X-Factor #200 - Marvel

Issue #200. Whodathunkit? I enjoyed the original series. And I've really been diggin' the current one. But, I guess I never realized how long it's been. If you don't believe them though . . there's a 2 page spread with all the covers. Just in case you need proof. Anyways, Jamie has decided to take the investigation business to New York City. Not for any reason, really. I think just to put some distance between him and Theresa. Anyways, Guido, Rictor, Shatterstar, Longshot and Darwin have come along for the ride. Their first day on the job, they get a gig with the Fantastic Four. It seems Valeria and Franklin think that something has happened to their mother. And for some reason . . Reed doesn't seem all that overly concerned. They try to go to the Baxter Building to talk to Reed, and Ben . . but that doesn't go all that well. While there, Monet decides to drop in on the boys. It seems that shortly after Jaime left Theresa decided to close up the business, and then she headed to Ireland . . to Cassidy Keep. Monet's worried about her and she's hoping Jaime can help. But before she can get much farther with that, Val Cooper shows up and she's got news for Monet. It seems that her father has been kidnapped by terrorists. Anyways, after Shatterstar slugs it out with Ben, the boys return to their office. Jaime lifted a hairpin off the Fantastic-car and wants Longshot to use his empathic abilities to see if he can figure out what happened. It seems she was heading into the woods somewhere when she lost consciousness. It's a surprise when he sees Layla there also. But he's even more surprised when she sees him. It seems they're somewhere in Latveria. I thought this was a great story by Peter David and Bing Casino. I thought it was a great way to start the next chapter of this book. One story into it and we already have 3 or 4 plot-threads going here. Plus . . I loved the fight between Shatterstar and Ben. In the second story, Theresa is in Ireland when John Maddrox, the reverend catches up to her. It seems he's in Ireland for some seminar and decided to do some sightseeing. At first Theresa is put off by his visage . . the wounds are to fresh. But eventually, he wins her over with his sympathetic ear. They have a nice conversation. It's touching actually. This chapter is by Peter and Karl Moline. Next we get some info pages on all of the characters. And finally . . we get a Madrox solo story. It's actually a reprint of issue #1 of his solo mini-series from 2004. In it we see part of the problem Jaime was having with all of his various 'dupes' running around gathering up information for him. And what he had to go through to absorb that information. I actually missed this 5 issue mini, so . . I think I'll go looking for it. It's by Peter David and Pable Raimondi. All in all I thought this was a great issue. The teams a little shaken up right now, but . . they're kind of like a dysfunctional family. Even when they fight, they still love each other. I still consider this to be one of my favorite x-books right now.