The Madrox personality shift is something that's been annoying me in these early Peter David X-Factor issues. Why does a character suddenly feel like he's being pushed into a di…

The Madrox personality shift is something that's been annoying me in these early Peter David X-Factor issues. Why does a character suddenly feel like he's being pushed into a different role? Guido has the running commentary, the teasing, the deliberately ridiculous Strong Guy name. Then Jamie is also being established as the prankster, with the mayonnaise jar in #71 turning out to be a whole setup he engineered to mess with the others. I can see the difference between them on the page. Guido keeps talking and needling people. Jamie quietly lets everyone get caught up in the joke and enjoys revealing that he was behind it. They aren't doing exactly the same thing. But my question about Jamie is still there. A new writer bringing out another side of a character is one thing; making the character feel different all at once can be jarring. I want to be able to follow how he got there. And I'm keeping that separate from the rogue-duplicate story. That plot explains the conflict with another Madrox. It isn't a blanket explanation for every change in the way Jamie is written. The serious material is still there too, especially when he starts questioning what a duplicate's death means. So I wouldn't say he's been reduced to nothing but jokes. It's the sudden emphasis on the prankster side that made me stop and ask what changed.