Marvel Fanfare 48 page 8 (feat. She-Hulk) by Kerry Gammill & Joe Rubinstein

Following my post of last year, I present you the next page in this story.

Like many, I fell in love with Byrne's rendition of She-Hulk and Kerry Gammill being so close stylistically to Byrne, this little story lost in Marvel Fanfare 48, likely an inventory one, was a true gem for this Gammill fan.

A nice fight scene that showcases Gammill's incredible sense of staging, body language and exceptional figure work.

In the first panel, our bad guy is jumping on poor She-Hulk to finish her off. I like her position on the ground as she is picking herself up from that nasty throw off on the previous page.

But she counter attacks in panel 2. Gammill’s is having fun with the anatomy on the bad guy as he chose not to super-size his head, only his muscle mass which is a fun touch. The sense of impact is also very well done as we feel he is impalling himself on her feet here.

Then my second favorite panel of the page as we get some very Byrne-ish poses and layout in this one, especially her tilted head. And yet the open hands on the struck bad guy are typical Gammill work.

Great flow from left to right in those 3 first panels, all on diagonal axis, with the landing jump (from left) and then it’s right, right (Jen delivering the blow in panel 2 and her hair and fist leading the reader’s eye in the 3rd panel).

Then my absolute fav panel with Jen ready to strike the villain down from which she is stopped by the big schemer reveal from (literally) behind the curtain. The double face he drew, indicating her intent to strike AND her surprise is an ingenious device to squeeze a lot if info in this vertical panel who would otherwise should have been divided in 2 different ones. I also find that the shadows and textures are finely highlighted here. And again, we get typical Gammill hands here as well.

In the next panel, we have a quick counterstrike from the villain with a beautiful shot of Shulkie.

The sixth panel is interesting in the sense that Shulkie’s hair overlaps with the 4rth panel and the baddie’s elbows with the final panel, creating, again, a nice visual flow. Also of note, the schemer is ordering the final strike, pointing her finger down while the musclehead is lifting his arms in the air to strike which creates a nice balance inside the panel. You’ll note that Gammill is playing with the anatomy and proportions again as his arms seems over long which creates an increased sense of dread for the coming impact, whereas when the baddie was struck in panel 2, he shortened his arms a bit, visually diminishing him. The fact that his head is turned to his “boss” and his line of dialogue emphasis how unable to think for himself he is.

And then the cliffhanger panel in the 7th as the baddie is shot from behind (he even tells us so and where ;), prompting the reader to turn to the next page.

This level of craft and storytelling skills is sadly getting lost nowadays, simply because storytelling has evolved (for better or worse) and/or is getting lost by too many younger artists who favour style over substance.

Both Rubinstein and Marzan are listed as inkers to this issue but they really look like Rubinstein inks to me.