HellBlazer #121 : Warren Pleece Joins The Crew....(No Spoilers)
John McMahon
Well it was as bad as I expected.
Don't get me wrong, I can't draw for shite so maybe I'm not
really in the best position to criticise but I really don't like
this mans work. All his faces look practically the same and
I can safely say that, IMHO, he's the worst artist ever to
grace the pages of HellBlazer.
Given the general disattisfaction amongst a lot of HB readers
with Pauls work as writer on this title (and for the record, I
actually love his take on Constantine), I wonder if the presence
of Pleece as regualar artist will be the straw that causes a lot of
readers to drop the title.
Oh yeah, I liked the story too - certain scenes (the opening in
particular) reminded me of Garths run.
Take care,
John
HellBlazer : http://www.iol.ie/~jmcmahon/hell.html
michael beauparland
John McMahon wrote:
>
> Well it was as bad as I expected.
>
> Given the general disattisfaction amongst a lot of HB readers
> with Pauls work as writer on this title (and for the record, I
> actually love his take on Constantine), I wonder if the presence
> of Pleece as regualar artist will be the straw that causes a lot of
> readers to drop the title.
I obviously can't speak for everyone, but for the first time I am
seriously considering dropping the title. I've been with Hellblazer
since the beginning, and I think the past ten years have been a fun
ride. But the truth is, for a while now I've been dissatisfied with the
title's writing. The artwork hasn't been great, but it has been
acceptable.
I found this issue's art to be very substandard. I don't want to
offend the artist, but his style holds no appeal to me. Maybe others
will enjoy, but not me. I'll probably finish out the current storyline,
but I can't imagine that I'll last much longer than that.
If anyone from DC is reading this, is this really the best team you
could assign to Hellblazer? I personally would rather see the title end
with dignity, than to continue with this writer and artist.
MSB
David Gaddis
michael beauparland wrote:
> If anyone from DC is reading this, is this really the best team you
> could assign to Hellblazer? I personally would rather see the title end
> with dignity, than to continue with this writer and artist.
I couldn't disagree more... about the art, anyway... I see an almost
savagely dramatic use of light & dark, compelling staging, terrific
expressiveness all around in the scenes and characters... it may
initially appear crude (as the best art can) to those used to pretty
people in their comics, but Hellblazer isn't about pretty people or a
pretty world. I think DC's finally hit on the perfect artist for the
title. Philips' art, though impressive, relied too much on snapshot-like
effects and didn't really dig into the atmosphere & emotional meat of
the story the way this guy does... if anyone wants to bring up the other
artists the title's had, I'll be happy to discuss it. I've thought about
it and I really think this guy's the best. Yes, and that includes the
issues McKean did.
Kevin Blackburn
In article <347FCB...@yale.edu>, David Gaddis <john....@yale.edu>
writes
The problem with Pleece is some people love his work, other hate it. I
hate it. I've every issue of Hellblazer from #1, and yet one issue of
his work is enough to make me strongly tempted to drop it until Pleece
moves on, and picking up after a pause is hard. 2020 visions got dropped
and stayed dropped even after he left for instance, even after the
brilliant first three issues.
It's a shame Pleece hasn't been kept on mini-series where those who love
his work can buy it, and those who loathe his work can avoid it. Yes,
this is rather a boring attitude, but when opinions are so divided why
damage the sales of a long-running series (I can't see Pleece adding to
the sales, can you?)
--
Kevin Blackburn Ke...@fairbruk.demon.co.uk
flysky
i only glimpsed the new issue of hb when i was in my local comic shop
this week, so i can't comment on pleece's work in it ... however, i
stopped reading the book a couple of months ago when i finally decided
that jenkins wasn't doing anything with jc that interested me ... in
other words, the art has been fairly interesting (though i hate the way
dillon draws jc's trench), it's the writing that has been substandard
... an honestly, i was interested when i first read about the directions
in which jenkins planned to take the book -- working with jc's punk past
and veering away from the xtian magic to tales full of pre-xtian english
magic ... it just hasn't worked itself out in a way that interests me.
Steff
In article <34802D...@ccm.tdsnet.com>, mbea...@ccm.tdsnet.com
says...
> John McMahon wrote:
> >
> > Well it was as bad as I expected.
> <Maximum Snippage!>
> >
> > Given the general disattisfaction amongst a lot of HB readers
> > with Pauls work as writer on this title (and for the record, I
> > actually love his take on Constantine), I wonder if the presence
> > of Pleece as regualar artist will be the straw that causes a lot of
> > readers to drop the title.
>
> I obviously can't speak for everyone, but for the first time I am
> seriously considering dropping the title. I've been with Hellblazer
> since the beginning, and I think the past ten years have been a fun
> ride. But the truth is, for a while now I've been dissatisfied with the
> title's writing. The artwork hasn't been great, but it has been
> acceptable.
I too am about to drop it, despite being a serious Constantine addict. I
could live with Paul's writing (though my fave HB writer will always be
Delano), but Pleece's art just gives me a headache. I dropped 2020
Visions thanks to him, and I had the worst time trying to appreciate True
Faith's writing while trying not to look at the panels for longer than I
had to. Yikes.
I _know_ DC people read this newsgroup. I just hope someone's keeping
track of how many long-time readers are ready to jump ship over the art.
--
Steff st...@jbx.com http://www.jbx.com/~steff
Keeper of The World According to Garth http://www.evil.org/ennis and
Scripta Mira, a Grant Morrison Site http://www.evil.org/morrison
Newscomedy
I actually had less of a problem with Pleece's art than I feared I might. But
if I were less of a completist... and if I didn't know Ennis is coming back for
a limited run... I'd be tempted to drop Hellblazer because of the writing,
which I've just not been a fan of. Just compare the characterization (or lack
thereof) of Constantine's girlfriend now to Constantine's girlfriend Kit.
f_es...@alcor.concordia.ca
Steff wrote:
: I _know_ DC people read this newsgroup. I just hope someone's keeping
: track of how many long-time readers are ready to jump ship over the art.
For all us newsgroup readers know, it might just be a vocal minority.
FWIW, I like Pleece's take Hellblazer.