Hervé St.Louis Comic Reviews

Rounding up the conflict is Garcias whose work is fine and concentrates on telling the story as effectively as possible. His inker, Parsons, is as competent. Storms face looks a bit bony in a few frames, but Its still good work.

Now, I took much time before reading this issue because the work of the artist annoyed me. I decided to write this specific paragraph before reading the book. This is a bad sign for a comic book. The characters look deformed with jaws melting left and right. I see a lot of weird page layouts which put more emphasis on the artist than the whole page. It is annoying and waiting more than a month to read a book one usually enjoys means Marvel Comics picked the wrong artist for this issue. Lets hope the sales dont suffer too much.

The artwork by Turnbull started the issue off the wrong foot but thanks to cleaner and less exaggerated artwork by Marcus To, the issue was salvaged and readable. The good choice of an artist can make or break a series. As much as I enjoy the Black Panther, a bad artist is enough to get me to cancel the series. Starting with strong artists, like John Romita Jr, Scot Eaton, and Manuel Garcia makes it difficult to accept anything less. Marcus To is a good addition to the ranks of Black Panther Pencillers.

The artwork continues to complement the script smoothly in a rare but form fitting ensemble that proves that both writer and artists are forming a unified team. The storytelling highlights the story alone instead of serving as a portfolio for Pena.

The artwork in this issue sucks. The cover is hideous and inking throughout is irritating. There, I said it. Raiz can't draw a character the same in every shot. Sure, sometimes they look good. But it makes everything inconsistent. I can't describe well what I loath about the inking but I'll try. Instead of covering the hyper realistic artwork of Raiz with a good dose of smooth lines and large shadows, it highlights the bad proportions and facial disfigurements of the characters. The lines are so crisp that the characters look at you straight in the eye with no nuances. The reader doesn't get a break. It's all in your face.

The artwork is the best thing about this book. The weakest part being the story drawn by Leinil Yu. I know Marvel wants to turn him into their next super star, but I have my doubts. His storytelling is confusing and except from some cool rendering, every few pages, his work is not attractive. Scott Kolins provides the strongest artwork, which should be the highlight of the next Alpha Flight series called Beta Flight. This book provides a fun break from other comic books, but is not a must buy.

The artwork is subtle and effective. I dont like Garcias facial for Namor and Storm, but these are light critics in light of the work done in this issue. He captures the Invaders segment with finesse and can draw an African desert as well as the sunken city of Atlantis.

Barrionuevo's lack of experience is starting to show. His rendering of the Justice League characters is hideous. What works on deformed Martians and evil villains, doesn't work on characters whose face readers are well acquainted with. The colouring by Marta Martinez is amateurish. I see a lot of mistakes that first year Adobe Photoshop users make all the time, like the soft toning of highlights and shadows into the main tone. It looks ugly and reinforces the amateurish look of this comic book.