Exitmat
Townie
First let me get the bad out of the way.
I don't like the new artist (Nick Runge) at all. Urru was much better, in my opinion. And I don't just mean at drawing the characters accurately (Runge gets quite sloppy--especially with Wes, Fred, and Conner). There are several panels that are just confusing--where the art is supposed to help explain what characters are talking about but fails to do so. I'm not someone who's picky about the art at all. I read comics more for the story. But when I'm having trouble understanding the story or seeing what I'm supposed to be seeing (because the backgrounds just magically disappear for some reason) then I have a problem.
Also, the writing felt a bit rushed on this issue. I've never had a problem with Lynch's writing before but there were several moments where I had to re-read a page or a panel because it wasn't clear what the characters were talking about.
Here are some Ex's:
- Page 7 with Gunn. In the 3rd panel he says "--Oh." What is he referring to? Conner coming in? And why is Conners first appearance in the issue and the battle shoved off into the corner of the panel?
- The whole Hagan Shaft stuff. Runge doesn't call enough attention to the shafts. I was totally confused what the heck a "hagan shaft" was supposed to be longer than I should have been.
- Page 11 - who is Spike talking to in panel 4? Gwen is standing right next to him, then all of a sudden she's gone in the next panel and Spike is talking to someone right in front of him. And since there isn't a background in the panels leading up to it I have no clue where all these people magically appeared from.
- The overall battle scene was really confusing. I had no idea where anyone was or what the big picture was supposed to look like. Look at pages 12 and 13 and tell me there's not A LOT of cheating going on there as far as rendering the scene goes. Solid color background in every panel--what happen to everything else?
- Page 18 - In the last panel Wes says, "Yes. Figured." Why? I see that Fred turned back to Illyria--is that what Wes is referring to? And if so why did he figure that would turn Fred to Illyria? What was Fred/Illyria's emotional reaction? Anger?
I also had some issues with the writing.
- Page 14 - Pronoun issues. Who is "they" that the other vamp is referring to? Who had other back-up plans? The other demons? Angel's buddies? And why does this bother Gunn? I don't get it.
- Page 19/20 - Too many pronouns going on again. First "she" is referring to Cordelia, then Fred. Yet there's no antecedent--"she" just changes. Writing out characters names doesn't hurt. Making things like this a mystery just feels kind of silly. We all know who the old characters are, so just say it already--but this not saying names thing is really dragging down the clarity and ease of the read.
- In the beginning of the issue all the focus is on Fred and Wesley. Then they just disappear for the entire middle section of the issue and we have no clue what happened to them. Did they run away for some reason? If so, why?
I've honestly never had such trouble figuring out what what's going on in a comic book as I did with this issue of Angel. I think most of the blame falls on Runge's shoulders for failure to convey setting, expression, and movement (I'm really not liking his stuff), but misplacing characters and using pronouns without antecedents and then switching who the pronoun is referring to is just sloppy.
As far as the rest of the issue goes, I like where they're going with it. Angel's "getting the band back together" and setting up his old shop again. I don't get Gunn's character right now though. He kept reacting verbally to something he saw, but either I didn't know what he was supposed to be seeing or I didn't get what the (lack of) expression on his face was supposed to convey in his reaction.
So overall, I like the story but I thought the execution of it was really sloppy and rushed.
I don't like the new artist (Nick Runge) at all. Urru was much better, in my opinion. And I don't just mean at drawing the characters accurately (Runge gets quite sloppy--especially with Wes, Fred, and Conner). There are several panels that are just confusing--where the art is supposed to help explain what characters are talking about but fails to do so. I'm not someone who's picky about the art at all. I read comics more for the story. But when I'm having trouble understanding the story or seeing what I'm supposed to be seeing (because the backgrounds just magically disappear for some reason) then I have a problem.
Also, the writing felt a bit rushed on this issue. I've never had a problem with Lynch's writing before but there were several moments where I had to re-read a page or a panel because it wasn't clear what the characters were talking about.
Here are some Ex's:
- Page 7 with Gunn. In the 3rd panel he says "--Oh." What is he referring to? Conner coming in? And why is Conners first appearance in the issue and the battle shoved off into the corner of the panel?
- The whole Hagan Shaft stuff. Runge doesn't call enough attention to the shafts. I was totally confused what the heck a "hagan shaft" was supposed to be longer than I should have been.
- Page 11 - who is Spike talking to in panel 4? Gwen is standing right next to him, then all of a sudden she's gone in the next panel and Spike is talking to someone right in front of him. And since there isn't a background in the panels leading up to it I have no clue where all these people magically appeared from.
- The overall battle scene was really confusing. I had no idea where anyone was or what the big picture was supposed to look like. Look at pages 12 and 13 and tell me there's not A LOT of cheating going on there as far as rendering the scene goes. Solid color background in every panel--what happen to everything else?
- Page 18 - In the last panel Wes says, "Yes. Figured." Why? I see that Fred turned back to Illyria--is that what Wes is referring to? And if so why did he figure that would turn Fred to Illyria? What was Fred/Illyria's emotional reaction? Anger?
I also had some issues with the writing.
- Page 14 - Pronoun issues. Who is "they" that the other vamp is referring to? Who had other back-up plans? The other demons? Angel's buddies? And why does this bother Gunn? I don't get it.
- Page 19/20 - Too many pronouns going on again. First "she" is referring to Cordelia, then Fred. Yet there's no antecedent--"she" just changes. Writing out characters names doesn't hurt. Making things like this a mystery just feels kind of silly. We all know who the old characters are, so just say it already--but this not saying names thing is really dragging down the clarity and ease of the read.
- In the beginning of the issue all the focus is on Fred and Wesley. Then they just disappear for the entire middle section of the issue and we have no clue what happened to them. Did they run away for some reason? If so, why?
I've honestly never had such trouble figuring out what what's going on in a comic book as I did with this issue of Angel. I think most of the blame falls on Runge's shoulders for failure to convey setting, expression, and movement (I'm really not liking his stuff), but misplacing characters and using pronouns without antecedents and then switching who the pronoun is referring to is just sloppy.
As far as the rest of the issue goes, I like where they're going with it. Angel's "getting the band back together" and setting up his old shop again. I don't get Gunn's character right now though. He kept reacting verbally to something he saw, but either I didn't know what he was supposed to be seeing or I didn't get what the (lack of) expression on his face was supposed to convey in his reaction.
So overall, I like the story but I thought the execution of it was really sloppy and rushed.
