So, the breakout hit if the New 52 is getting a new artist. Travel Foreman is leaving Animal Man and Steve Pugh is making his return to the character. Now, I hadn't seen Pugh's artwork, so I had to look him up. I like his art, but I feel that Foreman's unique style is a big part of what cemented this title as a frontrunner. Now, I have faith in Jeff Lemire as a writer and I am certain that the book will continue to intrigue, but I feel that we have lost an extremely dynamic writer/artist duo. I understand that Travel Foreman is dealing with some loss in his personal life, and I can't fault him for getting burnt out, but it brings to mind other series that have drastically changed tone with the transition between artists.
Different artists
aren't always a bad thing, and there needs to be change sometimes in order to
get those memorable titles, but I find that we get changes too often. I miss
the days that we would have one consistant artist for years. Here's some
notable changes that have happened over the years that I feel
have affected a comic for better or worse.
X-Men Volume 2
and Uncanny X-men
Now here is an
interesting transition. Jim Lee had been drawing Uncanny for a long time and
really defined the type of X-Men stories we got to see in the late 80's and
early 90's. Then when the new X-men book arrived, it was easy to read, because
Jim Lee was the artist. However, where we gained a great new book with great
familiar art, what happened to to the original book? Uncanny X-Men #281. You
know the cover. I has Jean and Storm and Colossus battling sentinels with art
by Whilce Portacio. I sorry if I offend anyone, but I HATE this art. I dropped
Journey Into Mystery when he came onboard halfway through Fear Itself. I really
just can't look at it. I read adjectiveless X-Men exclusively at this point.
It's kind of like what's happening now with Regenesis. I hate the art on
Uncanny, and love it on Wolverine and the X-Men. To the point of hating the
stories. It was supposed to be a brand new era, but it just falls flat.
X-Force 1991
Those of us in my
particular age range remember the speculative days of the early 90's. When Rob
Liefeld took over New Mutants, I'm sure it was an exciting new change. I fell
for it, and it made sense that Rob would be drawing the book that replaced it,
X-Force. I know it's easy to jump on the Liefeld hate train, so i will. Comics
readers are going to look back on this era and wonder what the hell we were
thinking. In any case, I was reading through my old X-Force collection and
getting ready to swallow a bottle of pills, when I realized that the art takes
a distinct turn around issue 20. I recognize this! Like, it looks like
something from recent memory. This can't be. This is 90's X-Force! It is not
something that should be appreciated artistically. So who is this mystery
artist that saved this book from fading into crappy obscurity along with
parachute pants and grunge? Only one of the best artists of today, who is
getting praised by everyone for a book that is on everyone's radar from the New
52. I'm talking about Batman artist Greg Capullo. It was a time warp seeing his
name on my 1993 X-Force comic. This is an example of an excellent change of
art.
So, artistic
change is not always a bad thing. I just feel like it is not always well
planned. In the case of Animal Man, it's something that is a special case. The
artist has personal things that need his attention, I understand. It just
reminded me of the times when changes in art are editorial in nature. You don't go from Jim Lee to Whilce Portacio,
and you do go from Rob Liefeld to Greg
Capullo. Unfortunately, I don't think you can go anywhere from Travel Foreman.
His style is too unique and perfectly suited to Jeff Lemire's Animal Man to
avoid anxiety with his departure from the title. We'll miss you, Buddy(pun
intended). FYI, as you all probably have heard, Trav can be followed over to
Birds of Prey, so show your support and pick up his new book, but don't stop
buying Animal Man, because Jeff Lemire is killing on that book. Also, put in
your preorders for Frankenstein to keep it around for awhile because this is
another example of how Lemire is a wonderful writer and I want him to continue
to get work.
