| Posted: 04 September 2026 at 4:24pm | IP Logged | 4
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I’ve been getting somewhat annoyed at “reviews” of ELSEWHEN that claim it has “thin” character development. I’ve found myself wondering if this comes from people who are reading the first volume in isolation, unaware of the work as a whole. But just now, something occurred to me. Many of the self-appointed “reviewers” say how much they enjoy the fact that characters don’t launch off into pages of contemplation and rumination—but this might well be why they find “characterization” missing. They’ve had a couple of generations of characters effectively standing to one side while they pour out whatever is going on in their heads. Claremont was doing this even back in my day. Action breaks for exposition. And writers who have come after CC have followed his model. But I have been mostly influenced by the likes of Stan Lee, Denny O’Neil and Archie Goodwin. I fold the exposition into the action. So Scott and Jean, for instance, interact over multiple issues. They don’t stop to talk about their lives. And that might well be lost on those who look for underlining.
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