Fantastic Four 44/473 page 6 by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino

Two years ago, we lost the brilliance of Carlos Pacheco so I thought I’d upload one page I’ve owned for more than 20 years now in order to pay my respect to his artistry.

This one comes from the Annihilus arc and opens on him being trapped in the first panel. He is actually being quartered and you can tell from his staging in that panel, which underlines how gifted an artist Carlos was.

Then the obvious money shot which made me buy the page. Like many, I am a fan of She-Hulk and what’s best than her taking center stage to swing a the Awesome Android (that pile of goo on the left) with the Torch behind her (that Carlos drew so well) complete with Namorita (because yes, Ruben, this is Namorira and no, she is not in her original costume because people are indeed allowed to change clothes from time to time and that encompasses costumes as well ;) and An-Man, giving us a nice throwback to those occurrences where other heroes pitch in to replace the FF. You have got to love how everything flows nicely from left to right here, from Shulkie’s swing to the lil’ droplets of goo, leading the eye in the right direction.

And because one punch was not enough to fall her foe, Shulkie goes at it with both hands joined. Boom goes the Android, now seen in all its cubic glory. I love how Carlos drew her on this page. She is sexy but also fit and gym thick (as opposes to Jim lee or Mike Turner thin). And that flowing hair…The sense of impact is great with the Android’s arm liquidly recoiling from it. And let not forget those great rubbles in the background, a mainstay of the Pacheco/Merino collaboration.

Then a nice shot of all 4 with a fu slightly tilted angle, boxed in by more rubble. We get a typical Pacheco flying/landing Torch and I especially love the fact that Carlos drew the ant’s wings translucent on top of the rest of the panel, a fantastic graphic detail imho.

Then we get yet great shots of a flaming Torch and Shulkie, with typical Pacheco hands on them as they discover another threat, an eerie device/prison of super being. What actually is that thing hovering, prompting the reader to turn the page to discover the answer, even as the staging of both characters and everything in that panel points you to that bottom right corner (there even is an actual triangle formed by that stairs that commands you to pinch it to turn the page :)

This is Pacheco and Merino at their artistic storytelling best, whom we can only thank for so many great comics.