Snakes In The Glass!
These are two of my all-time favorite comic books. Underneath the Marie Severin cover above we find an Avengers team drawn by veteran inker Frank Giacoia. Apparently Giacoia didn't like to pencil, but preferred what he considered the less onerous task of inking.
But as the page above showcases, he's pretty dang good. With Sam Grainger on inks his is a very handsome issue with some nifty panel designs. But when it comes to artwork the next issue is the absolute gem.
If you waterboarded me and forced me to pick only one cover as my favorite this one might be it. Outstanding and dramatic composition by John Buscema with sterling inks by Tom Palmer. If I could only have one art team they are the team. The Avengers have never (and I include George Perez in this) looked better than when Buscema and Palmer busted out for an amazing sequence of comics.
Rip Off
I seem to recall reading that Giacoia's problem was that he was so slow in output, to the point of occasionally calling in favours from others to complete work assignments. Whichever was the case with this issue, it really is a fine showcase for his talents - some of those layouts are positively Steranko-esque.
ReplyDeleteI've read that Giacoia just didn't like the pressure of penciling a book, of being responsible for the deadlines and much preferred inking (which he did magnificently). I ain't going to criticize, but I'm with you --after seeing this issue I'd like to have seen more. But then we'd have missed so many strong inking outings, so it's a net loss either way.
Delete