I recently picked up a selection of Young Animals titles and I am very much of mixed minds.
"Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye" left me unmoved and unamused, but I liked the artwork by Oeming.
"Doom Patrol" was too self-consciously derivative of Grant Morrison's iconic run, all the surface surrealism without any underlying cohesion. I threw is in the "for sale" bin after 6 issues.
Incidentally, I loved Gerard Way's first two Umbrella Academy arcs (which were clearly inspired by Morrison's Doom Patrol), but it's been the law of diminishing returns since then, even the 3rd UA acr.
I quite liked the first six issues of "Mothe Panic," even if her costume sucks big time! The main lure, however, was Tommy Lee Edwards's beautiful pencils in the first three issues. To my surprise, I also really enjoyed his replacement, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, despite the huge departure in style. I have an almost complete run, except for issues 7 & 8. I intend to pick them up and continue, but I don't have high expectations. Things will really have to improve fast to keep me on board,
I also have "Shade the Changeling Girl," but I haven't read any of that yet.
My initial impression of the Young Animals books is one of overwhelming underwhelmingness. The books have obviously been produced with love and care, but it doesn't pay off IMHO.
The creators' ambitions and pretensions far exceed their modest talents.
The writing seems to focus on being weird for weirdness' sake, and the artwork all seems to be cut from the same Becky Coonan/ Michael Avon Oeming/Cameron Stewart cloth, which is okay but wears somewhat thin after a while.
DC is to be commended for its willingness to experiment, but this is another failed experiment afaic.
What are your thoughts?
Am I missing something?
What would you recommend besides stopping wasting my time and moving on to more worthwhile fare?
statistics: Posted by deejay-away — 8:39 AM - Today — Replies 1 — Views 32