Panel Discussion: Bending Backwards (A Participatory Exercise)!

Martinex1:  Have you ever been taken out of the enjoyment of a story by an oddity in the art or a quirk in the dialog?   Has your suspension of disbelief ever been stretched by what is visually on panel?   Have you ever reread a comic page thinking something was missing or it should have been modified somehow?  Or do you just like goofing around?

If the answer to any of those questions are "yes," then this Panel Discussion may be for you.  Once in a while here at BITBA, I will rescript a page just for sheer enjoyment (hopefully yours).

Before we get to the action, let's talk about how this all came about.   Creating a comic is difficult and time consuming work.   It involves a significant amount of  talent in the art arena that I don't have, although I spend a certain amount of time praising, reviewing, and critiquing the work.  I am aware that even with the best of intentions by the creators sometimes things just don't appear as intended in its final form. 

In a recent post, we took a look at Firestorm and during my research I came across a page from Justice League of America #179  (cover dated June 1980) by Gerry Conway and Dick Dillin.  The story itself in which Firestorm first joins the JLA is a strange one starting with the alliterative title "The Siren Song of the Satin Satan."   Dick Dillin was an artist with DC most notably remembered for his decades of work mainly on Blackhawk and Justice League of America.  In my mind, Dillin helped create a certain DC feel as he handled the art on countless covers for them.  Conway created Firestorm and brought him over to the JLA. 

Together the talented duo created a page that made me laugh and take a second look.   The bizarre position of Firestorm in the large panel had me wondering if Ronnie Raymond was a contortionist.   There is just something a little off in the character's position.  The dialogue that followed made me wonder if Conway took note of the art (particularly with the word balloon from the Elongated Man).  I also noticed the shock effect behind Firestorm's head; I am tempted to add the Gwen Stacy "snap." Take a look yourself...

Dillin is an extremely able artist, but sometimes everybody has an off day.   Not only was the back-breaking pose extraordinary, but I didn't think that the facial expressions on the team matched the joy of the page or the general happiness of what they were expressing.

So as I am apt to do, I had a little fun with the page.   A few word changes and the page has a slightly different meaning...

It is puerile I know, but I cannot resist.  So here is one more...

I've had my fun for the week, so now it is your turn.   Do you have any suggestions for revised dialogue or commentary?    And on a broader scope, does any panel or page stick in your mind where just something was unintentionally off?  The Bronze Age is full of art demanded on a tight deadline; it is all better than anything I would have scribbled in the time allowed, but we can still have some laughs with it can't we?

Cheers!