Post by garn on Sept 4, 2008 6:56:38 GMT -5
Before i go any further with thisI wish to say two things,
-This.is.not.a.rant. I have been a follower of mad's work for well over a decade in which time i have gained a deep appreciation for his nuanced work and his stlyistic approach, deeply founded in realistism. i am in awe of him and his ever expanding abilities.
-i am also a great fan of the ultimates, when it first emerged i paid it no heed, simply assuming it was the avengers with a different palet and samuel l. jackson as nick fury.However a friend gave me one to read and i was hooked, the drastically different approach to the characters was refreshing to say the least,especially for someone who had long become used to the exposition heavy style of writing prevailent in the late 90's publishings
Now comes the but...but i think that the team currently working on the ultimates have made a grave mistake in their approach to the title. making it more like the x-men/avengers cross overs of the late 90's. a giant step backward has been taken which is something of a mistake especially at a time when many comic book characters have been successfully fleshed out from their 2d roots both in recent films and latterly in their respective published titles.
We live in a time where in my opinion, characters whose motivation was not always clear to follow have been brought into sharper focus, toby maguire's nerdy, fan boy spiderman is more believeable as a crime fighting young academic than say the muscular 90's cartoon incarnation. ledgers anarchist joker who has no regard for money or personal attachments makes more sense as the 'clown' prince of crime then nearly every version i had seen or read prior to the dark knight. a clinically insane crime boss should not work in the real world and has always slightly stuck in my craw.with ledgers interpretation less suspension of disbelief was needed. robert downey juniors drunken narcissist stark is not the only one in the iron man film who was explained. the fact the terrorists left a genius alone for months with munitions were also explained.something the 60's comic was not required to explain.
My problem with the ultimates is the fact that in volumes 1and 2 fantastic things happened all the time, but there was enough realism to make it more exceptable. whats more the characters were tweaked.the ultimates wore outfits more like uniforms than unitards, thor spoke more like someone living in todays world, and hawkeye did not make glib jokes whilst executing his duties. the ultimates were less of a super hero gang and more of a military strike force. i imagined that if such things existed in our world this is the path they would take.
the art work was founded in the real world too .starks armour was not made up of that miraculous bendy metal often seen in his comic apperances, but was clunky and had so many moving parts a team was needed to handle it.he looked like a man inside a small mobile jet fighter.which he was.
joe madureira is most likely the greatest comic artist of our time.with a style taking in so many genres and influences that it would take a great lenght of time to appreciate them all. however, first and foremost he is a fantsay artist in that he works mostly in dream scapes not day to day stuff.....tbc
-This.is.not.a.rant. I have been a follower of mad's work for well over a decade in which time i have gained a deep appreciation for his nuanced work and his stlyistic approach, deeply founded in realistism. i am in awe of him and his ever expanding abilities.
-i am also a great fan of the ultimates, when it first emerged i paid it no heed, simply assuming it was the avengers with a different palet and samuel l. jackson as nick fury.However a friend gave me one to read and i was hooked, the drastically different approach to the characters was refreshing to say the least,especially for someone who had long become used to the exposition heavy style of writing prevailent in the late 90's publishings
Now comes the but...but i think that the team currently working on the ultimates have made a grave mistake in their approach to the title. making it more like the x-men/avengers cross overs of the late 90's. a giant step backward has been taken which is something of a mistake especially at a time when many comic book characters have been successfully fleshed out from their 2d roots both in recent films and latterly in their respective published titles.
We live in a time where in my opinion, characters whose motivation was not always clear to follow have been brought into sharper focus, toby maguire's nerdy, fan boy spiderman is more believeable as a crime fighting young academic than say the muscular 90's cartoon incarnation. ledgers anarchist joker who has no regard for money or personal attachments makes more sense as the 'clown' prince of crime then nearly every version i had seen or read prior to the dark knight. a clinically insane crime boss should not work in the real world and has always slightly stuck in my craw.with ledgers interpretation less suspension of disbelief was needed. robert downey juniors drunken narcissist stark is not the only one in the iron man film who was explained. the fact the terrorists left a genius alone for months with munitions were also explained.something the 60's comic was not required to explain.
My problem with the ultimates is the fact that in volumes 1and 2 fantastic things happened all the time, but there was enough realism to make it more exceptable. whats more the characters were tweaked.the ultimates wore outfits more like uniforms than unitards, thor spoke more like someone living in todays world, and hawkeye did not make glib jokes whilst executing his duties. the ultimates were less of a super hero gang and more of a military strike force. i imagined that if such things existed in our world this is the path they would take.
the art work was founded in the real world too .starks armour was not made up of that miraculous bendy metal often seen in his comic apperances, but was clunky and had so many moving parts a team was needed to handle it.he looked like a man inside a small mobile jet fighter.which he was.
joe madureira is most likely the greatest comic artist of our time.with a style taking in so many genres and influences that it would take a great lenght of time to appreciate them all. however, first and foremost he is a fantsay artist in that he works mostly in dream scapes not day to day stuff.....tbc
