Review # 169: "X-Factor Visionaries by Peter David"

You could make a case for Peter David's original time on "X-Factor" as the best X-family creative run of the entire 1990s. Its peaks likely weren't as high as the best the main "X-Men" line had to offer at points, but it makes up for it by being of consistent good quality.

Giant Size Review # 4: 90s X-Men ("Bishop's Crossing," "X-Cutioner's Song" and more)

I've gone on record before about how I'm not the biggest fan in the world of the writing during the Nicieza-Harras-Lobdell (NHL) era of the X-Men. While they had their flashes of brilliance, most of their work is far too wordy, is shallow (disguised as deep) and compromises a lot of the action on-page.

Review # 161: "X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 1 - 'Children of the Atom'"

Stan Lee is one hell of a creator. But I don't need to tell you that. His mark on popular culture grows by the day as franchises attached to his name have become multimedia phenomena, shattering records worldwide. Lee deserves all the praise he receives.

However, he is not perfect.

Review # 55: "House of M"

A lot of people hate "House of M." It was a status quo shift that people were uncomfortable with and - unlike many other event comics - it stuck for a long time. The repercussions were felt for eight whole years and you could argue they still are.

Review # 48: "Avengers - The Children's Crusade"

"The Children's Crusade" had every reason to succeed: it thrust the Young Avengers into a prominent role in what should have been a major arc - the redemption of Scarlet Witch. It brought back the original "Young Avengers" creators Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung to put it together. It has an All-Star cast: the Avengers, the X-Men, Magneto and Doctor Doom. And yet it falls flat.

Review # 27: "X-Factor - 'The Only Game in Town' and 'Secret Invasion'"

As we move on to Volume 5, something important has happened: In the first (and last) instance of Peter David's second run on X-Factor intersecting with a main X-Men storyline, Madrox and Layla were sent about a century into the future at Cyclops' request during the events of the excellent "Messiah Complex." In the end, Layla ends up trapped in the future and Jamie is left with a mark to forever remind him of what transpired. This, clearly, was going to have some major implications down the line but couldn't be rushed, which makes it as good of a time as any to shake things up for the team.

Review # 26: "X-Factor - 'The Many Lives of Madrox' and 'Heart of Ice'"

As is the norm for Peter David's run on X-Factor, any time there's a major resolution to anything, there are a lot of plot threads still hanging and a number of unanswered questions. Example: after X-Factor destroyed rival (and sinister) Singularity Investigations, Madrox is forced to do some soul searching and tell Monet and Siryn about their simultaneous "special night" without getting killed (figuratively.) Meanwhile, Rahne is suffering from a crisis of faith, Guido is disturbed over his role as a Manchurian candidate, Rictor continues to have interpersonal problems and the very unstable Quicksilver is still in Mutant Town.

Review # 17: "X-Men: Fatal Attractions"

The X-Men of the Bob Harras/Scott Lobdell/Fabien Nicieza era can be best summed up in two words: "violent arguments." And I'm not talking about two people sitting across from the table furiously unleashing verbal barrages or each other. I'm talking about what 90s post-Chris Claremont X-Men comics had instead of fights. For every punch thrown, every claw snikt'd and every eye beam zakt'd there would be sentences upon sentences of philosophical posturing. While it's true that often there's too much conversation going on during superhero battles, under Harras' watch as editor (or "dictator" as implied by Claremont who quit over creative disputes,) the X-Men and their villains took it to another level.

Review # 9: "Fear Itself: Avengers Academy"

Sometimes it's fun in an ensemble comic to take a bunch of combustible characters and throw them together in an environment that could explode - both literally and figuratively - at any time. Born in the wake of Dan Slott's run on "Mighty Avengers" that centred on Hank Pym, we get Christos Gage's "Avengers Academy" where a group of young students are told they have the potential to be first-class Avengers and get instruction from a faculty that only an insane person would put together.