All New Captain America 4 page 7 by Stuart Immonen & Wade Von Grawbadger

Stuart Immonen (with Wade) may be (one of?) the best modern storyteller(s)s in the industry (worldwide?) nowadays and there is no discussion possible that his Cap & X-Men work represented YET another plateau he reached to establish his crown.

This page is all action!

The splashy first panel is what got me. The intensity of the impact of Armadillo against FalCap’s wings is fantastic. You really feel the blow and feel for him as he has no choice but to bend all his body to roll with it. I also loved how Stuart played with the proportions of the two characters here to emphasizes how big the villain is. I also loved the fact that FalCap is using his wings much like Cap’ would have used his shield. It plays well on his design/root as a character despite the fact that he is now supposed to be Cap.

The second panel again serves to help us realize the difference in size between the two opponents.

And then, BAM!, the menace from above strikes! I love the thinner redesign of Cobra. It enhances his abilities well, thin and slippery.

There is a nice bold parallel between the 3rd and 5th panels in which the upcoming menace is ominously announced in shadows. The leg of Cobra and the clawy arm of Armadillo. Subtle but it makes the page flow.

Then the last panel which shows that Armadillo, despite the name and silly costume, is no joke at all.

This issue and pairing of the two villains echoed in my mind the great Spider-Man issue written by Roger Stern which had Spidey face against Mr Hyde and Cobra.

Again let’s not forgot to mention the superb inks, especially the textures on Armadillo’s armor in the first panel.

Another page which I can’t believe sat long enough on Tom Fleming’s site for me to snatch away when he closed down his activities.