argo@hou2a.UUCP (W.GARRETT) (07/24/84)
Has any one else out there read New Mutants #21. To those of you who have, my condolences. This has got to be the absolute worst I have ever read. To put it simply, I couldn't believe it!! First, the artwork. It stunk. Ever since the NMs finished their engagement with the hellions, the artwork has gone down, I can't remember the issue number it changed style on, but it was 17 or 18 I think. Suddenly they are in to shadows and sketch work, not the finished look. They could do a far better job by walking into your average kindergarten class and using their fingerpainings. I sincerely hope they get a new artist soon, or I may end up dropping this title, a real shame too. The story was not much better, although I daresay good artwork would have made it more palatable. Nothing really seemed to hang together, much of the story was disjointed. I did not enjoy seeing Doug Ramsey get in the act, I object to pulling in a new character whenever a problem needs solving. Worse still was the bit with the alien itself. Okay, so the team makes contact with the alien and decides to help it out, that much is standard and perfectly acceptable. However, having the alien become a new mutant is not! I cannot picture such a being hanging together with these students, it doesn't fit. I have many more complaints, such as the new way of drawing Dani and Illyana so they are no longer recognizable. The slumber party could have been kept in better control, or better still dropped entirely as it really didn't add anything at all. The demon sitting on Illyana's head during the sceance was not a good idea, I don't think it should have been used at all. As I have said, this issue did not live up to my expectations, but neither have the last several. Ever since Dani went on her bear hunt things have slid steadily down hill. This is truly a shame, because the New Mutants is an excellent idea, and a superb story when done correctly, as the first seventeen or so issues prove. Up until the sudden change, I truly enjoyed this story. Does any one else feel the same way? I would like to hear any objections or agreements with these statements. Last, and most important, does anyone know if Marvel is getting a new illustrator for this title. Contact Has Been Made, Andrew Garrett
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (07/26/84)
< They pelted us with rocks and garbage! > I completely disagree. NM#21 was one of the better episodes I have seen. The artwork is 150% better than that in the Buscema-ridden "New Rome" series. True, it is very stylistic, and the subdued inks can look muddy at times, but it is also the most creative and interesting way of telling a story that I've seen from Marvel since Shooter lost his sense of design. The characterisation was also more interesting, though it still suffers from Claremont's excessive talking head treatment. By the way. That was a DRAGON on Ilyana's head, not a demon. And the Warlock joined the Newties because IT is a mutant itself. True, not the same species as the rest of them, but then Nightcrawler is not the same species as the rest of the Xmen. (Boy will that come as a shock when he finally learns about it!) Hutch
harry@ucbvax.UUCP (Harry I. Rubin) (07/27/84)
I generally agree with Mr. Garrett, I have not enjoyed the art of the past several issues of New Mutants, and the stories have not felt terribly satisfying. I think some touches of artistic adventurousness are good, the old art could have used a little more interest, but this new style is completely overboard! Harry (harry@berkeley, ...!ucbvax!harry)
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (07/27/84)
I should probably respond to this in my 365-line review article (coming soon
to finer net sites everywhere) but...
I have no argument with your review of the art... it is original, and in
many ways I enjoy it more than other artists (certainly other artists on
NM); but NM has gotten to be a case of one hand clapping. Bill S-word (I'm
sorry, my spelling program hasn't gotten his name yet) is doing interesting
work, but it seems very removed from Claremonts writing. I would tend to
blame CC for this... I'm enjoying the art on this book MUCH more than the
writing (and I'm not enjoying the art THAT much). It seems every picture is
barely related to what the character are saying... I can just see Chris
getting the pages and saying "Oh, OH! I'll change Sam's statement there
and..." -- and eventually you have a very disjointed comic.
And before you say I have it in for Claremont, uh-uh; it's just that I've
been reading his earlier X-Men work (plus his Iron Fist and Marvel Team-Up);
he can do much, much better than this.
"Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge, Know-what-I-mean, Know-what-I-mean?"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
{cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \
{allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAboyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (07/28/84)
> First, the artwork. It stunk. Ever since the NMs finished their > engagement with the hellions, the artwork has gone down, I can't remember > the issue number it changed style on, but it was 17 or 18 I think. Suddenly > they are in to shadows and sketch work, not the finished look.... > > The story was not much better, although I daresay good artwork would > have made it more palatable. Nothing really seemed to hang together, much > of the story was disjointed.... > > I have many more complaints, such as the new way of drawing Dani and > Illyana so they are no longer recognizable. The slumber party could have > been kept in better control, or better still dropped entirely as it really > didn't add anything at all. The demon sitting on Illyana's head during the > sceance was not a good idea, I don't think it should have been used at all. > > Andrew Garrett >> I completely disagree. NM#21 was one of the better episodes I have >> seen. The artwork is 150% better than that in the Buscema-ridden >> "New Rome" series. True, it is very stylistic, and the subdued inks >> can look muddy at times, but it is also the most creative and interesting >> way of telling a story that I've seen from Marvel since Shooter lost his >> sense of design. >> >> By the way. That was a DRAGON on Ilyana's head, not a demon. >> >> Hutch Well, I think I'm kind of in-between these two extremes. Like Hutch, I think that Bill Sienkiewicz's style is fascinating and very creative. HOWEVER, I don't think that the style suits the Newties; they need a much more straightforward art style. Given my druthers, I'd switch Sienkiewicz to THE MICRONAUTS and Kelly Jones to THE NEW MUTANTS. Part of the problem I have with the style is that the various figures seem too indistinct. I'd probably like it better if there was a strong inker on the book. As far as the Sal Buscema art that was previously in the book goes, I must con- fess that while I'm not a Sal fan, I thought that his work on the Newties was reasonably good, mostly do to the inking efforts of Tom Mandrake. I think the best issues, however, were around #5-6 with McLeod inking Buscema. On the other hand, to swing back to Hutch's side, I rather like the way Danielle and Illyana are drawn. And Hutch is correct, Andrew, that's a *dragon*, not a demon. Whatsamatter, didn't you recognize Lockheed? Or haven't you been follow- ing THE X-MEN? > ... Last, and most important, does anyone > know if Marvel is getting a new illustrator for this title. Well, Andrew, from what I understand, Sienkiewicz was originally signed on to do only six issues. After he got started, though, he was enjoying himself, so he'll be doing more than six issues, though how many more is not certain. >> And the Warlock joined the Newties because IT is a mutant itself. >> True, not the same species as the rest of them, but then Nightcrawler >> is not the same species as the rest of the Xmen. (Boy will that come as a >> shock when he finally learns about it!) Ah, Hutch, did I miss something, or do you know something that I don't? If the former, could you mail me a reference? If the latter, could you tell me what you know about it and where you found out? Don't worry about spoilers; they don't bother me at all. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA