New X-Men artwork
Flash Forever
I love New X-Men. It ranks among my favorite comics and I'm a big
advocate of the title. I have always been one who regards story over
artwork in comics. I do, however, appreciate the relationship between
story and art (I understand art _is_ part of story in comics but
hopefully my meaning here is clear enough) and I appreciate how unique
artwork can contribute positively to story. I think to have a truly good
and unique comic, the two elements must complement one another. However,
I have always been able to forgive poor artwork in comics far easier
than I can forgive poor storytelling. If the story is good enough, I can
usually overlook poor and/or inconsistent artwork.
All this being said, the inconsistent artwork in New X-Men has become
very distracting for me. I pre-order and I just received a shipment
containing NXM 127 and 128. The artwork in 128, by Igor Kordey, was
especially distracting. The artwork did not seem to flow well with the
story and seemed particuarly harsh in places, especially the depections
of Jean Grey and the horrendous closing shot of Emma Frost.
This isn't a big enough problem for me to drop this title--as stated
above, it _is_ currently my favorite comic--however, I do feel that
problems with the artwork severely detracts from this title.
I'm not sure Marvel's solution of rotatin three artists on this title is
the answer. Surey there must be a comic artist out the somewhere who can
keep up the pace and complement Morrison's storytelling abilities
instead of detracting from them?
Tu
Flash Forever wrote:
> I'm not sure Marvel's solution of rotatin three artists on this title is
> the answer. Surey there must be a comic artist out the somewhere who can
> keep up the pace and complement Morrison's storytelling abilities
> instead of detracting from them?
I like the guy who did the annual best, but out of the three, I think Sciver
does the best job. Kordey just makes Jean and Emma so ugly.
Kate the Short --- Spamblocked!
flashf...@webtv.net (Flash Forever) sat on the sofa and said:
>I'm not sure Marvel's solution of rotatin three artists on this title is
>the answer. Surey there must be a comic artist out the somewhere who can
>keep up the pace and complement Morrison's storytelling abilities
>instead of detracting from them?
The thing is, these days, hardly *anybody* can keep the pace of doing
twelve (now thirteen-plus) issues in a year. I'd much prefer to see
rotating artists, with Quitely doing an arc of 3-4 issues, followed by
Ethan doing an arc of 3-4 issues, with perhaps a tertiary artist on
one-shot stories like Genosha. That way, you don't have to have someone
suddenly rush in to cover for a slower or more intricate artist, and
(likely their other reason to do this) it won't look like crap when it's
collected into a TPB. :)
Add to that the fact that it's nice to have more than one artist because
you can keep more people on the title if they love one artist and like
another than if they merely like the main artist.
kate.
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counterpoint to the Oedipal blindness motif of Cyclops' ruby visor.
-- Carl Rigney
Flash Forever
I'm not against having rotating of fll-in artists per se, but I'm not
sure the three working on New X-Men are the right combination.
Sciver's work has been very good and I wouldn't mind seeing more of him.
Quietly has his own style which isn't always as appealing as other
artists but it has been consistent for the most part.
The point is that for _me_ to be detracted from a well written comic due
to poor artwork is quite a rare occurance. I can usually forgive poor
art if the story is good enough, but where NXM is concerned I have found
the poor and inconsistent artwork to be something of a distraction.
I suppose my constructive suggestion on this one would be to forget
about 13 issues a year. Put out twelve issues in a years time and
perhaps bring back the annuals, make them more relevant and allow a
guest artist to work on those. This probably wouldn't solve the whole
problem, but it's the only (admitedly partial) solution that I can think
of right now. :)
Flash Forever
<<The thing is, these days, hardly *anybody* can keep the pace of doing
twelve (now thirteen-plus) issues in a year. I'd much prefer to see
rotating artists, with Quitely doing an arc of 3-4 issues, followed by
Ethan doing an arc of 3-4 issues, with perhaps a tertiary artist on
one-shot stories like Genosha.>>
I agree that the same artist should follow through on each storyline.
<<That way, you don't have to have someone suddenly rush in to cover for
a slower or more intricate artist, and (likely their other reason to do
this) it won't look like crap when it's collected into a TPB. :)>>
Exactly. Each arc shoud be drawn by the same artist.
<<Add to that the fact that it's nice to have more than one artist
because you can keep more people on the title if they love one artist
and like another than if they merely like the main artist.>
I agree to an extent. I do feel the various artistic styles should
complement one another. But having a bad artist (or bad art) can also
cost a title readers. I've read several posts in this and other
newsgroups from people who have dropped New X-Men because of the
artwork. Even the editors have acknowledged this has been an ongoing
problem for this title. I'm just not sure _how_ exactly one goes about
fixing this because, as you so correctly pointed out, it's very
difficult for any single artist to keep pace these days. :)
Tom Meyer
news:3D317074...@telusplanet.net...
Ah, they've had years of looking like perfect beauty queens. For some
reason, Kordey's art strikes me as kind of appropriate for the ugly and
dirty writing Morrison is doing, compared to the relative pretty fluff
before.
Tom
Tom Meyer
message news:6q83ju8oan2jekcnv...@4ax.com...
> In article <20409-3D3...@storefull-2192.public.lawson.webtv.net>,
> flashf...@webtv.net (Flash Forever) sat on the sofa and said:
>
> >I'm not sure Marvel's solution of rotatin three artists on this title is
> >the answer. Surey there must be a comic artist out the somewhere who can
> >keep up the pace and complement Morrison's storytelling abilities
> >instead of detracting from them?
>
> The thing is, these days, hardly *anybody* can keep the pace of doing
> twelve (now thirteen-plus) issues in a year. I'd much prefer to see
> rotating artists, with Quitely doing an arc of 3-4 issues, followed by
> Ethan doing an arc of 3-4 issues, with perhaps a tertiary artist on
> one-shot stories like Genosha. That way, you don't have to have someone
> suddenly rush in to cover for a slower or more intricate artist, and
> (likely their other reason to do this) it won't look like crap when it's
> collected into a TPB. :)
Is that true, that there aren't any pencillers left that can put out 12
issues a year?
Tom
Paul O'Brien
<fa...@email.address> writes
>
>Is that true, that there aren't any pencillers left that can put out 12
>issues a year?
No. John Romita Jr does more than twelve. So does Darick Robertson.
There are a couple of others. But nowhere near enough to go round
these days.
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.esoterica.demon.co.uk
ARTICLE 10 - http://www.ninthart.com
NTL - even worse than I'd heard.
Kate the Short --- Spamblocked!
flashf...@webtv.net (Flash Forever) sat on the sofa and said:
>I suppose my constructive suggestion on this one would be to forget
>about 13 issues a year. Put out twelve issues in a years time and
>perhaps bring back the annuals, make them more relevant and allow a
>guest artist to work on those. This probably wouldn't solve the whole
>problem, but it's the only (admitedly partial) solution that I can think
>of right now. :)
The thing is, most readers saw the annuals as throwaway issues, so Marvel
wasn't really making nearly as much money on them. They didn't have any
real repercussions, except when they *did*, so customers got pissed either
way.
By making it a 13th issue, they're actually at a "1-issue-every-4-weeks"
cycle, which *should* be fine for most artists worth their salt. If they
have one or two one-shots a year, they can still have a different artist on
them.
kate.
| Kate the Short - http://www.enteract.com/~katew/ - ICQ# 8375030 |
| X-Men and Comic Book FAQs: http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/ |
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____________________________________________________________________
You have an arrogance that is reserved, on usenet, for people who
*know what they are talking about*. -- Richard Sexton
Ryan
> I agree to an extent. I do feel the various artistic styles should
> complement one another. But having a bad artist (or bad art) can also
> cost a title readers.
Of course. I tend to read comics more for story than art but some
of those Kordey fill-ins on New X-Men looked bad enough to persuade me
not to buy the books. His more recent issue was perfectly acceptable
for me, though. I think the fill-ins were just BAD, as opposed to
being out of style.
I do really like how X-Force has handled the fill-ins, though.
Darwyn Cooke and Duncan Fegredo really nailed the spirit of the book
without aping Allred. They were different, yes, but still X-Force.
Similarly, I think that Quitely and Sciver work well together. And
while Leon's fill-in doesn't really match those two, it worked really
well for the story he drew.
I've read several posts in this and other
> newsgroups from people who have dropped New X-Men because of the
> artwork. Even the editors have acknowledged this has been an ongoing
> problem for this title. I'm just not sure _how_ exactly one goes about
> fixing this because, as you so correctly pointed out, it's very
> difficult for any single artist to keep pace these days. :)
Well, I'd say that firstly, it's the artist's responsibility to
stick to any schedule he accepts.
Secondly, the editor should have a grasp of any given artist's
schedule and speed. If the ed. knows that it'll take Frank Quitely
six months to draw one issue, he'd better have a couple backups ready
to go. Kordey's fill-ins in New X-Men had the feeling of "oh, Crap,
Quitely's not ready to start that issue! Who can we get...? Oh, Igor,
can you do this by Tuesday?"
Hopefully it'll all be more co-ordinated in the future. As long as
the artwork a) suits the storyline and b) doesn't suck, I'll be fairly
happy.
--Ryan
BartSimsn4
much.
JinX
Hoping the reports of Phil Jimenez coming over to share art duties with
Quitely once he wraps up his run on Wonder Woman are true. I can't wait to
see his fill in issue of New X-Men.
I shudder to think what Kordey will do with the Storm graphic
novel/miniseries he's working on. Kordey is solid and has his moment but I
think completely mismatched with Claremont and the character Storm. Jimenez
would rock or Michael Zulli so the art could still hang with Lifedeath 1 and
2.
-JinX
Vince Yim
news:20409-3D3...@storefull-2192.public.lawson.webtv.net...
> All this being said, the inconsistent artwork in New X-Men has become
> very distracting for me. I pre-order and I just received a shipment
> containing NXM 127 and 128. The artwork in 128, by Igor Kordey, was
> especially distracting. The artwork did not seem to flow well with the
> story and seemed particuarly harsh in places, especially the depections
> of Jean Grey and the horrendous closing shot of Emma Frost.
I actually liked the closing shot...very much reminded me of a Glen Fabry
piece...dark and moody.
> I'm not sure Marvel's solution of rotatin three artists on this title is
> the answer. Surey there must be a comic artist out the somewhere who can
> keep up the pace and complement Morrison's storytelling abilities
> instead of detracting from them?
This is a pipe dream at best -- while solid consistent artists that can pump
out work at a book a month do exist (JRjr, Jim Balent, and to a certain
extent, Igor Kordey), they're tough to come by. I'd like to see Jae Lee or
Leinil Yu back on these books myself (those guys were able to pump out
monthlies, although Jae Lee was occasionally late by a week or two on
Inhumans and Mr. Yu has started to slip a bit as of late). Steve Skroce
would also be a welcome addition.
Peace,
Vince Yim
Vince Yim
> issues a year?
Jim Balent put out close to the entire run of Catwoman every month without a
single break (prior to him leaving the title), JRjr puts out 24 issues a
year. While Igor Kordey is certainly a fast artist (three books a month
being Cable, New X-Men, and Black Widow), he's being spread a bit too thin.
Jae Lee could possibly do this (12 issues a month worth of Inhumans, barring
the obligatory late issue), possibly Steve Skroce and Francis Leinil Yu.
(those three are my current favorites who I would really like to see on NXM)
Peace,
Vince Yim
Flash Forever
<<I actually liked the closing shot...very much reminded me of a Glen
Fabry piece...dark and moody.>>
I can live with dark and moody, but Kordey's in this issue seemed rushed
and just plain bad. I don't think this was an intended effect. I don't
mind a slightly more realistic and/or surrealistic approach on this
title, but uglying up characters just for the sake of doing so and
presenting them in a way inconsistent with the manner in which they have
always been presented is distracting and breaks continuity.