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I'm not vehemetically opposed to the cover, I just thought it was BAD. If it is about a girl hopped up on E (I haven't read the book yet, as I'm still going through the interviews in TCJ), is that what you think will sell?
yeah I think it will sell - i've certainly spoken to people both male an female who found the situations and interatctions refreshingly realistic - the overplot has yet to prove itself however...
In the first issuethere is very little in the way of references to the marvel universe - an interestion class assignment to compare the works of Martin Luther King Jnr and Charles Xavier and a possible mutant power manifesting at the end of the issue. This comic is not tightly tied into the continuity logjam of the monthly going ons of the x-univers or the rest of the MU - its not about people dressing up in costumes and fighting crime and, if the press reports are to be believed - it isn't going to be.
Its about the kids. Kids in the marvel universe, true - some kids who might be mutants, but primarily its about the kids. Its got a kid on the cover - its about her - inside she does drugs , like many kids do- she's high on the cover - I think it does all the things you say you want from a cover.
Most stories in comics and movies that have to do with raves is bad at best. It's the equivelent of the "Frat Party" in entertainment. I don't cast aspersions on Rave culture, but for movies, TV and comics it has become "generic party".
So, what - cos something hasn't been done well in the past it shouldn't be attempted again? I don't think so - and what's more as it has been noted this does actually cover the club and school scenes in a way that rang truer to me than many other portrayals - that's not to say its the best but it certainly isn't cringe inducingly bad...
A cover is an ad for the book, and possibly the ONLY ad most buyers will see, so it should be something that gives an idea of what is going on in the comic, and to pitch this as "Mutant Girls Gone Wild" is just a bad idea.
Again, this statement i find interesting - It seems to speak as much about your own prejudices as much as it does about the book (which you say you have not read). As i have said its about more realistic style kids than we usually see in the MU doing stuff that kids. Some of them take drugs, some are in gangs and one of them is a mutant. If you read that as "Mutant Girls Gone Wild" that is down to your perceptions. and if you think it is a bad idea (as opposed to simply not liking the idea) that is again down to you.
But what do I know, I still think covers should actually either show a scene from the comic to get me interested, or be a great "poster" that shows off the artist's work. I also hate the Punisher covers because they don't meet these two "criteria", which are my personal biases.
What i don't get is this cover, as i have aluded to, does both those things - it shows the lead character blissed out as occurs in the book - it also be a poster, and probably will end up being so for some club night... it is even the work of the interior artist (which is more than many comic covers are)... As you say, it all just comes down to personal preferences and biases, but it seems to me that your biases are actually catered for in this cover.
For what its worth I picked it up on the strenth of the recommendations listed earlier in this thread - and found it, interesting and fun - it didn't make me go weak at the knees and want to buy the next issue no matter what (as i felt with human target) but it was certainly refreshing to see some realistic character interaction and a realistic depiction of drug use and violence. YMMV
(its also odd you claim not to have heard anything good about the comic - here are a few quotes from the thread above... Myself , as i said above I'm not yet convinced this is going to be a rip-snorting read but it has jumped out of the shelves and distinguished itself from most other comics out-there in terms of what its willing to cover - ok mainly this boils down to drugs and teen violence which won't necessarily be enough to carry the book n the long term but it certainly is head and shoulders above its contemporary title, Crimson Dynamo...)
So. This is nothing we haven't seen before in terms of plot. What is different is the choice of execution, particularly the (as yet) non-judgemental depiction of drug-taking, teengage smoking, family disfunction and uncouth language.
It shows more promise than most of Marvel's other attempts to update superheroics for a contemporary audience.
This is how teen comics should be handled, I'd be happy if they kept powers out of this comic altogether but I know thats unlikely.
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