development and exploration of those who have not quite received as much attention as they should in the Marvel Universe has been great fun to watch, and Di Giandomenico’s artwork has been stellar. Out of the recent Marvel cancellations, this reviewer will probably miss this book the most. However, we do have four issues left, and it’s great to see that even though All New X-Factor #16 was an AXIS tie-in, it delivered something better than what we’d had from the entire event so far.

This is the second AXIS tie-in for All New X-Factor, and it saw them protected from the Red Skull’s influence as they attempted to stop the president from launching a nuclear attack. However, it seemed that the only way to stop the strike would be to steal the device that granted the President use of the nuclear weapons and, as a result, this is where this issue picks up with not everyone pleased with Serval Industries’ actions, with government special forces after the X-Factor, who are currently protected by a shield. The result is a pretty action packed issue, and it’s great to see that David can handle these as well as he can characters. There are so many awesome moments in this book that give the characters plenty to do and this issue does not disappoint once again.

The artwork by Carmine Di Giandomenico is fantastic. We get to see all the members of X-Factor in action, and it doesn’t disappoint. There are some great panels here that really work and, with Lee Loughridge’s colours, All New X-Factor is certainly one of the better looking books on shelves right now, benefiting from good artistic strength to go with a strong storyline. There are very awesome scenes and one this issue’s highlights came from a panel with Quicksilver tearing up multiple Sentinels in a pretty action packed battle. It was great to see the characters being given plenty of page time and they didn’t disappoint, with some great artwork really enhancing the look and feel of the book.

It’s great to see that even though this book doesn’t feel super-relevant to the AXIS tie-ins so far, All New X-Factor has managed to be pretty entertaining despite this and can still stand on its own. There’s plenty of character development and the pace of the issue is handled very well, making this issue a win. If you’re not following this book already then you should go back and catch up on just how good it’s been in trades because, even though it’s been cancelled, you’re missing out on something that’s been spectacular, with a great creative team.