Avengers 78 page 8 by Olivier Coipel & Andy Lanning

Another Coipel page from his underrated Avengers run.

And my last page of Avengers 78 which concludes a 3 pages sequence (my second Coipel sequence from his Avengers run actually, if you’d care to look through my Coipel gallery). The fact that these two pages followed on another I owned was my main incentive to buy them. On top of the great art I mean 😊

Lots of great varying shots and angles on this page which makes it quite diversified.

The first panel underlines the woman’s determination to stand in the way of Thunderball. We only see one eye but that is enough.

I love his stance in panel two which is perfectly commensurate with that of a bodybuilder’s body language. The fact that she looks smaller than Cap’s shield (in this panel and the fifth) is a great way to subtly tell the difference of power between the two.

Then we have a very interesting device in panels three and four in the sense that it looks very cinematic. A closing up on the two character’s mouth as they follow up on each other’s quotes. But if you think about it, however cinematic it can feel, this could only work in comic book sequential form as a close up on two mouths within a movie would feel awkward for the duration each character delivering their lines. It only works in comic, kids (imho) 😊

In the fifth panel, as mentioned above, she looks small in comparison to him and to the shield yet her resolve is obvious.

Then the last panel. Thunderball is done with enjoying her company and intellect and his resolve to permanently dispose of her is pitch perfect. We only see his face and lifted shoulders but with the chain hanging from behind his head, we immediately understand that he is about to strike. The fact that this panel basically looks like an insert within a big shadowy square really isolates it and creates a cliffhanger urging the reader to turn the page. Economy at its best.

Lots of shadows on this page and not too many backgrounds, something Coipel has often been accused of (to save time surely, out of laziness will his (very few) detractors say) but he does it well as the reading remains fluid throughout the page.

Last but not least, I really enjoyed the battle of quotations between the characters, especially as I always considered that the wrecking crew members were basically glorified and super powered garbage men.