X-Factor #5

X-Factor #5 was published by Marvel Comics in June 1986, arriving during the series' initial run which brought together the original five X-Men members: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, and Angel. The series was created by writer Bob Layton and artist Butch Guice, emerging from the editorial decision to reunite the team while Professor Xavier was off-world, establishing the premise that the group operated as mutant hunters to maintain their public profile while secretly aiding their own kind.

The issue itself features artwork by Butch Guice, who brought a gritty, grounded aesthetic to the team's early missions. As part of the wider X-Men publishing expansion in the mid-1980s, the series was designed to explore the psychological toll on characters who had been part of the original team, with this specific issue contributing to the ongoing tension and shifting dynamics within the group as they navigated the complexities of their public persona versus their private objectives.