Bachalo's Art in X-MEN

[annihilator]

Do you like it or not like it?

It seems like you either like it or not, not much in between.

[lament]

I like it. :)

[Bobster777]

Eh, I'm still getting used to it, but it was definitely much better in the second issue than the first issue. I especially like how he draws Karima.

[Barnaby]

I like it too. It's not Madureira or Romita Jr. (my favorites), but it's real good!

[Kefky]

I'm loving it to pieces. His best work since gen x. I couldn't believe how clear and easy to read 189 was. His character designs are better than ever too. His Rogue is amazing.

[rilokyle]

I love Chris's art. I think it's very quirky and different from what we usually see. I loved his work on Generation X, and I'm currently loving what he's doing on X-Men. :)

[Jake V]

I've usually hated his art, but this time around, it's unusually clear and readable.

Thumbs up for X-Men.

[JoshBot]

A little cramped, but I'm diggin' it.

[Faded]

I love it.

He's really doing well now, but I do see where things can get a little confusing. He is just very unique and fresh and it feels very vibrant.

[Young Avenger]

I like Bachalo's better as a cover artist than a interior artist.

[brokenbroken]

he was my favorite artist in the world when Gen X started, but he peaked with GenNext, and its been downhill ever since. god i miss Frank Quietly (yeah, i know, its been a while).

[Will.S]

As long as his art remains at the clear level it is now with Mike Carey, it's a thumbs up.

Incomprehensible crap? Thumbs down.

[Beast]

Better than usual. But still not my cup of tea.

[CE_Rap]

he still has a tendency to get so wild. I used to like his style because it was PERFECT for Gen-X, but it was so hard for me to find a starting point in his drawings. But he has gotten better at controling the eye flow. Hopefully he'll be able to keep his style while controling his chaos.

[jen]

I like it. I think his art has a real energy and mood that fits Carey's story. Also, he has a great sense of style... and fashion sense too. ;)

[spoon_jenkins]

Is there a third option? Bachalo is hit or miss with me. Sometimes he's too messy and distorted and he draws folks "out of character" (e.g. thin, lithe folks are drawn bulky). Other times (notably early Generation X) he executes the controlled chaos that CE_Rap mentioned, and it's just beautiful.

X-Men #188 and #189 show the range of Bachalo in a nutshell. Issue 188 had too much poor storytelling. It was hard to follow the action and often messy. Issue 189 was much clearer yet managed to keep his distinctive style and mood.

BTW, jen, welcome to the forums! :D

[jen]

BTW, jen, welcome to the forums! :D

Thank you! :D

I think Chris mentioned that the first issue he didn't have the normal lead he usually wants and the colorist is someone he was working with for the first time. Typically he likes to color his own work. He does have final editorial say on the colors though. Also, I believe it is the first time he is drawing Mystique and Sabes. So I imagine that he will get tighter down the line.

[Beast]

Thank you! :D

I think Chris mentioned that the first issue he didn't have the normal lead he usually wants and the colorist is someone he was working with for the first time. Typically he likes to color his own work. He does have final editorial say on the colors though. Also, I believe it is the first time he is drawing Mystique and Sabes. So I imagine that he will get tighter down the line.
Nope. The Sabes design is actually the one Bachalo created for New X-Men.

I'm unsure on Mystique. But yeah, he's done Sabretooth before. :)

[Brian M.]

I love his Sabertooth design. It's awesome.

[R Krippler]

I am starting to like his art now, but overall I don't really care for him. However he draws the sexiest women.

[jen]

Nope. The Sabes design is actually the one Bachalo created for New X-Men.

I'm unsure on Mystique. But yeah, he's done Sabretooth before. :)

Yep, that's right I meant Cable. My bad. :)

[spoon_jenkins]

I think Chris mentioned that the first issue he didn't have the normal lead he usually wants and the colorist is someone he was working with for the first time. Typically he likes to color his own work. He does have final editorial say on the colors though.
I mentioned in the issue threads that I thought the coloring was part of the problem with #188's art and that it improved in #189. Buy whattayaknow, the same guy colored both issues. Nice to see the improvement.

[Scipio72002]

I agree that he does the covers well, but interior is not as good. I thought he was amazing when he did Gen X, but lately his art hasn't done much for me. A lot of his art in 188 was better than I have seen in a while though

[AceOfSpades]

yes, yes, and more yes.. I have always enjoyed his art in X-men:D

[Mariah]

I love his Sabertooth design. It's awesome.
While I could care less for his Sabretooth design, I absolutely love his Rogue costume. It's probably one of her best.

[Mikl C]

Hmm.. hit and miss for me too. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I have to spend half an hour trying to figure out what's supposed to have just happened.

[Affinity]

I love it. Entirely. I hated him for a long while, as when I first got into comics, my first experience with him was, unfortunately, the AoA 10th Anniversary miniseries or whatever. I didn't have to buy the book to know I didn't like it. Even the covers were too cluttered and I hated the faces and died when I saw the House of M #8 alternate cover. I didn't like him at all.

Then came around his latest run on Uncanny X-Men. The House of M tie in issues. And I. Was. Blown. Away. It was so incredible. Rachel looks awesome, Psylocke's uniform was tolerable, but her psi-katana (you know, the sum and total of her psychic energies) just looked so amazing. (Plus, he was paired with a good colorist who brought out wonderful tones for Betsy and Rachel and even TJ.) Tree Tom Cassidy looked pretty cool and scary (and then deformed into a man thing kind of on the side!) and the "marauders" of HoM looked pretty cool too. Meggan was drawn as freaking awesome when she was going crazy, and he had a total grasp on Saturnyne, Jamie Braddock, and Roma. I loved it. Much more real and exhilirating when compared to Alan Davis' bland (IMO of course) style.

I don't remember if he did anything inbetween, but when I heard he was going to be on X-Men and saw the character designs, I freaked OUT. It was just so amazing! So cool! The new character designs of the Children were pretty eerie, my favorite being Serafina without me even KNOWING her character, while Sangre was pretty fascinating, too. Fuego suits Bachalo's style excellently as I can imagine what it must be like to see a molten lava man. Perro, I don't know, but I want to see him tussle with Cable. The green one is kind of cool, too.

And then there's the X-Men.

Bachalo has a perfect sense of what the X-Men are like. He doesn't draw them posed and stationary, but rather, moving, with accurate costumes and wonderful flow. Rogue looks her best right now, better than the mopey Rogue of Milligan's run. Larocca almost drew her pathetic looking, but this Rogue? No...this Rogue has OOMPH in her face.

Sabretooth is scary, one hulk of a FAST, moving, fierce man. He looks so real and so terrifying, better than the brown spandex and mane of hair...on his BACK. He really looks like he's on the run.

Iceman looks pretty cool, I like the design, and I LOOOOOVE that he slides around everywhere. That's what he is. He uses his powers. It's meant to be like that. Seeing him walk around and running in Milligan/Austen X-Men was just wrong, IMO. He looks cool, and he's really an Iceman now.

Same for Cannonball. I like this new costume (though Tan-pre D'Armata and Cruz-just Cruz ruined it for me by emulating his entire style on Cannonball) but I especially love when Sam uses his powers. It's cool.

Mystique. 'Nuff said. One full shot was enough to make me swoon.

Who else am I missing...? Just regular cameos around the Mansion. Oh, yeah. Karima. No one has ever looked so amazing as a bald Prime Sentinel. The tech is drawn wonderfully. I'm very happy.

I love it. I loved it when it was a little messy in HoM, but TODAY? Clean and ruled while still capturing Bachalo? I think it's fantastic.

[Madrox84]

I like it... Not as much as i liked Bachalo's old style, but i do like it.

[kate-pryde]

I didn't like Bachelo's work in Uncanny, but his recent work in Adjectiveless has been pretty darn cool. Still, it's hard to recognize some characters (Bobby & Sam) at first glance, but overall the style works with the storyline. But my opinion might change when I see how he handles Cable, since he's a character that doesn't usually look good when drawn in a stylized way.

[We R. Venom]

I Love his work so far. Love hwo he draws Iceman, and Rgue. I cant wait to see what he does with Cable. Somehow his art just makes me wanna stare. lol.

[That JonoGuy]

I've always enjoyed Bachalo's work. My only complaint with his work is that is is sometimes highly inconsistent. Overalll though his takes on the characters is always right on.

[sbo]

Overall I don't like his art. It can look decent at times, but more often it looks messy.
I especially don't like how his women often look like they're about 10 years old. The x-women are supposed to be adults, make them look like it.

[Dr Manolis Dooplove]

i LOVE it :D

[jpk]

Don't like it. Too scattershot and unfocused for me. Half the time I can't even tell what body part I'm looking at. His Iceman is just...ugh. And he makes Rogue look like a child. :mad:

[Golon9977]

I liked his work on UX. I think his best work was in X-Men Unlimited #1 followed up by in the Generation X series.

The one artist that I was very disappointed by was Adam Kubert. He did a great job in Wolverine but very horrible job in UX.

[Stagier]

hit or miss for me.

Pretty much what everyone has already said. His start on Gen X was great up until AOA. then when he started drawing them like SD kids, it was eh..

first run on Uncanny was great, then it started getting crazy. I've never seen so much on one page. I think Steampunk gave me epilepsy.

His stuff is good now, I think a combination of a lot of his styles. and a lot less cluttered.

[atoningunifex]

I've been a big fan of Bachalo's art since the first Death miniseries. I like his quirkiness and his eagerness to approach each page as a piece of art.

I'm up and down over his line. When he started letting in more of the Joe Mad and anime influence into his work I was a little hesitant at first. But I grew to appreciate it.

I think his work on Steampunk is brilliant as art but not so great as comic book art. Each page is beautifully constructed and there's a lot of inventive stuff going on, but at times it could be very difficult to read as a story. I think he's toned that down quite a bit in his X-Men work. I know people still complain about it, but there has never been an issue of the X-men he's drawn that I've had trouble figuring out what was going on.

I don't think the monthly grind is kind to him. I think he ends up getting rushed and his work ends up farmed out to several different inkers. This works against him and leads to some less than stellar panels.

I'm a really big fan of his covers. I think his design sense really pays off with the covers.

I'm really digging his character designs as well.

While I have the occasional reservation, I am still a big fan of Bachalo's artwork.

[Faded]

I'm a really big fan of his covers. I think his design sense really pays off with the covers.

I'm really digging his character designs as well.

I agree. He really shines in these departments. I love how he incorporates the logos into his covers and his recent costume designs have been top notch (and he's the only one to make the Marvel Girl outfit work IMO).

[Scipio72002]

Faded, where is your Avatar from? It is one very good piece of Bachalo's work.

[Faded]

Faded, where is your Avatar from? It is one very good piece of Bachalo's work.

X-Men #189, the issue that came out last week I think :).

[eggie]

I love his art! I was sad to hear that Salvador was leaving but relieved to hear Chris was taking over. I've always been a fan of his art and think what he is doing on X-Men right now is some of his best work.

[An Average Madri]

His best costume design is Sabertooth's, hands down. I have always loved Bachalo's "alternative" artstyle, and his new Children design is far from disappointing! (its fun to look at when you're stoned, honest!)

And his Generation X #2 cover is still one of my favorite covers to date!!

[xgeek52]

i'm not a fan, never have been...but realistically his work is better than the last time i saw it...

[AnkaleRa]

Chris has been my favorite since I first read the 10 year AoA Anniversary. He is extremely meticulous, especially regarding backgrounds, and that's what I love about it!

I vote YES!

[Brian M.]

Personally he's hit or miss, lately he's been more hit for me. I hated some of his work in the AoA 10th Annv. He had one panel w/ Wolverine where he looked like a retarded monkey. It could have been the shitty story but the art was rough to me. I know he was putting out an issue every week but still, it was bad. Lately his Uncanny and X-Men have been AWESOME. So all is well.

[matgro]

I've been reading comments about his female characters looking really young and petite, and I have to agree with that, in fact that's probably my biggest beef with the art. I can handle a big, hulking version of Sabertooth, but when I see Rogue looking ten or fifteen years younger that what she really is, it just kind of rubs me the wrong way. Aside from all that, I think it's a nice unique style. It's different, but different in a good way to me. His action really packs a punch, while a bit obscured at times, I feel it really does the trick. Overall, thumbs up.

[Dioces]

I've always loved his work and he's a pretty cool guy in person, so I'm going to say yes regardless.

In my opinion, his best stuff was on Ghost Rider 2099.

EDIT: So when I mentioned GR2099 it made me go dig through my comics since an image stuck out in my head. Enjoy

http://img418.imageshack.us/img418/5172/gr2099zj8.th.jpg (http://img418.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gr2099zj8.jpg)

[Affinity]

When I look at the girls, they do seem young indeed, but when I look at them with the background and overall feel of Bachalo's style, they fit right in. It's how he draws, and to me, Rogue is still Rogue and Emma is still Emma. Serafina doesn't strike me as looking 10 or 11, and so it works.

[steve2275]

his COLOSSUS is pretty good too

[Mariah]

When I look at the girls, they do seem young indeed, but when I look at them with the background and overall feel of Bachalo's style, they fit right in. It's how he draws, and to me, Rogue is still Rogue and Emma is still Emma. Serafina doesn't strike me as looking 10 or 11, and so it works.
I agree. I like how he draws women, they're not all overly busty, and have uber woman proportions. Sure, they're not realistically drawn, but they get the job done.

[Dustin]

Yeah, sure, what's not there to like?

[Affinity]

You'd be surprised. CBR is pretty much split (or, at least, 3/4) about his work. Don't see the hate, especially after he's cleaned up so much.

[Squaw Fish]

If I had a uterus Chris Bachalo's babies would be growing inside.

[fishtaco]

I don't like Bachalo's current work at all, although I liked his stuff on Generation X and Generation Next.

[Zombienorthstar]

The man draws a great Rogue...that double page splash of 'Now we know' was incredible...however i do feel that sometimes he overclutters his panels. Regardless, hes still one of my favourite artists.

[Gene M.]

I think Bachalo is the perfect artist for an X-Book. He brings a strong and unique sense of design, as well as a sense of quirky weirdness that fits perfectly with a book that was originally concieved as the "strangest teens of all".