X-amining X-Factor #111

"Explosive Performance"
February 1995

In a Nutshell
Strong Guy suffers a heart attack as reality crystallizes, then shatters.

Plot: John Francis Moore
Script: Todd DeZago
Pencils: Jan Duursema
Inks: Al Milgrom
Letters: Starkings/Comicraft
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Group Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
The K'Lanti appear before Lila & X-Factor, demanding she return the Harmonium they entrusted to her for safekeeping. Lila agrees to return it to them, and they give her "about an hour" to do so, leaving a series of diamond-shaped bombs in the skies above Madripoor for motivation. Lila teleports herself, Strong Guy & Polaris to Cygnus Prime, a junk world where Jordik likely sold the Harmonium after he stole it from Lila. In Washington DC, Val Cooper is trying to track down X-Factor when she spots Madrox on the street, but he disappears into a crowd. On Cygnus Prime, Strong Guy fights a creature guarding the junk while Lila & Polaris search for the Harmonium. In the process, he absorbs a dangerous amount of kinetic energy. On Earth, Forge, Havok & Wolfsbane work to defuse the K'Lanti's bombs. Just then, Lila, Strong Guy & Polaris return with the Harmonium, but as the K'Lanti depart, they leave Lila with one of the bombs. When it explodes, Strong Guy takes the brunt of the blast, absorbing the energy, which proves to be too much for his heart. He collapses, and as Lila tries desperately to revive him, all of reality crystallizes, then shatters.

X-amining X-Factor #110

"Creatures on the Loose!"
January 1995

In a Nutshell
X-Factor battles aliens in Madripoor.

Plot: John Francis Moore
Script: Todd DeZago
Pencils: Jan Duursema
Inks: Al Milgrom
Letters: Starkings/Comicraft
Colors: Matt Webb
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Group Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
On the planet Boh-tan-ee, a hooded figure learns her quarry has gone to Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, X-Factor suddenly appears in Madripoor, teleported there by Legion. They land atop a spaceship floating in the bay, from which emerges a massive rock-like alien. Strong Guy battles the creature, during which he is captured by a mysterious figure in a trenchcoat. Meanwhile, Mystique is flying to Paris from Israel, steadfast in her desire for revenge on Legion. Back in Madripoor, the electrical energy of the alien creature affects both Polaris' and Havok's powers, while Strong Guy finds himself a captive of the alien Jornick, who is using an image inducer to appear human. Just then, Lila Cheney teleports in, telling Strong Guy that Jornick has robbed her treasure hoard, including a music box she needs to avert a war. But Jornick reveals he sold the box, leaving Lila despondent over her fate. Elsewhere, the rest of X-Factor struggles to stop the destruction wrought by the creature released by Jornick, until Strong Guy and Lila arrive, and Lila teleports the beast back to its home planet. Upon her return to Earth, however, she finds a massive spaceship in the skies above Madripoor waiting for her, and she tells Strong Guy they're in big trouble now.

X-amining X-Factor #109

"The Waking"
December 1994

In a Nutshell
Legion wakes up and heads out to set things right.

Plot: John Francis Moore
Script: Todd DeZago
Pencils: Jan Duursema
Inks: Al Milgrom
Letters: Starkings/Comicraft
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
Mystique attacks the revived Legion, who telekinetically pushes her away. She manages to escape into the city, with X-Factor in pursuit. Later, Mystique meets up with Avalanche, but X-Factor tracks her down. Avalanche triggers a tidal wave, and while X-Factor deals with that, Mystique escapes again. Wolfsbane & Forge both track her down again, but their fight is interrupted by Legion, who brings Mystique onto the Astral plane where he passes along a message from Destiny. He then returns to the physical world to find X-Factor waiting for him, and he teleports them all away, before flying off by himself, leaving Mystique behind, saying he's going to fix everything, going to make it better.

X-amining X-Factor #108

"Promised Vengeance"
November 1994

In a Nutshell
X-Factor hunts Mystique who is hunting Legion.

Plot: John Francis Moore
Script: Todd DeZago
Pencils: Jan Duursema
Inks: Al Milgrom
Letters: Starkings/Comicraft
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Group Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
Forge revisits the events of Mystique's apparent death with Rogue & Nightcrawler, suspecting she may have survived. His suspicions prove correct when Nick Fury shows Forge & Val Cooper footage of Mystique posing as a secretary at the Israeli embassy, in order to obtain a visa for Avalanche & gain info on Gabrielle Haller. After Havok & Strong Guy fail to capture Avalanche, X-Factor realizes Mystique is targeting Haller's son, Legion, to make him pay for killing Destiny. X-Factor travels to Te Aviv & confers with Haller at the hospital where the comatose Legion is being treated. As they hunt for Mystique, Mystique poses as Haller and prepares to inject Legion with a lethal drug via syringe. But the real Haller enters the room, and begs Mystique to spare her son. Shortly thereafter, X-Factor also arrives, triggering a standoff which ends when the syringe is telekintically suddenly flung from Mystique's hand by a now-conscious Legion.

X-amining X-Factor #106

"The Phalanx Covenant Life Signs Part 1"
September 1994

In a Nutshell

Plot: Scott Lobdell & Todd DeZago
Script: Todd DeZago
Pencils: Jan Duursema, Roger Cruz
Inks: Al Milgrom
Letters: Starkings/Comicraft
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Cover: Steve Lightle
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Group Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
X-Factor arrives at the former monastery base of the Acolytes, called there by Professor X. They find X-Force & Excalibur waiting for them, and Xavier explains how the Phalanx infiltrated Muir Island, prompting Excalibur's flight to the monastery. During the briefing, Cannonball notices that Wolfsbane has gone missing, and he follows her deeper into the monastery, where Douglock is being sequestered. Elsewhere, Stephen Lang grapples with the sudden influx of rebelliousness within the Phalanx hive mind, including the canine-esque Shinar who is making his way through the European countryside. Back at the monastery, Wolfsbane & Cannonball are are soon joined by Xavier & Forge, who is overwhelmed when his perception of Douglock mixes with Xavier's telepathy. He asks Xavier to leave, and Douglock proceeds to tell them the history of the Phalanx, including their biological imperative to eliminate organic life inherited from Warlock's DNA. He then tells Forge he needs his help to learn more about the Phalanx, then fights his way past Nightcrawler, Polaris & Shadowcat to escape the monastery with a captive Forge, Wolfsbane & Cannonball in tow. The group then disappears, and Xavier declares he can't locate them.