X-Factor #150-262

 I love, love, love peter david's take on Marvel's wild n wooly Mutant team, and as a huge fan of Clermont and Byrne's "Muir Isle Team" of Moira MacTaggert, Alex Summers, Lorna Dane, and Jamie Madrox, I absolutely loved his X-factor reboot in issue 71 featuring  Jamie, Alex and Lorna, and when I heard he was coming back to X-Factor with a new series issue at #1 (which would later be retroactively re-numbered at 150 to continue the original run), I knew I just HAD to have it!
Peter David really cares for these characters and it is a joy to read and re-read every so oftem, so i took a month out to sit back and read 'em all over again!

Killing Zoe

 I recently re-watched the awesome Killing Zoe with Eric Stolz and Julie Delpy, a movie I haven’t seen since it first came out on video waaaaay back in the 90’s. GADS, I had forgotten how beautiful Julie Delpy was! I remember at the time I had also recently seen one of her French movies, "White", so I was already on a Julie Delpy high, Julie of course probably most famous nowadays for her “Before Sunrise” films with Ethan Hawke (which I also loved, BTW)…

Eric Stolz as Zed, Safecracker

Julie Delpy as Zoe

Killing Zoe stars Eric Stolz as Zed, a safecracker who goes to Paris to do a big bank Heist where he befriends a callgirl named Zoe (Delpy). They enjoy a time for awhile together, til Zed’s friend Eric, the mastermind behind the bank heist, arrives. 

Getting to Know Each Other

Kindred Spirits?

Eric (Jean-Hugues Anglade) arrives

Eric throws Zoe out of the room and prepares to take Zed out the night before the big heist. During a drug-fueled night on the town, he mentions to Zed he has AIDS, and this point brought back something I’d been wondering about the movie for some time now… 

(for those who haven’t seen the movie, here’s the obligatory )

* * * * * S P O I L E R  A L E R T * * * * * 

Zed has come to believe that this will be a smooth robbery where no one has to get hurt, and at first, things are going off without a hitch. But soon enough he and the other crime-mates are to realize that Eric has an ultra-sadistic side and when he kills a woman, they realize how unstable he is. Even more unfortunate is that we find Zoe has a day job working for this very bank, and she becomes part of the threatened hostages.

The Heist is On!

At Work Downstairs Cracking the Safe

  As Zed works on cracking the safe downstairs, he has no idea that upstairs, things are starting to unravel. People are getting killed, at some point, they realize the alarms have been tripped and the police have surrounded the bank. 

Things Getting Out of Control

Zoe Among the Hostages

It’s then that Zed comes up with the haul, having succeeded cracking the big vaults, where he sees that Zoe is one of the hostages and is about to be shot.  Zed leaps on the shooter, giving Zoe time to get away, but now Zed is at odds with the now out-of-control Eric for interfering. He attacks Zed with a blade and cuts his face, telling him their partnership is dissolved. 

Clashing with his Former Partner and Friend

So the movie reaches its’ big climax where the Police teams are swarming the bank and Eric is trying to kill Zoe and Zed. Eric has Zed in his sights and is about to execute him when he is taken out in spectacular fashion by a hail of bullets by the police, covering Zoe and Zed with a shower of blood. The Police storm in, and Zoe helps Zed out, telling clearing the way by telling the authorities he’s not one of the robbers.

A Bloody Conclusion 

  When the film ends, I’m blown away, thinking I’ve just watched a great freaking movie, til my friend, who’s been sitting off to the side goes, ‘Huh, so THAT'S why they call it Killing Zoe, I guess.” I’m like “What do you mean? “And he says, “Well, Zoe and Zed are gonna die since the guy had AIDS and his blood got into their wounds.” HUH! hat hadn't crossed my mind at ALL!
At first, I’m thinking like he must be the only guy who could come up with that bummer of a meaning for the ending...Was this the message the movie intended? That both Zoe and Zed were “doomed”? Forget it, I’m gonna go with MY interpretation of the ending, with the guy and girl escaping to live another day!

Atomic Robo Vol.One-Vol.Seven

 Hahaha, where else are you gonna get a Post-World War II atomic powered secret agent battling the likes of an intelligetn Evil Scientist Dinoasur,a Time-Travelling Oobleck and a dastardly Dr. Thomas Edison and cool partners like a totally kick-butt Carl Sagan? Yeah, this comic is as WACKY and fun as it sounds!

Next Wave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

An absolutely BRILLIANT series satirizing every cliche in superhero comics and poking fun at some of Marvel's sillier characters from Machine Man, Modok, Devil Dinosaur & Moon Boy and all of the zany Psychedelic Steranko-influenced hijinks of the late 60's Spy movies, NEXTWAVE concerns a bunch of C-List Superheroes banded together to go against their own evil organization when they find they're trying to "take over the world", fighting against impossible odds even while fighting amongst each other and their own self-loathing and short-comings!! A True MASTERPIECE!

Desolation Jones: Made In England

I saw a copy of this on sale for a mere 3 bucks and thought it couldn't hurt to grab it, and BOY was I blown away by this series! Great art, cool characters and an intriguing story to boot! Too bad they never went any further with this title than these issues, it might have become something even grander!