Black Cat #5, p. 9 by Lee Elias

There is something interesting in every panel of this page to me. In #1 it's Rick's hair. His face is kind of stiff in the Steve Canyon mode but the thing is anatomy isn't one of the strong points of this style and even the face of the Black Cat is a bit inconsistent. In the first panel she looks much younger (or else Elias is having trouble with making the mask look the same.) It's more about shadow and light and expressiveness. In #2 it's that he freehand inked the tires. It doesn't always look 'right'; the front motorcycle tire looks wonky but it works in this style. In #3 it's the drybrush rendering of her hair and the left side of the tablecloth and Resnick's jacket. They have a lovely scratchiness that isn't seen on the tablecloth to the right of the Black Cat. In #4 it's those wild lines on his hands making them look so hairy he could be a character in the horror incarnation of the title -- Black Cat Mystery -- about to turn into a werewolf. In #5 it's something about the stiffness of the main figure and his hands just look odd. The thing is such distortions work in this style. The hands are so expressive that you accept them. The bottom two panels are the best thing about this page but #6 is like a movie scene unto itself -- just a great use of black and white, silhouette and cartooning with the two workers. It also is the first page I've owned where the artist used the edge of a coin to dig into the art to create a splatter effect. There are also two highlights in the machinery directly above Rick's elbow which are kind of fuzzy. I think Elias used something like an exacto-knife to scratch them out of the ink. Now I want to find the next page 'cause I know it's has to be a great action page.