The story of Nation X: X-Factor (say that three times fast) is a simple one: X-Factor have been invited to join the X-Men and fellow mutants on the island nation of Utopia and, much to Wolverine's surprise, accept that invitation if only to see what the place is about. They are welcomed by Scott Summers and encouraged to make themselves at home; most of the issue is an argument between Summers and Madrox over the pros and cons of Utopia, the rest of X-Factor meeting up with old friends, Shatterstar flirting, and one of X-Factor's guys getting in bed with (you guessed it) Dazzler. Twice.

The only part that strikes me as particularly interesting is the narration and involvement of an old woman known as Crone, “scribe of the Others” (because all stories that happen on islands need a group known as the Others), who draws parallels between Utopia's inevitable failure and World War II.

Speaking of WWII, this brings me to the focus of my review: the creative front. Peter David delivers on all fronts as usual with his excellent dialogue and humorous situations, nevertheless this plus—as well as the overall story—seems to matter less the more I observe De Landro's art. The opening sequence, a WWII flashback of sorts, is presented in gorgeous pencils—no color, no ink, just pencil. The visuals begin a downward spiral, however, as soon as the story shifts to the present day wherein the characters and scenery are depicted with a questionable lack of detail and obviously computer-generated textures and water effects, making for what appears to be a hastily put together issue. For example, many of the wide shots featuring multiple characters lack facial details; this results in featureless figures who, to be honest, creep me out.

The distraction that is the lackluster art is one of two shortcomings this issue suffers from. The second is the feeling that this story is not important, that one could ignore it altogether and miss nothing whilst reading X-Factor or Uncanny X-Men.

On the plus-side, there was at least one more jab at Rob Liefeld.