Marauders #2 Spoilery Review and Discussion - The Red Coronation

[tuck frump]

Yeah I'm checking out of this Emma-Sebastion dick waving contest of a series. The blackface tattoo and changed race of Gateway are another matter entirely. And Storm being all "Ugh, I wish I could just kill these guys" was bizarre.

What did you expect opening the issue with Emma and Shaw on the cover solicited as Emma and Shaw centric confirmed in interview to be about Emma and Shaw dynamic in this new statu quo in which we hadnt seen Emma and Shaw interact yet?

[pkingdom]

What did you expect opening the issue with Emma and Shaw on the cover solicited as Emma and Shaw centric confirmed in interview to be about Emma and Shaw dynamic in this new statu quo in which we hadnt seen Emma and Shaw interact yet?

I expected this, honestly. Solicits really turned me off of it because I thought it was going to be exactly that. But it got a lot of hype and people were gushing about it so I thought I'd check out the first two issues.

Its trying to be a million things and is ultimately about nothing. That fight with Batroc made no sense. Why are they using ships in the first place when they have teleportation mutants and technology? Why is the Hellfire club infighting right now when they are supposed to be united? Krakoa was only just formed, so why are 3 ongoing series about black ops and going around laws that have only been in place a few weeks? Etc.

[spirit2011]

I expected this, honestly. Solicits really turned me off of it because I thought it was going to be exactly that. But it got a lot of hype and people were gushing about it so I thought I'd check out the first two issues.

Its trying to be a million things and is ultimately about nothing. That fight with Batroc made no sense. Why are they using ships in the first place when they have teleportation mutants and technology? Why is the Hellfire club infighting right now when they are supposed to be united? Krakoa was only just formed, so why are 3 ongoing series about black ops and going around laws that have only been in place a few weeks? Etc.

Seems very human this hahaha "oh a law, how do I break it?"

[djoki96]

This is indeed the problem with the book. It wants to be basically two different books at once. We have Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and their power struggle (of course WHY is there a struggle at all? needs to be answered, they could and should just be working together) and then Kitty's character evolution/devolution which is being accelerated by Emma. All that is cool.

THEN we have Storm, Iceman, and Pyro being just sort of fun loving and there to help the mutants. Which is good but clashes massively with the above.

Bishop I can't even place as of yet he seems to be doing his own detective work.

Sure, they should, but there is a lot- and I do mean a LOT- of bad blood there. There's no way they are just going to let it go like Xavier and possibly [A] apparently did.

[butterflykyss]

I expected this, honestly. Solicits really turned me off of it because I thought it was going to be exactly that. But it got a lot of hype and people were gushing about it so I thought I'd check out the first two issues.

Its trying to be a million things and is ultimately about nothing. That fight with Batroc made no sense. Why are they using ships in the first place when they have teleportation mutants and technology? Why is the Hellfire club infighting right now when they are supposed to be united? Krakoa was only just formed, so why are 3 ongoing series about black ops and going around laws that have only been in place a few weeks? Etc.

yes yes and yes!!!

[spirit2011]

I think my favorite parts of the issue were Emma and Shaw. I think the voices for each character could be a lot better. I think Hickman does a great voice for Emma Frost. I judge all Emma versions by Grant Morrison's version (yes I know she was around a long time before Morrison wrote her but he gave her that extra flare and voice that made her an even better character). Emma is snarky and witty but it has to be written in a clever way and I think that is hard for a lot of writers. This is just my own personal opinion.

I do not like Kitty being this joke character and I feel the same way with Iceman and Storm...or even Pyro. But this book is the joke book, It is like the Excalibur of yester-year. I like humor in small doses but this is the humor book.

The face tat for Pyro was yikes inducing.

I think this book has a great premise and it could be a really great book but instead it is the flashy book with a lot of humor but little substance (so far). I say this but X-twitter loves his book so it definitely appears to some fans which is great. I like that we have different books for all types of readers.

This looks like the book type from x-twitter: style over substancy and being funny.

On other note I think Bishop would be better suited to X-force

[Heroine Addict]

With Xavier dead it seems like they're gonna start ressurecting people without his approval

Destiny and Jason Wyngarde next

Not with Mags still around, though, and Moira still saying NEVER, no, no, no!!!

[JKtheMac]

And it's not black face that's how ridiculous some folks on here are on this board. That's obviously the tattoo we see on Pyro's face on later issues. Plus the tattoo is new so it will start off black but turn red as it heals. Blackface would be Pyro "acting black" while having covered his entire face black. However only part of his face that's black is the middle which is due to his tattoo. Gateway, Storm, and Bishop not being dark skin is the only thing pissing me off with Marauders right now. Get a fucking colorist that knows how to color black characters

Blee knows exactly what he is doing. He is a highly experienced colourist. Over 100 Marvel issues alone.

I understand why some are concerned about depictions of skin colour but there is no official declaration from Marvel that I have ever seen that everyone needs to make Storm as dark as Alex Ross makes her. It would be a good choice, but that choice has not been made as far I can tell. Blee is not wrong, he just isn't depicting things the way many of us would prefer. His choice. Marvel's choice.

The fact is, Blee likes using using environmental lighting effects on skin. Sometimes he might push that further into oranges and pinks on black skin than some are comfortable with, or in the case of Gateway in this issue light blues and purples as a foreground shadow contrast and yellow in reflection, but he uses such effects on all of his characters. Look how artificially purple Shaw goes in the "How is this possible" panel.

In general his palette choices are made to balance out the page and provide contrasts with complimentary and contrasting colours. These help separate out the panes of the composition which is the hallmark of a great colourist. He is not attempting to naturally colour anything, he is making stylistic and compositional choices.

Look for example at how he colours Kate in the kissing panel in blues and low saturation reds. He isn't saying Kitty is blue or red, he is depicting the outside neon lighting and the relative more neutral light and shade in the studio.

He is a professional that understands colour theory and how to make a page pop.

[spirit2011]

Blee knows exactly what he is doing. He is a highly experienced colourist. Over 100 Marvel issues alone.

I understand why some are concerned about depictions of skin colour but there is no official declaration from Marvel that I have ever seen that everyone needs to make Storm as dark as Alex Ross makes her. It would be a good choice, but that choice has not been made as far I can tell. Blee is not wrong, he just isn't depicting things the way many of us would prefer. His choice. Marvel's choice.

The fact is, Blee likes using using environmental lighting effects on skin. Sometimes he might push that further into oranges and pinks on black skin than some are comfortable with, or in the case of Gateway in this issue light blues and purples as a foreground shadow contrast and yellow in reflection, but he uses such effects on all of his characters. Look how artificially purple Shaw goes in the "How is this possible" panel.

In general his palette choices are made to balance out the page and provide contrasts with complimentary and contrasting colours. These help separate out the panes of the composition which is the hallmark of a great colourist. He is not attempting to naturally colour anything, he is making stylistic and compositional choices.

Look for example at how he colours Kate in the kissing panel in blues and low saturation reds. He isn't saying Kitty is blue or red, he is depicting the outside neon lighting and the relative more neutral light and shade in the studio.

He is a professional that understands colour theory and how to make a page pop.

I can't tell this by his coloring work on Marauders.

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/wp...w=588&zc=1&a=t

I'm using this piece by matthew wilson Eisner award winning colorist

Even with the light we can tell who is white and who is black

Sorry for de decapited head but this is the best example I found

[JKtheMac]

This is indeed the problem with the book. It wants to be basically two different books at once. We have Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and their power struggle (of course WHY is there a struggle at all? needs to be answered, they could and should just be working together) and then Kitty's character evolution/devolution which is being accelerated by Emma. All that is cool.

Because they hate each other these days, and Shaw made a very poor choice out of greed that threatened Krakoa's mission.

[JKtheMac]

I can't tell this by his coloring work on Marauders.

Well as someone that occasionally dabbles in colouring myself, I consider him far beyond amateur. Just looking critically at his choices for my defence of his work has given me quite a bit of insight into the standard required for professional work.

[loke13]

I feel like any book with a prominent role for Kitty is going to get "X-Men Gold" labels slung at it. But no, it ain't.

Some people really don't like Kitty and some people REALLY hated gold add that to the fact that Kate Pryde is a leading a team with senior X-Men on them and the conspiracy theorist come out claiming this to be Gold 2.0 the major difference being that this book is actually good and has heart as opposed to it being a writer disrespecting every other character in the book in favor to prop up Kate.

[ExodusCloak]

Some people really don't like Kitty and some people REALLY hated gold add that to the fact that Kate Pryde is a leading a team with senior X-Men on them and the conspiracy theorist come out claiming this to be Gold 2.0 the major difference being that this book is actually good and has heart as opposed to it being a writer disrespecting every other character in the book in favor to prop up Kate.

This is exactly what it is. Calling it X-Men Gold is a superficial take. Its superior in design, plot, cast and dialogue.

[powerpax]

I think the coloring on the book is mostly really lovely. I think it's also clear the coloring on Storm and Gateway needs work, and in this day and age after having systemic attempts by editorial to lighten up characters of color where possible at the Big Two it's worth pointing out for improvement. I was giving it a pass on Storm in the first issue given lighting effects, but Gateway looks like an anchovy.

[ExodusCloak]

I think the coloring on the book is mostly really lovely. I think it's also clear the coloring on Storm and Gateway needs work, and in this day and age after having systemic attempts by editorial to lighten up characters of color where possible at the Big Two it's worth pointing out for improvement. I was giving it a pass on Storm in the first issue given lighting effects, but Gateway looks like an anchovy.

Definitely, for the most part the art and design is stunning. Its good that people have pointed out the issue about skin lightening and hopefully thats corrected.

This rendition of Emmas diamond form is the best I've ever seen