Uncanny: Rachel, Claremont, Bachalo

[flapjaxx]

I'm going to be a little vague here, but you fill in the rest:

I have little to no interest in reading most recent X-Titles, however I've always liked the Rachel Summers character, especially when written by Claremont, and I like Chris Bachalo's art usually. (Although SOMETIMES I found his art absolutely atrocious in the late '90s, specifically his first few issues of Uncanny then.)

I know there's recently been some issues of Uncanny that have contained at least two out of those three things--focus on Rachel, Claremont script, Bachalo art. What are the best issues for this?

And was the Emma/Rachel confrontation done well? And what issue was that?

Many thanks.

[Zombienorthstar]

I'm going to be a little vague here, but you fill in the rest:

I have little to no interest in reading most recent X-Titles, however I've always liked the Rachel Summers character, especially when written by Claremont, and I like Chris Bachalo's art usually.

I know there's recently been some issues of Uncanny that have contained at least two out of those three things--focus on Rachel, Claremont script, Bachalo art. What are the best issues for this?

And was the Emma/Rachel confrontation done well? And what issue was that?

Many thanks.


End of Greys arc has all three....

[Armless Penguin]

Which would be UXM #466–468

The following arc (Wand'ring) is semi-focused on Rachel as well, though Bachalo doesn't do the art

[Affinity]

I think the Emma/Rachel confrontation was done very well. They're both very powerful, very talented telepaths. It seemed as if Emma would own Rachel, and then Rachel would own Emma, but in the end it wasn't like that...they came to terms with each other. Scott really loves Emma, Emma really loves Scott...and Rachel saw that. They may not be best friends but they aren't always tripping each other when they walk by.

[Ogre U AHole]

The Rachel/Emma confrontation wasn't during End of Greys though, was it? I thought that was during the Chasing Hellfire issues drawn by Andy Park, #452 - 454.

[ibrakeforchinwe]

Just check out the whole recent Claremont run on Uncanny for some good Rachel moments and some good Rachel/Emma moments, Rachel/Kurt moments, Rachel/Scott moments and good Rachel/Betsy moments.

[flapjaxx]

^I wish I had the time, money, patience. Thanks to everyone, though.

[david r]

It's sad in a way. I have the new Comics Creators on X-Men book, and in the interview with Chris Claremont, Chris says he visited Chris Bachalo at his home in LA. (This is BEFORE his current health troubles.)

Here's an excerpt:

Tom Defalco: During this latest run you had another chance to work with Chris Bachalo. What was that like?

Chris Claremont: "Metaphorically speaking, I'd like to blow my head off. Only because the promise was so rich and so alive. When I was recently out in LA writing the novelization for the third X-Men movie, I went down to Chris' house and we just talked all afternoon. We talked about characters, themes, what we'd like to do with the stories and how we'd like to tell them. I think Chris and I could have knocked this one out of the ballpark. He was happy. I was happy. We were simpatico and loved the characters that we had to work with. Chris' characters are evocative. His action is kinetic and dynamic and revelatory of character, as well as a real treat to read. "

[Stephane Garrelie]

It's sad in a way. I have the new Comics Creators on X-Men book, and in the interview with Chris Claremont, Chris says he visited Chris Bachalo at his home in LA. (This is BEFORE his current health troubles.)

Here's an excerpt:

Tom Defalco: During this latest run you had another chance to work with Chris Bachalo. What was that like?

Chris Claremont: "Metaphorically speaking, I'd like to blow my head off. Only because the promise was so rich and so alive. When I was recently out in LA writing the novelization for the third X-Men movie, I went down to Chris' house and we just talked all afternoon. We talked about characters, themes, what we'd like to do with the stories and how we'd like to tell them. I think Chris and I could have knocked this one out of the ballpark. He was happy. I was happy. We were simpatico and loved the characters that we had to work with. Chris' characters are evocative. His action is kinetic and dynamic and revelatory of character, as well as a real treat to read. "
Thanx for sharing David.

[flapjaxx]

If this was before Claremont's health problems, why was he saying then that he'd "like to blow his head off" because of the "promise" that wasn't followed through? What happened? Was Bachalo kicked off the book, or...?

I've always thought Bachalo brings TONS of potential to anything he's associated with, although in my opinion he's only ever been the sole artist on ONE classic run/project (the first Death mini-series with Gaiman). Don't get me wrong, I think he's done a lot of good work, but the word "inconsistancy" seems very much associated with him, whether it's because of his not being able to work on schedule (needing guest artists) or else because of his own style, which changed quite a bit at least when I read a lot of comics in the '90s. (Another x-artist I think of in much the same way is Joe Mad. If I had to pick a dream artist to pencil X-Men indefinitely, every issue, I think I'd pick him over everyone else . . . and yet what has he ever really been a part of? He's like a college phenom that never makes it to the pros or something, never brings the championship home...)

So do others think that the recent Bachalo/Claremont combo really was hitting on some good stuff? I have to admit, I've been intrigued by the covers I've seen to those issues.

[david r]

If this was before Claremont's health problems, why was he saying then that he'd "like to blow his head off" because of the "promise" that wasn't followed through? What happened? Was Bachalo kicked off the book, or...?

Haven't you heard? Chris Claremont was fired from the very title he made famous. "Uncanny X-Men". Marvel abruptly ended the partnership of Claremont/Bachalo. That is what Chris was referencing with his "blow his head off" comment. Claremont/Bachalo had worked up a ton of cool stuff, apparently. Claremont stated at Comix-Fan, that he and Bachalo had ideas planned all the way to UXM #500.

We will never see them now.

So do others think that the recent Bachalo/Claremont combo really was hitting on some good stuff? I have to admit, I've been intrigued by the covers I've seen to those issues.

I do think it could have been a great team together. Chris Bachalo seemed jazzed to be working with THE Claremont who wrote his favorite X-stories. I definitely felt that Bachalo was giving the books his "ALL". It's just that Bachalo struggles with making a monthly deadline. And that is a core problem for him. But I'm sure they would have rocked.

[Yoel]

Haven't you heard? Chris Claremont was fired from the very title he made famous. "Uncanny X-Men". Marvel abruptly ended the partnership of Claremont/Bachalo. That is what Chris was referencing with his "blow his head off" comment. Claremont/Bachalo had worked up a ton of cool stuff, apparently. Claremont stated at Comix-Fan, that he and Bachalo had ideas planned all the way to UXM #500.

We will never see them now.

I do think it could have been a great team together. Chris Bachalo seemed jazzed to be working with THE Claremont who wrote his favorite X-stories. I definitely felt that Bachalo was giving the books his "ALL". It's just that Bachalo struggles with making a monthly deadline. And that is a core problem for him. But I'm sure they would have rocked.

Its so frustrating that we'll never get to see all that Claremont and Bachalo had planned. They are two of my favourite creators and I thought they were a dream match on Uncanny. You had the feeling that they were working up to some classic X-Men stories - I feel robbed!
However, I am looking forward to the new writers and i'm glad Bachalo is going to be on X-Men.

[flapjaxx]

Haven't you heard? Chris Claremont was fired from the very title he made famous. "Uncanny X-Men".

I had heard about this, yeah. But I was unclear, because of the "before his health problems", whether the interview in the book you referenced was made before or after he knew he was not going to be writing it till #500 and beyond.

[Affinity]

Haven't you heard? Chris Claremont was fired from the very title he made famous. "Uncanny X-Men". Marvel abruptly ended the partnership of Claremont/Bachalo. That is what Chris was referencing with his "blow his head off" comment. Claremont/Bachalo had worked up a ton of cool stuff, apparently. Claremont stated at Comix-Fan, that he and Bachalo had ideas planned all the way to UXM #500.

We will never see them now.

I wasn't such a hardcore fan of this run (as opposed to the amazingness of the Wilderness Era) but...GOD does this sound awfully familiar. I bet we find out what happens 10 years from now and CRINGE from a lot of the BS stories we're going to get in the future.

[ibrakeforchinwe]

Marvel always does this. They let Claremont progress his year(s) long plots and then right before he's finished they take him off the title and give him either one arc to finish everything up or none at all.

No respect for the man.

But he loves the X-Men so much he always comes back whenever they come begging for him to come back to help boost their sales and save their franchise.

[Frank]

It's sad in a way. I have the new Comics Creators on X-Men book, and in the interview with Chris Claremont, Chris says he visited Chris Bachalo at his home in LA. (This is BEFORE his current health troubles.)

Here's an excerpt:

Tom Defalco: During this latest run you had another chance to work with Chris Bachalo. What was that like?

Chris Claremont: "Metaphorically speaking, I'd like to blow my head off. Only because the promise was so rich and so alive. When I was recently out in LA writing the novelization for the third X-Men movie, I went down to Chris' house and we just talked all afternoon. We talked about characters, themes, what we'd like to do with the stories and how we'd like to tell them. I think Chris and I could have knocked this one out of the ballpark. He was happy. I was happy. We were simpatico and loved the characters that we had to work with. Chris' characters are evocative. His action is kinetic and dynamic and revelatory of character, as well as a real treat to read. "

That saddens me. Both had a great chemistry together. The End of Grays was wonderful. I think CC will get in great creative shape on Exalibur and Exiles once he gets back. With also the alternate reality X-Men mini-series he will be able to creat some sort of "mini CC World" between the three series.