Original Art - Archer & Armstrong #1 page 1

I love Barry Windsor-Smith. He did the best work of his career at Valiant and his best work at Valiant on Archer & Armstrong. I also love Valiant page one splashes. One of my favorites is page 1 of Archer & Armstrong #1. Check out a scan of the beautiful black and white ink art by Barry Windsor-Smith and Bob Layton below.

You really get to appreciate Barry Windsor-Smith's classical pencil lines when the color has been removed. Stunning. On this page: Armstrong holds Archer back as Mahmud and the Sect attack, but then out of nowhere pops Armstrong's brother, Gilad the Eternal Warrior, holding the hand of Solar, Man of the Atom.

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:

Page 1 - Magnus Robot Fighter #0

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 we spotlight what could be argued to be the very first Valiant Comics page one splash - Magnus Robot Fighter #0 page 1. Written before Magnus Robot Fighter #1 and intended to launch the Valiant Comics Universe #0 was ultimately used as a send away incentive and then a retailer thank you (There's an interesting story behind this that I'll post one day).

What's great about this page is that you are immediately sucked into the world on NorthAm - it's the world we know but far in the future; people are still people but they seem to have robot helpers; technology is far advanced; society is now Utopian(the biggest problems the locals face are falling ice cream, reading too many comics and doves getting in the way of your commute); architects love jewel colors.

Things to note on this page

• Manning Systems refers to the creator of Magnus Robot Fighter, Russ Manning.
• Gold refers to the original publisher of Magnus Robot Fighter, Gold Key Comics.
• Comics have become 'Holo Comics' and Marvel and DC seem to have merged - Superman is fighting the Thing.
• FATJ refers to Joe Quesada (I kid!!)

UPDATE: Found a scan of the original ink art to this page.

Page 1 - Rai #0

Once again I'm starting a new series. One of the things I love about Valiant comics is the visual storytelling. 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. I'm going to spotlight my favorites in this series and we're going to start with the one from Rai #0 (why not start with one of the very best!).

It beautifully drawn page by David Lapham features the first appearance of Bloodshot. How can you not be interested in the story once you see this page. You have to think what is happening to that man? Why is there a red circle on his chest? And why is there a kid in this high tech facility?