Page 1 - H.A.R.D. Corps #1

A lot of Valiant books will start with splash page (a full page of art instead of a series of panels). These are called page one splashes. I love them because they are so encompassing that it doesn't matter what is going on in your life, once you open the comic to that page one splash you are drawn into the story.

Today I've got the first page from H.A.R.D. Corps #1 by David Lapham. Lapham got his start at Valiant, he trained under Jim Shooter and helped create the seminal Harbinger series. He was nominated for the Russ Manning Newcomer of the Year award for his work at Valiant. And he really hit his stride and perfected his style (before he went all indie and changed it) with two Valiant books - Harbinger #9 and this one, H.A.R.D. Corps #1. Check out his skillz:

Great composition, very nice figures, clean and exciting lines. The best marriage between the image style and the Valiant house style.

As a bonus, and because I spent the whole post talking about the artist and the art, here is a scan of the ink art to H.A.R.D. Corps #1 page 1: