Alan Davis--somewhat OT

[Rex Luscus]

I've got a question for y'all, potentially OT. Many people seemed to be incredibly dissatisfied with Alan Davis's run on the X-Men, and I was wondering: does anyone have any insight into what the general gripe was about his work? I didn't read very many issues of his; I know him primarily from Excalibur, from JLA, and from D.R. & Quinch (which I happen to think is sheer genius--don't ask.) I simply don't understand what people were so damn offended by--the couple X-Men issues I saw certainly weren't his best work but they didn't strike me as particularly awful. Anyone have any ideas?

I know this don't have much ta do with Nightcrawler; I'm asking here cuz I know a bunch of you are Davis fans as well, and I can depend on intelligent responses from you--over at Wizard, all I get is, 'are you on drugs or something?'

-Rex

[Rex Luscus]

See, it'd make sense to me if people were only complaining about his writing. But they bitch about his pencils too! Some guy over at Wizard was trying to tell me that Larocca's a better penciller than Davis, as though this were the most self-evident thing in the world and I was an idiot for thinking otherwise. That's really the part that baffles me.

And it's good to see you to, my friend!

-Rex

[Drags]

Hey Rex!

Nah,Davis'pencils were great.I have to admit that Im one of those individuals that was disapointed with the writing though.But I agree with BAMF! the the first few issues were pretty good.Then came Kavanagh.*shivers*

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`~`~`Dragonlady`~`~`

Who finds Nightcrawler very sexy.

[Spatula Gal]

I 'returned' to the x-men in Davis' run. I remember really enjoying it. I didn't feel like nitpicking because for me it has just a nostalgia trip, but sometime around the shattering story, I got hooked again. I have to say though, that twelve thing was very dull.

There's always people who bash the creators. I think there's an element of jealousy and also attention seeking. I was just reading someone bashing claremont and calling anyone who likes his writing idiots and worse, and his post was full of misinformation that I suspect was deliberate. I'm disappointed in cc myself, but I don't think he's gone from great to sucky like many people think. It the editorial interference that marrs the stories. Lobdel, Davis and CC all were hampered by it. but its no use trying to explain that to many of the attention seekers on the net.

[BAMF!]

Nice to see ya REX LUSCUS!
Hey I'd like 1st crack at this because I actually wondered the same thing. It seemd to me as well that a lot of fans vilified Alan Davis for his last stint on the X-books. Baffling to me, because while I agree that his run wasnt up to the par of some of his past stuff, for the most part I actually enjoyed his work. O.K. so maybe 'The Twelve' wasnt all that great but I thought the 'Magneto War' was outstanding!
I may be the wrong person to ask though, because i'm such a HUMONGOUS Alan Davis fan.

I think a part of it may have been similar to the complaint that some people have with Claremont's current work. For todays fan weened on Fox's X-MEN cartoon and Lobdell/Nicieza X-MEN ( and in NO way am I taking anything away from either of their runs on the titles )maybe Davis' stuff was just a little to wordy and cerebral. Or perhaps part of it was that age-old case of Marvels' editors suffocating the creative energies of it's talent. Instead of the Writer/Artist having free reign to create, they end up just hacking out what the Editors want them to.

It'd be interesting now though to see Davis back on one of the titles. With Quesada seemingly bucking the old trends in regards to Editorial Control I bet Davis would REALLY get a chance to do some of his best work!

BAMF!

[BAMF!]

Exactly SPATULA GAL...I think people need to understand just how hard it is for creators to produce quality stuff under those kinds of editorial conditions. Let's see...after Claremont's initial 16 yr run there was Nicieza, Waid, Lobdell, Kelly, Seagle, and then Davis. Almost ALL of them left citing how impossible it was to work under the microscope of the Marvel editors.
REX, DRAGS i'm a BIG fan of Davis' art as well. Artistically he is a fantastic storyteller with a very clean and polished style. It may be that his art is just a little to 'Old school' for some of todays younger, raised-on-Liefeld-&-McFarlane-Splash-pages fans.

BAMF!

[Slartibartfast]

I too am a big Alan Davis fan. I think his pencils are great. I love his style, it's so clean, and while it's not too cartoony it's got that feel to it. I think his writing is best if it's kept light-hearted. His Excalibur runs were great, and though his recent X-Men run wasn't fantastic, it was more readable than some other x-writers.



~Award-winning designer of Norway's lovely crinkly edges.~

[ovenmitboy]

I wouldn't do this on the WW boards as I would be instantly slated but I know you guys won't do that and instead break it down into discussion. That's what makes this board so cool.

So here it is, loud and proud : I don't like Alan Davis. I can't say I know too much about his Excalibur days, so you've got me on that one, but I really didn't enjoy his run on X-Men.

He took two of the most exciting stories for years (Magneto War / Twelve) and didn't deliver. All through his run I would be so excited, and everytime I would be disappointed. There was never the big climax in either of these stories that they deserved. The final conflicts just seemed to be missing.

I can see how the ages of apoc must have been pushed on him from above, but they were still dumb, and it was only in Cable 75 where we actually got to see anybody square off with the big blue monster.

The whole space thing was a waste of time, nothing progressed in the story and what he did to Marrow was unforgivable, She looked ridiculous and ruined her whole image.

As for his art (again X-Men only) the only character he draws well is NC. I find his overall line work too thick, he uses far too many blacks on peoples faces that don't seem nessessary, too many people have their eyes closed and the whole thing just felt cluttered.

Sorry guys, infact I'm not sorry, I don't like the guy. He's just not my bag baby!

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Keep It Safe In The
Kitchen!

[BAMF!]

WoW, I was surfing around the pg 2 topics ( geez, I remember when this place was only 1 topic old! ) and only just now stumbled accross the MIT miesters' last post in this thread. Hey MIT it's cool, I know Davis' Art n Writing style isnt everyones cup of tea! Although I have to say that his last stint on X-MEN really isnt indicitive of his best work.

For a better example of Alan at his best I
recommend:

#1.)Davis wrote and pencilled an extremely well done WOLVERINE Graphic Novel some years ago. I think it was called BLOODLUST. Very impressive story and art.

#2.) His pencils from EXCALIBUR's # 1-16 and his now legendary 2nd stint on the title as writer and Artist from EXCALIBUR's # 42-69. MIT check out ELWING's 'EXCALIBUR # 42' topic as a great example. CLASSIC Davis.

#3.) Not sure if your into the DC Universe at all but just before his ill-recieved X-tint Davis wrote and pencilled an amazing limited series for DC called JLA:the Nail.
The storytelling is truly fantastic!
there's also his Marvel UK stuff and his short lived Clandestine title. (Check out the Clandestine/X-men teamup)

It may not make ya a convert MIT but at least this'll give ya a better example of his true talent!


BAMF!

[Rex Luscus]

Let's hope poor Mit is able to read this message sometime soon

I agree, BAMF! Plus, his Avengers stuff looks fantastic. I've never read Avengers in my life, but I may just pick up #38.

-Rex

[This message has been edited by Rex Luscus (edited January 07, 2001).]