Nightcrawler v.2 #2, Page 22

Picked this board up on eBay for a rock-bottom price, and there's a lot about it that I appreciate and enjoy. However, what I didn't appreciate was how it was delivered. The seller shipping it in a poster tube, rolled up. I tried to explain to her that's not how original comic art is to be shipped, and her listing said nothing about her plan to do so. I'm working to rectify the roll and flatten it out, and hopefully, I'll be able to do so given some time.

Now onto the page itself. This is the second Matt Smith board I've acquired, and it shows how his style evolved and distinguished itself over time. On my other Smith board, from Day of Judgment (see my JLA gallery), the artist embraces a thoroughly Mignola-esque style, perhaps at the behest of his editor but it was an approach that he'd taken before. Here, the Mignola influence, while apparent, isn't so pronounced. The thick lines and the look of the supporting character's face reminded me a great deal of the work of Cully Hamner.

I really like the juxtaposition of the doubly-dark settings - the noir backdrop of what appears to be a police interrogation room and the gothic shadows of the church in which the devout mutant hero finds himself (as he so often does). I think what I enjoy most about this page, though, is the panel layout. It's dense and unconventional, and the nine panels bring movement to what is clearly a dialogue-driven scene.