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Post by grahamthomson on Jul 20, 2009 6:46:30 GMT
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
Posts: 7,498
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Post by Hero on Jul 20, 2009 8:16:10 GMT
One of my favourite panels of all time. Fangs for the memories.
===KEN
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Post by blueshift on Jul 20, 2009 10:00:54 GMT
Interesting article. I think the ones in later years have much less effect (especially the rather boring one in that Armada issue). Goes to show that you should save stuff like that for really special occasions.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jul 20, 2009 10:43:52 GMT
Great article Graham.
I'm with you Matt. The key thing about splashes/double-page spreads as they should be used to heighten drama and give impact. The Devastator scene from the Patster is pretty dull as the angle is pretty static and the facial expression is pretty dull. The Armada one probably had the idea of showing the metallic vista's of Cybertron. It might work with the kids but any of us familiar with the Transformers would be pretty non-plussed.
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Jul 20, 2009 11:37:41 GMT
Thanks!
I think I like Guido's the best, but I think Delbo's Rhythms of Darkness is the most dramatic.
I agree, Patster's is pretty dull.
Ken, which was your favourite panel?
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Post by blueshift on Jul 20, 2009 12:00:57 GMT
Well the Armada Cybertron one would work, but it is all the same pastel grey colour so looks boring.
Rereading old TF issues, I've decided that Delbo really isn't that bad an artist. He's a better human artist than most guys, can be a bit stiff, but really lives and dies on his inker
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jul 20, 2009 12:04:59 GMT
Ian Akin and Brian Garvey really defined the look of that book. The changeover between Perlin and Delbo is almost unnoticed.
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Jul 20, 2009 12:24:39 GMT
The changeover between Perlin and Delbo is almost unnoticed. Andy I never noticed at the time. In fact, I think the change in paper stock of the TFUK comic caught my attention more at the time! |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jul 20, 2009 12:27:01 GMT
Neither did I. Which is testament to how much of the Transformers US comic stuff was defined by their inking.
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Jul 20, 2009 12:29:34 GMT
And it's a shame it was also defined by the coloring as well.  |
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Post by blueshift on Jul 20, 2009 12:33:03 GMT
Everyone is blue and purple, hurrrrr I want to rag on that Armada double-spread more actually. What a waste of pages. The dialogue is obviously calling for some huge, sprawling metropolis full of life and wonder, and what we get is a drab lifeless beige thingy. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2009 15:25:46 GMT
The Rhythms of Darkness double page spread does it for me. It's a spread that does the business and doesn't need to use words to tell a story. As for the ones seen in both Dreamwave and IDW the less said about them the better. Just because a robot is huge it doesn't mean it needs a huge picture to prove it.
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Jul 20, 2009 15:31:16 GMT
The dialogue is obviously calling for some huge, sprawling metropolis full of life and wonder, and what we get is a drab lifeless beige thingy. I agree, what a waste. But is it a bigger waste than the "LOOK DEVASTATOR IS BIG YOU GUYS!" ones? |
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Post by blueshift on Jul 20, 2009 15:44:10 GMT
Well it does its job at least. There's nothing technically wrong with a big two page spread of a big Transformer, just the more you use it, the more humdrum it becomes. Heck, one page splashes to show size can be just as impressive, take a look at Metroplex in Space Pirates (which works because the rest is so squashed) and, dare I say it, Megatron vs Devastator's fist in AHM.
That city shot doesn't tick any boxes at all though.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jul 20, 2009 17:15:25 GMT
Nice article, but why the lack of love for all the double-page spreads from the Budiansky era, such as the Autobot roll call in #1, the Autobots hanging from the ceiling in #5, and (less iconic) the battle on Cybertron in Headmasters #1?
Not a fan of the Rhythms of Darkness one - the first time I saw, I just thought: "Hang on! Those robots are ten times too big compared to those skyscrapers!" And it still has that effect. Rodimus Prime turns into a camper van, not a battleship.
I always liked the Andy Wildman one from US #74.
But I'll tell you what's the sign of good comic book - it's one that you _remember_ as being a double page spread, but when you go back and check you find that actually it wasn't. Various key moments in Brainstorm, Prime Time, The Smelting Pool, The Bridge to Nowhere and Dinobot Hunt caught me out like that.
Martin
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Jul 21, 2009 17:31:55 GMT
There was also Titan's crowd-pleasing opening double-page of Optimus fighting Megatron.
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Post by legios on Jul 21, 2009 20:19:39 GMT
I would have to come down on the side of prefering my double-page spreads to be so because they are presenting something important to the drama. I find that they tend to be a bit overused these days and in my opinon for the wrong things.
They should be saying something of narrative import. I think it is rather a waste to use a double-page spread simply to establish that something is physically large - a decent artist should be able to do that in a single page or even a portion thereof.
It is one of the reasons why DW's use of splash pages never really sat well with me. Using a whole two pages simply to state "Devastator is here and is a big robot" doesn't feel dramatically like it warrants being treated with such importance.
Karl
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2009 22:26:31 GMT
They should be saying something of narrative import. I think it is rather a waste to use a double-page spread simply to establish that something is physically large - a decent artist should be able to do that in a single page or even a portion thereof. It has got very little to do with the artist. The publishers receive the illustrations from the artists and they expand the picture to fit two pages instead of one - or at least thats what DW used to do anyway. |
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Jul 22, 2009 9:43:42 GMT
Really? That's not the normal way companies do it AFAIK, what was going on there?
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Post by legios on Jul 22, 2009 11:58:22 GMT
It has got very little to do with the artist. The publishers receive the illustrations from the artists and they expand the picture to fit two pages instead of one - or at least thats what DW used to do anyway. I thought I was through being surprised by the odd things that Dreamwave did, but once again they have surprised me. Karl |
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Post by Benn on Jul 22, 2009 16:31:53 GMT
I lliked the way Marvel UK turned the opening page of 'The Void' into a double pager. To me that was a fantastic use of the Comic Medium.
Less keen on Titans reprint of 'Legacy Of Unicron's splash page though.
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Post by blueshift on Jul 22, 2009 16:42:13 GMT
Yes, I remember seeing scans of that, do you have any to hand, I'd like to see what they did again.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2009 17:58:16 GMT
To properly explain my last comment, I read somewhere on the net that the artists drew the pictures and then they were put into a computer and expanded or shrunk to fit the space properly that they wanted it to go in. It would make sense in todays world of comic book publishing although how true it is I don't know.
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Post by Benn on Jul 22, 2009 19:16:14 GMT
Yes, I remember seeing scans of that, do you have any to hand, I'd like to see what they did again. I should be able to pick the comic up on Friday, I'll try scanning it over the weekend. |
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Post by Kingoji on Jul 22, 2009 21:52:47 GMT
It may only have had a passing mention in the article, but my all time favourite spread in any comic ever is the one of Unicron from 'On The Edge Of Extinction'. I took Titan's 'End Of The Road' collection to AA last year for signing. Andy and Simon just signed the inside of the cover, but Geoff flipped to that spread and signed it directly, smirking cheerfully to himself as me and my brother watched him do it and made utterings of "Oh, Yeah" or "Too right".
God bless Geoff.
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Post by Benn on Jul 23, 2009 12:47:49 GMT
Unicron from 'On The Edge Of Extinction'. A page that screams either "Class" or "OM NOM NOM". |
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 23, 2009 18:31:19 GMT
The double-page spread of the Autobots in the first Marvel story remains my favourite, mostly for nostalgia. I remember first seeing it in The Complete Works vol1 and pouring over it many times.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Jul 23, 2009 20:58:40 GMT
It is a good one - a classic "roll-call" sequence. It isn't my favourite but I have to admit when I came across it again this evening (thanks to having the trade out for some research) I did get a distinct twinge of nostalgia myself.
Karl
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2009 21:31:12 GMT
The roll-call is a good double page spread but I don't get the same nostalgic feeling as some people because I never read the comics as a kid.
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Post by Benn on Jul 26, 2009 9:26:30 GMT
Heres what Marvel UK did with issue 317.  Things like this are why I loved that comic and still regard it with fondness even now. |
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