Color Me Confused

All Star X-men Jam

If there's one thing that all people are capable of, it's screwing up. So, I point my finger at no man. Just don't be wagging any fingers at me.

              "2- Ext. Times square
       Scarlet witch is a feminist revolutionary.
             NARRATION (CONT'D)
             A tortured soul becomes an icon."

Not a lot to work with. Repeated queries go unanswered. No one will tell me the nature of Wanda's revolt or that which tortures her soul. Deadline's approaching. Deadline's tomorrow. Time for an executive decision.

I toss the grenade back over the fence.

I slap Wanda's face on the world's biggest wanted poster. Marvel can accuse her of whatever they want: ketchup on hot dogs, indoor baseball, Bieber fever… It's in the layout. It's on the art. It's pointed out in multiple e-mails on multiple occassions…

For those who saw the book and thought "huh?" I offer up what was and what might have been.

On another note, one that's always bothered me occurs in the knife fight between Callisto and Storm. I'll take the blame on this one. While the comics code was in decline, it was still in effect. I'd had sequences edited not for violence per see but because it was too jolting given my style. (Excuse me, it's called storytelling. If you want the violence to pop, to startle the reader, you need contrast.) I've had editors literally say I could do far worse violence if my work was ugly in general.

The clearest storytelling comes from placing the viewer perpendicular to the action. I just couldn't see the code, or my editors, allowing me to show the stab. I went parallel and trusted in my storytelling to set it up. Obviously, my storytelling wasn't up to snuff. So, once again, what was and what could have been.

Going for the trifecta we have Golden Age #4 and the death of John Law, the Tarantula. Storywise, John's job is done, there's no real loss in being colored over. Still…

I actually got the chance to "fix" this when they came out with a collected edition. I was on the phone with… someone, most likely the asst editor. I asked if he could see the figure right below Dyna-Man. He says he can. Can we do something, paint him red, anything? Sure. Only, he's gone right past John and picks a corpse on the ground.

What can I say; the best laid plans… One last time, what was and what could've been.

Happy Trails
Smitty