Your Panel Of The Week: 09.01.10
From Franken-Castle #20 By Rick Remender, Tony Moore, Dan Brown, and Cory Petit
I couldn’t think of stronger panel to bring this feature back with, nor to kick off its new improved version (more on that later). I’ve long been a proponent of Remender and Moore’s work on this book and the latest issue (though hobbled a bit by some fill in pages) is no exception. We see Remender’s trademark staccato take on Castle’s dialogue here, but the star, of course, is Tony Moore’s Wolverine, easily the best rendition of the character since Quitely’s in New X-Men. There are two nigh-perfect drawings of him in the issue, the one above, and this one:
I went back and forth between which one deserved the crown this week and in the end it was actually the simpler background of the first that won the day. Along with Dan Brown’s fantastic color work, it’s a really lovely little bit of almost abstract set dressing. (The issue takes place in Japan, hence the neon colors all over the place.)
And speaking of Winning The Day, I figured since this was the first week of a new month, it might be fun to make this feature a kind of bracketed tournament. At the end of the month, we’ll gather up all the entries and decide Your Panel Of The Month. And then next September, we’ll gather up all those winners and decide Your Panel Of The Year.
As always, I provide excitement for a very meager few.
Your Panel Of The Week: 07.01.09
From Batman & Robin #2 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Alex Sinclair, and Patrick Brosseau
OUCH.
I could not think of a better panel with which to signal the return of this long missed feature on this long last updated site. Frank Quitely’s work on this issue was without a doubt among his (if not just flat out his) best work, and it was tough to pick just one, but no panel kept coming back to my mind after reading it as much as this one. It’s just so elaborate, so well thought out, so detailed.
I didn’t even realize he was holding the pinky and thumb until the second time around.
The Triumphant Return Of Your Panel Of The Week
From Secret Six #5 by Gail Simone, Nicola Scott, Doug Hazlewood (or possibly Rodney Ramos), Jason Wright, and Travis Lanham
What struck me first was the top of Deadshot’s face here. The eyes, the nose, the cheekbones. It was all just perfectly drawn. Not one line in excess of what was needed to convey the state of the character. Than, working out from there, Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood (or, as said, possbly Ramos) did a great chin/stache/lips/puke combo. Top it off with a very detailed realization of a casino bathroom and we’re off to a great start. (The detail on his gun bracelet [not belt?] and gloves, is also very nice.)
What pushed this over the top for me (when a Mike McKone Spidey close-up was very high in the running) was the really fantastic color work of Travis Lanham. There was a distinct painterly quality to the entire book, but especially this sequence. I don’t know why, but it really stood out to me.
Also, it might not be totally evident in this single panel (just because it’s out of context, not because it stinks), but Simone is writing the living crap out of this book. So much fun, such well drawn characters, and legitimate, earned surprises in every issue.
This is an ongoing, right? Please tell me it’s an ongoing. And please, don’t let the rest of this production team go anywhere.
Your Panel of The Week: 06.04.08
From Criminal #3 by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Val Staples.
What got me first was Danica’s mom’s face. It’s just cartoony enough of an open mouth and simultaneously just real enough to be an almost perfect Comic Book Expression.
But when you take a closer look, you see the fantastic composition of both the figures and the dialogue balloon and captions (all of which are taken care of by Phillips, undoubtedly the source of such consistency).
Staples’ color work is also great, not at all showy, even in such a Photoshoppy trick as the cigarette’s glow.
Phillips, who as far as I know letters the book as well, was made a pretty great font by, if I’m not mistaken, the heroes at Comicraft. Normally I hate that sort of typeface. In any other page environment, it reminds me of bad Wolverine lettering, but it works so well with Phillips’ style.
And there’s some really infuriatingly great brush work by Phillips here too. He makes it look so effortless, especially in Danica’s mom’s jacket. And how did he find the three perfect little dabs to put outside the car window?
I mean, really, how does someone do that so dang well?
Your Panel Of The Week: 05.15.08
From 100 Bullets #91 by Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Patricia Mulvihill, and Clem Robins.
Nothing too much to really get in depth about with this one. Now that I’ve started this little “featurette”, I keep it in the back of my mind as I go through my weekly stack and this is the one that jumped out at me the most.
I love Risso’s work, so there’s that. I also really love the way the detail in Slaughter’s hair starts to peek out from the shadow.
And I guess that weird Inuit-style tattoo is pretty cool too.
Your Panel Of The Week: 05.08.08
From The Mighty Avengers #13 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Matt Hollingsworth.
Bendis and Maleev’s run on Daredevil is one of my favorite comic runs ever, and there’s one little moment I always venture back to. Matt is in a holding cell in an NYC Police Station and Foggy comes by to offer his help, representation, whatever. (Recall at this point, he was trying to deny his recently revealed identity as Daredevil.) Matt politely thanks him for thinking of him, but that he’ll be fine on his own. (It’s a two page spread, otherwise I’d post the whole thing right here, believe me. Also, I have the Oversized Hardcover so, yeah, no chance either way.) Anyway.
The last panel of the sequence is just Matt, sitting behind an interrogation table as Foggy walks off in the foreground, the coffee from a Greek Diner (you can tell by the cup) resting on the table in front of him. It’s a fantastically rendered moment and the one in which I pretty much decided I would buy and pore over any subsequent work Alex Maleev would ever do.
So this week, we’ve got Part Two of the Secret Invasion crossover in The Mighty Avengers bringing together that same Daredevil team (and Halo: Uprising, but that’s a story for another time) to tell the story of what Nick Fury has been up to all this time.
And it’s actually, as an aside, been a much better read than what Secret Invasion is devolving into as of #2. The first one was a blast, but this second one is a bunch of fights that, really, who ever wanted to see? Give me more crashing helicarriers and warping buildings, please.
Anyway. In this issue, Nick rounds up a bunch of unknown superpowers to help fight Skrulls. The young boy portrayed here is one such superpower.
The whole sequence introducing him is really visually lovely, but this panel in particular gave me the same vibe as that beloved one from their run on Daredevil.
I love the coloring, the way it makes the kid stand out. The posture, and the way he’s sort of slouched and mopey, it’s just perfect.
And thus, it is Your Panel Of The Week.
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Benjamin Birdie
Suddenly kind of aged, Benjamin lives in Queens with his cat. His Master's Degree in Creative Writing has helped him immensely with his primary responsibilities of drawing things.
He can be reached at benjaminbirdie (at) gmail (dot) com.
And do feel free to follow him on Twitter.
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His Comics
Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, this charming comic strip by myself and Kevin Church receives a sparkling new installment. A Comic Strip About A Comic Shop.