It looks nice, but there again, it took a whole page to hit the guy, and I'm assuming, because there actually hasn't been contact yet. This kills me because I used to read books where Thor and Hulk danced toe to toe and trashed city blocks with non-stop, total balls out ( hope Ron's not watching) mayhem.

Try looking at something you like, and in an action scene, a fight, a real throw down, ( and this only works really with two going toe to toe), count how many panels are used, and then count how many times they actually hit each other. Divide the hits by the total panels, and if it isn't relatively close to 1/1, or one, ask yourself why, or why not?

Is it cheaper not to hit the other guy? I mean, the ink costs the same, it's the same paper, hell, probably with less action there's more words, although not a given.

Nice and solid. What was that inked with?

••

That's all brush.

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Thanks for the answer.

I think with the Darwyn Cooke page above it was done in three panels because that is the format for the book, and maybe Mr. C didn't think it wouldn't have worked over two pages.  In the caption Flash does say that he is slowing down.  I would've had the 'P' on the next page.  At least it would add the effect of him stopping.

Risking a slight thread drift... What is the boards opinion of New Frontier in regard to decompression storytelling?  Like the one above, most pages have three panels.  I can think of two pages, both featuring the Flash, that use a nine panel grid, but I think that's it.  I really like it, but it could be called exsessive as it could have been done in less than half the space. 

It just hit me: the background blur effect on that Ethan cover is supposed to 'sell' the fact that they're running quickly.

Gah! I miss pre-Photoshop comics!

I think Ethan Van Scriver is a talented guy but his art tends to be too stiff for my tastes.  For example, in Flash: Rebirth there is a scene where we see Hal Jordan is in his civies and he's walking around with his fists clenched.  Now the page is really well drawn and it looks great . . . . except the fists clenched bothered me.  That just seems unnatural to me and sometimes I feellike Van Scriver's characters "pose" too much. 

Don't get me wrong Van Scriver is a real good artist.  I think his work is top notch and get better each time I see it.  But like any artist he has his quirks.  His "lightening lines" like his "badges" for the GL Corps seem to just gild the lilly for me and distract from the elegance of the GL uniforms and Flash costumes respectively.  They don't draw me out of the book but I just find them too much.