The latest installment of Peter David's X-Factor series, this trade paperback collects all the stories following Marvel Comics epic Secret Invasion storyarc.

Theresa, one of the characters on the superhero detective team X-Factor is pregnant with Jamie Madrox's child. Theresa can scream real loud and Jamie can make duplicates of himself. By the end of the first part, Theresa delievers her child and names him "Sean" after her late father. When Jamie holds Sean for the first time... he absorbs the baby into himself, horrifying everyone into realizing that his child was just another one of his duplicates.

The story then follows a suicidal Jamie distancing himself from the team and Theresa, still devestated after the loss of her child, reluctantly filling the team's leadership role. While Jamie is pulled into the future by an old friend, Theresa must protect the team's new client from the mysterious "Cortex"... who may be an enemy that X-Factor has no hope of defeating.

In this graphic novel, Peter David balances true superhero action tempered with real emotion. Whether considered great literature or not, superhero stories still resonate with teens. In particular, stories involving the X-Men which tend to be a metaphor for being different and living in a world that doesn't understand you and/or hates you. A lot of teens can relate to living in a world like that. This story, especially the opening, is a new twist on the genre. What if I man who can make copies of himself fathers a child? It turns out... his baby is just another copy, then the real storytelling can begin.

Looking for a few other great graphic novel suggestions? If you like X-Factor, try:

• Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns - The Green Lanterns, powered by willpower, are the strongest force for good in the galaxy. But when the power of anger finds wielders to spread hatred throughout the universe, the Red Lanterns are born. How do you stop an army powered by rage?
  
  
• School Rumble 13 - Join the class at Yagami High School as they navigate their ever complicated love lives. Kenji is in love with Tenma while Tenma, a young unremarkable girl, is in love with Oji... who doesn't even know she exits. This hilarious love triangle only gets funnier.
  
  
• Xxxholic. 14 - What do you wish for? This is a question that a young boy named Kimihiro Watanuki deals with every day. In order to be rid of the evil spirits that plague him, he works in a mysterious wish-granting shop where people always get more than they bargained for.

X-Factor: Time and a Half appears on the Stuff for the Teen Age 2010 List.