2 - Posted on 7/13/2021

My favorite pencils/inks combo working today.  How freakin' majestic this is, man.  Same awe I felt as a kid reading the flying creatures vs. land creatures fairy tales.  Very glad Felix saw in Immonen what the rest of us do.

2 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Thank you, Steve - I am in compete agreement about the Immonen / von Grawbadger team, and when I saw this spread in black and white, I was stunned: "majestic" is the perfect descriptor... and then to see it IN PERSON?!?  Yeah, man - whoa.  I was heartbroken that I had missed it originally, then couldn't believe my luck when it showed up in the drop AND that no one had grabbed it before me (although I pounced on it pretty quickly).  This crazy hobby is full of wonderful surprises, for sure!  Thanks, Steve (and all) for the great comments.

2 - Posted on 7/13/2021

Immonen makes great use of the widescreen pages to show epic scale that even the characters must stop and stare at the soaring scene.  Tension filled row of panels!

2 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Spot on (as usual), Marcus.  I find myself staring at this piece almost more than any other in my collection, and I love the "juxtaposition" of the birds with the "comic book action" of the bottom panels...  The heavy manga influence in the inking of that final Zemo panel, for example, creates a different (but complimentary) "rhythm" in the "shadow" of the more realistic first panel.  The whole spread feels sort of like that moment in a movie when a car flies off a ramp in slo-mo and all sound ceases as it hangs in the air...  and then everything explodes back into movement, sound, and fury when the car hits the ground and tears off down the road.  Thanks, Marcus (and all) for the comments!

2 - Posted on 7/13/2021

Glad you were able to pick this up in the second go around, Jason! I can see why you dug it. Immonen is one of the absolute best at storytelling with combo of big bombastic images AND smaller panels in his DPSs...case in point. Love the energy in that middle panel at the bottom, and yes, watch out Sam! A page turner for sure. Congrats!

2 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Thanks, K G!  I just felt like I had never seen a spread quite like it before, that tackled in quite that way the scope and array of birds, married to the more "comic book action" and storytelling of the bottom tier of panels.  It really resonated with me as a cool "fusion" page (with the realistic bird renderings amid what one would usually find in a more traditional "fantastic" comic book action sequence) that was another testament to the skill of the artistic team.  (Too much to call it "a feather in their Cap"?  Probably so.  Better steer clear of that one.). Thanks as always, K!

2 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Man, you definitely wanna make me get to getting my own feather (Immonen piece) in my cap (collection) :)  Congrats, again,

2 - Posted on 7/13/2021

The carnage to come for those birds will not be coming for the reasons you think it will, Jason. I have it on good authority (Fox News) that in YOUR country, there is a widespread threat of birds being mercilessly killed by windmills! Not only that, but these very same killer windmills are apparently also giving off noise at a frequency which causes cancer to any living being in the vicinity! Oh, the humanity! Will all Americans be moving up north, once the land border is reopened, to live here in Canada, in peace and harmony, far away from those murderous windmills? I fear for you all!

3 - Posted on 7/14/2021

You know, Ruben, I'm just as disappointed as you that there are no Canadian Geese here in the spread, but then you had to go and bring up WINDMILLS?!!?  Brrrrr!  That's ice cold!  There is such a thing as proper decorum, sir!  :)

(But you know who's not afraid of windmills?  Swan Quixote!  Seriously, though - thank you for your great comments, Ruben and everyone!)

3 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Well, I AM of Spanish descent, hence why I fear no windmills, and I AM indeed, Swan Quixote!

2 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Oh, and needless to say, I know, but it's beautiful. Immonen's skill and talent are genius!

2 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Splendid. Immonen can do no wrong. That first double panel is just gorgeous.

That being said, animal suffering is a no go for me so panel 4 would have stopped me I think. Then again, it's just fiction.

2 - Posted on 7/14/2021

Thanks, F M - I absolutely agree about that first panel (I find my jaw hanging open when I sit and study it for a while) and I sincerely apologize about the dumb bird jokes and puns, if it seems like I was making light about the fate of the birds here.  I wasn't joking about having a hard time when I reach panel 4 (although I can't "skip it" because there are so many other beautiful renditions of birds there) and I have been pulled out of this moment in the book on more than one reading because of it.  You're right: it needs to be one of those "it's just a work of fiction" moments for me, too.  Thanks for the comment, F M (and all).

2 - Posted on 7/15/2021

If you're going to use two pages to tell the story, it's worth it to make it epic. And these two pages are definitely epic. That first panel really is gorgeous and fills every bit of space possible. And those last two panels are epic in their own right. Huge congrats! 

2 - Posted on 7/18/2021

Thank you, Kent.  One of the things that moves me most about comic art collecting is not just seeing super-heroes through the eyes of a favorite artist (which is fun and all), but also seeing the REAL world through their lens (and I know I'm not alone in feeling that way, of course).  Architecture, vehicles, clothing, wildlife - how does "artist x" and/or "inker y" see them?  You are absolutely correct in saying this spread is epic in that it provides a really unique look at a facet of our world, to a degree that is normally not even attempted on a comic book page.  Thanks again, Kent (and everyone) for commenting!

2 - Posted on 7/15/2021

A DPS that would make Audubon proud. Man, rendering every one must have taken Immonen quite some time. Imagine rendering each from an example? Eeesh, that's for the birds. This is a gorgeous DPS. And those inks are wonderful. I love how Grawbadger handled the foreground images in the first panel. And I like the depth he achieved by floating and overlapping the last panels. Good get, Jason! Congrats!

2 - Posted on 7/18/2021

Bon, bon, bon - it's the Audubon!  Talk about the Craft Work of Immonen and Von Grawbadger, amirite?  Thanks, J H, and I, too, was curious about the lengths they went to to fill the pages here; what was the ratio of reference used vs. the number of examples of each type of bird produced, how many (if any) blank spaces were left by Stuart that Wade took the initiative to fill with more birds on his own, etc...  I wonder if either of them are huge bird aficionados (and invested "extra time" layering the spread to their satisfaction) or if they're just the perennial professionals we all know them to be.  Either way, you can hear the bird calls tumble off the pages - it's kind of a crazy spread.  Thanks for your comments, J H (and all)!  They were a hoot!

2 - Posted on 7/16/2021

My jaw literally hit the floor. There is nothing I can say, this piece really speaks for itself in volumes. Congrats my friend! 

2 - Posted on 7/17/2021

Amazing DPS! Congrats!

2 - Posted on 7/20/2021

This double page spread is stunning for multiple reasons -- first of all, the beautiful figurework.  But the DPS also shows how Stuart and Wade know how to fill a page and create the illusion of depth.  The flock of birds perspective shot is just stunning.  Congratulations on this amazing addition to your remarkable collection!