The Benefit of Knowing Things: X-Factor #10

It would be really sweet to go through life knowing things like X-Factor's Layla Miller. Ever find yourself wondering if you should take a new job, ask for a date, or make a stock investment? I'm sure you have, and there have probably been a few times you really had to kick yourself over a move you did or didn't make. Layla never has to sweat over life's big decisions because she, well, she knows things. That is one handy-dandy mutant power.

One thing I DO know is that you should be checking out Marvel's X-Factor. Writer Peter David has an unfortunate history of writing great books, loved by both readers and reviewers, that just aren't read by enough people. If you are missing X-Factor, you are missing a seriously excellent series. Every issue is packed with humor, noir atmospere, mysteries, suspense, witty dialogue, genuine character development, and mutants. Everybody loves mutants! (No Wolverine, though. We get enough of that guy everywhere else.)

The current X-Factor is a bunch of mutants, and ex-mutants, who come together as a sort of detective agency/bodyguard service. They are champions of the downtrodden and the underdogs. They live on the bad side of town, and they don't have a fancy jet or X- mobile. X-Factor are the "regular guys and dames" of the mutant world. This group is made up of all the Marvel mutants who just don't fit in anywhere else, such as: Jamie "Multiple Man" Madrox, Theresa "Siryn" Rourke, Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair, and Guido "Strong Guy" Carosella. And Layla Miller. She knows things.

In X-Factor #10, our heroes continue to lock horns with the mysterious and enigmatic Singularity Investigations. They learn that working for S.I. is NOT worth the benefits package. Jamie Madrox finds out the hard way why a Multiple Man shouldn't drink. Quicksilver continues to act like a jerk (big surprise there). And the team takes a stand on the Super-Human Registration Act. All this, plus an ending that will make you do a serious double-take. I mean it, next issue can't come quick enough!

You and I may not know things like Layla Miller, but now you know to pick up a copy of X-Factor #10. I know you'll be glad you did. I also know that, right now, this book is Four Color Fantasies' guaranteed Book of the Week. Get it while you can!