You're telling me, Ace... I actually came on to the title right as Kelly began, and his writing coupled with the stunning art is undoubtedly what got me hooked. But I think my above comment stems from to views: for one thing, Kelly was a great writer with innovative ideas for where to take the X-Men concept, most notably with the idea of having Cyclops evolve and redefine Xavier's "dream" for a new world. But the problem became that editors were doing most of the writing for the title in the end, not him and his colaborator then, Steve Seagle. Hence, their depature from X-Men and Uncanny early on in their respective runs. Secondly, my tastes in art having greatly evolved themselves since those days (as short a time ago as they were... but keep in mind I'm only twenty)... I can honestly say that even if Kelly had been able to rein free over his work, I doubt the ideas he was developing at that time would have done much to hold my interest today.
Why? Well, I suppose my greatest criticisms within comics, my standard if you will, is based largely on the work of one X-Men writer. Morrison. He has brought growth to the X-Men in ways only Claremont brought growth to them in the seventies. (So Cheers to you, Mr. Grant. You're a fine chap indeed.)
But all said, between stifled concepts and higher expectations, Kelly's work remains a fond memory but a far cry from the work we see being put out today. |
