1 - Posted on 8/24/2021

Pencils to print status is unusual for anyone else besides Leinil Yu.   Very unreal amount of detail that works like pencil painted textures that takes some of the responsibility off the colorist to play with different hues as well.  Every  one of these could have been a splash page if they'd allow Bendis to go full decompressed storytelling.

1 - Posted on 8/29/2021

Thanks, Marcus!  I remember you posting that Marvel shot from the pencils of Leinil and Salvador (Larroca) and not many others (if any) at the time, and I didn't know that (I feel like I'm always learning from your posts - thank you! :) ).  I think in those cases that the addition of a great colorist is even more essential than usual, of course, and I really liked Dave McCaig's approach and style with Leinil's work on this run (where it felt like he made more "simple" choices that served the mood and atmosphere well, while letting the detail of Leinil's pencils carry the load.  I loved it.)

Interesting about what you said about how each panel could have been a splash; this spread was actually leading to the full-splash "payoff" - a full page of Iron Man and his nightmare: a dead and zombified Captain America accusing Tony of this all being his fault.  Thank again, Marcus (and all)!

1 - Posted on 8/24/2021

I actually feel like the pencils are more refined here than in the published page. Somehow, the sharpness lost some focus in the process, imo. Your artwork here is amazing. Conceptually, I love each of them facing off against their nightmares. And it was perfectly rendered, to make that scene pop. Hmmmm. A favorite? Tough call, but probably Black Widow and the Crimson Dynamo. As you touched on with his worn and pitted armor, I feel like that one has the most subtle storytelling. Great piece. Double sized congrats!

1 - Posted on 8/29/2021

Thanks, J H - That one's my favorite, too (and the Ms. Marvel, and the Ares, and the...)!  Yeah - the pencil details are crazy (little touches like the sewn collar or the fingers of Simon's gloves in the Wonder Man panel) and I feel like I'm always finding other examples every time I look at this...  Thanks, J H (and everyone) for your comment!

1 - Posted on 8/24/2021

As a Hulk fan from back in the early 80's, I loved the Soviet Super Soldier appearances, so I'm going with.....

The scratched and pitted Crimson Dynamo armor (and the past he represents) in unrelenting pursuit of Black Widow!

1 - Posted on 8/29/2021

Thanks, Ruben - That one's my favorite, too (and the Wonder Man, and the Wasp, and the...)!  :)  Seriously though, Ruben - thank you (and everyone) for commenting.

1 - Posted on 8/25/2021

Leinil killed it, just killed it.  Hardpressed to think of anyone working today who's as consistently good at packing this much emotional punch into the action scenes.

1 - Posted on 8/29/2021

Thanks, Steve - that's a really great point.  I loved the fact that we got a nice long run with Leinil on the art chores of 'New Avengers'.  It really gave him the chance to make it his own, and the book really benefitted from having his singular artistic voice on the dark, gritty, and emotionally charged post-Civil War "street level" stories (before everything exploded into "big-budget technicolor" with Secret Invasion).  Thanks again, Steve (and all)!

1 - Posted on 8/28/2021

Yeah, man, loving his pencil work here.  I remember this DPS distinctly, with each Avenger dealing with their own...tough personal situations in each panel.  I usually prefer inked worked, but what's cool about there being only the pencils here, you can really see how deliberate Yu was in his execution.  Great stuff, Jason.  Congrats!

1 - Posted on 8/29/2021

Thank, you, K!  I'm right with you in loving inked work (and Leinil's inks are always really compelling).  This artistic run on New Avengers was one of my very favorites, though, and I had always been curious as to how this work had been inked...  Thanks to Marcus, I now know. :)  Full pencils it is (and I love them)!  Thank you, K!

1 - Posted on 9/7/2021

Phenomenal page. All the panels look great, but my favorite is the second one with the grim reaper 

1 - Posted on 9/25/2021

Nice pickup!!

Just reread his New Avengers run-- just phenomenal. Thanks for sharing!

1 - Posted on 3/13/2025

Lienil's pencils are so tight I can see why the editors didn't feel thety needed inks. Still, I actually prefer the pencils over the published color versions. For one thing, in the pencils you can actually see that there is a a flow from panel to pane that starts in the upper left and flows to the bottom right. In the pencils, you notice that all the Avengers' nightmares are linked, something that gets lost with the colorized versions. Also, a lot of Lienil's exquisite linework got completely lost when they got colored. Personally, I woild have preferred a simpler color approach like Lynn Varley used in DKR to let the linework do the talking. Thanks for sharing the original pencils, Jason, they are awesome!