Before the real X-Factor began John Byrne wrote and penciled this issue with the title "X-Factor"...which may or may not have inspired the name of the team that would come not long afterwards. Byrne's FF run defined what the team would be for years to come...he fleshed out character's of the stagnant series and gave real personality to the characters (especially the villains, notably Doctor Doom and Galactus). This tale is a classic battle royal, with Gladiator travelling to Earth following a group of Skrulls. Like all misguided muscle men he mistakes the FF for the skrulls, when in reality the Skrulls are posing as X-Men. The thing figures this out when he notices Cyclops optic beams burn...they are concussive, not supposed to be hot. Realizing this they stop taking it easy on them and a few panels later the Skrulls are out. Richards uses a trick involving Captain America's shield to dupe Gladiator into believing he is not as tough as he thinks. It is explained here that Gladiator's strength relies on him believing he is invincible. If he doubts it, he can be defeated. Great story, great art (seeing Byrne do the X-Men again after he had left the book was a treat) and great characterization, something Byrne was a master at, especially in team books. However it is the steady writing and character building that often keeps Byrne books low in value. He rarely had the huge "kill someone moment" and his stories and characters would build over time. He also seemed to work better with other people's characters...his own were often not that interesting.

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