"Let’s get to work!"
IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE DEAD?
X-FACTOR INVESTIGATIONS!
IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE MISSING?
X-FACTOR INVESTIGATIONS!
NEED PROOF OF DEATH?
X-FACTOR INVESTIGATIONS!
X-Factor is a Dawn of X title written by Leah Williams and drawn by David Baldeón.
Thanks to the Five, any mutant can come Back from the Dead. However, one of their most sacred rules is to never resurrect anyone without proof of death in order to avoid bringing back a living person. What if that proof cannot be easily obtained? What if a mutant has simply gone missing? What if you have a good old fashioned murder mystery in your hands? Then X-Factor Investigations has got you covered. Featuring Northstar, Daken, Prestige (and her pet Warwolf Amazing Baby), Eye-Boy, Prodigy, and Polaris.
The book came to an end with issue #10, but the five-issue limited series X-Men: The Trial of Magneto (also written by Williams) served as something of a fully absorbed finale for this run, while Polaris joined the first official X-Men team of Krakoa.
Collected edition
- Volume 1 — Collects Issues 1-3, 5.
Tropes featured in X-Factor (2020):
- Art Shift: As Shatterstar confronts the Morrigan, the art shifts into a more stylized tapestry-style artwork depicting the history of the first Morrigan. The art shifts back when Shatterstar stabs her.
- Big Brother Instinct: while Jean Paul’s always been protective of his sister, we see in issue 8 how he’s now extended this to his teammates in an Email exchange with Xavier who shows interest in Eye-Boy's growing abilities:Xavier's Email: Northstar, Firstly, we congratulate you and your X-Factor compatriots on a successful de-haunting of the Boneyard. We knew you were capable and eagerly await an update on your handling of saving Siryn from the Morrigan. Secondly, it has been brought to the Quiet Council's attention that there have been some very interesting developments regarding Trevor's mutation. Please keep us apprised of this young man’s extraordinary sight development. All the best, Charles.Northstar’s response Email: No.
- Blatant Lies: Played with. Northstar reassures Lorna that Siryn was only lying about her death to protect her, and it makes Lorna feel better, but Akihiro picks up that Northstar doesn't believe it himself.
- Blood Magic: The Morrigan feels like, since mutants have conquered death, her power is now waning. Mutants have no need for a death goddess, but the Morrigan still wants to live, so wants a mass sacrifice in her name every year. Siryn refuses this and instead agrees to sacrifice herself a thousand times.
- Breather Episode: Issue five is this, giving focus to bonding moments for not just the titular team, but also the Five and the Academy X cast.
- Brought Down to Normal: While investigating Siryn's death, Lorna notes that Theresa no longer has the Morrigan form and powers. Unfortunately, Lorna's wrong - Theresa uses her Hypnotic Voice on Lorna, and the final page shows that she's still the Morrigan.
- The Bus Came Back: After not been seen in years since her stint at the New Warriors, Sofia Mantega/Wind-Dancer, is revealed to be the mutant killed at Mojoworld.
- After not being seen or playing a role since 2011, Adam-X reappears in issue 5 and he's the one who killed Wind-Dancer so she could be freed from Mojoworld.
- After being dead for years Laurie Collins/Wallflower is seen alongside her former New X-Men teammates to welcome back Wind-Dancer.
- Mark Sheppard/DJ and Dallas Gibson/Specter appear for the first time in 14 years. The latter doesn't speak, and is only seen in a background shot, recognizable only by his costume, but still appears. Mark says his second lines in his publication history, the first ones being as he was dying.
- Alani Ryan/Loa appears in issue #5 after being killed off in the last Uncanny X-Men run
- Sidney Green/Onyxx appears in issue #5 in a group shot, having last been seen killed off ten years ago.
- Issue 7 features the return of Thomas Shepherd/Speed, rekindling his relationship with David.
- Call-Back: Issue #7 starts with David trying to figure out how he died, the Five having erroneously assumed it was in the same O*N*E attack that killed Loa, Rahne, and others.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Lorna leaves Magneto speechless after asking if he knows anything about her personality.
- The Cameo:
- Gwenpool is in the bar with four grown women in issue #3. when the bartender wonders where they went, she dryly reassures him that it's just a tie-in.
- Issue #5 is basically a reunion of the New X-Men, with Surge, Hellion, Dust, Wallflower, Mercury, Tag, Anole, Aero and Indra all seen to welcome back Wind-Dancer.
- Captain Obvious: When Siryn snarks that they never interrogated the deceased about their deaths when she was in X-Factor, Trevor points out that that was probably only because they were dead.
- Cast Full of Gay: The team is led by Northstar, who is gay. When the series began, Daken and Prodigy were bisexual and Rachel Summers was Ambiguously Bi. Plus, although Northstar's husband Kyle isn't part of the team, he's still a member of the cast.
- Chekhov's Skill: Mark Sheppard's acoustikinesis, first mentioned in passing in issue #5, becomes useful in issue #9.
- Conflict Ball: Northstar is as haughty as ever and very hostile towards anyone who doesn't immediately comply to his demands that Aurora be resurrected immediately. Daken of all people has to check him for his behavior after explaining that he's moving Aurora's body to get a proper burial.
- Continuity Nod:
- Julian Keller refers to Sofia as "Beautiful," which is the Affectionate Nickname he gave her in their series together.
- Aurora mentions that the events of Age of X-Man traumatized Northstar. Daken mentions that both Laura and Gabrielle were there as well.
- Madrox alludes to the time he and Siryn were a couple when he led the last iteration of the X-factor team.
- Crossover Finale: Issue #10, the last issue of the series, ties into the Hellfire Gala storyline.
- The Death of Death: Shatterstar kills the Celtic death goddess Morrigan.
- Death Seeker:
- Lorna wishes she could just cease to exist, especially when feeling guilty about Santo's death.
- The rules of resurrection are mostly redacted, but article seven indicates that a DNR is possible.
- It transpires that Siryn promised to die a thousand deaths so her friends wouldn't have to.
- Depraved Bisexual: Northstar calls Daken a "disaster bisexual" and fears his influence on the team, but Daken argues that David's "distinguished bisexual" neutralizes it.
- Disposing of a Body: David brings up an interesting point with Dr. Reyes, what do they do with the old corpse after they resurrect someone in a new body? After learning that, David wants to start a body farm to research the cadavers.
- Driving Question: What was Aurora doing in the motel room for a week and why was she seeing someone who was a mutant bigot? X-Factor #10 answers this question: she was getting close to him and his mutant hate group in order to kill them and then arranged her own death so that she wouldn't be suspected of it.
- Dying Curse: After Shatterstar kills the Morrigan, she gives him one last parting gift—a curse that travels through his heart that somehow Rictor can feel as well.
- Enfant Terrible: A mother drags her obstinate brat past the team, and Rachel feels like telling her she's raising a psychopath because he was thinking about kicking her warwolf puppy.
- Forensic Drama: The premise of the title is the team investigating reports of missing mutants to either rescue them or confirm their deaths for resurrection.
- For Science!: Prodigy wants to study how mutant bodies decompose with corpses in the Boneyard's own garden. Northstar objects, and Prodigy argues that it's for science and can help X-Factor in their work.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Daken! No one likes him or even wants him around, especially Northstar. They even try to ditch him at a hotel. Though as of Issue 5, Polaris and him have become Like Brother and Sister over both having complicated relationships with dysfunctional dads, and as of issue 7, he and Aurora are now a couple.
- Geas: As the team discovers in issue 9, Siryn is under a magical geas from the Morrigan to continually kill herself. Siryn agreed to this to stop the Morrigan from mass murdering a ton of other mutants.
- Hero Killer: The ending of issue 7 shows that Morrigan-possessing Siryn has killed Lorna, Rachel, and Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie, leaving Daken, David and Trevor as the only survivors.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Daken volunteers to fight the Morrigan, knowing that she will kill him, to give David a chance to escape with the solution he discovered.
- Honorary True Companion: Aurora isn't officially a member of X-Factor, but she hangs out with them all the time due to her brother and her growing relationship with Daken.
- The Joy of First Flight: Proteus comments to Hope that the first thing all the revived mutants that can fly do is enjoy their first flight.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Tommy Shepherd can't help but feel excited when meeting Northstar, who is faster than him, can fly and is even a former Olympic gold medallist.
- Lame Pun Reaction: When Rachel says she has an idea, Northstar says that he is "all ears". David tries and fails to stop Trevor from chiming in with "and I'm all eyes".
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Magneto being at a loss for words when Polaris asks him what he thinks her personality is like sounds just as much as a criticism of Magneto's parenting as a commentary on how inconsistent Polaris' character has been over the years.
- Living Lie Detector: Issue 6 highlights how Eye-boy, Prestige, Daken and Prodigy are all this because of their powers so they can tell that Siryn is lying to them.
- Navel Window: For the series Lorna wears an outfit that exposes some of her belly, including her navel, but not her full midriff.
- No Man of Woman Born: In issue #9, when they activate the Morrigan's geas on Siryn, the Morrigan explains what it will take to kill her:"A father to his father, a warrior who is no killer, a traveler who goes nowhere, a secret keeper who shares everything. Bring an impossibility to battle and win, and then will the Morrigan admit defeat."
- Prodigy quickly figures out that the Morrigan is actually describing Shatterstar.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Eye-Boy reveals that he is smarter than he usually acts like, revealing that when people let their guard down it's easier for him to see all their little secrets.
- Psychic Block Defense: The workers of Spiral's channel all have brain implants that make it incredibly difficult for Rachel to read their thoughts.
- Psychometry: This series brings back Rachel's chronoskimming ability. She uses it to psychically read the past of locations, people or objects. She's given general limitations in that she has to actually sort through history herself so if the circumstances of a subject are too broad she won't be able to hone in on anything useful.
- Required Secondary Powers: Somewhat averted with Northstar, in issue #7 he notes that he can travel faster than lightspeed with the implication that his body has developed secondary powers to allow him to travel faster than sound. But, he notes if he goes faster than lightspeed his bones will start to become dust and his lungs will collapse.
- The Reveal: Due to the series being cut short prematurely, these crop up in issue ten: We learn how Prodigy died and why he left himself clues, why Aurora was hanging out with an anti-mutant bigot prior to her death and why she's been acting so erratic, as well as why Eye-Boy behaves the way he does.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Issue #10 features a race fetishizing serial rapist and killer who is quite clearly based on Ed Buck
, even being named Buck Thatcher. - Shut Up, Hannibal!: Shatterstar confronts the Morrigan:The Morrigan: I was the first Morrigan. Humanity was in its infancy—so recently did the last human paw itself out of the muck and mire and stagger upright. I was among the first sentries summoned by humanity to stand guard upon the edge between worlds seen and unseen. I decommissioned kings. [Shatterstar stabs the Morrigan] Once upon a time, I...I was everything.Shatterstar: There are no kings in Krakoa.
- The Stinger: At the end of issue #3, Storm, Domino, Mystique, and Psylocke all get rainbow-teleported away to a Fortnite event.
- Super-Speed: Northstar reminds everyone he's the fastest mutant alive in this series and then proves it. After Polaris tells him she last heard from Daken when he was in southern Alberta, Northstar searches what he refers to as "the general area" for seven minutes before finding him in southern Montana.
- The Summation: Polaris gathers everyone together with the Quiet Council in the first issue to explain how Aurora died.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Aurora more or less admits to murdering Ed from the first issue in the tenth issue. Presumably she tried to convince him to leave the mutant hate group first. Which identity was involved is left unmentioned.
- Team Pet: Amazing Baby, Rachel's Warwolf pup.
- Twin Telepathy: This is what starts the whole plot as Northstar can feel that his sister died but the Five need proof before they can resurrect her.
- Two Girls to a Team: Rachel and Lorna are the two females of the team at first, although Aurora later joins.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Rachel and Lorna are constantly poking at each other.
- Water Is Dry: Aurora wades in to her waist in a hot tub, yet when she climbs out her skirt is still dry.
- When I Was Your Age...: Lorna makes fun of Daken's cynicism toward Eye-Boy by doing an impression of an old man who never saw a downward-sloping hill in his entire youth.
