Pick of the Week
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Size: pages
Price: 3.99
First off, apologies for the late night review, as team iFanboy has been a bit tied up, what with the San Diego Comic-Con and all. But despite the biggest comic convention in the world, we still made time to buy and read our comic books, and I was able to find the time to pick a comic book that I know you will all flame me for picking. And that book is Uncanny X-Men #500.
By no means is this book a perfect comic book — there are flaws in both the writing and the art. But as we’ve discussed many times over, the iFanboy Pick of the Week is our individual choice of the comic book that we enjoyed the most or, as I like to think of it, the comic book that rocked my world or got me the most excited. Despite its flaws, I have to admit, I fell for the fanboy-ish glee I get from an exciting turn in the lives of Marvel’s Merry Mutants.
Uncanny X-Men #500 portrays the inevitable regathering of the X-Men after the events of the Messiah Complex and Divided We Stand storylines. After months of the X-Men in disarray, the team is regathering, with a new home provided by Angel (rich boy Warren Worthington III), in beautiful San Francisco. Now of course I’m a bit biased as these days I call San Francisco home, so I’m a bit flattered to be sharing the city with my favorite comic book. But what this new status quo does is position the X-Men in a familiar scenario of a team with a base and the like, but with a long overdue twist. Even I can admit, as the most die hard of X-Men fans, that the Westchester base of operations was getting tired. How many times can they rebuild that mansion? It makes logical sense to me that we would see a change in location for the X-Men to call home. A new start in a new city, and it doesn’t hurt that its in a general welcoming, slightly freaky city such as San Francisco.
In addition to creating the new base of operations, Uncanny X-Men #500 provides the basis of what makes the X-Men work. It’s these characters thrown together, forced to be a family. This issue had echoes of Astonishing X-Men #1 and X-Men #1, where we see the team in costume, as a mutant team of super heroes, and it’s a roster of characters you can depend on. Like it or not, there are formulas to many of the stories we read and enjoy, and that doesn’t mean they’re bad. Sometimes they just work. We’ve seen a lot of changes in these formulas, and in the X-Men’s case, they haven’t worked too well. But for me, I welcome this return to formula purely in that it’s combining what we know and like of the X-Men, but subtly mixing in the new.
Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what problems I had with this issue. I understand the choice, but I found the jumping between Greg Land’s art and Terry Dodson’s art to be jarring. I also hate Greg Land’s art. I’m sorry, I just hate it. On the writing side, I thought there was a bit of overdoing it in some scenes, especially when the X-Men react to the Sentinels in the story. But that’s okay. Not everything is perfect, but I sense that Brubaker and Fraction are building toward something and despite its problems, it captured me and grabbed me in and most importantly, got me excited for the next year’s worth (and more) of the Uncanny X-Men.
Ron Richards
Please never relaunch with issue #1.
ron@ifanboy.com
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Hehe, I called this as POW yesterday wehn I saw it on the shipping list. No way Ron would resist the charms of Uncanny #500.
Greg Land. /vomit
Well, I can’t argue with picking this book if only for the new direction it promises. And yes, the art was just hideous, especially Land. (although Dodson’s Emma Frost is just his Wonder Woman with blonde hair). Can’t say much more about this book.
The best book I read this week– by far, and very suprisingly– was Iron Fist #17. I was very worried about this book, with Fraction (I think this book had long ago become mostly a Fraction book, despite Brubaker’s name remaining attached) and Aja leaving. In fact, I had decided to drop this book after the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven arc. But, with the amazing issue #16 by Fraction, and now with this rock solid debut by the new team, I’m definitely onboard. #17 was just very, very good. The new writer picked up on the threads and direction Fraction laid out in #16 brilliantly.
Daredevil was also good, continuing the moderate improvement in that book of late. But beyond Iron Fist and Daredevil, I’d say all my other books this week ranged from average (Superman, Robin) to below average (New Avengers).
had it been a different artist, i’m pretty sure i would’ve tried jumping on here…but i just don’t think i can handle spending money on the land experience.
Land is perhaps the most disgusting artist i’ve ever seen. i can’t take any of his women seriously knowing they’ve been traced out of a porno. it gives me chills to think about what poor emma frost was up to "behind the scenes" of this comic book. besides that, i haven’t read my comics yet, i can’t criticize the POW……. yet! 😉 Have fun at SDCC guys!
I had a hard time getting into this issue and on a second read I have to lay the blame on Land’s art. The images and the text do not match up in a lot of scenes and characters, like the Beast for example, look completely different from page to page. The overall tone was exciing to see in an X-men comic and I agree the writers have a plan that much is clear. But it’s getting dilluted under this art which seemed to be contradicting the script in a lot of places.
yay! Ed Brubaker!
I called this as potw by Ron on the shipping article;) My personal potw was Dan Dare #7. So good.
No flames from me–I enjoyed the WRITING and the DODSON art…altho the whole ‘prologue this" "Epilogue" that got a bit precious, but didn’t negatively impact the overall story. There was of course only ONE thing that negatively impacted this book. The "Other" artist. I actually find his art offensive because I don’t feel that it is worth the money I spent on the book. I am not buying this book as long as he’s involved with it.
Anybody else think it was ridiculous for Emma to yell at Colussus for using a Hybrid as a weapon during a battle? I get that comic book writers like to throw in their politics and I’m all for saving the environment but I did’nt need to be beat over the head with the Hybrid talk and how the X-men are going ‘green’.
Granted I’ve have’nt read an X-book since about ’93 or ’94 but has Cyclops ever been known to yell ‘suck it’ during a battle?
This seemed like more of a fill-in issue than a 500th, it wasn’t bad but it certainly wasn’t good. I knew Magneto would be returning, I just wasn’t expecting him to be somewhat pathetic. Brubaker has yet to develop an engrossing story-arc on this title, hopefully he has more up his sleeve than just the X-Men going green; Fraction being on the book gives me a lot of hope for the future
I did find that pretty out of place myself, I’ve been reading the books consistantly and until this issue I had no idea they were such environmentalists. And I’m glad someone else found ‘suck it’ totally out of character. The characters sound more like what I’ve heard Fraction speak like in interviews than themselves to me.
Almost half of this review is an apology for itself. This is your site, brother! Let your freak flag fly! Shine on, you crazy diamond! Etc.
HELP! I jumped on for the first time ever with #500, and was wondering if I need to read any other X titles to understand the full story.
I don’t want anyone to think my post was being derogatory towards the pick. This is Ron’s baby and them moving to S.F. is a shakeup. I don’t think anyone should begrudge him for picking this.
Drink
Not Glamourpuss #2? I mean if your going to pick a book with a tracer for an artist…
I keed I keed.
I, too, wondered if it was Ron’s turn to pick and guessed if it was, 500 would get the call. But you know what, Ron you are who you are and this is 500. Do your thing man. Did Land’s art suck as usual, of course, but someone at Marvel likes him, so what are you gonna do? It’s the X-men and you made a deal with the devil that you have to read all titles that have a capital X (except new X-men which was awesome and you never read it, but I digress).
I’m mostly kidding. Ron, don’t apologize for being you. Land, on the other hand…
You know how they sometimes say that the online comics fans make up like 10% of the fanbase and actually have no idea what the marketplace is really like? Sometimes I think about that conventional wisdom and suspect Greg Land must actually be tremendously popular. Somewhere.
I like this pick. I think this will turn out to be an important issue as it sets the groundwork for the next run of X-men stories. I don’t feel like either the writing or the art styles completely meshed (the first page is So Very Matt Fraction that I had to stop and laugh before reading the rest — and I say this as someone who is a big fan of things that are Very Matt Fraction — but other parts felt just like what Brubaker has been writing). But it’s an interesting groundwork, and it seems that many people I know who is really into the X-men like it; pleasing the core fanbase is not a bad thing, even if the result isn’t for everybody.
I’m not sure what else I would have picked this week. Probably "Daredevil," which continues to be a solid story. Nothing else really jumped out at me, though I continue to enjoy the direction of "X-men: Legacy" and was much more impressed with the art there than I have been in the past.
i only read 3 books this week, but yeah, i’d definately give it to Daredevil
I just love it Ron says in it’s article that it isnt perfect and apologizes for the pick during the review. Look, unlike Powers, I pick this title regularly and I also had a feeling Ron ‘I love X-Men like it’s a wife’ Richards was going to pick this whether it was good or not. It’s the 500th issue, so obviously it’s gonna get merit whether it’s good or bad.
Well….its medicore, thats what I can say. I read the issue, and I didnt see much that merits it as the best pick of the week. Diaologue was so-so and the art was just bland. For a big issue it just seemed like filler (like cutty stated) then anything else. But if you enjoyed it, who am I to judge?
I would’ve picked Green Lantern Corps this week however. That had a fantastic end to a fantastic arc, and Tomasi is making the GL Corps more relevent then ever before.
Jimski, it isn’t just the "only 10% of comic fans are online" thing, I’ve also noticed quite often that certain sites will gather similar tastes together. I can assure you, Greg Land is insanely popular in some circles, but he certainly doesn’t win any polls around here 🙂
I noticed many of the same flaws in the issue that have been mentioned (and agree with almost all of them), but this was still my pick of the week. This is the first issue of X-Men I’ve read through that I understood in years. I knew who almost all the characters were, it didn’t have tons of subplot from previous issues, and I didn’t have to go to Wikipedia to get through the whole issue. It’s pretty sad that accessability alone has my so pumped about an issue, but with the X-Men I’ll take what I can get.
are they that un-accessable? I jumped into Mike Carey’s run on X-Men after not reading a single comic in 15 years and I thought that was easy enough
@Toshimoko: I am not at all challenging that you are right, or being a smart-a$$, what sites or places are you seeing where Land is very popular? I would actually like to hear what folks who like his stuff like about his stuff.
Don’t be ashamed Ron to pick Uncanny #500 (hell it’s not like you picked Ultimate Xmen), it was a good issue and hopefully it is the turn that will make this book great again.
I really liked the director bit and if I’m not mistaken I think that is supposed to be Akira Kurasawa which is a great nod to a great director.
I just found this on the Marvel site, and it is a total failure on Joe Q’s part to deal with the issue, IMO.
"Kevin asks:
Hey Joe,
I just want to start by saying how much I have enjoyed these Joe Fridays for the past few years. I’m a big fan!
Given the fact that Greg Land’s history of plagiarism is well-documented, why put him on such a high profile book as Uncanny X-Men? I know he sells well, but seeing the same faces and bodies copied over and over distracts me from the story. Plus, it sends a terrible message to aspiring artists! The cover to Uncanny 500 has already been dissected into little bits of plagiarized work, and his run hasn’t even begun yet. Marvel has some phenomenally talented artists who deserve a shot at Uncanny much more than someone who doesn’t produce entirely original work.
Please tell me something will be done about this!
JQ wrote:
JQ: See, here’s the problem Kevin: I personally feel that Greg is getting a raw deal from certain fans. First, a little history…
Ever since the dawn of time, artists have been taking inspiration from outside sources. And ever since the dawn of photography, using photos as reference. What makes it seem more prevalent today than ever is that the ‘net makes it easier for fans to find the same photo ref that our artists are using. I’m no different than Greg in this matter. I use photo ref quite often. Sometimes I take it myself, other times I dig it up. And I’m not alone here. What’s happened with Greg is that it’s become a witch hunt and way too many people are having way too good a time hurting a tremendous artist’s reputation when he isn’t doing anything that is any different than any of us. Every line he draws now comes under scrutiny and in so many cases, people are "seeing" things where are none. Here’s the thing, if you’ve ever met Greg you would see what a lovely guy he is and how much love he has for comics. He also happens to be a guy who works very hard to meet his deadlines, and from that point of view, he’s better than most of us, and the kind of artist so many fans wish we had more of. I could go on and on about how many times Greg has bailed us out from some very bad deadline crunches. Like John Romita Jr., he’s a real team player, and has come through in the clutch more times than I can remember. He’s a hard working guy, but there are some online fans that are giving him a raw deal.
Simply put, his books do sell very well because he draws beautifully. If you don’t like it or how he goes about it, that’s cool, I get it, so just don’t buy the books he draws. I don’t see why it can’t be as simple as that, rather than taking the time and energy to try to get a lynch mob together to hurt a really great guy. I don’t understand what value anyone can take from that?
Here, let me put it to you this way and forgive me for speaking frankly. I want you to close your eyes after reading this and imagine this possible scenario. Lets say you got what you wanted and through your efforts such a stir occurred through fandom and every publisher that Greg Land was no longer working in comics and couldn’t do what he loved to do; what he was meant to do to support his family. Would you feel better? Could you sleep at night? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then I guess there’s nothing more than I can say on the subject outside of keep doing what you’re doing. If the answer is no, and if you can imagine for a moment what it would be like to be on the other side of this, well, then I leave it up to you.
See ya in the funny books,
JQ"
No way is Land just ‘photo referencing like other artists’ and since when does his being a nice person, entitle him to be a comic artist. I bet if I was at SDCC right now and walked down the artist’s alley half the guys trying to make it into the business are nice guys-great guys-lovely guys–why aren’t they hired by Marvel? The reason land should not be working in comics is that he doesn’t create original artwork.
I’ll be the first to agree that I did not care for Land’s art in this issue but until I or someone else puts a camera in his studio and watches him trace a photograph all these plagarism arguments are just speculation.
@SteveM That is some pretty ridiculous logic — if that was really JQ’s business philosophy, he would give work to every nice person with a family to support regardless of whether they could draw. Also, he’s ignoring that he’s the editor and could say, "Greg, we’re not publishing any more of this traced crap. Go back to the style that you used to, you know, draw." But, also, obviously, he wouldn’t keep getting work if the books didn’t sell. And Q basically says that his style lets him work fast, and there’s obviously a premium on speed for books like uncanny that can’t afford not to come out every month. I’m not defending either the art or the reasoning, but Land’s obviously doing what Marvel wants him to do in a way they think is a fit for this title (ie, honestly, it’s a book that’s going to reach a certain size audience regardless of quality, and they’d rather have someone who can reliably do it fast than a critically acclaimed aesthetic that might not hit the deadlines).
There’s no reason to apologize – this was a fantastic comic. Sure, there were flaws (I agree with those who don’t think Scott would ever say "Suck it!"), and Land’s art was as terrirble and offensive as usual (beyond the porn tracing, I’m still not sure what’s going on with Scott’s 90s-style long shaggy hair, or why poor Hank looks like a squirrel who’s been through the spin cycle), but overall it was a breath of fresh air after the uninspired stuff Brubaker has been doing. I love that the X-Men are shaking up their status quo, I love that they’re taking the future into their own hands and setting up a mutant sanctuary that’s good for both mutants and the world as a whole, I love that Cyclops got to be a competent leader, and I love the way the cast was used. There were some odd character beats, but overall the X-Men sounded like I expect them to sound, and while I’m not sure exactly how the plot is going to pan out (and I’m honestly not sure Magneto’s distraction plan made any sense), this issue has me excited to find out.
Mostly, though, I love this issue for taking the time to slow down a little and show us the new status quo that’s being built. One of the major flaws with Ellis’ first issue of Astonishing X-Men, I found, was that I didn’t buy the giant shift the X-Men had made. They were all so happy, in the city and with their new base, and I hadn’t yet seen any evidence of how or why that happened. Here, we saw how welcoming the mayor was, we saw just what about their new base makes it so exciting, and we saw the genuine – if uninentionally creepy (dressing up as their dead teammates?) – ways that the city is embracing them with open arms. The scenes about the Sentinels and the art exhibit might have been a bit awkward and overdone, but the basic concept is a solid one. After this issue, I believe that the X-Men are happy in San Francisco, and that’s what they needed to prove to make the new status quo work. Now, they can progress with the plot, progress with the formula, and make it sparkle.
why did they change Pixie’s face on the cover?
Didn’t read this one as I avoid most X books, but I’m glad that every X-fan out there enjoyed it. It’s always nice to see our favorite franchises move in a new direction. I have two POWs: Daredevil and Iron Fist. Daredevil was excellent is what this title should have been six months ago. Iron Fist was so surprisingly good.
I much rather prefer the Land art to the Dodson stuff! I think this is a YOOGE improvement over Mike Choi.
@WilliamKScurryJr–
I respect everyone’s opinion and please don’t take this the wrong way, but are you out of your mind?
I like this pick. This issue had the combination of lightheartedness and drama that characterized Whedon’s Astonishing. I get the feeling that this is the new X-Book for the casual but long-standing X-Fan. Heck, there was even a fastball special!
I liked it too. Not a blowaway issue, but it was a good jumping on point (which I did). Land’s art doesn’t bother me at all. I can’t help but feel like there’s some self-loathing aspect to people bashing on his art. It’s not realistic, yeah. It doesn’t go stylistically very well with Dobson. But I think it’s fine. The action scenes were clear and fun. I didn’t really believe it was magneto, but I don’t know his deal anymore anyway. (Didn’t he die in New Avengers?) It’s a promising start.
I would be embarrassed to ever read comic with Greg Land’s name attached.
Should have picked Legacy Ron. A true X-Men fan would have. 😛
Man people hate this Greg Land guy.
artwise i grumbled through this issue until i got to a Terry Dodson page, like many others in the iFanbase, I hate Land’s work.
Between the awful art, the awful decision to use the awful new astonishing costumes, the not-awful-but-kinda-annoying dialogue, and the awful "suck it" (not to mention cyclops smiling ‘tardtastically on the panel following the offending line and once more later in the issue. i think around ‘epilogue 13’) i just didn’t enjoy this issue. another cyclops problem: why would they draw him with semi-long hair if he wears a skullcap? don’t they know how uncomfortable that’d be? and wolverine’s gloves are the worst thing ever.
My Question is why isn’t Greg Land drawing that Jenna Jameson book at Virgin? It would seem the perfect marriage. I do enjoy Terry Dodson’s art though. I would have enjoyed seeing a pairing with Billy Tan, Humberto Ramos or a nod to the past with John Romita Jr. I trust Brubaker. He addresses his comic writing in a thoughtful and creative manner with a healthy respect and admiration for comics as a creative outlet that stands equal to film, prose or any other medium that often comics are seen as a red headed sibling to. I just think so often to myself where would Marvel be without Bendis and Brubaker?
I was very let down by the X-Men book. The art totally crapped out and I felt like we got more Fraction than we did Brubaker in the writing, and not the good "Hawkeye issue" Fraction either. Plus that panel with them freaking out about the Sentinels was the worst thing I’ve seen this year.
In contrast, Daredevil with Rucka and Brubacker was so far and away the best book I got. Just immaculate art and really compelling storyline. Should have been picked.
@Cleophus — Why wouldn’t they freak out about Sentinels? One of those things killed 10 million+ mutants.
I’ve never thought about dropping Uncanny X-Men until I read this issue…
times like this, i wish they still did chrome covers
and i do miss the time when anniversary issues like this were set up to be the huge endings of storylines, or smack dab in the middle of crossovers. like uncanny #300, or the fatal attractions storyline.
@ohcaroline I think Cleophus is referring to the art in that panel rather than the motivation behind the freak out. I gotta say, it was the worst panel in the book are there no good pictures of people screaming in rage? Land should check out soccer matches for those faces.
@CAM Ah, yes, that makes more sense. I have to say, I don’t want to know where Greg Land found cat-faced Hank porn to trace. I really really don’t.
I have an idea. Instead of Greg Land tracing porn or even soccer faces, how ’bout he learns HOW TO FREAKING DRAW ONE HIMSELF!!!
@actual Land knows how to draw, because he used to do it. What he does now is cheap and fast and people will buy it and so he gets work.
In short, WHY DO YOU HATE GREG LAND’S FAMILY???
(tongue in cheek there, in case you can’t tell :))
@ohcaroline: that is awesome. Actually did LOL. Probably the best part of Quesada’s weak defense was equating not liking Land’s art/style/whatever and not wanting Marvel to use his stuff with having it out for his family. Yeah, no one is trying to beat his kids or saying they don’t deserve food/shelter or a good life, Quesada. We’re not saying he isn’t the nicest guy in the world. Some of us just don’t like his art, and we aren’t going to buy stuff with it in there.
My question to Quesada is, why do you hate the families of guys like David Peterson (Mouse Guard) who is an amazing artist, and yet you don’t hire him? What did his wife and kids ever do to you, Quesada?
@scseelig Am I the only one who’s always thought that the Jenna Jameson book being published by VIRGIN was always funny?
Ron admit it….
You picked this issue for the boobies didnt you? Come on, dont be shy, you can come clean on us. lol
"What a beautiful view we have!"
…ya.
I was expecting something a little more epic out of an anniversary issue. I don’t disagree with the pick, as there was nothing else this week that blew this issue out of the water.
@Ruo21
I forgot to mention it, but that panel ("what a beautiful view we have") seemed really weird to me, shouldn’t we have gotten an image of the actual view? Seems like an opportunity to trace the Golden Gate Bridge to me, what fun!
I think I’ll go do that now!! and staple it under that panel!!! then submit my new improved Uncanny #500 to CGC!!!! No matter the grading it’ll be the only one of it’s kind.
Land must use the same face for all of his background female characters if he is using a reference. Look at the first two pages of chapter two, where, two nights later, we’ve just joined the party. Every female smile on both pages is identical, except for Emma’s
wow–biggest piece of shit i’ve read since spider-man #1 by mcfarlane
Land should be arrested for garbage art. Ron should be arrested for picking this. AMbush Bug, GL Corps, JLA, hell even XMEN legacy was better than this. THank God I can eliminate one more title from my pull list.
I can understand and appreciate the writer’s concern with the ecology, but having the characters "make the building Green" and Emma complaing that someone threw a Prius was a bit much and complete pandering horseshit.
@k5blazer It’s pandering to show how the X-Men are trying to live with the community in which they’re located instead of against it? They’re trying to make the city a better place for everyone in it, working in harmony with the people and government of San Francisco instead of hiding in a mansion on a hill and assuming everyone hates them. I agree that the hybrid line could have been better-phrased (and probably shouldn’t have come out of Emma’s mouth), but the intention was a good one for the status quo the writers are trying to set up. It’s only "pandering" if someone is promoting a cause at the expense of story; in this case, it only enhances the foundation of the story.
Im just glad the pick isnt Local # whatever, or some indy relationship book I have never read before. 🙂
Ya know what? I’ll take Greg freakin’ Land over Simone freakin’ Bianchi every goddamned day of the goddamned week.
Other’n that, I totally agree with Ron on this one. The X-Men have needed a new, fresh start and I think this is the beginning of something good.
Geez, I’m not getting all this Greg Land hatred. It’s almost like it’s the "cool thing to do". It’s almost taken on a life of its own. Really people, it’s not that bad.
Pretty good issue, but I didn’t find it to be any better than Astonishing 25, which the ifanboys panned. Astonishing 25 is more accessible to new readers and the dialogue is much better.
I’ve re-read it 4 times and I feel like I flushed $3.99 down the toilet. This was my first Uncanny isuue in at least 14 years and this will be my last X-book for some time. Seriously this book made me angry.
I didn’t pan Astonishing #25. I didn’t read it.
Different.
@ultimatehoratio — I think Ron liked both, Conor liked neither, and Josh didn’t read either one. Pretty consistent, actually :).
Though for what it’s worth, I like Astonishing better so far, too.
@josh
You questioned it’s right to exist, which is kind of a pan. You seemed to endorse Conor’s critique of it, which is of course fine, but the overall tone of the review was negative. You gave anti-Astonishing vibes, if anything.
@ohcaroline
I got the impression that Ron didn’t care so much for it, but maybe Conor’s dislike was so overwhelming that it just seemed that way. Maybe if 500 had come out before AXM 25 he would have enjoyed it more.
This land argument irritates the hell out of me. I dont understand it at all. There are a ton of worse artists than him. If he traces then whatever, there is no way that I could possibly trace something and make it look that nice and clean. I could tell what was happening in every one of his panels.
I really enjoyed this book. definately excited to see where uncanny is headed
The guy is a tracer… no doubt. But it isn’t an ethical issue for me so much as an issue of execution. I get the use of photo references by comic artists. I don’t mind that Nick Fury looks like Sam Jackson and that Wanted read like a storyboard for an Eminem/Hallie Berry movie. My problem is when a character looks like two entirely different movie stars in adjoining pannels. At least find 20 pictures of the same actress to trace. Just my two cents.
This whole tracing "issue"… I feel like it’s Kindergarten stuff. "He didn’t draw that, he traced it!" Honestly, do you think Joe Quesada couldn’t or wouldn’t call bullshit on an artist that had no talent? Now, there’s a question of style and taste, and some people’s work may not appeal to everyone. Personally I do think that Land has a certain stiffness to his figures that he needs to shake and there can be an overall sense of flatness to his work sometimes. But I actually like where he’s going with this issue and I’m hoping to see it get better. Something that I can’t shake is how many people are smiling in this book, and I gotta say it feels contagious. Sure some of them were just extras, but when was the last time you saw anyone smiling in an X-Men book?
Let me tell you a little story about a young comic-book artist that had a promising early start in comics and then was put on Uncanny X-Men and was subsequently thrashed as being a no-talent hack that didn’t know how to draw figures or faces. The artist? J. R. Jr. So, perspective, y’know?