New X-Men #121
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Published by Marvel Comics
Irregular penciler Frank Quitely has popped into New X-Men this month, and motivated primarily by nostalgia for The Authority (which Quitely used to draw, fairly regularly, even), I picked it up. I dropped this title, the last Marvel book on my pull list, after one issue by "regular fill-in artist" Ethan Van Sciver. Not that I have anything at all against Van Sciver's work, it's just that I began buying the title again onlyonlyonly because of the Morrison/Quitely creative team. If Morrison and Quitely, who did the really top-notch JLA: Earth 2 (about as good as superheroes got at the end of the last century), were not going to be in every issue, I was not going to succumb to fanboygeek-completism and buy every issue.
I was not aboard for the characters, the writing, or the artwork. I was aboard for the combination of the writing and artwork, along with a bit of nostalgia for the characters owing wholly to Bryan Singer's above-average X-Men film. I have no interest at all in lining Marvel's coffers in the "off-months," which we now know are the rule, not the exception. If Frank Quitely can pump out another three issues this year, I will be surprised (and pleased), and I will buy them. More than likely. Like this month, I will hate myself for it, but I will probably buy them.
Now, some have pointed out, the pseudoanonymously named Quitely has never really been adept at keeping a monthly schedule, and it may be unfair and even cruel to continue harping on the mattter of lateness and fill-in artists and fill-in fill-in artists, oh my. And perhaps they're right. Certainly Vince owes us nothing. He could, in fact, have told me to fuck off (or sod off, more likely) during a Marvel conference announcing his and Morrison's ascension to the X-Titles, when I asked him if he had any message for the thousands of fans disappointed by his sudden and at least slightly bizarre and possibly unethical (in my opinion) departure from The Authority. Instead, he apologized for letting people down, while alluding to still-unexplained factors that played a role in his actions. Not that he owes anyone an explanation. I guess. We now can see that his leaving the book at such a crucial time crippled it mightily, and probably is at least 50 percent to blame for its current state of being completely and utterly fucked, not that I am bitter about it. In retrospect, one wonders if Quitely's bolting DC/Wildstorm's biggest book at the height of its popularity might not have been due in large part to his inability to keep a schedule. One wonders why publishers continue to put up with it. There's no way it takes four months for Quitely to draw a 22-page issue. He's good, but he's not that good. If it does take him that long, he should never be considered the regular penciler on any monthly title. Personally, I would have preferred to only get four issues of
"What would you have Marvel do?" cry the masses, as they assembled around Castle Doane at dawn, torches blazing and pitchforks raised high. "Well," Doane shouted from the parapets, "I would have assigned an artist who is Quitely's equal and alternated story-arcs!" Tom Raney, say, or Bryan Hitch. You might say I am misty-eyed for the glory days of Stormwatch and The Authority, and you'd be right, but it would make more sense than Van Sciver and Kordey, and don't forget, both Hitch and Raney work for Marvel. It's not like it's an impossible task to get them onto New X-Men. We could debate the need for (and likely quality of) The Ultimates, but who among you would argue with my contention Tom Raney would be better served drawing Grant Morrison scripts than Dan Jurgens ones? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Clearly, my disappointment and annoyance at these events (The Authority being destroyed by DC, Quitely's inability to keep a schedule, Marvel's enabling of Quitely's unprofessionalism) colours my feelings about this book. Yes, legally Quitely was entitled (apparently) to leave The Authority without any notice. Legally, he can draw four issues a year, or no issues a year. He has every moral, legal and ethical right to do so. And as someone who remembers reading the Thor work of Walt Simonson, the Fantastic Four run of John Byrne, and the Frank Miller era of Daredevil, I can tell you, it is not only possible to do quality superhero runs for years on end, at one time it was even fairly common.
So, one wonders what has changed. Some have posited that today's more sophisticated storytelling techniques require more time and effort on the part of the artists. My response to that is, "Uh-huh." In the early 80s, Miller, Simonson and Byrne had no access to the e-mail and computer art advances that have sped things up for today's creators and publishers on many levels. And sorry, but Quitely's storytelling is no more sophisticated (or impressive) than Miller's or Simonson's, and only fractionally better than Byrne's when he was at his peak on Fantastic Four. And as much as it may pain some to read these words, with the available evidence, it sure as hell looks to me like Frank Quitely is just a talented penciler whose unprofessional approach to his work seriously damages my ability to lose myself in his storytelling and appreciate it to the extent that I once did. And it is completely legal, moral and ethical for me to explain this prejudice to you. In fact, not to do so might itself be some sort of ethical violation, among the vast hordes that ponder the ethical implications of online comics articles.
Because certainly, my disappointment in Vince's output and the lack of convincing explanations for same, colour my feelings as I crack open this issue of New X-Men. It could very well be the best X-Men comic book ever created, and knowing the issues I have surrounding its creation, I would still look at it and wonder how much more highly regarded this run would be, if only it actually had a regular creative team committed to telling entertaining stories. If only I was able to commit to the book each month, or each whatever, knowing that I was getting a consistent tale by a stable team. Ah, if only...
But no worries, this is not the best X-Men comic book ever created.
For one thing, this is a "Nuff Said" issue: Marvel's month-long experiment in wordless storytelling. It speaks volumes that the month in question was December, and this is January, and (ah-HA!) this actually is the first Nuff Said issue I have read.
Jean and Emma psychically travel into the mind of Cassandra Nova to find out what happened between her and Professor Xavier so long ago. On any number of levels, I could not care less about this story, because since I am stubbornly only buying the Quitely-drawn issues, I have missed a great deal (well, not missed, exactly, but not read) the past few issues. I have little idea what is going on, and the nearly complete lack of words does little to fill me in on recent events.
It's been noted in some corners that Morrison cheats at the end: There's a full word balloon on the last page, and it's been stated quite plainly that Morrison had to have Jean utter that sentence because it's a vital piece of plot information.
The howler is that the information (that Cassie and Charlie were in conflict in the womb and Charlie tried to kill her...in the womb...no, I am not making this up) is quite explicit in the artwork. So, while I am completely disinterested in the big revelation here, I am mildly amused to point out that Morrison is apparently the one smoking crack this issue. Because he violates the Nuff Said rule to state plainly something that was completely obvious in silence. Odd, that.
Quitely's work is fairly unsatisfying here, but he may not be entirely to blame. Even I could draw you an issue full of big-headed babies and sperm swimming around, so it's safe to say that Morrison's script did not really give Quitely a chance to shine, and now of course, he's gone once again for who knows how long. Why am I supposed to care, again?
Speaking of Morrison's script, good ol' Marvel gives you the first 13 pages of same in the back of the book. If they had printed the entire thing, of course, they might have delivered a complete and satisfying reading experience to at least some readers, but the "Continued on the Marvel web site" nature of the sudden amputation of the last half of the script just serves as one more smirky, obnoxious reminder of why I hate the way Marvel always takes an opportunity to get me back as a reader and fucks it up in epic proportion. Almost nothing is done right in this issue, and I hate myself for buying it. All in all, a typical experience reading a Marvel comic.