CBR: McKone Builds Character with "Avengers Academy"

[CBR News]

CBR News spoke with "Avengers Academy" artist Mike McKone spoke about designing the new Giant-Man costume as well as his experiences designing the looks of the series' cast of teen characters.


Full article here.

[Godlike13]

Over the past year I've had a lot of people tell me how much they like Hazmat's costume and it's easily my least favorite . They don't seem to believe me, but I just don't like it and I even asked Bill if we could kill her off so I wouldn't have to draw it any more. He said no and that the readers dig her, so what do i know?

LoL, that is too funny.

I think he did a great job with the redesign of the Giant-Man costume, a love that he kept the classic format with the gloves and the antennas, but a like how he modernized it by ditching the trunks and adding the sides. Plus the addition of the Ant-Man circle is great.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Over the past year I've had a lot of people tell me how much they like Hazmat's costume and it's easily my least favorite . They don't seem to believe me, but I just don't like it and I even asked Bill if we could kill her off so I wouldn't have to draw it any more. He said no and that the readers dig her, so what do i know?

Ouch! And I thought Hazmat was the best designed character visually outside of Mettle!

inb4 Chase starts defending her.

[theXfactor]

I think he's a great artist, but I'm not a fan o most of his designs. I like Giant-Man's and Hazmat's, but Veil's very ugly.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

I'm actually kind of sad that people want to perpetuate the black overall costume look. Look at that group shot in that article and remove Hazmat. That is a very bland looking and visually unexciting team.
What's wrong with color? Why is it so shunned for just these melodramatic dull overtones? This is the exact sort of thing that turned me off video games. Why should art work become more and more bleak to be viewed as successful?!

[mdg1]

I've already stated elsethread my problems with the antennae, but I was curious what the inspiration for the new chest design is, since it doesn't particularly signify anything in his history (unlike the ant-body design of his first Ant-Man suit) but it's too distinctive to be just decoration.

Actually, I wonder if he got the idea from Steve Rogers:

[Chase_Stein]

Mike McKone is such an overrated artist. I hope he's fired by Marvel before he ruins all of these characters. His Mettle issue esp. was so unbearable that I almost threw it in a trash can. DC can have him back in their D-list titles.

Hazmat deserves to stay and last forever in Avengers. Gage is obv. setting her up for an illustrious career as the Avengers' leader/ commander. McKone doesn't understand that.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Mike McKone is such an overrated artist. I hope he's fired by Marvel before he ruins all of these characters. His Mettle issue esp. was so unbearable that I almost threw it in a trash can. DC can have him back in their D-list titles.

Hazmat deserves to stay and last forever in Avengers. Gage is obv. setting her up for an illustrious career as the Avengers' leader/ commander. McKone doesn't understand that.

Like clockwork.

[Chase_Stein]

Like clockwork.

McKone is not worthy of penciling a gracious character like Jenny Takeda.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

McKone is not worthy of penciling a gracious character like Jenny Takeda.

Except for the fact he created the look of the character and possibly, according to this article, allowed the character to be Asian.

Listen, I know you really like Hazmat, but you are REALLY blowing her out of proportions.

[Chase_Stein]

Except for the fact he created the look of the character and possibly, according to this article, allowed the character to be Asian.

No he did not. It was purely Gage's idea.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

No he did not. It was purely Gage's idea.

I'm just saying, McKone mentioned having input on the characters ethnicity.

[theXfactor]

I really like his Giant-Man design. It's has a nod to his older GM costume with some new elements. I think it really works.
But Veil's costume is just so uninspiring and ugly... Definitely my least favorite of the bunch. I also don't really like how they look as a team, there's something... off.

[Mikey Brown]

Mike McKone is such an overrated artist. I hope he's fired by Marvel before he ruins all of these characters. His Mettle issue esp. was so unbearable that I almost threw it in a trash can. DC can have him back in their D-list titles.

Hazmat deserves to stay and last forever in Avengers. Gage is obv. setting her up for an illustrious career as the Avengers' leader/ commander. McKone doesn't understand that.

Yeah hope you get fired from your job. Thats not a crazy thing to say.

[Rheged]

Mike McKone is such an overrated artist. I hope he's fired by Marvel before he ruins all of these characters. His Mettle issue esp. was so unbearable that I almost threw it in a trash can. DC can have him back in their D-list titles.

Hazmat deserves to stay and last forever in Avengers. Gage is obv. setting her up for an illustrious career as the Avengers' leader/ commander. McKone doesn't understand that.

You're not making much sense. Mike McKone has been on the book since the beginning, and has co-created the character that you say you love. Half the success of Avengers Academy, and it is a success, is due to McKone. It's not like he took over from someone else. He IS the look of Avengers Academy.

I, for one, think McKone is severely underrated. I loved his work on FF and on AA.