Why is Pretty Weird Art reading 1990's comics and writing nerdy reviews about them????
Well dear reader, there is an explanation.
Despite my life-long love of comics, there was a time period when I was rather ashamed of my interest. I felt like it was a very shameful thing for me to be seen reading comics in public past the age of elementary school. I filled reams of childhood sketchbooks with comic book ideas, but largely backed off from reading mainstream comics for most of my middle and high school years. It wasn't until I enrolled in graduate school to study illustration that I found the courage to dip my toe back into the hobby in a public manner. I missed out on reading most comics that came out in the 1990's and early 2000's. I've heard all sorts of terrible, hyperbolic statements about the quality of the writing and artwork from the comics of that time period, so my curiosity has been peaked.
Recently two comic book stores in my hometown closed their doors. Before doing so, they had some ludicrously good sales on comics which allowed me to buy several long boxes of 90's Marvel publications. I thought that it might be a fun exercise to write a quick review of the artwork and writing exhibited in each comic as I read it. My goal is to catch up on the comic book culture that I missed out on during my younger days, and to try to glean some story telling skills from each book that I read so that I (and you) can put them into use in my (and your) future creative projects.
Comic: The Uncanny X-men, Issue 287
Publication Date: April 1992
Writer: Jim Lee & Scott Lobdell
Pencils: John Romita Jr.
Inks: Scott Williams
Plot Synopsis:
The story follows a team of time-displaced mutant policemen (the XSE) who are trying to thwart a jail break from the future. The team lead by Bishop engage the escaped criminals in a bloody firefight that attracts media attention and ultimately the X-men. The X-men confront Bishop as he attempts to capture a time-hopping mutant named Trevor Fitzroy. Initially they view Bishop as an adversary, but by the end of the issue, the X-men accept him into the fold as one of their own.
The Writing:
The story is credited to both Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell. I think I can tell which contributions each of them made. The story is mostly centered on action scenes during which characters explain their backstory and motivations. I get the feeling Jim Lee plotted the pace of the action while Scot Lobdell tried to find places to plug in backstory exposition. There were a few pages that had some witty narration and action-movie banter between characters that I found enjoyable and memorable.
The Art:
I really like John Romita Jr's drawing style from this era. All the men have barrel chests, square jaws, and brandish fictitious rectangular firearms. Something about how he draws lips and mouths in this issue really stands out to me. You can tell the character's emotions solely by looking at the shape of their mouth; there's no need to look at any other facial expressions. There's also some amazing chunky brushwork in the inks. I'm not sure how much of that credit should go to John or Scott Williams. There are some key scenes involving Colossus and environmental situations that really pop due to the chunky brushwork. They do wonders for implying reflections and atmospheric effects.
Page 1: Witty Introduction
The narration on the first page manages to introduce the plot, a new character, and the writer's sense of humor in quick succession. I love the last 3 narration boxes for their cheeky humor.
Page 2: Witty banter & Page Layout
The sense of humor continues on the following 2 page spread. I loved the quip about the quotation from "The Wit and Wisdom of Henry McCoy". The dialogue in the first three pages effectively explains who the main characters are, their motivations, and the plot conflict. The laser blasts on the page layout creates a triangle off center to the staple margin which keeps the viewer's eye roaming around the page while also pointing the viewer to continue reading on page 3.
Page 9: Chunky Inks
I love how the chunky inks are used to both simulate a reflective surface on Colossus and also wood texture on the floor he's crashing through. I've got to remember this trick. The looseness of the brush strokes also add a more dynamic visual texture to the panel.
Page 14-15: Panel Flow, Layout, & Character Designs
This two page sequence had a nice flow to it. I especially like how the right page has the characters literally running from one panel into the next. I also like the uniforms that were designed for the XSE soldiers. The red bandanas are reminiscent of old west cowboys and Bishop's over-the-shoulder shotgun holster reminds me of the colonial marines from the movie "Aliens".
Page 17: Chunky Inks & Negative Space
The loose, chunky inks combined with negative space and simple coloring really stood out to me on this page.
Page 29: Depiction of Sensory Effects
The bottom half of this page really sells the "cinematic quality" of comics. The artist is able to re-create the tangible sense of blurry eyesight coming into focus through the effective use of simple color and diminished surface detail.
