NoMan Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 (edited) As a kid, one of the things that pulled me into comics was the panel construction and sequencing of Miller's work on Daredevil. I remember one (#177?) where the reporter Ben Urich is in his office at the Daily Bugle and smoke from a cigarette from the bottom panel swirls up into the page entering every panel. Also many panel sequencing felt filmic. My question: since there is nothing new under the sun, who was doing this kind of panel work before Miller. I know of none, but I'm certainly not a student of comics like some of you are. Edited March 19, 2017 by NoMan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Well, not panel work per se but back in the day Herriman's Krazy Kat was given free reign over the whole newspaper page and would frequently meander through the entire page. So the smoke throughout the page thing was something he would do as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidTheDavid Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Steranko broke the mold on paneling in a lot of ways. Nowadays, seeing his stuff is a bit like watching Citizen Kane. It's easy to overlook what's groundbreaking about these things when they created the devices that all the work since uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMan Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 forgot about Steranko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Here is the print Steranko sells where he tells an entire story in one panel. This image is from the web but I have one too. He was fantastic to talk to about this print, his mastery of moving your eye where he wants it to go is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Aldred Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 (edited) On Daredevil he used Bernard Krigstein's congruent panel breakdown technique. Edited March 19, 2017 by Ken Aldred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMan Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 thanks all! I figured EC came into somewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageComics Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 7 hours ago, NoMan said: As a kid, one of the things that pulled me into comics was the panel construction and sequencing of Miller's work on Daredevil. I remember one (#177?) where the reporter Ben Urich is in his office at the Daily Bugle and smoke from a cigarette from the bottom panel swirls up into the page entering every panel. Also many panel sequencing felt filmic. My question: since there is nothing new under the sun, who was doing this kind of panel work before Miller. I know of none, but I'm certainly not a student of comics like some of you are. Miller took inspiration from many GA greats (as well as Anime if you can believe it - he had a fascination with Japanese culture) but you need to check out Will Eisner. Eisner was light years ahead of most when it came to picture story telling and sometimes when you're looking at his panel layouts you'd swear it was Miller. And I want to thank the GA crew for pointing this out to me as I did not realize it, being a GA noob at one time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageComics Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 BTW, I always said you can tell how good an artist is by the way they draw hands. Miller, Adams, Wrightson etc could all do amazing hands. Another two tells that I look for are how an artist draws water and smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicAR Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 I got beat to the punch, but yeah Will Eisner was a true master, bringing all kinds of new elements to the comic page. His format necessitated some changes, particularly the front page being an actual part of the story much of the time. Because of that, the title was generally worked into the art. I have to thank the "old guys" (younger than I am now) that hung around the comic shop when I was getting into comics. They pointed out the Kitchen Sink books and I've been a devout fan ever since. I remember when Mr. Miller's Daredevil work was recommended, I thought it looked a lot like Mr. Eisner's stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMan Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 It's kinda coming back to me: I find that I either LOVE Eisner stuff or HATE Eisner stuff. When the Spirit gets down and dirty and gritty, it's the best. When it's funny like a MAD Magazine story, not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Aldred Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Eisner's post WW 2 Spirit Sections - my favourite Golden Age reading material. I'm surprised it took a while for him to be mentioned. I posted Krigstein's work, someone who doesn't get as much recognition as an influence on Miller's technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicAR Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 19 minutes ago, NoMan said: It's kinda coming back to me: I find that I either LOVE Eisner stuff or HATE Eisner stuff. When the Spirit gets down and dirty and gritty, it's the best. When it's funny like a MAD Magazine story, not so much. That was part of what I loved about him, his range. Wally Wood and to a lesser extent, Harvey Kurtzman also come to mind as being able to do both the dramatic and comedic equally well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unca Ben Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Yep. Everyone I thought of (except one) has been mentioned. Eisner, Krigstein, Kurtzman & Steranko. The one that hasn't been mentioned (to my surprise)? Alex Toth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Aldred Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 (edited) Yup. Good call. One of comics' masters of chiaroscuro. Here's another example from Toth, which is very similar to a Frank Miller page with Spillane-like dialogue, and also predates Sin City... And, Toth's Batman... Edited March 20, 2017 by Ken Aldred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
