A Look Back on Bob McLeod's New Mutants Run

Modern commission via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

As co-creator of the New Mutants with Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod played an important part in the X-Men mythos.  If nothing else, he helped design Cannonball, Karma, Psyche, Sunspot, and Wolfsbane; collectively, that group includes two future Avengers, four future members of X-Force, a member of X-Factor, a leader of the Hellfire Club, an agent of SHIELD, a mutant terrorist, and a Valkyrie.  Clearly, the characters have grown to have a sizable impact on the Marvel Universe.  A broader perspective would also indicate that McLeod helped bring about the X-Men as a franchise, instead of just a single comic title.

Modern commission via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

Despite the historical impact of McLeod's run, it was surprisingly short.  He pencilled and inked the graphic novel and three issues, and inked two others.  According to interviews, McLeod blamed his short time on the title on a combination of deadline difficulties and problems with Claremont's scripts.  Instead of having the full script treatments that Claremont is known for --- a script that would plan out every panel of every page --- McLeod received "detailed plots" from the writer that were about 40 pages long for a 22-page story.  So, take a book that was already having problems meeting the deadlines, give it a an artist doing two jobs, and then make him take a lot of extra time to figure out what he is supposed to draw, and you have one seriously stressed-out Bob McLeod.  Fun fact: it appears that the Team America crossover was the breaking point for McLeod, because he got tired of doing what he considered "crap."

Vintage 1983 art via http://www.bobmcleod.com/

From a story impact, McLeod's run was uneventful.  Aside from introducing the team and playing a small part in the Brood storyline, these stories aren't particularly good or important.  That's not necessarily McLeod's fault, since Chris Claremont was writing the title, but it's an unfortunate legacy for a co-creator.  Before reviewing these issues, I didn't particularly care for McLeod's art, but I've grown to appreciate it now, especially his inking; I am still amazed at how much his inked work over Sal Buscema's rough style actually looked like McLeod pencilled it himself.

It's not all fantastic, granted.  McLeod was at his best in casual, character-based scenes.  His action scenes are sometimes laid out awkwardly, and his faces occasionally looked grotesque.  Still, McLeod provided artwork that made these five team members look and feel like distinct individuals of different shapes and sizes --- something that would prove difficult for future New Mutants artists to pull off.