Panel Discussion: Comic Scans From Batman and the Outsiders, All-Star Superman, Criminal Macabre and More

Best Actor - Lex Luthor, All-Star Superman #12
That is a sneer to end all sneers. The low angle perfectly captures the fact that given super-powers, Lex is exactly what he always accused Superman of being; a selfish overlord with no respect for the people below him. Delicious.
Also there's this, my all time favorite kind of panel. That would be the "Bus Smashes Into Superhero Panel", seen on previous Panel Discussions here and here. Bonus points for showing the driver flying out of the car, which is certainly what would really happen.

Vampires get it in the face, Penguin gets it twixt the legs, and Superman just doesn't get it, after the jump...

Most Unpleasant Panel - Batman and the Outsiders #11
That's The Penguin down there, if you can't tell. This looks like an illustration from a fan art no one, and I mean NO one wants to see.

Best Interrogation Technique - Criminal Macabre - Cell Block 666 #1
Man, I love when heroes don't let the villains deliver their big speeches. Some bonuses include the subtle "click click" sound effect of the hammer clicking in the first panel, and the vampire's hilarious self-absorbed posturing as he's about to launch into his speech. Not today, sucka!


The Magic of Comics - DC Universe: Decisions #1
Just a small example of the between the panel magic of sequential art. Wonderful clean work here, from the rustle of the newspaper to the air brushing through Lois's hair. And judging from her expression, Superman is definitely not getting laid tonight. What a nerd.

Panel Discussion: Comic Scans From FX #1, Captain American #36, Batman and the Outsiders #5 and More

Every week Geekanerd brings you the best, worst and weirdest panels from our week in comics. If you didn't read your books, there will be giant SPOILERS. Click the images for high res action!

The Banana Randomizer Award for Achievement in WTF - FX #1
So our young hero is crying at the beginning of this page, that's fine... Then he grows some sort of fake cybernetic arm, also fine... But what explains his brain damaged yammering? I haven't seen dialogue like that since Arseface, and that poor bastard had a pretty good excuse. It occurs to me now that he might actually be imitating the Six-Million Dollar Man's signature sound effect, with a ridiculous build up, but thats... Dumb.

Heroes rise from the dead, face-smashing and and what not to do with a propeller blade, after the jump...

Back On The Scene - Batman and The Outsiders #5, Robin #173, Captain American #36

ZOMBIES! Lots of dead heroes returned to the world of the living this week. Stephanie Brown came back after months of lead-up...

Sue and Ralph Dibny are back for the first time since we saw them as ghosts at the end of 52, though it turns out they're not so much "ghost detectives" as they are Quantum Leapers who jump into other people's bodies...does that mean Ralph isn't stretchy anymore?


Also this guy. Yawn.


Beatdown of the Week - Cassandra Cain, Batman and the Outsiders #5
Get with it, InvisoLady! You can't get the jump on the Bat Fam! Especially Cassandra, she will KILL you! It's all well and good to quip about strawberries, Cass, but I don't think she's getting up.

Gristliest Death - War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle #1
And THAT'S... Why you don't run at a prop plane.

Panel Discussion - Scans From Batman and the Outsiders #4, Mighty Avengers #9, Locke and Key #1 and More

Deja Vu - Batman and the Outsiders #4
Ooh, a reprogrammed evil robot joining the Outsiders? Good idea! What could possibly go wrong?!

Hydra Has the Sexiest Nurses - Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death
No wonder those goons in green always go down without much of a fight... The infirmary is staffed by hotties of epic proportion!

Most Inappropriate Use of Expressionism - The Flash #237
This panel would not at all be out of place in a show exhibiting expressionist takes on the horror of war. I like that about it. This whole issue feels like a tremendous rush job in terms of art, so perhaps this was just a first attempt at "upset" that came out so over-the-top crazy the artist just couldn't resist actually finishing and turning it in.

This next panel, on the other hand, is a total disaster. Depth, perspective, scale and shading all mashed together in a three car pile up. DC, if a book is late, I can live with that. This hurts me.

Best Actor Award - Tyler, Locke & Key #1
Throughout this scene Tyler has such a wonderfully authentic look of fear. Even after his attacker is dead, he is terrified with what he's done.

Overkill Alert! - Mighty Avengers #9
What happens with Earth's Mightiest Heroes storm Dr. Doom's castle? THREE DOUBLE PAGE SPLASHES IN A ROW. Man o man. My opinion on this has vacillated between disgust and admiration. I'm not a big fan of Bagley's art and only buy the book for Bendis' words, so three solo Bagley pages didn't interest me on my first glance. But when going back, I realized that these pages were pretty good for Bagley, and that much action should be exciting. Once I put together more pieces and realized Bendis' whole idea with this book is to make it a really traditional superhero book (bringing back word balloons and all that), the splashes started making more sense. Still, I can't help but think something like this is a bit of a waste.