Really, my only complaint about this issue . . come on, I know you see this coming . . . wait for it . . . Larry Stroman did the pencils on the first 4 pages. Aarrgghh! Why? Nelson does the art for the rest of the book. Why couldn't he do the first 4 pages. I almost didn't read it. In the Marvel books, I tend not to read the recap page in the front. So I don't always see the credits until after I read it. I picked up this book, going through the first couple of pages and . . . I almost put it down and refused to read it. I just didn't want to deal with this vague ambiguous art of Larry's. Sometimes I'm not sure which character is which because I can't tell them apart. Honestly, though . . I have nothing against Larry. I have other, older, books of his that I love. The guy has talent. My frustration comes from the fact that I dig these characters so much. I think this is a fantastic group. Hell, I even like Val Cooper. No my frustration comes from the fact that we haven't had a regular artist on this series since it started. They haven't all been bad, but . . I think a book has to develop a certain feel to it. They have to get the reader bought in to the characters. The stories help with that tremendously, but . . the art also helps to create that feel. I don't feel that some artists are necessarily better or worse than others, but . . some artist just don't fit right. And I know that Larry did a great run on this book a long time ago. But right now . . with the current group and direction . . right now, it just doesn't feel like he fits. I know that's my problem. And I know that it's probably just all in my head. But . . that's how I feel. As a reader of my blog, I know that you won't always agree with what I have to say. That's ok. I just want you to know that I won't lie, and I won't pull my punches. And, anything I say is not a personal attack on anybody. I don't know any of these people personally, so who am I to judge them? Who am I to judge anybody? I'm just giving you my opinion. Take it or leave it. Anyways, enough of the soapbox . . . overall, I really enjoyed this story. I mean you know ahead of time that Jamie's group is going to return with Darwin. No matter what happens. I thought it was kind of neat though how he came to the resolution this issue. He cut away all of the bull-crap and just talked to the guy . . man to man. "In the end, sometimes the smart thing is to bypass bad habits and learned behavior. There are entire countries where fighting is the default position. If you're willing to put aside that mindset . . . it's amazing how much you can accomplish with minimal muss and fuss." I also thought it was admirable how Rictor was willing to lay his life on the line to protect Theresa. Very noble. I am wondering though what's going to happen to Val. Her and Theresa are on their way to the hospital. Val's water broke, and Theresa got shot. I think Peter David does a great job with this book. He's brought together a great group of characters and he's really made them interesting. And really . . it's my love for these characters that my frustration comes from. They have a lot of potential and I'd just like to see that realized.
I just wanted to tell you how much I agree with you on Larry Stroman's art. His art just doesn't appeal to me at all. I was releaved to see that he only drew the first few pages, because Larry's art has really been hurting the storytelling in this series.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this is really the only X-book that still feels like an X-book(if that makes any sense). Since Decimation, the X-comics just haven't felt the same to me... X-Factor still reads like an X-book should to me, the members of X-Factor are a tight knit bunch, are still hiding away from the general public and are being hassled by the government, just like in the good old days.