Thor 402 page 8 by Ron Frenz & Joe Sinnott

This is actually my first Frenz published page. And a rarity for me, it comes from a page of a comic book and even a run I have not read. I know many consider the DeFalco & Frenz run in high regards (even though many critics don't) so I eagerly intend to correct that gap this year as the final volume of this run is soon to be released through the Epic collection format. That run looked pretty dull to me as a teenager, especially after the legendary and heavily stylized Simonson one, but based on the great work that same team did on Spider-Girl which I recently read in full AND having grown a bit in art maturity since when, I tend to go towards solid draughtsmen and storytellers nowadays, as opposed to the flashy Image style of the 90s ;)

So there were several factors that attracted me to this particular page.

The very first one : Mongoose ! I always liked the character who offered a great design and color scheme. To me he belonged in the streak of feral characters I've always liked such as Wolvie, Sabretooth and the likes. Not an ideal foe for the over powerful Thor but really visually appealing.

He doesn't appear much here but the crouched posed drenched in shadows works wonder and the 5th panel is just plain gold for me

Then we have another cheesy Thor villain, Quicksand :)

The top 3 transformation panels are excellent. Transformation scenes are always fun for any geek and this one is no exception. I absolutely love the fact that she looks Asian in both her human and powered form. And in the 4rth panel, you can tell by her body language that she means (bad) business. Thor is going to spit out sand very soon ^^

Then we have a very Marvel villain. Frenz has sometime been criticized for lifting too much influence from Kirby and Buscema. I never minded but you have a clear (and fun) Kirby influence here.

Then of course we have the sublime inks of supreme embellisher Joe Sinnott. This was a strong incentive to buy the page. As much as I love Breeding's or Palmer's inks on Frenz, Sinnott magnifies anyone he inks to another level. He may not be the top inker for any artist in my book but he constantly offered a very high quality.

So no Thor but 3 villains but above all, it was Frenz, Sinnott and Mongoose for me.

Definitely not my last page from that run ;)