"The Uncanny P-Men" ("X-2: X-Men United")
I can remember when it first dawned on me: July 2nd, 2002.
A few days prior I had received an e-mail from Marvel Comics asking me to take down a picture I drew of Plight with Spiderman and his Amazing Friends. It was basically a ‘cease and desist’ letter, but the way it was worded was extremely friendly and complimentary. However one thing was abundantly clear: there could never be any more drawings of Plight with any Marvel Comics characters again. A little bit of a bummer, but nothing that brought me down. So I left the matter as one of those “oh well” type of deals.
Which brings us back to July 2nd. Tony, his better half, his darling kid, and I decided to catch an afternoon showing of “Men in Black 2”. We arrived just in time to watch the previews and one of them happened to be for “The Hulk”. Now, I had seen the preview before since it debut with the “Spiderman” film, so I was more concerned about the little kid sitting next to me being scaried. But then it hit me. And damn, did it hit me! ”The Hulk” was a Marvel Comics character. So was “Daredevil”. And so were the “X-Men”. And all three (at the time at least) were scheduled to be released during the summer!
So if you want to know when I first began planning out the start of the 2003 summer blockbuster gallery – there you go!
After some brainstorming and knowing drawing the actual characters were forbidden, Tony came up with the idea of having me do a homage to the cover of the revamped “X-Men # 1” by Jim Lee. The only problem with that is the picture was heavy in detail and characters. I made a few attempts at it, but it was beyond my worst piece of art. I liked the idea of a cover homage though, and it had been a couple of years since I last tried it (ironically homaging the cover to “Daredevil” # 1). So I chose to start at the very beginning: the original “X-Men # 1” cover done in the late 60’s by the legendary Jack Kirby.
I spent a good couple of months on this piece; trying to make it one of my best. Along the way I continually kept tweaking the logo, trying to keep it looking sharp, and just improving the picture along the way. But the funny thing is, when I started on the piece I was going for laughs. Near the end, I chose to tone it down. Maybe it’s a killjoy but the more I studied Mr. Kirby’s work, the more I felt making it a joke would have been rude. Some people underestimate his art, but the fact is the guy really knew how to deliver dramatic poses.
I’m half-expecting a letter from Marvel Comics any day now telling me something like I’m ripping off the Kirby estate or I plagiarized their copyrighted layout. But I don’t care. This is more of a tribute than a homage. You’ve heard me many times bash my own works, but this time I’m not ashamed. It came out pretty darn good and I owe it all to the king of comics, bub! - Jake