"Alan Davis' Controversal Writing and Penciling"
by David (Rhyme)

He is perhaps the most controversal writer/artist of the decade. He is Alan Davis, the new writer of Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, and the new penciler of X-Men. So far, he has written three story arcs. Three very controversal story arcs.

We were first exposed to Alan Davis' writing in the 'Magneto War'. Immediately, fans started screaming about how they hated Alan Davis' writing. Because frankly, the Magneto War sucked. It was poorly layed out, full of continuity errors, and it didn't live up to expectations. But looking back, maybe that wasn't Alan Davis' fault. I say it's not his fault because...it was never his storyline to tell. This was a storyline that started in UXM #327. And here he was, writing it in UXM #366, X-M #86, UXM #367, and X-Men #87. Scott Lobdell had plans for this storyline. Unfortunately, Scott Lobdell's storyline never got told. And then, it was passed on to Joe Kelly and Steve Seagle, who fleshed it our more, and seemed to have a direction for it. But then...the editors dumped the whole messy ordeal onto Alan Davis. So yes...the Magneto War was extremely horrible, but it was not Alan Davis' fault.

Next up we had Joseph's funeral in UXM #368. It was a good issue, but it left me with no feeling. I had never cared too much for Joseph's character...and Alan Davis couldn't make me feel anything for him now, at his funeral.

So...when the big mess with Joseph was done and over with, we were given a two-part storyline with Juggernaut and some kooky guys called the Trion. It was very weird, and a little confusing at times, but it had some really good parts. First of all, Alan started to get more of a feel for the characters. Then there was the bond that developed between Xavier and Wolvie, when tensions were high between them. Plus, it was nice to see the Juggernaut cowering for once. ;)

And then came a three-part saga that was so out of this world, so unlike any other X-Men storyline that it was fantastic. The only thing I could possible compare it to is Days of Future Past, and that is because it's one of those seperate reality things that has little effect on continuity, but is loved at the same time. I enjoyed seeing the skrulls trying (rather unsuccesfully) to play out the parts of different heroes. I enjoyed seeing Gambit show some compassion for another human. But mostly, I enjoyed seeing Alan Davis start to get a feel for the characters.

My overall verdict on Alan Davis' writing is that it is good, and in time, it could prove to be excellent, if he's given some room to maneveur, and time to get to know the characters more.

Now...Alan Davis' penciling is even more difficult to talk about. We were introduced to it in X-M #85. Lots of people loved it. Frankly, I didn't. It seemed too bland to me. It certainly wasn't something to stare at. X-M #86 and 87 were total pieces of garbage. They were much worse than X-M #85. X-M #88 showed some improvement, but I still wasn't too big on it. When X-M #89 and 90 came around, I started to change my opinion. I found myself enjoying his artwork. It wasn't something to stare at certainly...but I realized it had some great qualities. For one, the storytelling and pacing of Alan Davis' penciling is fantastic. And also, his work comes out on time. That's something a lot of artists today can't say.

Overall, Alan Davis' artwork is ok. But with him plotting and penciling at the same time, it makes for a very, very good book.