Spider-Man 89: The Fall

From Amazing Spider-Man #89: Spider-Man falls.

Doctor Octopus had won, and then he threw away the beaten hero like garbage. This was the last panel of issue #89, a classic cliffhanger that owes much of its power to Gil Kane's superb composition.

Note how the metal arms "frame" Spidey from all sides, including behind his back and in front of his foot; he's visually "trapped", even as he falls. The hero's flailing left arm also points at the people below, establishing height and distance. And the perspective is off-center and tilted, as if the reader were also unbalanced. This page is magnificent. 

Story by Stan Lee, Art by Gil Kane and John Romita Sr.

Supervillain Team-Up 13: Blasphemous Horror

From Supervillain Team-Up #13: Namor meets the Blasphemous Horror!

Keith Giffen's early work had a powerful Kirby influence (like Bill Sienkiewicz and Neal Adams), and it shows on the design of this sea-monster. Giffen illustrates the scale of the creature by scattering tiny victims around its gaping maw, as the city of Atlantis shatters around it like sandcastles. This splash page really sells the threat of the "Blasphemous Horror".

In terms of design, note how gracefully Giffen (an absolute master of page layouts) guides the reader's eye. The Blasphemous Horror is framed by Namor's water trail on one side, and the crumbling city on the other. At the center, the monster's gaze points us to the tiny Atlantean warlord, spluttering on the bottom of the page. This is excellent storytelling, even though it's one single panel.

Story by Bill Mantlo, Art by Keith Giffen and Don Perlin.

Thor 155: What Lies Before Thee

From Thor #155: "Warrior -- heed our words! Thou know not what lies before thee!"

Thor follows the Mangog's path of destruction, and it's not a good day for Asgard.

In an age of so many decompressed comics, check out the energetic pace that Jack Kirby set here. Thor is already traveling on the first panel, then finds survivors on the second; on the third, we have an over-the-shoulder POV, so we can see the state of the survivors as they briefly share their story. On the fourth panel Thor is already moving forward, emphasizing the urgency of the moment (and always moving left-to-right, for visual consistency). And on the lower-third spread, Kirby offers a grim panorama of what Thor is finding on this journey. All in one powerful page.

Efficient, visually striking and direct: that's Jack Kirby for you.

Words by Stan Lee, Art by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta.

Daredevil 164: Describe This Photograph

From Daredevil #164: "Well, if you're NOT Matt Murdock and you're NOT blind, just describe this photograph to me and I'll leave. I'll forget the whole thing."

A great journalist figures out Daredevil's secret - and lets him keep it.

This single decision not only served as a character-defining moment for Ben Urich, but also cemented him as a key supporting-character in Daredevil (DD's supporting cast was pretty thin at the time, to be honest, so Ben was a welcome addition).

The centerpiece of this page is that cinematic five-panel sequence with the photo, on the bottom row. Daredevil dodges and flails for a way out, until he finally decides to face the music. Note that Miller made sure not to show the photo yet - for the moment, the focus is on Matt's reaction. It's an intentional omission, to keep the reader guessing and build suspense before the Devil's confession. 😈

(spoiler alert: it was a photograph of Matt's father)

Story by Roger McKenzie, Art by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson.

Tales of Suspense 90: Tony Had a Date

From Tales of Suspense #90: "Your boyfriend? Tony had a date with ME tonight!"

Tony Stark was being held hostage at Stark Industries (without his armor) by the Melter. The police cordoned off the entrance to Stark Industries, but they weren't prepared for a stampede of Stark's many worried girlfriends.

You see, Pepper Potts had dumped Tony for "Happy" Hogan, and Tony's reaction was to start dating every beautiful woman in his phonebook. At the same time.

Tony Stark wears a helmet because he knows he'd get slapped all day long without it.
(and you know Stan Lee wrote it, because women are called "these females") 

On the first two wide panels, Gene Colan keeps the "center" of the compositions on the left side - first the entrance to Stark Industries (framed by police cars), then the Deputy Commissioner waving off the civilians, who's the center of attention of everyone else on the panel. That consistent left-side focus directs the readers' eyes gracefully into the 3rd panel, and on the 4th panel the Deputy Commissioner's bullhorn points us towards the next page. This page was designed for easy reading, with subtle but masterful storytelling.

Story by Stan Lee, Art by Gene Colan and Frank Giacoia.

Warlock 13: Priceless Beyond Measure

From Warlock #13: "Because as pitiful as they may be, they are still life, and as such are priceless beyond measure."

Adam Warlock spells out his ethical code - he may be a freak of science, but he's only a monster if he acts like one.

When the Star-Thief invited Warlock to join forces against humanity, the golden man rebuffed him without hesitation. "You clearly place no worth upon that one treasure that once gone, can never be replaced."

Writer/artist Jim Starlin designs this scene as grand space opera, where a barren alien world is a stage for archetypal characters. The core of the scene relies on Warlock's body language (what Will Eisner called "expressive anatomy") and the panel compositions. Star-Thief is a looming psychic horror, Warlock is a steadfast paladin. Any flamboyant excess you see is there by design; this story was carefully crafted to make its philosophical conflict accessible. Even a child can follow this, and that's not an easy trick to pull - questions like morality and the meaning of life have been tormenting humanity centuries before any of us existed.

This is the great thing about superhero comics: these bombastic, larger-than-life allegories can express so much between their colorful lines. This doesn't look political or philosophical, but it really is.

Story and Art by Jim Starlin.

Tales to Astonish 93: So Unlikely a Charade

From Tales to Astonish #93: "So unlikely a charade must now be ended!"

The Silver Surfer decides that his fight with the Hulk is over. And just like that, countless playground arguments were settled: the Surfer could beat the Hulk. But don't worry, that isn't the topic here. We're here to give props to this page's artist.

Marie Severin was a pioneer, and one of the unsung pillars of early Marvel comics. And in this page by Severin, every panel moves the plot forward: Hulk attacks the Surfer on the first panel, the Surfer dodges easily on the second (and note that the rock comes from the direction of the first panel, and Surfer is flying in that same direction, making the action flow perfectly in our minds). 

On the third panel, Severin gives us the Hulk's perspective of the Surfer's charge. On the fourth panel, the decisive impact, underlined by a dynamic sound effect! On the fifth, the Hulk falls. And on the sixth panel, the Surfer rests - and approaches the Hulk with curiosity, setting the stage for further shenanigans. Severin's storytelling seems simple, but there's a lot of craft behind these bright colors.

Words by Stan Lee, Art by Marie Severin and Frank Giacoia.

Hulk 300: The Truth Of The Situation

From Incredible Hulk #300: "By awakening Banner and showing him the truth of the situation, I unwittingly aided him, then, in his decision to die with dignity".

In this page, Bill Mantlo used thought-balloons to articulate Doctor Strange's guilt and rising determination, as Strange comes to terms with his failure to save Bruce Banner.

This scene was important to establish an in-character motive for Strange to interfere. Stopping rampaging science monsters normally wouldn't be Doctor Strange's job, but he and Banner had been fellow members of the Defenders for years - a shared history that finally pushed the Sorcerer Supreme to interfere (and eventually save the day, by banishing Hulk to another dimension).

Sal Buscema discreetly builds up tension, zooming out to show the approaching gust of wind. The 4th panel zooms back into Strange's stern expression, when he accepts his share of blame. The build-up culminates on the 5th panel, which is where the heroic soundtrack would rise if this were a movie. But if this were a movie, we wouldn't have followed Strange's line of thought like this.

Story by Bill Mantlo, Art by Sal Buscema and Gerry Talaoc.

Strange Tales 129: Black Magic On TV

From Strange Tales #129: "How do you like that? Dr. Strange gets an offer to talk about black magic on TV and he refuses! I wonder why?"

It's because Strange doesn't give a single shred of a toss about what civilians believe. He has no need to convince the general public that magic is real; if anything, people might PANIC if they actually understood the nature of Doctor Strange's job.

A TV show called "Twelfth Hour" had challenged Doc Strange to prove that magic is real. Strange wasn't even remotely interested in jumping through hoops for TV cynics, and of course the tabloids ate it up with greasy spoons.

It only became a problem when the "Twelfth Hour" hosts, not having a sorcerer to berate on the air, decided to fill their airtime mocking an ancient pagan idol - that predictably sucked all of 'em into another dimension, forcing Strange to go save their cynical asses from oblivion.

Steve Ditko doesn't portray the "Twelfth Hour" hosts as bad people, they're just terribly misguided men of science. It would be too easy to say that these guys are the MU equivalents of famous real-life skeptics like Richard Dawkins and James Randi, but IMO there's a big difference: In the Marvel Universe, there IS actual proof of magic and impossible things. A "skeptic" would have to mean something different, in a world where dragons, vampires, celestial beings and magic hammers are all real and observable.

In the end of the story, Strange actually cast a Spell of Forgetfulness on the "Twelfth Hour" hosts, after saving them. Strange's job is actually EASIER, if people don't know that the monsters lurking under their beds are real.

Words by Stan Lee, Plot and Art by Steve Ditko.

Fantastic Four 259: Civilians All Over

From Fantastic Four #259: "Aw, no! Right in front of a supermarket! There's civilians all over th' place, gotta chase 'em outta here before..." 

And then Terrax violently threw the Thing at the supermarket in question. That last panel always makes me think of the unmentioned civilian casualties of superhuman violence.

In the best-case scenario, some of the people who'd heard the Thing's initial arrival in front of the market MIGHT have enough time to get away. But the folks inside that market are probably in serious trouble.

Of course, having th Thing consider the civilians' safety and IMMEDIATELY endangering those civilians were intentional narrative choices by Byrne, to drive home the human cost of Terrax's rampage. We had to understand that the villain of this month's adventure was NOT just a "villain-of-the-month" for the citizens of the Marvel Universe; to them, Terrax was terrifying and life-threatening.

To achieve that effect, Byrne deliberately gave us a good look at the normal people going about their days, whose lives depended on the Thing subduing Terrax. This emphasis on the civilians established convincing stakes, and gave readers an emotional connection, adding weight to this battle - which was really just an opening act for Doctor Doom (that ended up backfiring).

Story and Art by John Byrne.

Hulk 249: Ice Warfare

From Incredible Hulk #249: "Ice Warrior falls, but now ice-girl grabs hold of Hulk! Why?"

Because apparently, retired supervillain Jack Frost (whose underground lair the Hulk had accidentally invaded) was VERY creative in his use of expendable ice-minions. If the Gladiator didn't work, try Jessica Rabbit!

Steve Ditko really stole the show in this issue. The same wild imagination that created alien panoramas for Doctor Strange, and gave Spider-Man so many visually-distinctive villains, was focused on spawning a gauntlet of killer ice-sculptures for the Hulk. This desperate battle escalated until only one of them survived (no spoilers on which one!). 

The storytelling here is straightforward, not changing perspectives very often. Ditko understands that this story is a crazy ride, so he keeps the "camera" relatively steady, for the sake of clarity. Note that in the 2nd panel, the Hulk's body language (and finger) are pointed towards the 3rd panel, gently leading the reader along the ideal reading order. The 3rd panel's full-body shot of Hulk smashing the gladiator is followed by a medium shot with the ice girl, and then a close-up of the Hulk's surprise. It definitely makes us want to turn the page! Will the Hulk's lips get stuck on ice? 😳

Story by Bill Mantlo, Art by Steve Ditko.

Avengers 235: Hands Off

From Avengers #235: She-Hulk goes jogging, and she has zero patience for assholes.

Also: This driver is either too jaded for his own good, or clinically stupid.

In a way, this is a pure "superhero" moment for She-Hulk. She may not be fighting evil world-conquerors here, but saving the world isn't everything - superheroes are as much about basic wish-fulfillment today as they were in the '30s, when Superman threw corrupt landlords and abusive husbands through walls. 

We all sometimes wish we were capable of doing stuff like this to the various jerks that cross our paths, but we can't - so our superheroes indulge in the dream for us. 😉

Story by Roger Stern, Art by Bob Budiansky and Joe Sinnott.

Thor 341: Elsewhere

From Thor #341: "Elsewhere, beyond the fields we know, a host past counting listens to a voice as old as time speak..."

Walt Simonson's epic run on Thor had many unforgettable moments (The Frog of Thunder, Skurge's Last Stand, the Day of Jormungandr, Loki's broken arm... we could be here all day).

But in the connective spaces between those great moments, Simonson also played foreshadowing like a flute. On each issue leading to the Surtur War, we'd get these one-page glimpses of the demon Surtur forging a terrible weapon, always punctuated by the ominous sound-effect DOOM!

It was a steady build of suspense across multiple issues, also setting pieces in motion that would only pay off several issues later. For example, on this page Surtur commanded "The Dark Elf" (Malekith) to seek out the "second son of Odin" (Loki). Three issues later (Thor #344), Malekith would indeed approach Loki and cut a deal, as ordered. The Surtur War came closer with each DOOM!blow that landed.

And check out those first five panels, on the top row: Surtur raising the hammer is shown in slow-motion, zooming away to reveal him - and then we abruptly zoom in again, when Surtur swings the hammer down. It almost feels like the hammer-swing on the 5th panel actually hit the 6th panel below.

Simonson's "Thor" run became a classic because it really IS that good.

Story and Art by Walt Simonson.

Captain America 197: The Little Foxes

From Captain America #197: "And here they come -- the little foxes who would tear up the Constitution! We've flushed them into the open! Now, let's go GET 'em!" 

- Gen. Argyle Fist, just before teaching a group of villains that if they threaten his country, the superheroes won't be their only problem (also, his dialogue sounds WAY more natural if you replace "foxes" with "fucks").

General Argyle Fist was a relentless and highly-motivated leader, and probably based on officers that Jack Kirby had met during WW2 (though I doubt any of the real-life officers had names this awesome). I kinda wish later writers had kept him around.

Captain America and the Falcon were fighting the Elite, a subversive organization that intended to wipe out millions of US citizens with mass riots, caused by their "MadBomb". And a terrorist plot of that scale kinda needed a bigger response than a pair of superheroes, no matter how prestigious they are. That's where the US military came in, an institution that Kirby obviously respects.

Some soldiers under Fist's command had gone missing near their base by the US' southwestern desert, because the Elite's base was in the desert too. Captain America and Falcon also disappeared when they went looking for the soldiers, and that was the last straw for Argyle Fist: he and his troops combed the desert until they found the Elite. And when they did, General Fist rained holy hell on the terrorists, while Cap and the Falcon closed the deal from inside the enemy base.

Kirby poured himself into his stories, and sometimes it shows. His military experience deserved an outlet to be expressed, and Captain America's book was just the place for it.

Story and pencils by Jack Kirby, Inks by Frank Giacoia.

Spider-Man 165: Neither do I

From Amazing Spider-Man #165: "You don't know a lot of things, do you, MJ? But then... neither do I, I guess."

While Peter and Mary Jane hashed out their issues, the underrated penciler Ross Andru brought us inside the scene, with gorgeously realized New York locations. Andru based his artwork on extensive photo-reference. Or as one of his co-workers explained in an interview:

"I inked many of Ross Andru's pages myself, and was impressed by the amount of research he did on the locales he depicted." --Jim Mooney

But this was more than just photo-reference for its own sake; the locations were used to support Andru's cinematic storytelling. Look at this page, and the way we zoom close to the lovebirds for a moment, and in the next we're backing away to appreciate their surroundings. Ross Andru gave Peter Parker a strong sense of place, and built Spider-Man's New York into a legitimate supporting character, just as much as Gotham is to Batman.

Andru's carefully considered artwork was praised by many of his peers - take for example what Frank Miller said about this very page, in an interview he gave on the same year of 1977:

"It’s high time someone mentioned the fine job Ross Andru has been doing on SPIDER-MAN. Not since Ditko has there been as conscientious a penciler on the strip, nor one as successful in capturing the mood and style that made the strip the most popular of them all. Comic book fans are rarely as appreciative of honest craftsmanship as of flashy techniques or special effects, so the care and skill Mr. Andru has brought to the strip have gone largely unnoticed.

"Sequences like page fourteen of SPIDER-MAN #165 demonstrate what can be done with a simple conversation. The variations in perspective and design and the attention to backgrounds evident in the scene are heartening to the enthusiast, showing that there is a good deal of thought and research behind the strip." --Frank Miller (1977) 

Story by Len Wein, Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

X-Men 170: Storm Cuts Callisto

From Uncanny X-Men #170: Storm had always been a sweet, life-affirming and caring heroine. But when her friends were held hostage by the Morlocks, and the chips were down, Ororo stabbed Callisto in the guts without hesitation. 🔪

This was when we first learned just how far the X-Men's lovely Weather Witch would go, for the people she loves. Along the decades, Storm earned her reputation as a legit badass, and this was one of her defining moments.

Nightcrawler had the idea of challenging Callisto to a duel to the death for the lives of the X-Men, but Storm demanded to take his place in the fight, since she was the leader of the X-Men. Callisto thought it would be easy, as Storm had always been a gentle and diplomatic heroine, constantly looking for peaceful resolutions. In other words, a wimp, right?

It didn't occur to the hardened Morlock leader that the X-Men's glamorous princess might survive against her. Callisto's first big surprise of the night was before the fight had even started - when she lobbed Ororo a knife, which was then caught mid-air with casual ease. But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

Paul Smith's crisp storytelling in this page didn't require redundant blurbs. The first panel shows the two combatants, so we understand how they're positioned in relation to each other. The second panel is all about Callisto's incredulity when Ororo stabs her. The last four panels are basically from the same perspective, giving Storm a cinematic "power walk" towards the reader.

If comics had soundtracks, a powerful rock ballad would rise during Storm's triumphant march past Callisto. Just instrumentals, no lyrics needed.

Story by Chris Claremont, Art by Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek.

Thor 341: Were I To Cut My Hair

From Thor #341: "Why don't you come over to our place for a mohawk?" 

Two groupies flirt with Thor in front of Avengers Mansion, before he's kidnapped to Battleworld for the Secret Wars (a big event that involved dozens of Marvel characters).

This is a neat page, that shows where the Secret Wars fit in Thor's life without giving any spoilers. Note the way the artist - the celebrated Walt Simonson - uses the Avengers Mansion's front fence to distance the reader from Thor, as if we were watching him embark at the airport. The bars are visually echoed by the gutters between the lower three panels, creating a pretty good "fade-out" effect.

All this, and Simonson found room for a friendly dig at Storm's new haircut, a then-recent development from the X-Men series! Thanks girls, but nobody needs mohawk Thor.

Story and Art by Walter Simonson.