Redartz: Hi fellow 'panelologists'! Awhile back you may remember we did a post examining some of the most striking individual panels from Bronze age Spider-Man comics. Well, it seems time to follow that up with a look at some great panels from the Avengers. Technically, some of these 'panels' are full pages, but still constitute a single image nonetheless.
Choosing these examples was a very difficult task (although looking through all those issues was a treat to the eyes). The Avengers was blessed with some truly spectacular artwork over the course of our time frame here. The finest artists and inkers of the era were assigned to the title, and there was an embarrassment of fine panels from which to choose. So to add some degree of challenge, I tried to use some panels perhaps less obviously classics. And so, with no further delay, let's have a look at some Assembled Avengers.
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| Giant-Size Avengers 2 (Dave Cockrum) |
Here's a panel, actually most of a page, from one of the greatest "Giant-Size" books Marvel ever published. The climax of the first Kang War, as Kang tries to identify the identity of the Celestial Madonna. Dave Cockrum inks himself here, and it shows as a labor of love. Excellent representation of time twisting as two of Kang's identities come together in battle.
The Avengers enjoyed some pretty fine Annuals, and this one was among the best. And the beautiful visuals from Golden and Gil are a big reason why. I love how much interaction Golden crams into this panel.
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| Avengers Annual 10 (Michael Golden and Armando Gil) |
Speaking of Annuals, this was a classic. Jim Starlin's Thanos epic, in Avengers Annual 7. Here we have the last page of the story, and if there's a better way to visually summarize the tale's conclusion I can't imagine it. A truly perfect blending of scenes; Starlin cements himself as one of the Avengers' finest storytellers.
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| Avengers Annual 7 (Jim Starlin and Joe Rubinstein) |
John Buscema was responsible for many great Avengers Silver Age stories, and he was still riding high in the Bronze. Check out this incredibly touching panel of Cap after the war with Zemo. And mention must also be made of Tom Palmer's rich inks. Magnificent.
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| Avengers 277 (John Buscema and Tom Palmer) |
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| Avengers 270 (John Buscema and Tom Palmer) |
This art team was so good, they deserve another panel. Amazing composition in this example, and the perception of depth is enhanced by the heaviness of the foreground vs. the sparse background
Now we have Big John inked by Joltin' Joe Sinnott, another stellar teamup. This particular panel struck me for it's remarkable attention to individualizing what is basically a common henchman. Just a bit player, but Buscema really gives him a unique close-up for his 'starring moment'.
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| Avengers 153 (John Buscema and Joe Sinnott) |
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| Avengers 153 (John Buscema and Joe Sinnott) |
And now here's another of the Avengers' greatest illustrators: John Byrne! This panel just jumped out at me; very unusual lighting: total darkness to the left, with Deathbird silhouetted by the white-hot explosion to the right.
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| Avengers 189 (John Byrne and Dan Green) |
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| Avengers 189 (John Byrne and Dan Green) |
And here's another panel from that issue, with another example of evocative lighting. Hawkeye is in total silhouette, framed by girders (it could almost be a fine-art etching). His pose, Deathbird's expression, the frame's balance; all perfection. Byrne's genius shows, once again.
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| Avengers 186 (John Byrne and Dan Green) |
One more panel from Mr. Byrne, from the great issue 181. Here he does a masterful job at showing the Beast's acrobatics. It brings to mind some of Steve Ditko's depictions of Spider-Man...
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| Avengers 181 (John Byrne and Gene Day) |
From John Byrne to George Perez; this is like touring a candy factory. Just too many goodies. This panel exemplifies some of Perez' strengths; group shots, detailed backgrounds, facial individuality, and solid composition. Plus he does the best 'Kirby Krackle' this side of the King himself.
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| Avengers 160 (George Perez and Pablo Marcos) |
George Perez loves to fill each page, each panel, to the absolute maximum. Sometimes this involves the use of odd-shaped panels, repetitive panels. or tight spaces. This narrow gem was stuck mid-page, but it has enough detail for an opening splash...
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| Avengers 162 (George Perez and Pablo Marcos) |
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| Avengers 162 (George Perez and Pablo Marcos) |
This panel gives us a shining look at the Golden Avenger. The only other artist I can think of who gave us such a scintillating Iron Man was Bob Layton.
This panel is fascinating- so much action underway in such a small space. Perez depicts the ant-covered Wanda, struggling Iron Man, downed Cap, mid-stride Wonder Man and attacking Vision, all while also showing Ant-Man's creative shrinking dodge. A fantastic panel from a fantastic issue.
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| Avengers 161 (George Perez and Pablo Marcos) |
And here is another shot from that great issue, showing a powerful, determined Scarlet Witch. I'm not always comfortable with Pablo Marcos' inks, but he works wonders over Perez...
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| Avengers 161 (George Perez and Pablo Marcos) |
Stepping back a few issues, here is a nice group shot from one of Perez' earliest stories. Avengers Assemble, indeed...
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| Avengers 151 (George Perez and John Tartaglione) |
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| Avengers 148 (George Perez and Sam Grainger) |
And another early Perez offering; a cool low-vantage point shot of Cap and Iron Man. Note the fun use of the logos; borrowing here that lick from the old Justice League stories.
Next, another Avengers illustrator represented. This panel from George Tuska shows a bit of playfulness. Effective use of the leaves and their shadows on the topless Vision, reflected also in Wand's hair. And speaking of Wanda, you can really see Vince Colletta's inks at work in her face...
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| Avengers 137 (George Tuska and Vince Colletta) |
Our Pal Sal, responsible for countless Avengers tales through the years. Here's the opening page/panel from a classic. And I give much credit as well to Joe Staton's inking here. Staton really gives an attractive polish to Sal's pencils, he may be my favorite inker for SB.
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| Avengers 132 (Sal Buscema and Joe Staton) |
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| Avengers 127 (Sal Buscema and Joe Staton) |
Here is another panel, from the opening page, from that same issue. It's a personal favorite: the first Avengers story I ever read. And this great group shot helps explain my fondness for the book.
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| Avengers 127 (Sal Buscema and Joe Staton) |
A couple years later, Sal gets inks from the ever-skillful Klaus Janson. Klaus, like Terry Austin, makes just about any pencilwork look even better.
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| Avengers 172 (Sal Buscema and Klaus Janson) |
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| Avengers 117 (Bob Brown and Mike Esposito) |
Next, here's a powerful panel from one of the greatest Avengers arcs of all: the Avengers/Defenders war. Bob Brown and Mike Esposito convincingly show the force of this struggle between two titans. In water, Namor would have the advantage, but here Cap seems to be more than holding his own.
Finally, how could we not acknowledge Neal Adams' early Bronze age Avengers work? This panel, from the spectacular issue 93, shows off Adams's talents beautifully. And, of course, Tom Palmer's contribution is not to be ignored. There is wonderful fluidity and motion to Ant-Man's figure and the grasping pseudopods (love that term). And there is the 3-D effect of Ant-Man breaking the panel borders...
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| Avengers 93 (Neal Adams and Tom Palmer) |
closing
8 comments:
This might be the best post yet on BITBA.
Any panels that capture the 70s peak Byrne/Perez/JB/SB is just so much gravy! I loved the Avengers run of 1976-80 so much. Great artwork, great engaging stories.
Yoyo
Love it!
You hit all the marks Redartz. The Celestial Madonna panel is fantastic. I also love the very next page of that issue.
I could probably add every single panel from the Count Nefaria battle.
Great post!
This is a really great topic, very nice pics takin' me back.
I'm sure other examples will pop to mind, but I can't stop thinking of the two splash pages in Busiek and Perez's Avengers vol. 3 number 10...the Avengers Day Parade issue.
That comic isn't a Bronze Age one, but Perez's splash of every single Avenger and then every single villain sure ticks a lot of boxes of great (and obscure) characters over the years.
Oh, just thought of a bunch of examples from the Korvac saga...I'll just stick to the view-from-above of the casualties strewn about the floor in #177...stared at that a lot as a kid.
-david p.
Cool selections. I remember most of these, though it's been a while since I read them.
David P., you're right on the money about that overhead shot from the Korvac fight; loved that issue. It's hard to recall specifics, but I think there were some pretty cool visuals in the first fight against Graviton (like when he held the whole team helpless on that floating chunk of rock); there were some great scenes in the Masters of Evil story where they took over the Mansion (Hercules getting pounded into a coma comes to mind)
Something I always thought was curious was Captain America’s floating shield from Avengers # 117. The same story actually shows a panel with Namor sitting in the floating shield. But wasn’t there a storyline in the 90’s where Cap lost his shield after it sank to the bottom of the ocean? Not a big deal - it just always gets my attention when I see panals from that issue of The Avengers.
Thanks for the comments and kind words, guys!
Yoyo- yes, the Avengers was at the top of the Marvel peak in the second half of the 70's. Looking through them was, and is, a labor of love...
Killraven- you're right about that subsequent page in GS Avengers 2: it was a coin toss which image to pick for this post.
David p- thanks for bringing up the Busiek/Perez Avengers. Those were pretty enjoyable books too.
Allen- good question about that scene with Cap's 'floating' shield. I always took that action as Cap sort of 'skimming' his shield across the water to prevent Namor from entering his element, as you or I might skip a stone. Perhaps someone else can elaborate on that ?
Too bad we can't post images, but one of my favorite panels is by John Byrne from Avengers #165, page 6. It's the last panel on the page and it features Wonder Man being punched through a wall of Avenger's mansion by Count Nefaria. His costume gets shredded in the process, and sadly it's the last time we see him in his cool, brightly colored red, green, and yellow costume that he only wore for a few short issues (but it's sill my favorite).
This was indeed a great post partner. So many great panels. That solo Hawkeye Avengers book really did have some nice creative art. Dan Green doesn’t get mentioned a lot but he is a great inker and when paired with Byrne really did some fantastic work.
Also you mentioned that the Beast panel had a Ditko vibe - I was thinking the exact same thing about the previous panel with the Scarlet Witch. Her face and the magical rings just screamed Ditko to me.
Kudos on the work behind this post - really great.
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