It’s been two months now that I’ve been back into comics hardcore.  Every Wednesday.  And for the first time in those two months I find myself contemplating dropping a title.  Don’t get me wrong; Warren Ellis is one of my favorite writers.  It’s just…well…it’s the art mostly.

I think Simone Bianchi did the cover as well and that is gorgeous.  As I said elsewhere, the cover has been on my desktop for weeks now.  I just changed it to Mighty Avengers #16 because this book left a bad taste in my mouth.  Let me start out with the writing, then I’ll get more in depth with my art gripe.

Like I said, Warren Ellis is one of my favorite writers, mostly his original stuff.  I’ve found that when he does the whole superhero thing, the writing can be a little on the nose.  The first time characters “meet,” the dialogue is kind of corny and a little forced as he’s trying to remind you of relationships.  Hisako, the student; McCoy, the teacher; Logan, the rogue; Emma and Scott, lovers; and Ororo, the traditionalist.  But after the first encounters, when the dialogue is plot-based instead of relationship-based, it’s top notch.  And the story is very intriguing.  I believe this first arc is going to be a good one (it should be, he’s had forever to think about it).

My interest piqued, there is still this feeling that maybe it’s not worth it.  I just cringe at the art.  I can totally appreciate it aesthetically.  I said the cover was gorgeous.  And a lot of the times, the panels by themselves can be a bit breathtaking.  But the fact of the matter is that the art doesn’t work to tell the story.  I can appreciate what Simone is trying to do with the white space, but it shouldn’t just be there to be there.  It should create some effect.  Some pages have great layouts that buck convention and look amazing.  But most of them just buck convention and fall flat.  There is a page where Storm is talking to the group and Cyclops is in the foreground of the first panel.  The panel cuts off a little below his waist, but he is drawn below the panel, into the white space, but given a weird silhouette.  He looks like freaking Casper!  At times, Scott looks like Elvis, Beast looks like he’s trying to be John Lennon, and Logan looks like a porcupine.

But I think my complaint in microcosm comes from the last couple pages.  There is a conversation in the X-Plane and Bianchi draws the mouths wide open on Cyclops like he was getting shot or something.  It could mean he was yelling, but the lettering nor the context of the situation dictated as such.  Bianchi is just trying to buck convention, and it is a detriment to the title.

On an up note, I would like to commend Joe Caramagna.  The lettering on the book was very simple, but made the bad layouts read competently and the good layouts read really well.