After the brief flirtation with the events of Second Coming, the X-Factor teams continues to interact with the greater Marvel Universe. After the great Fantastic Four arc, the team takes a case to deal with the seedier side of Asgard. David is letting the team deal with higher concept cases with big hitters without losing the great character moments I’ve come to love from the series.  While Jamie, Monet, and Layla all continue to act noir, bitchy, and annoyingly clairvoyant respectively, the new additions to the team have really come into their own, no more so then in this issue. While I greatly enjoyed seeing Longshot get a taste of his own medicine and Darwin bringing in the charming angst X-Men are know for, Shatterstar’s scenes steal the show. After having no history with the character, he has become a favorite of mine ever since his trash talk filled fight with Ben Grimm in issue 200. David takes the action down and has him honestly explain his current
state of mind to his boyfriend Rictor in a great scene filled with all the tension that being
truly honest in a relationship brings. The art from Fiumara really adds to these scenes as not only are the figures, slick and attractive but they display a range of emotions, sometimes all at once. For proof, the final page may not have the most shocking scenes ever (Which is slightly disappointing as I was at the C2E2 panel where David first hyped it) but has one of the best reaction shots I’ve seen. All in all, those of you who jumped off because of crossover fatigue would do well to get back aboard.