InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "ZEO RANGER ONE: RED!"

Doop (xdoop) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-09-05 16:00:00

Entry tags:

char: cyclops/scott summers, char: dust/sooraya qadir, char: marvel girl/phoenix/jean grey, char: white queen/emma frost, creator: frank quitely, creator: grant morrison, group: x-men, publisher: marvel comics, title: new x-men

Grant Morrison on the Scott/Emma affair.

Back in S_D 1.0, I posted the storyline of Scott and Emma's affair from Grant Morrison's New X-Men run. I remember that there was some debate over whether or not Scott was actually cheating on Jean, since the hot sweaty sex he was having with Emma was only telepathic.

Well, here to settle the debate once and for all is Grant Morrison himself.

This is one of the questions from Grant Morrison's interview in the Comics Creators on X-Men book, which I highly recommend if you're an X-Men fan.

In your mind, did Scott and Emma commit adultery?

The way I saw it was that Jean and Scott had become remote. For me, the great emotional moment for Scott and Jean was when they ran out to die together on the moon during the Phoenix Saga. After Jean died, Scott ended up with a lot of other women. Scott was very attractive to women even though he didn't know it and I wanted to play around with that. Since he was becoming emotionally remote from Jean, because she was becoming more and more godlike, it just seemed he would naturally fall into the arms of someone more emotionally connected, which Emma actually was. Yes, it was a kind of adultery, but at the same time Jean wasn't being his wife anymore. I just felt that the spark between them had died out and it was time to give Scott someone else.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

jlroberson
2009-09-05 11:18 pm UTC (link)

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean. It's just that so often I see mainstream people knock Quitely, and often it just seems it's because his art is idiosyncratic and different, and relies on caricature more than others. Myself, I get sick of seeing either manga-derived styles or photorealistic, and I think we could use more Quitelys and less Lands. That's where I'm coming from. If it all has to be "realistic," why not, as Land and others do, just Photoshop photographs? Comics should be more fluid and varied.

And one thing I did NOT like about Morrison's run is that Quitely did not show up enough, and we had Igor Kordey's godawful dreck, or...damn, can't remember his name right now, but the guy who's a lot better now that he's doing Green Lantern and related. Quitely was half the reason I picked it up. Only Phil Jiminez was an acceptable, solid substitute, if quite different.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

cleome45
2009-09-05 11:33 pm UTC (link)

Okay. I'm sorry too if I overreacted. Just to be clear: if I grumble that I think a work is "fail," I'm not saying that its fans are terrible people with no taste. I know a number of Morrison fans IRL. About this particular arc, though, I don't know their opinions.

Thing is: there's a big difference between even somewhat realistic art and PHOTO realism. I don't agree that Photoshopping a picture into an illustration is the same as drawing in a somewhat realistic style. I had a drawing teacher who I admired greatly once explain that "a photo is contracted space, but an illustration is expanded space." I think that a lot of people respond to this unconsciously when they literally see a traced, doctored photo as an illustration. It doesn't *feel* right to the eye even if the viewer doesn't know exactly why.

My trouble with Quitely is that I find his forms and faces stiff and uninteresting. But I could say the same about any number of more "realistic" artists, as well.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jlroberson 2009-09-05 11:35 pm UTC (link)
	Jiminez would be an example of realism. Ross would be an example of photorealism. And Quitely would be an example of cartooning. And cartooning is what comics needs more of. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

cleome45
2009-09-05 11:44 pm UTC (link)

I would think that if there were a scale of photorealism vs. cartooning, I would put Quitely about where I'd put somebody like this. SFW, just in case. One of my favorite webcomics.

The difference is that I find Meconis' style to be fully expressive of the emotions in the script. Quitely, not so much. On second glance, though, I do think his composition is pretty good. I might like him better on an entirely different type of story. Or if he were composing and breaking down while somebody else finished the actual illustrations.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

jlroberson
2009-09-06 12:49 am UTC (link)

Well, I would say that, except perhaps "Riot At Xavier's"(on which he does kick ass, probably because he's mainly focusing on characters he designed) it could easily be argued his X-Men work is the least of his work. But I can't feel too sad about that. I don't think his heart was as in it as, say, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN or FLEX MENTALLO, or any number of other really good work he's done.

But really, it's X-Men. How far could he really go with it? Morrison tried to go pretty far and then it was all erased.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

kingrockwell
2009-09-06 02:46 am UTC (link)

that does look nice

New X-Men was actually my first exposure to Morrison and Quitely, and it didn't leave a favorable impression of either. I didn't bother with anything the two of them did until my brother, who felt about the same way about NXM, told me Flex Mentallo was surprisingly good, and it was. I've dug on Quitely ever since, so I'd heartily recommend it.

Morrison grew on me more after reading his run on Animal Man, especially. There is one line from it I've always loved that I think you might like, from peeves you've mentioned on ns_d, "Pointless death and violence are 'realistic'. Comic books are 'realistic' now." It goes through some really sad turns, but it all comes out right in the end.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

cleome45
2009-09-06 07:54 pm UTC (link)

Yes! I know so many fans who waxed rhapsodic about Morrison, in particular because of *Animal Man*. Then I see stuff like this and just go "Buh?"

I get the feeling that in general, "hot" writers and artists get first pick of properties that aren't necessarily the right fit for them. Much as in-demand actors often get cast for parts that don't necessarily suit them all that well. It's a solid move from a marketing standpoint I guess, but...

Thanks for the recommendations. :)

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kingrockwell 2009-09-06 09:54 pm UTC (link)
	Kind of like Keanu Reeves in, well, anything? Okay okay, I'll give him Bill & Ted, but I'm still really mad about Constantine. (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -