Avengers #181 (1978)

In 1978, the two big artists were George Perez and John Byrne. Then as now, Perez was known for his amazing work with crowded super-hero comics, while Byrne was known for his ability to make his characters seem very human.

 

So it’s neat to contrast two pieces of art, one by Byrne and the other by Perez, of the same scene. It’s intriguing that Byrne’s piece is clearly the better of the two.

 

Look at the two images. They’re really almost exactly the same. The characters all appear next to each other in basically the same places and poses, but notice how much more life Byrne gives his illustration. Hercules, for instance, has a completely sort of rage on the Byrne page, more typically heroic for the character. Or notice how the Vision and Quicksilver both seem to hover around their beloved Scarlet Witch, showing how protected she was. The Black Panther is content to be himself, regal and open to the events, while Hawkeye is hostile to the government sticking its nose into the affairs of the Avengers.

 

It’s really kind of cool to be able to compare and contrast like this. I wonder what some other artists would have done with the same scene.

 

(by the way, I apologize for the poor scan – I’m breaking in a new scanner)

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