Dave's perspectives on X-Men

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SamKarns
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Dave's perspectives on X-Men

Post by SamKarns »

Dave, I'm curious to know when you were first assigned on the X-Men, what were your thoughts on the characters then?

After you established yourself as the plotter/penciler of the book did you have an idea what the X-Men's mission statements were? Were they the same or based on years of knowledge and character development have the statement alter for the better or for worse?

What were your opinion of The New Mutants?
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Post by Dark Bamf »

Oddly enough, I ddon't think I ever had any sort of long-term view of the X-Men. I didn't think in terms of overall mission--mostly, I left it to Chris to do that. I had occasional story ideas--such as Kitty's Fairy Tale--and I'd pass them to Chris to use as he saw fit.

I see it as a failing in my creative abilities that even with my own property, the Futurians, I didn't have a long term overview, except with my lead character, Avatar, who has an incredibly long and complex back-story.

As for the New Mutants--I liked the book best when Magneto was managing the school. The idea that he was going nuts trying to keep these young delinquents in line was a real hoot.

:bamf
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Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
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Post by SamKarns »

Futurians. Sounds like a movie property. What were they about and what was cool aboout Avatar? Is there a link where I could purchase you creation?

What were your previous assignments before the X-Men and when you were assigned what were your thoughts?

Your work is brilliant as I mentioned before your characters/ illustrations jump from the page. To me it had a Hitchcock feel to them. A page turner of suspense in every page--were you a Hitchcock fan?
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Post by Dark Bamf »

Yes, as a matter of fact, I was/am a Hitchcock fan. North by Northwest is my favorite.

You don't know the Futurians? I'm hurt! And it has been optioned as a movie property, though there doesn't seem to be any movement toward production...
Futurians was a superhero group published firrst as aa Marvel graphic novel and later as a subsequent and truncated series by a short-lived company named Deluxe (or sometimes Lodestone). It was my own group, my attempt to wrrite and draw characters of my own creation. You can see some of my Futurians work on the Nightscrawlers gallery, and the books themselves can still be found at certain comics dealers, or on eBay.

I'm not going to go into Avatar's background here, most of it has never been revealed in print yet. But he's an immortal of extremely long life, and has been many of history's most influential men, including Moses, Hammurabbi, King Arthur, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Doc Savage. He's kind of my take on Superman and Magneto.

Previous to X-Men, I only had one series--thhe Legion of Superheroes, over at DC. I had the good fortune to take over this dying strip and overhaul it, bringing new life tro it and changing it from a minor backup feature in Superbboy to taking the title of the book from Superboy. It was my first opportunitty to do both superheroes and sccience fiction, I gave it everything I had. You can see my entire run on the Legion in DC Archive: Legion of Superheroes, Volume #10.

:bamf

[Edited on 5-6-2006 by Dark Bamf]
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Dave's perspectives on X-Men

Post by SamKarns »

I've seen Futurians and they are really good. My only critique, and who am I to critique, is the colors of their costumes I think if the colors were darker they would have an edge to them. Your work benefits with darker colors because of it's emphasis on drama. Your characters don't simply punch someone in the face or blow someone up. Your characters PUNCHES someone in the FACE and BLOWWWS people UP!!! The colors somehow waters down the affect, but maybe when you return to these characters you can show time has past and they are darker now? Just a thought.

Were there any difficult sessions of illustration on your tenor of Uncanny?

What was deal with Marvel not keeping Jean Grey's codename Marvel Girl and what was wrong with it? I thought it was unique.
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Post by Dark Bamf »

Quite frankly, I prefer bright colors on superheroes, andd so does my wife, Paty, who colored it. I hate the dark, gritty look.

Yes, there were difficult periods on X-Men. I remember having a real battle with the incasion of Muir Island in X-Men #104. Don't ask me why, now.

We got rid of the name Marvel Girl because both Chris and I thought it was stupid.

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by SamKarns »

We got rid of the name Marvel Girl because both Chris and I thought it was stupid.
***
Why? Do you still feel that way and were there talks on a proper codename that would benefit her?

John Byrne renamed the Invisible Girl to the Invisible Woman. Maybe you guys could have called her Marvel Woman? :D
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Post by Dark Bamf »

No, we were planning a major rebirth for her, and Phoenix was very appropriate.

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by Blue_Demon94 »

How do you feel about Rachel taking on the name Marvel Girl in memory of her mom?
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Post by SamKarns »

Originally posted by Dark Bamf
No, we were planning a major rebirth for her, and Phoenix was very appropriate.

:bamf
Oh! Cool.
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Post by Dark Bamf »

Originally posted by Blue_Demon94
How do you feel about Rachel taking on the name Marvel Girl in memory of her mom?
I never cared much for Rachael.

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by Angelique »

I'm actually in agreement about Marvel Girl as a code name. It came across as putting no more thought into it than, oh, she's a female Marvel character. Let's call her that! Like calling Wonder Woman something like DC Chick.
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Post by Dark Bamf »

My sentiments exactly. It wasn't much more than an attempt to prevent some other company from using the word Marvel on a female haracter. Having grabbed off the word Marvel--and thereby preventing the REAL Captain Marvel from using his own name as a logo for his book--they figured to cover thee field.

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by SamKarns »

What do you think was Magneto's mission statement and do you think Magneto is... Evil?

One of my personal nitpicks with Bryan Singer's X-Men was he thought of Magneto as Malcolm X, who in my opinion was a great man WHO finally saw the flaws in his activities and tried desperately to repent and eventually killed, it was clear Singer didn't understand the character of Magneto or Malcolm X.
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Post by Dark Bamf »

I don't consider Magneto evil. Having gone through the Holocust and seen most of his people murdered, he's determined to prevent it from happening again to mutantkind, who he's adopted as his new family/race.

He is ruthless in his methods sometimes, I'll say that for him.

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by SamKarns »

The All New, All Different X-Men were masterpieces. Were there influences during the time to design revolutionary outfits for these new band of heroes?

Do you think it was a mistake to have Magneto be the father of Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch? Was Magneto supposed to have children?
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Post by Dark Bamf »

I don't have a problem with Quicksilver and Wanda being Magneto's children. We know he was married to Magda, who was terrified of his powers, and presumably she was their mother. I think it enrichens the Magneto backstory. But if you want the real authoritatyive viewpoint, you should ask Paty.

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by Blue_Demon94 »

How do you feel about how your characters are handled today? Do you ever hear or read about what's going on with them and say to yourself "Why would they do that to Storm?!"?

And while I'm on the subject of the handling of characters, what do you think about current artist renditions of your characters? And who, in your opinion, truly draws your characters the way you had intended them to be drawn?:bamf
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Post by Dark Bamf »

I'm very unhappy about some of what I've heard about the way they're treated--although I have to admit that I haven't read any ooks in over a year thanks to my eye problems. Ditto to artist styles.

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by SamKarns »

Originally posted by Dark Bamf
I don't have a problem with Quicksilver and Wanda being Magneto's children. We know he was married to Magda, who was terrified of his powers, and presumably she was their mother. I think it enrichens the Magneto backstory. But if you want the real authoritatyive viewpoint, you should ask Paty.

:bamf
I would love to ask Paty. Could you ask her if she could share her opinion? I will ask her this direct question shortly.
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Post by SamKarns »

Paty, Do you think it was a mistake to have Magneto be the father of Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch? In your opinion was Magneto supposed to have children in his original design?

Who thought of the idea that Wanda and Pietro were Erik's own and did you approve?
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Post by Blue_Demon94 »

What about them are you unhappy about, Dave?
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Post by Dark Bamf »

Who said I was unhappy about them?

:bamf
'I'm in love, I'm in love with Atilla the Hun--
Atilla the Hun, Atilla the Hun.
He may pillage your village and kill everyone
but I still love Atilla the Hun.'
--Atilla's Hunny
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Post by Blue_Demon94 »

Originally posted by Dark Bamf
I'm very unhappy about some of what I've heard about the way they're treated--although I have to admit that I haven't read any ooks in over a year thanks to my eye problems. Ditto to artist styles.

:bamf
You did? ..sir?:worship
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Post by PirateKurt »

Paty is a definate authority on Magneto:D
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