Jerry Bingham - Ian Sokoliwski - Marvel Two-In-One 76 pg 14 Reinterpretation Commission (Color) - Battling the Circus of Crime!

If you're going to get a favorite page of comic art wholly re-done in a contemporary style, you might as well go all-in by seeing it right through to the coloring stage.

Jerry Bingham (with Chic Stone on inks) drew the first comic book I ever bought as a kid back in 1981. Jerry was also the first artist that I ever commissioned when I started up my Marvel Two in One art collection back in the summer of 2002. Given this history and my love of the man's work, it was only natural to seek Jerry out to be part of my extended 'hobby victory lap' of 2007-08.

As I have done with other artists (Herb Trimpe and Ernie Chan), I asked Jerry to re-visit an original Marvel Two in One page and completely redraw it as if he'd been assigned this story in 2007, not 1981.

With that in mind, Jerry did a wonderful, contemporary update of page 14 from Marvel Two in One # 76 in which the Thing and Iceman are doing battle with Cannonball and Princess Python from the Circus of Crime. Jerry used the basic building blocks of the original page, but updated the style, the panel layout and the look of the characters, particularly Princess Python and her snake Precious, who looks like a much greater threat in the new version.

Another favorite artist of mine to deal with for commissions is coloring whiz Ian Sokoliwski, who has added his brilliant digital finished to many pieces in my collection. I knew Ian had the perfect sensibility for adding modern colors to this piece and the results seen above show that I was right. I especially love how Ian used streaks of blue and white in the bottom panel to convey the motion of Cannonball flying through the air.

My thanks to both artists for their great service and for their unfailingly high standard of work.