Erwin Rafael
Mar 3, 2002, 10:32 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/uxmen401.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/uxmen401t.jpg" align=left alt="Uncanny X-Men #401"></a> Reviewer: Erwin Rafael, 3rdsummers@edsamail.com.ph
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Golden
Banshee returns in 'Nuff Said fashion as the saga of the X-Corps begins!
Written by: Joe Casey
Pencilled by: Ron Garney
Inked by: Mark Morales
Lettered by: Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Saida Temofonte
Colored by: Hi-Fi Design
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I highly anticipated this issue for three reasons. First, this is the start of a new story arc introducing an intriguing concept, the X-Corps, a team bent on "policing" the ranks of mutantkind. Second, this is a 'Nuff Said issue; one of the line-wide silent issues which I have supported since its announcement back in January 2001. Third, this is the debut issue of new penciler, Ron Garney, whose work in Captain America I have admired.
Sadly, this issue ended up as a case of unrealized potential. Bringing back the wailing Banshee in a silent issue is full of irony, something which writer Joe Casey was not able to capitalize. What we have here, instead, is a story which does not fit the silent issue concept. It is a failure of writing technique, a disappointing case since the plot itself is a good one.
The issue in a flash: Banshee has been burdened recently by a series of tragic events, including the death of his love, Moira MacTaggart. Seemingly "snapping" due to his problems, Banshee forms a paramilitary organization named the X-Corps. With an army of Multiple Men, the X-Corps first break out of prison Lady Mastermind, the daughter of classic X-Men villain Mastermind. Meanwhile, Stacy goes AWOL from the X-Men to pursue her former "career". Wolverine is able to track her down and, despite a brief tussle, is able to bring her back to the fold. The issue ends with another glimpse of the X-Corps, which has already grown into a massive operation with new recruits such as Avalanche and former Alpha Flight member Radius, as well as another potential candidate in the Blob.
For his past issues of Uncanny X-Men, Joe Casey distinguished himself from other X-Men writers in that he did not focus much on innovating plots, but rather on innovating the writing style instead. Specifically, Casey focused on themes, as he varied his writing style to fit the theme of a particular story. His "Poptopia", for example, has pop culture as a recurring theme, and thus he played with recycled plots. For issue #400, Casey dwelled on fake origins to fit in the theme of religious fanaticism. So after establishing this "thematic" writing approach for the past issues, I was really surprised that in an issue where there is already a company-imposed theme of silence, Casey instead chose to focus on plot over technique.
What was wrong with Casey's writing in this silent issue? For one, he used too many characters. I think multi-character stories can still work in a silent issue if these characters are the popular and physically distinguishable ones. But Lady Mastermind? Radius? These characters are not exactly icons of X-lore. What made matters worse is that these characters were introduced this issue with a new set of duds. Since comic book art is subject to the artist's interpretation, the identification of not-so-popular characters with no distinguishing physical marks really rests a lot on their costumes. Introducing second and third-tier generic-looking characters with a new set of looks is almost impossible in a silent issue.
Secondly, Casey put in scenes that require dialogue and explanation. How could you possibly convey through facial expressions alone that Lady Mastermind was challenging Magneto's leadership of the Brotherhood? How can you tell that the virtual reality scene is an expression of Lady Mastermind's hidden desire? Why is Lady Mastermind kissing the Toad? Writer Peter David once posted online that the challenge in a project like 'Nuff Said is not to tell just any story without using any words, but rather to tell a story that actually works better without words. Sadly, this issue is a case of the former, since the story felt like just any other story you could get in any other month, sans the dialogue and the narration.
The major problem, I think, is that Casey told a story too complex for a silent issue. If you would read through the more successful 'Nuff Said issues (New X-Men, Incredible Hulk, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, to name a few), the stories were pretty simple and straightforward. New X-Men may have a complex concept, but the structure of the plot itself is simple. In this issue of Uncanny, we have several scene transitions from one subplot to another. The inclusion of a virtual reality scene in an already multi-layered plot added to the confusion. Furthermore, Casey tried to tell events with seemingly long time gaps in between. Again, if you look at the successful 'Nuff Said issues, the stories covered pretty much a set of continuous events that happened in succession with one another.
The art team also had a hand in the failure of this silent issue. To his credit, Garney's storytelling was almost perfect in the more straightforward scenes, like the opening scene of Banshee in Muir Island. However, the storytelling failed in the more complex sequences. Specifically lacking is Garney's range of facial and body expressions. For example, the scene where the Blob was telling jokes to Avalanche failed because there was no trace of any humor whatsoever in the Blob's face. Other examples would be scenes where Casey called on Garney to show a pitiful look on Lady Mastermind's face, or a lustful look between Toad and Lady Mastermind. Again, Garney was not able to convey those expressions. Maybe it's because of his rather simplistic linework which limited his range of expressions. But then again, look at the silent issue works of John Romita, Jr. in the Incredible Hulk and Kieron Dwyer in the Avengers. These artists were very "economical" in their use of lines, but their vocabulary of facial expressions was still comprehensive.
Garney also had trouble in drawing distinguishable faces. His work on the more recognizable characters was good. However, his Jamie Madrox does not look like Jamie Madrox. Like some message board poster commented, his Multiple Men looked like goons wearing masks. Maybe it's because of his penchant for drawing white eyes with no eyeballs, something which was prevalent even in his previous works. And then there's the matter of Radius looking exactly like Banshee.
I think Hi-Fi Design could have helped a lot in telling the story if they have been more imaginative. For example, assigning specific color themes for particular scenes would have helped a lot in the scene transitions. I was thinking specifically of the virtual reality scene. Maybe if they changed the colors, like making it monochromatic or applying a digitized effect, it would have been less confusing.
Seeing how many things went wrong in this issue, I was left wondering whether Casey and company just didn't know how to tell a silent story, or whether they were trying to be ambitious and break the preconceived notions of what works and what doesn't for silent stories. And I read the script over and over again, and I replayed Garney's panels in my mind repeatedly. And I don't know if you would agree with me, but I realized something
This story CAN be told in silence. It is actually a good silent story, but NOT, in my opinion, a good silent comic book story. Read the script, browse through the panels and imagine that this story was told as an animated feature. I think the story would actually work for film. Unfortunately, what works in a film does not necessarily work in a comic book. There were panels where the effect Casey wanted can be achieved through motion, like a spear being pulled away in a creeping manner by a magnetic force. In addition, it would seem that it was not taken into account that comic books work in a series of still-motion panels, as opposed to a continuous reel of film. What happened in the "gutters" or the gaps between panels should be clear and should not be of equal importance to what happened in the panels themselves, specially in a silent comic book which does not have the benefit of a narration or dialogue to clear things up.
I focused my critique on technical matters since 'Nuff Said was supposed to be a showcase of technique more than anything else. I do have to say that the plot itself is a good one. Banshee's formation of the X-Corps is intriguing and there's some nice character development for Stacy. Casey also dropped some fascinating tidbits, like the escape from prison of a certain Raven Darkholme, and the image of the Blob being carried around by helicopters made me chuckle. I am looking forward to the follow up on these plot elements in future issues.
There's still a debate on whether the failure of some of the 'Nuff Said issues rests on the hands of the creative team, for not being able to tell a good silent story, or on the hands of Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas, for imposing a "restriction" on the creative team. My stock answer to this is to look to the works of the more successful silent issues and not on the failed ones. Ask yourselves why these writers were able to tell a good silent story while others were not. It would also be important to remember that 'Nuff Said was announced a year before the event took place. Why were the more successful writers able to prepare for this event while others weren't? Heck, Bruce Jones' 'Nuff Said issue for the Incredible Hulk is his second issue since coming onboard and he made it work.
Now, the most valid argument against 'Nuff Said that I could accept is that imposing a company-wide theme intrudes in the writer's ongoing storylines. But take this issue of Uncanny X-Men. This is definitely not an intrusion of a continuing storyline because it is actually the start of a new one. Why didn't Casey instead write a single-issue story appropriate for the theme and just postponed the debut of the X-Corps to issue # 402? Take Paul Jenkins' approach in Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Jenkins did not attempt to debut the return of Dr. Octopus in the silent issue and moved the kickoff to January. Jenkins delivered instead one of the best standalone 'Nuff Said issues we have seen. Truly, if the creative teams of other books could make 'Nuff Said work, why couldn't the Uncanny X-Men creative team do it?
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Golden
Banshee returns in 'Nuff Said fashion as the saga of the X-Corps begins!
Written by: Joe Casey
Pencilled by: Ron Garney
Inked by: Mark Morales
Lettered by: Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Saida Temofonte
Colored by: Hi-Fi Design
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I highly anticipated this issue for three reasons. First, this is the start of a new story arc introducing an intriguing concept, the X-Corps, a team bent on "policing" the ranks of mutantkind. Second, this is a 'Nuff Said issue; one of the line-wide silent issues which I have supported since its announcement back in January 2001. Third, this is the debut issue of new penciler, Ron Garney, whose work in Captain America I have admired.
Sadly, this issue ended up as a case of unrealized potential. Bringing back the wailing Banshee in a silent issue is full of irony, something which writer Joe Casey was not able to capitalize. What we have here, instead, is a story which does not fit the silent issue concept. It is a failure of writing technique, a disappointing case since the plot itself is a good one.
The issue in a flash: Banshee has been burdened recently by a series of tragic events, including the death of his love, Moira MacTaggart. Seemingly "snapping" due to his problems, Banshee forms a paramilitary organization named the X-Corps. With an army of Multiple Men, the X-Corps first break out of prison Lady Mastermind, the daughter of classic X-Men villain Mastermind. Meanwhile, Stacy goes AWOL from the X-Men to pursue her former "career". Wolverine is able to track her down and, despite a brief tussle, is able to bring her back to the fold. The issue ends with another glimpse of the X-Corps, which has already grown into a massive operation with new recruits such as Avalanche and former Alpha Flight member Radius, as well as another potential candidate in the Blob.
For his past issues of Uncanny X-Men, Joe Casey distinguished himself from other X-Men writers in that he did not focus much on innovating plots, but rather on innovating the writing style instead. Specifically, Casey focused on themes, as he varied his writing style to fit the theme of a particular story. His "Poptopia", for example, has pop culture as a recurring theme, and thus he played with recycled plots. For issue #400, Casey dwelled on fake origins to fit in the theme of religious fanaticism. So after establishing this "thematic" writing approach for the past issues, I was really surprised that in an issue where there is already a company-imposed theme of silence, Casey instead chose to focus on plot over technique.
What was wrong with Casey's writing in this silent issue? For one, he used too many characters. I think multi-character stories can still work in a silent issue if these characters are the popular and physically distinguishable ones. But Lady Mastermind? Radius? These characters are not exactly icons of X-lore. What made matters worse is that these characters were introduced this issue with a new set of duds. Since comic book art is subject to the artist's interpretation, the identification of not-so-popular characters with no distinguishing physical marks really rests a lot on their costumes. Introducing second and third-tier generic-looking characters with a new set of looks is almost impossible in a silent issue.
Secondly, Casey put in scenes that require dialogue and explanation. How could you possibly convey through facial expressions alone that Lady Mastermind was challenging Magneto's leadership of the Brotherhood? How can you tell that the virtual reality scene is an expression of Lady Mastermind's hidden desire? Why is Lady Mastermind kissing the Toad? Writer Peter David once posted online that the challenge in a project like 'Nuff Said is not to tell just any story without using any words, but rather to tell a story that actually works better without words. Sadly, this issue is a case of the former, since the story felt like just any other story you could get in any other month, sans the dialogue and the narration.
The major problem, I think, is that Casey told a story too complex for a silent issue. If you would read through the more successful 'Nuff Said issues (New X-Men, Incredible Hulk, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, to name a few), the stories were pretty simple and straightforward. New X-Men may have a complex concept, but the structure of the plot itself is simple. In this issue of Uncanny, we have several scene transitions from one subplot to another. The inclusion of a virtual reality scene in an already multi-layered plot added to the confusion. Furthermore, Casey tried to tell events with seemingly long time gaps in between. Again, if you look at the successful 'Nuff Said issues, the stories covered pretty much a set of continuous events that happened in succession with one another.
The art team also had a hand in the failure of this silent issue. To his credit, Garney's storytelling was almost perfect in the more straightforward scenes, like the opening scene of Banshee in Muir Island. However, the storytelling failed in the more complex sequences. Specifically lacking is Garney's range of facial and body expressions. For example, the scene where the Blob was telling jokes to Avalanche failed because there was no trace of any humor whatsoever in the Blob's face. Other examples would be scenes where Casey called on Garney to show a pitiful look on Lady Mastermind's face, or a lustful look between Toad and Lady Mastermind. Again, Garney was not able to convey those expressions. Maybe it's because of his rather simplistic linework which limited his range of expressions. But then again, look at the silent issue works of John Romita, Jr. in the Incredible Hulk and Kieron Dwyer in the Avengers. These artists were very "economical" in their use of lines, but their vocabulary of facial expressions was still comprehensive.
Garney also had trouble in drawing distinguishable faces. His work on the more recognizable characters was good. However, his Jamie Madrox does not look like Jamie Madrox. Like some message board poster commented, his Multiple Men looked like goons wearing masks. Maybe it's because of his penchant for drawing white eyes with no eyeballs, something which was prevalent even in his previous works. And then there's the matter of Radius looking exactly like Banshee.
I think Hi-Fi Design could have helped a lot in telling the story if they have been more imaginative. For example, assigning specific color themes for particular scenes would have helped a lot in the scene transitions. I was thinking specifically of the virtual reality scene. Maybe if they changed the colors, like making it monochromatic or applying a digitized effect, it would have been less confusing.
Seeing how many things went wrong in this issue, I was left wondering whether Casey and company just didn't know how to tell a silent story, or whether they were trying to be ambitious and break the preconceived notions of what works and what doesn't for silent stories. And I read the script over and over again, and I replayed Garney's panels in my mind repeatedly. And I don't know if you would agree with me, but I realized something
This story CAN be told in silence. It is actually a good silent story, but NOT, in my opinion, a good silent comic book story. Read the script, browse through the panels and imagine that this story was told as an animated feature. I think the story would actually work for film. Unfortunately, what works in a film does not necessarily work in a comic book. There were panels where the effect Casey wanted can be achieved through motion, like a spear being pulled away in a creeping manner by a magnetic force. In addition, it would seem that it was not taken into account that comic books work in a series of still-motion panels, as opposed to a continuous reel of film. What happened in the "gutters" or the gaps between panels should be clear and should not be of equal importance to what happened in the panels themselves, specially in a silent comic book which does not have the benefit of a narration or dialogue to clear things up.
I focused my critique on technical matters since 'Nuff Said was supposed to be a showcase of technique more than anything else. I do have to say that the plot itself is a good one. Banshee's formation of the X-Corps is intriguing and there's some nice character development for Stacy. Casey also dropped some fascinating tidbits, like the escape from prison of a certain Raven Darkholme, and the image of the Blob being carried around by helicopters made me chuckle. I am looking forward to the follow up on these plot elements in future issues.
There's still a debate on whether the failure of some of the 'Nuff Said issues rests on the hands of the creative team, for not being able to tell a good silent story, or on the hands of Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas, for imposing a "restriction" on the creative team. My stock answer to this is to look to the works of the more successful silent issues and not on the failed ones. Ask yourselves why these writers were able to tell a good silent story while others were not. It would also be important to remember that 'Nuff Said was announced a year before the event took place. Why were the more successful writers able to prepare for this event while others weren't? Heck, Bruce Jones' 'Nuff Said issue for the Incredible Hulk is his second issue since coming onboard and he made it work.
Now, the most valid argument against 'Nuff Said that I could accept is that imposing a company-wide theme intrudes in the writer's ongoing storylines. But take this issue of Uncanny X-Men. This is definitely not an intrusion of a continuing storyline because it is actually the start of a new one. Why didn't Casey instead write a single-issue story appropriate for the theme and just postponed the debut of the X-Corps to issue # 402? Take Paul Jenkins' approach in Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Jenkins did not attempt to debut the return of Dr. Octopus in the silent issue and moved the kickoff to January. Jenkins delivered instead one of the best standalone 'Nuff Said issues we have seen. Truly, if the creative teams of other books could make 'Nuff Said work, why couldn't the Uncanny X-Men creative team do it?
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!