Writer or cast? What actually makes a book?

[Sandmans_Raven]

This thread has really made me curious as to Hellions.
Is it really that good?

It's my favorite X-Book right now. Zeb Wells has done a really good job with it imo. I didn't care about any of the characters other than Sinister when the roster was first released but now I'm invested in all of them even if I don't particularly like them (like Empath)

[Riv86672]

Good deal, thank you!

[Frobisher]

No way are there only 3 people on this forum crazy enough to not care who writes as long as as their favourite character gets the limelight.

[gurkle]

Writers. Some of the best X-runs ever have had less-than-promising casts, like when Peter David was told to do X-Factor with a cast of, basically, characters who weren't popular enough to be in the two X-Men titles (the lesser Summers brother, the other magnetic-powered mutant, the repressed werewolf, Magneto's less-popular child...) and made it into one of the most entertaining books in the line. The writer's job is to play up the contrasts between the characters and find stories that way, and there are an infinite number of ways to do that in a team book.

[Rnap22]

Writers. Some of the best X-runs ever have had less-than-promising casts, like when Peter David was told to do X-Factor with a cast of, basically, characters who weren't popular enough to be in the two X-Men titles (the lesser Summers brother, the other magnetic-powered mutant, the repressed werewolf, Magneto's less-popular child...) and made it into one of the most entertaining books in the line. The writer's job is to play up the contrasts between the characters and find stories that way, and there are an infinite number of ways to do that in a team book.

Exactly and he did it again with the second X-factor.. actually, right before that with the Madrox mini that led to vol 2. Every character has potential if there is a writer that can bring something out of them or to them that hits people the right way.

[Wolverine12]

I think both are important but overall the writer is more important. There have been plenty of stories featuring A list characters that were just poor but it is always exciting to find that gem of a book with no big names but it’s just a great story.

[Kingdom X]

This thread has really made me curious as to Hellions.
Is it really that good?

While it’s nothing mind-blowing (so far) it is shockingly good for such a d-list cast. I still don’t care about some of the characters that much but given time I could definitely see myself really loving the book.

[Sin Nick]

No way are there only 3 people on this forum crazy enough to not care who writes as long as as their favourite character gets the limelight.

I'm one of those crazies who'd rather purchase an art book from a favorite artist that featured some of my favorite characters than a book from an acclaimed writer featuring characters I don't give a damn about.

[Kisinith]

The creative team is the most important part, but its key to remember its not just the writer (although that is most important part). A good creative team can make something great out of mediocre or even bad characters, like Hellions. The artist does matter, for example consider the outrage that would routinely get expressed over Greg Land illustrating a book. As another example the most recent issue of Cable also leaps to mind here as the writing was pretty damn good but what should have been a bad ass moment with Gorgon ultimately lacked gravitas by art that didn't live up to the writing.

Also, bad creative teams can ruin good characters. Hank McCoy, Wanda, Hank Pym and Peter Parker sort of leap to mind here. In my own opinion, characters like Beast have been so thoroughly tainted by a decade plus of bad writers that he may not recover. Spider-Man is perhaps the best example of this as OMD and Sins Past have made it so that I will probably never buy another Spider-Man comic, I simply cannot enjoy them anymore, although I continue to like them in other mediums.

[Killerbee911]

This thread has really made me curious as to Hellions.
Is it really that good?

No and Yes? No It is not all time classic book, So if you are expecting that you will be disappointed. Yes it is solid fun well written book and you surprisingly will enjoy many of the characters. Empath and Greycrow are standouts, Psylocke is pretty as well good. Mr Sinister is entertaining. If you are looking for a fun action book you should pick it up. It is almost to point where it should be in trade, So I suggest when that comes out pick it up.

[Hellion]

I think both writer(s) and cast go hand-in-hand to make a great comic.

The consensus seems to be a great writer can make a good comic with an odd or terrible cast and that the reverse is also true, that a bad writer can ruin a good cast.

For the sake of playing devil's advocate, I voted for cast as I assumed this poll pertains to superhero comics churned out by the Big Two. The nature of mainstream superhero comics is that nothing ever really changes. The same dozen or less A-listers for the X-line have been the A-listers for the X-line for decades now. This is likely a pretty unpopular opinion, but at a certain point you've done everything you can possibly do for/to a character. And then that character gets stale for me. Like Wolverine. Or Cyclops, now that his long-running story arc of replacing Xavier as leader of the X-men was somewhat completed with his fall from grace in AvX. Hell, Spider-Man and Superman haven't been interesting to me in decades.

The way I see it with these kinds of comics being as they are, you can always tell interesting stories. But it can be difficult to keep overexposed characters interesting, no matter how high-caliber of a writer you are.

[Chris0013]

It is both..and let's not forget the art.

You need characters that people care about....but also a writer that can bring out the best in those characters. And build relationships between them.

[ETMike1988]

Writer or Cast!?
Like:
a) X-Men Gold: Good cast and bad writer
b) X-Men Blue: Bad cast and good writer

[Killerbee911]

It is both..and let's not forget the art.

You need characters that people care about....but also a writer that can bring out the best in those characters. And build relationships between them.

Art is a whole different thing, For me it is the most important thing, I won't even get to find out if cast or writer is good if the art is bad. I preferred the super artist era in comics,Yeah books got delayed but consistent good art makes shaky stories tolerable. If the art was bad for X of swords people would be destroying the event even more.

[From The Shadows]

I'd almost always say writer over the characters. But sometimes there will be characters that just wont be interesting. No matter what the writer does.