2 for one! Alright! This one make me sad because I really like the New Avengers stuff. It's been the more interesting and consistent of the bunch. But last issue, as with this one, the god awful Billy Tan was in charge of the art. The dude has some issues that make reading the book a chore. Which is a damn shame because cool stuff happens in this issue. So I guess the story is still fun and interesting. The one panel of Ares sorta hangin' back after Osborn goes off on why the Mighty Avengers should go do yada yada has given me some hope for this rad character that is being poorly written. Plus The Wrecker showed up again! And I really liked the bit where 7 or so artists tackled a character and their thoughts on a page during the big battle. Cool stuff. But all this can't negate the terrrrrrrrrible art. Onto the fail!
Proportion fail everywhere! The panel above is fucking amazing. Power Man is either normal sized of 70 ft tall. If he's normal sized, then Cap has shrunk to about 3 foot tall and is standing on an unseen table or hovering in place. If Power Man has suddenly grown a few feet taller, then so has Cap's apartment. Because the bricks in the wall behind everyone are about 3 feet wide if Cap is supposed to be a human. Mega bricks! Mega fail! We won't even go into how tall Wolverine possibly is in this panel. Not to mention the size DDD knockers Mockingbird happens to be sporting just for this very special panel. Which brings me to the next fail line item. Tits and ass.
The above wonder panel is repeated 3 times down the page. (this cheap filler technique is actually used about 3+ times throughout this issue) Really not much to say here other than...why? Jeeze, break out the double dong and be done with it already.
Here's another cheap titty panel. Watch in amazement as Norman Osborn slowly smiles at Spider Woman's tits! Great! I love this stuff! #1 Super Job! Faces only get in the way of the curves and nipples I crave so badly! Bleh.
Alright, so you've slogged through the embarrassing amounts of TnA (I was reading this bad boy on a packed Metro during the morning rush) and now it's time for the big fight with The Hood and his gang of D-list miscreants. Cool beans. I like D-list miscreants, they're ridiculous and entertaining. There's lotsa fighting to be sure, but I take umbrage with some of the poses. Mostly the (surprise) ladies' poses. Actually all the poses. Fuck it, this page sucks. For one thing, where's the ground? Just what IS Power Man stepping on exactly? Ditto for Cap. Ugh. Here are some of the fail highlights, numbered in the image above. (click for larger, labia filled version) Consequently I name this my pick for worst panel of the week.1. Cap's enhanced, Russian engineered junk is getting in on the action. Nice! Bulgy!
2. Who doesn't want a little labia action in their flying pose? Yeah!
3. Oh Mocking bird, thanks for the inner thigh muscle/upskirt combo for no apparent reason. I've got a boner now! What a great day!
4. Ms. Marvel wants to share a little full disclosure with Power Man. Is Jessica jealous? Plus, WHAT THE HELL IS SHE STANDING ON?
5. Cap's left knee is so fucking powerful that it blasted the legs of whoever the dark skinned dude is behind said knee into the Negative Zone. Where is the rest of this guy's body? And for double measure, why is the guy's left arm AS THICK AS HIS TORSO?
6. Random fucking fist. Thanks for that detail. Maybe it belongs to the guy Cap's knee blasted in half?
Billy Tan, please stop drawing tits and ass for the sake of poorly proportioned, over exaggerated tits and ass. In fact, please just stop drawing. There are people out there who need jobs more than you.
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This was a good post Ack³ although Ms. Marvel can fly and doesn't need to stand on anything. It kind of looks like she's positioned to be standing on something but that's probably because Tan probably cribbed the pose from a kung-fu magazine or a freeze frame in a video.
ReplyDeleteYour criticism is valid though. There are a lot of boobies and bits apparent there but at least Iron Fist gets to punk The Griffin and then blast Bulldozer (?) in the puss like unto a thing of iron.
Also in relation to this post, Marvel is certainly running a double standard here when it comes to what they feel is acceptable in their comics and what isn't. As far as I understand it, Joe Quesada personally got involved with the prevention of the depiction of smoking in Marvel Comics (famously for Wolverine and his cigars).
ReplyDeleteNow I don't have a problem with that as I find the tobacco companies to be a blight upon humanity. However, the blatant and unnecessary cheesecake and crude sexual references that have been rife in Avengers comics in particular (Frank Cho's run in Mighty, Hank Pym "working" on Jocasta in a missionary stance, etc...) lead me to believe there is some sort of disconnect in what they are trying to say here.
Maybe it is the struggle between trying to entertain overgrown man-boys who don't get to see real women and printing suitable fare for children? I don't read comics to look at tits and ass and giggle like a schoolboy. I read comics for super-cool escapist stories that challenge and surprise me. This kind of stuff is just infantile and stupid. When I was a kid in the 70's reading Marvel books they told great stories without stooping to this for cheap thrills. Maybe they should consider where they came from for a bit. Getting down off my high horse now...
Double dong comment is so dope it has caused the start of Gutterdamerung.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that could make this post even more dope is...wait for it...wait for it...
MORE GERMANS!!!! Can't Red Skull get a little love chauncey?
There are far worse offenders regarding comics with T & A in them. Try the "Bomb Queen". Or how about DC's Power Girl? That's barely scratching the surface. There is nothing new there with big tit gals in comics! I did think the Pym/Jocasta thing was unnecessary. I mean, I get it. Jocasta looks and sounds like Pym's dead wife, which could lead to an unhealthy relationship. Or perhaps with the fact Pym can turn her off, it's a love made in heaven!
ReplyDeleteAye verily I have little complaint about busty girls in practically any medium but as you said, when things are thrown in there for cheapo thrills and blatant ass-hattery, I dunno, I just expect them to do better. C+: Try harder Marvel!
ReplyDeleteI mean, you don't really see that sort of thing in the current Ol' Man Logan storyline. That is great art and a great story and the only blatant titty you've seen so far is on the Hulk's inbred daughter-wife feeding his inbred brother-son-nephew. Creepy, funny, and it just makes me uncomfortable with the implications. The Jocasta thing - dumb.
Regarding the art of Billy Tan. I think this issue stretched his abilities too thinly. That was a shit ton of characters to draw! I think he did the best he could within the time frame allowed. I have seen Tan's work in other books, and although he's not my first choice as a comic artist, he is competent. I have seen him do a waaaaaaay better job in other books. Also, regarding the 3 panels with the same image? That is totally a Bendis thing! For whatever reason he always uses that technique in his story telling. I've seen it in Powers, Ultimate Spider-Man, when he was writing Daredevil, and in past Avengers books. It's his bag baby!
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with the TnA to an extent. I understand it's part of the superhero thing with spandex or whatever. But the provocative shots showing ass to ass babe action is just plain sad.
ReplyDelete3 panels, sure, whatever. I can see that being useful. But the Billy Tan dude is on a TEAM book. If you can't draw the damn TEAM in a room with proper proportions, then get off the book. And that fight panel is just a nightmare of Escher level weirdness. WHERE DID THAT ONE DUDE'S LOWER HALF GO?
Maybe Tan's competent, I'm not super versed in his art, but he's shitting the bed here. Oh, and IT'S HIS JOB. If he can't hack it, move aside. There are artists who would die to draw an Avenger's title.
I think he's supposed to be bent over and kneeling on the ground. I think I see a piece of knee there. you're right though. The attempted draftsmanship on that spread is beyond his capabilities it seems.
ReplyDeleteI don't know...you have to remember that the artists are on a really tight schedule to get their work done. Also, he may have drawn it just fine, and the inker messed with things. Besides, epic fight scenes where you have to fit everyone in and show that everyone is doing their part in the battle - that's an epic task as well.
ReplyDeleteBetter than I could do. I have no problems with Billy Tan or anyone else that draws for a living. At least they're doing what they love.
Sorry rick, I have to disagree with you here. I pay good money every month for this book and it is one of Marvel's premiere titles. I expect better than this for my 4 or 5 bucks. This is a fight scene well done: FIGHT!
ReplyDeleteIf the artist is rushing, he needs to learn to draw faster. The job of a comic artist on a regular monthly title is one issue every 30 days (or so). That's harsh but that's the business. It's been that way since they began. More and more lately there's a trend of good artists coming along that can't keep the required pace. Or they do covers and have 4 or more "fill-in" issues a year because they're off doing creator-owned stuff. As a customer I find that unacceptable. If you're a monthly artist I think they should do a monthly book or get out of the way for someone who can.
That fight image you posted was for a cover though. Different format and probably more time spent on it - as most covers are prone to receive. Tan's piece in question looks to be a two-page interior spread. I don't see any title on it, and it's filled with text bubbles, so I'm guessing it's inside the book...
ReplyDeleteAll of Perez's interior stuff looks just like that or better. That was a 1-sheet ad but you have now given me the seed of a new article for this week so thank you. More will be revealed soon!
ReplyDeleteNew Avengers is a Marvel flagship title. Nearly always in the top 5 sellers for the month selling 90,000-100,000 books every 30 days. I'm one of those suckers buying the book. I don't feel privileged or anything. I'm just annoyed.
ReplyDeleteTo top it off, this issue was an milestone issue (#50), so it was guaranteed to be a top seller and full of promise. So maybe it would receive some special attention. It did in the form of guest artists blowing the main artist out of the water in most cases. There are simply some serious perspective issues in this bad boy.
I just keep coming back to item #5 in my list. (The rest are mostly TnA issues) The Half Torso Man. Given the way Power Man's left foot is placed and the fact that Cap is standing on something, Half Torso Man is an impossibility. Unless one of the D-List badguys in the fight has the ability to "Escherize" an area, Half Torso Man is just lazy drawing.
But, I am being a bit rough on the dude. He can keep on drawing. I'm sorry. You know me, explosive and irritating. There are indeed far worse artists out there that I should be scorching.