Some Super Super Panels

Six panel polyptych from Giant Size Defenders No. 3, January 1975, art by Jim Starlin, see description below

A few weeks ago, I was critiquing some super panels (aka polyptyches aka multi-pans or multi-panel pan sequences) for being unnecessary or inconsistent. Today I’m going to share two that I think work well.

Faulty Multi-Panel Pans 2: Motion-Logic Inconsistencies

Three panel polyptych from Action Comics No. 467, January 1977, art by Curt Swan and Ted Blaisdel, published by DC Comics – see explanation below

It’s Joe’s second installment in his nitpicky critique of comic book multi-pans (aka super panels or polyptychs.) Recently I posted about gratuitous gutters, today it’s a look at motion and how it lines up across panels.

It’s very common for multi-pans to be used to show motion. As a character moves across a landscape, a polyptych can hold the background steady, and show characters multiple times traveling from one location to another. With characters in motion, artists include motion lines to show where they’ve come from. Sometimes the motion lines, position, and background don’t quite all line up consistently.