Poor Darwin
As someone who really has not cared for Peter David's handling of Darwin, this Darwin-focused issue of X-Factor is the least enjoyable issue since the series' Secret Invasion tie-ins. This is not only for Darwin's handling but also the fact that this is just a purposely confusing issue.
Darwin's mutant ability to quickly adapt to survive anything is a really unique and interesting power, but David has always handled it in a very over-the-top fashion that often seems to go outside what the power should really entail. For example, Darwin develops superstrength in this issue so he can fight a monster. This isn't so he can survive the monster's flame and claws but to actually fight it under the reasoning that in order to survive he needs to beat it. Following that line of reasoning is a pretty far distance to stretch his powers and rather self-aware for what is supposed to be an reflexive, unconscious ability. However, the real "jump the shark" moment for Darwin came recently when in order to survive Hela's touch he actually adapted into a death god himself, which was just something so insanely far beyond what his mutant power should be able to do. It was a moment that really damaged the ending to what had been a pretty good X-Factor story, and unfortunately, it was a moment that this issue builds off of.
Darwin has struck off on his own to deal with the lingering effects of having briefly evolved into a death god. Typing that sentence was mentally painful. While wandering the desert, he has a very strange encounter with the population of a mysterious town. Beyond that, it is hard to know what to say or what to think about this little adventure. It is confusing, purposely so, because it is all foreshadowing things to come and we really aren't meant to understand anything. All of it is very cryptic and dream-like, leaving us as confused as Darwin. Because of this, it isn't the most satisfying of reads. It would have been fine if this was the B-story of an issue rather than the one and only. It is a standalone adventure that has you trying to figure out what is really going on as you read only for it to suddenly end without much in the way of answers.
David does at least make it entertaining with the wit and charm he injects into all of the dialogue. It may be confusing, but it is also a fun read. The one revelation we do get is a good one that really works but also adds a bit to the overall confusion of things. No doubt it has a major payoff down the line, but that does not necessarily mean much here and now.
This is a weak issue but not really a bad one. It is frustrating that Darwin's first major character arc is built from the most ill-conceived thing ever done with the character and that David generally just plays too loosely with Darwin's mutant power. That frustration increases somewhat over how this issue tries to confuse you to setup later stories. But all this doesn't ruin the issue thanks to an interesting revelation at the end and David's strong and entertaining writing as well as Emanuela Lupacchino's solid art.
