And let’s get this out of the way: Walt Simonson has a unique signature, check it out. Walt himself confirmed: it’s a dinosaur!
But on with the story. Great opening, real gritty. One of Simonson’s hallmarks is his use of crosshatching as shading. It’s unmistakable. It’s textured and really gives his art a lovely solidity.
Setting the scene. These troops are holding out against some kind of enemy in a siege action. Things look hopeless. But who are these “Slammers” they’re talking about. Can they really turn the tide, and how many are they sending?
Here’s something else about Simonson’s style, at least in this comic: it has a similarity to some of the kinds of art you’ll see in a Metal Hurlant issue. It’s kinda hard to define. Something about the colors combined with the tech on display and the stylized sound effects, maybe?
Then we’re treated to a couple of panels of chaos, with a single declamatory BANG to end it. Note how the way that the figures sometimes obscure the sound effects adds to the immersion of the scene. I’m also pretty sure that Simonson hand-draws those words himself, rather than handing the job to the letterer. I’d love to have this typeface!
Look at these badasses! One thing I really appreciate about Simonson: he loves armor! When we eventually get around to his run on Thor, you’ll see more of his adoration, and how his bulky designs just seem to scream EPIC.
And it’s clear he’s drawing on inspiration from multiple historical sources for these unique kits. An obvious homage to Japanese warlord helmets on the left, kind of a tribal skirt motif in the middle, maybe a nod to Roman legionnaires with the vertical fin… and something totally unique on the right.
Not only does Simonson have a great sense of line weight and where to place his solid blacks, he also knows when to leave ornamentation out. Look at the figure in red (we’ll learn his name soon). His face has just enough detail, but it could have more. Simonson does just enough for recognizability.
Look at the detail on the gun in the second panel. There’s a lot going on there, balanced by the simplicity of an unadorned cylinder as the barrel. What a cool design!
Simonson’s linework is kind of mesmerizing to me. I like to just look at each line and follow it. Note where he uses thick lines and where he uses thin ones, and what the does for the “feel” of each figure or element.
Also, check out that second panel. It’s very rare to have a panel in which characters are present and speaking, but you can’t see anyone’s face. This is kind of curious. Also, see how the woman on the bed’s left arm is obscured by her body, even though it’s the one that’s actively being used as a gesture. Uncommon!
And finally, look at the way Simonson drew her right hand in that panel. He didn’t bother to delineate each finger, such that they seem to have blended together. This is what I mean by his ability to know when to leave ornamentation out.
Here we’ve shifted scenes to eavesdrop on these two plotting characters. We never see them again in the story, but Simonson has still invested recognizable detail in them. For some reason, the way the green figure’s eyelids jut WAY out from his eyes in the third panel really stuck with me over the years. It’s weird but kinda cool too.
That’s a great first panel. Wonderful use of an unusual top-down perspective on a Dutch angle. Second panel, again, see the details Simonson decides to use.
But here’s a very unusual thing: normally you read panels from left to right, top to bottom, that’s a standard thing. But here the read goes from left to right, then back left again for the bottom panel. No reason to do it this way except it’s interesting.
Okay, here’s something else Simonson does and he’s a master at it. He knows when to break the plane of a panel in favor of enhancing an action. See how the speed lines come off the ship in a way that really sells the idea that it’s entering the scene from outside of it!
Notice how the sound effect words have no top boundary, like they’ve been cut out of the panel. In fact, the explosions created by the strafing ship’s shots also seem to be tearing up the landscape, such that the panel’s borders themselves are shredded. Masterful!
And then this awesome sequence, devoid of background, the yellow color subtly denoting caution or danger. The awesome sound effect of the whirling projectile contained within the spin itself, so cool. And finally, Simonson again breaks the plane of the panel to further sell the idea of the projectile as something powerful.
Simonson knows when to leave out the background to cement the action of a panel. And here’s a really nice use of weighting the elements: just a line in white space on the left, and all the detail of the impact on the right.
He just does so much in each panel, but it’s so easy to follow. Second panel he backs way out to include both the watching figures and the jet circling to a landing.
Love this sequence! The hilarious expression on the first guy’s face, matched against the implacability of the soldier. And finally, the classic gunslinger’s pose, full of threat against the dandified costumes of the rest. Great storytelling here!
I love that Simonson does a lot of wide shots in which our protagonists are mere tiny figures. He cares a lot about grounding scenes in environments.
And that two-shot middle panel has great timing in it!
At some point, comic book artists learn to draw crazy-looking tech. And here, Simonson uses a lot of curves, which American artists don’t typically do. And again, look at how much detail he leaves out on the left side. He doesn’t need to fill every space.
In particular, just a little tiny detail like the way he renders the shadow of the bottom-left ellipse makes me so happy. This is a master at work. He knows to do just enough to get the rendering across, and you can virtually SEE him drawing that scribble.
Alway gotta be one cigarette-smoking tough guy in every group. And in the second panel we get a nice reverse angle of the ship. Attention to detail.’
And finally, another amazing use of lines coming out of the boundaries of the panel to suggest speed, and a complete absence of detail on the right to illustrate jumping into the void. Lovely work!
And I’ve just realized I’ve barely said anything about the story itself! But Simonson’s art alone really sold this whole first sequence. You get it. In the next episode we’ll get deeper into this tale. Welcome back, True Believers!