Let’s take a moment and congratulate the X-Men on moving their base of operations after nearly 35 years of letting their mansion get blown up time and time again. Man, last year it was like a sport! For a secret school for ‘gifted children’, they weren’t so secret nor nearly as gifted as they wanted to be. Sure, they changed it over the years, shucked that school image, tried ‘Institute’ or ‘Corporation’ on for size but still the effect was the same. Xavier’s cash kept that place rebuilt and Forge and the Shi’ar tried to give it a decent defense system, but apparently that only worked on maybe the paper boy because the last few years have been hard on the place. Once Sentinels park on your lawn, consider this a good time to move and leave no forwarding address.
And it is a good time to move; there are so many big events happening just down the road in the Marvel Universe and yet the X-Men tie-ins have seemed more like afterthoughts. They’ve never really jibed well with their fellow hero brethren, that whole ‘world that fears and hates you’ losing a little of the impact when you’re pals with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Marvel’s First Family. Moving to the west coast is a particularly brilliant move for the X-Men, getting them away from the rest of the heroes in a more physical fashion, changing their address, their outlook on life, and hey… why not their style?
Greg Land: a name that either causes great joy or great ire amongst the comic reading public. I’m going to go out on a limb here and note that the latter is the larger of reactions considering just a google of his name alone brings the hate on strong. Even his wikipedia entry has an note on ‘controversy’ of his use of photo reference in his work. Heck, I’ve even gotten into the act with my own curiousity over some backgrounds in Ultimate Power (can you tell what Arcana is supposed to be doing in this picture? NSFW). So, it’s a given that his artwork is going to look like that shot from a movie or that ad in that magazine and yes, he will repeat that image until you’re not really sure who is who from panel to panel but in the latest issue of Uncanny X-Men (#501 for those of you playing at home), I actually found this to be an asset.
Angel and Cyclops are tooling down the road to reinact the opening credits of Full House, driving in a hip little yellow convertable and the moment I saw this panel, I understood.
I saw those guys on the road yesterday! Look at those two ‘dudes’! They’re on their way to Starbucks to tap out their latest screenplay on their Mac Air books while listening to Jack Johnson but yet won’t shut up on their cell phones! Living in California, I could show this picture to anyone and get the same response: the nod of familiarity. No offense to my home state or anything, but we attract a certain sort of look, especially in high areas of wealth and culture. Go to Los Angeles, go San Fransisco, you’re going to see the bleached blonde and her incredibly tan boyfriend wearing flipflops in December. And you’ll be cut off by two very stylish, white smiling guys in a convertible on the freeway.
Greg Land’s women don’t look real, they look like fantasy. There is an entire plastic surgery industry catering to just that very thing, making women look like fantasy, that’s practically based in California. Emma frost is simply one of the girls by wearing her underwear outside her clothes. In San Fransisco, she could start a trend. And sure, they all look a little similar after awhile, but in California, that ‘inclusive difference’ (‘Let’s all look like that one girl who’s really unique!’) is commonplace. Possibly without even knowing it, he is mimicing a part of California culture by just keeping his rather magazine and movie star art style. In fact, the X-Men have always been a little cutting edge, whether they’re listening to beatniks at a coffee house or hanging with fashion models or being one themselves, we’re actually returning more the style conscious days of those who wear the X.
There is no huddled masses in a building, no wide-eyed wonder at the outside world from a bunch of students, Marvel’s merry mutants have been through a lot and all of them have apparently come off a little smarter, a little sassier and heck of a lot more stylish. Scott Summers has even let his hair grow a little long! There’s been talk of having no real ‘teams’ but a community of the mutants that are left, all living in San Fran and banding together as needed. This truly is an all new, all different X-Men, a little more laid back and relaxed in their new digs by the beach. They should have moved to the west coast a long time ago as the change of scenery seems to be opening up some new stories and, at the very least, a fresh and interesting look at a staple of the Marvel Universe. And, despite what you may think of his particular practices, Greg Land is the man to depict it all. You have to give him credit where credit is due, he has a great eye for page layout and story flow that is very cinematic, even if the characters aren’t terribly inspired (or perhaps a little too inspired).
Here’s to living the California Dream, X-Men.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Carla, i love your column and read it every week so i want you to know that none of my ire is directed towards you. what i’m about to say may sound cranky and trollish, but i think it needs to be said: the X-Men’s California move has been done with a great disregard for history. two types of history, in fact: comic book continuity (I know, groan, “not continuity…”) and American history.
first, the X-Men were already based out of San Fransisco for a short amount of time (see Claremont’s run) when they were staying with Jessica Drew. furthermore, there was the entire Australian period where the team was underground and mobile, largely hiding out in the outback. during Jim Lee’s Uncanny breakout, the team – to the best of my memory – didn’t even have a central location as Storm was in N.O. meeting Remy, Rogue was in the Savage Land with Mags, Havok was in Genosha, Wolvie was all over Asia, etc. my point is that this move has been made to seem like the first time that the X-Men have officially relocated, and that’s just simply not the truth. maybe this is the first time, however, that the school has relocated with the team.
second, the entire Manifest Destiny banner is so painfully ironic and misnamed that it hurts. the cultural implication of the phrase is exactly the opposite of what Xavier’s dream stands for. while the X-Men are fighting for cultural inclusion and tolerance, the American “Manifest Destiny” of the 1800s was all about cultural divides being drawn and cultural superiority complexes being formed. Native Americans were treated with oppressive brutality — the term “Indian Removal” was coined as the racism of European-American settlers ran wild and was used to justify horrific actions. America launched wars to make unjustified land grabs in other regions and nations. during this time, “The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling exemplified the condescending reasoning that was used to justify the notion of the “Western” right to expand and convert other cultures to their own.
i’m sure many would claim that i’m reading too much into the whole thing. but the facts remain that this move is 1) nothing very new for the X-Men, and 2) named after an ethnocentric and violent period of American history where intolerance was practiced openly and with great vigor.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I suppose you can count me in the Greg Land “ire” category. I hadn’t read X-Men in a long time, though I used to be a big fan, and was intrigued by the new direction. But flipping through the book at the store, the art was just too off-putting. The heavy emphasis on photo-referencing (including the “porno faces”) and repetition just repelled me.
As soon as Land is off the books, I’ll give it another go.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I dragged myself through this issue because Brubaker and Fraction are two of my favorite writers in comics, and their scripting here is no exception. But the art just doesn’t work. I can’t keep reading comics with these same traced faces and stiff poses that don’t fit what’s happening from panel to panel.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:57 am
There’s a far cry of difference between using photo reference and Land’s technique. I’m not here to run down Land, who’s work is, on the surface, pretty. I’m in this for Brubaker, Fraction, the Dodsons and my own attachment to the characters. I’ll put up with Greg Land.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I usually don’t hate Land’s work (I liked his Ultimate FF and Crossgen work. Not to mention his early DC stuff.), but I’m not too fond of his UXM stuff so far, probably due to the excellent stuff Mike Choi did in the last storyarc. Its pretty refreshing to see the X kids appreciated by this city and to see them actually mixing instead of secluded in Weschester County.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Nick wrote: [manifest destiny is] named after an ethnocentric and violent period of American history where intolerance was practiced openly and with great vigor.”
With the 501 issue, it seemed to be the beginning of a new wave of intolerance against Mutants with the bashings. I know that is a tired angle, but after long arcs with messiah babies, a new kill-team perhaps the Manifest Destiny is appropriate. What news steps has Summers taken to keep the mutant gene alive? Seems pretty drastic and one-sided to me, very American.
As far as Land’s work, sometimes is fun to look at, but in 501 I got so confused because Emmas, Pixie’s & the Red Queens face all looked the same after a while, except different color hair. I mean, how are we to guess who the Red Queen is if she looks like every other female in Uncanny Land?
Otherwise, I liked Scott’s fear/anger of seeing the masks. I just read the old Claremont issue where Emma was introduced and some people hate the long soap-opera continuity, to me it gives it more depth so a scene like that can carry more weight. he remembers that crap from when he was a kid and bad emma was at the heart of it all. Do they really ever address the fact about their age differences? In the real world, is Emma is a thriving cougar or more Sharon Stone “Basic Instinct” era?
September 10th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Adam – really interesting point you make about the “Manifest Destiny” angle, especially in regards to Cyclops. i can’t say that your interpretation excites me about the material anymore than before, but i certainly think you present a way of looking at it that gives it a whole new meaning (at least in comparison to the way i was previously viewing the “Manifest” label).