X-Factor #43
X-Factor #43 marks the opening chapter of the 'Judgement War,' the final major self-contained arc of the original X-Factor series, thrusting all five founding X-Men into a cosmic-scale conflict orchestrated — unbeknownst to them — by Apocalypse himself, who engineered their voyage to bring humanity's 'best' before the Celestials as a defense against galactic judgment. The issue introduces an entirely new alien cast in a single chapter: the two warring factions known as the Chosen and the Rejects, along with key figures Princess Seera, Lord Rask, Zharkah, and others, all of whom are central to a seven-part allegory about prejudice and difference that writer Louise Simonson explicitly crafted to fit the X-Men's core themes. It also continues the post-Inferno psychological unraveling of Jean Grey, who enters this arc still fragmented by the competing psychic echoes of the Phoenix and Madelyne Pryor — a thread that the arc would eventually resolve. As the first appearance of more than half a dozen new characters in a single issue, it serves as the on-ramp to one of Copper Age X-Factor's most ambitious storytelling efforts.
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The issue was written by Louise Simonson and drawn by Paul Smith — the latter returning to Marvel's mutant line years after his celebrated run on Uncanny X-Men — with inks by Al Milgrom, colors by Tom Vincent, and letters by Joe Rosen, all under editor Bob Harras and editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. It was released on April 25, 1989, with an August 1989 cover date, immediately following the team's traumatic involvement in the Inferno crossover. At least one retrospective analysis has noted that Apocalypse's hidden agenda — using Ship to present X-Factor to the Celestials as proof of humanity's worthiness — was the connective tissue linking the Inferno aftermath to the Judgement War, a piece of retroactive plotting that gave the arc greater narrative weight within the broader X-mythology of that era.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Chosen faction and its members: Princess Seera, Lord Rask, Lev, Jak (dies in this issue), and Swen (dies in this issue).
- First appearance of the Rejects faction and its members: Zharkah and Spak.
- The Celestial Gammenon the Gatherer appears, abducting X-Factor's sentient Ship and depositing the team on a war-torn alien planet.
- Nathan Christopher Charles Summers — the infant who will eventually grow up to become Cable — appears as a supporting character, carried into the battlefield by Cyclops and Jean Grey.
- Written by Louise Simonson with art by Paul Smith (pencils and inks on covers; Al Milgrom inking interiors), edited by Bob Harras; released April 25, 1989 (cover date: August 1989).
- This is Part 1 of the 7-part 'Judgement War' storyline, which ran through X-Factor #43–50.
- Reprinted in France as Facteur X #10 (Semic S.A., 1991) and collected in X-Factor Epic Collection Vol. 4: Judgement War (Marvel, August 2023), which compiles X-Factor #37–50, X-Factor Annual #4, and Uncanny X-Men #242–243.
- The issue's story was titled 'Kidnapped!' and Jean Grey's internal struggle with the residual Phoenix and Madelyne Pryor psychic personalities — a direct consequence of the preceding Inferno crossover — is introduced as a subplot that continues throughout the arc.
Cast · 16 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Facteur X #10 (1991), Essential X-Factor #3 (2009), X-Factor Epic Collection #4 (2023), X-Factor: The Original X-Men Omnibus #2 (2025)
Key issues in X-Factor
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