Amazing Fantasy v2 #8

Presenting the Scorpion! No, not MacDonald 'Mac' Gargan, but rather Carmilla Black, born Thasanee Rappaccini, daughter of AIM’s scientist supreme, Monica Rappaccini! Unlike Gargan, who relied much on sheer brute strength, Carmilla possessed a very different weapon set, bio-engineered into her by “Mommy Dearest” whilst in embryonic state – powers that would manifest during her adolescence.

The character first appeared in Marvel Comics’ 2004 reboot of Amazing Fantasy. Fred Van Lente’s script was a mix of espionage and cold war thriller – an entertaining read. For his part, Leonard Kirk was establishing himself as a fine penciler, as can be seen from these pages. He imbued his leading lady with body language that implied gracefulness in motion, even in attack. And the backgrounds were sufficiently detailed to provide a sense of place.

When I met Leonard at a local convention, he explained that the book had been behind schedule, he’d uploaded the penciled artwork directly to Marvel’s servers, rather than having them shipped out to be inked as was the norm. The pages had always remained in his possession. Even without ink, dialogue, or colour, the storytelling is very effective - so effective that I knew I had to have the entire sequence!