The Visitor #6 Spotlight: Penciling & Inking

The Visitor #6 Cover A by Amilcar Pinna

 

While I appreciated Soo Lee stepping in to help out with the penciling and inking on The Visitor #5, it is with MJ Kim that this journey began. So, with The Visitor series winding to a close, it's nice to have her back on board for this final installment. This helps immediately root us in our characters, especially with Kubo-sama demonstrating his awesome powers of mind control.

 

 

I'm not a fan of panels without narrative or dialogue. I usually see a series of slow action/reaction panels as an extravagance in comics, given the strict page limits publishers often impose. Yet these three panels on page one of The Visitor #6 are drawn with such a sure hand, and reveal just how hard Talia is fighting Kubo-sama for control of her own body and mind.

Fight Kubo-sama off, Talia! You can do it!

 

 

MJ Kim also utilizes some of the tricks of the drawing trade to amp up the intensity in The Visitor #6. Usually, I appreciate fully drawn-in backgrounds. But the way Kubo-sama emerges from this field of black not only imbues him with more presence, but gives him a 3D look.

 

One area in which Soo Lee really excelled in The Visitor #5 was in her portrayal of The Visitor. I don't know if I can say that MJ Kim tops her portrayal in The Visitor #6. Yet I like the way that MJ Kim gives him a real alien presence in this panel.

If you haven't yet caught The Visitor train, or are reading my blog for the first time, don't worry. The Visitor is really a good guy. And no, he doesn't have a sliding jaw, or implant embryos in Human hosts.

Here's another panel in which Kubo-sama's power is so clearly on display. In addition to employing an inked-in background, MJ Kim also breaks panel boundaries, and utilizes the power of white space. You'll find more inked-in panels that reveal the power arcing off Kubo-sama, and Talia breaking into the white areas of the page, in The Visitor #6.

I'm not necessarily a fan of the direction lines MJ Kim and Soo Lee use in The Visitor. Still, I like how The Visitor leaps into the air here. While he may lack the power of mind control, the way he can summon electrical charges and seemingly defy gravity in this way remind me a little of the Jedi in the Star Wars prequels.

The Visitor, Kubo-sama, and Talia serve as powerful characters on which to support this six-issue series. All of them may not survive to resurface again in later series. Then again, given the revelation in one of the three epilogues that close out The Visitor #6, you never know.

I'd certainly be interested in seeing Kubo-sama take on Toyo Harada, The Visitor face off against Rai, or Talia...well, I'd love to see Talia team up with any Valiant hero, or take on any villain.

Great job, MJ Kim. Thanks for ending The Visitor series in such a powerful way!

Dragon Dave

The Visitor #6: All The Covers & Why You Need Them

 

The Visitor #6 Cover A by Amilcar Pinna

By now, all the major characters in The Visitor, as well as readers, know of The Visitor's identity. Cover A by Amilcar Pinna capitalizes on this, by showing us the hero behind the mask. It also is fairly representative of the action in this issue. The Visitor will suffer setbacks, and need the help of others, in order to accomplish his mission. 

No man is an island. Not even The Visitor.

The Visitor #6 Cover B by Alan Quah

Cover B by Alan Quah is more your "Let's show our hero in a smoking hot pose" than representative of the action in this issue. Still, what a smoking hot pose! The cover also hints at The Visitor's cosmic origins, as our hero hails from the orbital city of New Japan. The rifle he's holding certainly suggests that he comes from the future. 

It would have been interesting to see The Visitor in writer Matt Kindt's run of Rai, as well as his crossover event 4001 A.D. Perhaps he was in an issue or two, and I'm just forgetting. Hey, I'm human. The Visitor is better than human!

The Visitor #6 Pre-Order Cover by Franchesco Francavilla

This Pre-Order cover by Franchesco Francavilla is simple but effective. The blue half symbolizes how cool The Visitor is under pressure. The yellow-and-orange half symbolizes the destruction The Visitor brings. Sparking through both sides is the lightning, which symbolizes the amazing power The Visitor wields (especially over electronics). 

Of course, the lightning also reminds us of an oncoming storm. The next time you watch TV, listen carefully to the background. If you hear the sound of distant thunder, you know one of the characters is about to impart something important and dramatic. This revelation could change his relationships with others--or her place in the world--forever. 

Can The Visitor change our future for the better? Is our future inscribed in stone? Is humanity doomed to follow the events which led to the cataclysm on Earth, and the rise of a New Japan dominated by the malevalent artificial intelligence known as Father? 

Find out in The Visitor #6, on sale today.

Dragon Dave

The Visitor #6 Preview Pages

 

The Visitor #6 Cover A by Amilcar Pinna

Due to personal issues, I have yet to write a final review for The Visitor #5. But that didn't detract from my anticipation over how Paul Levitz's series would end. If you loved the first five issues, I suspect you'll be blown away by issue #6. If you felt that the story sagged along the way, rest assured that The Visitor #6 concludes the series in great form. 

Now, without further ado, here's your preview pages for The Visitor #6.

After reading the review copy of The Visitor #6, I will assure you that this series ties up all the loose story threads. Still, it left me hungering for more. Might Valiant someday produce a sequel series? Fans of this series can always hope!

The Visitor #6 is in stores tomorrow. Pick up your copy before your local comic shop sells out!

Dragon Dave 

The Visitor #5 Preview Pages

 

The Visitor Cover A by Amilcar Pinna

After a long wait, we're all looking forward to the two final issues of The Visitor. What exactly have the Japanese researchers created? Who is the being known as The Visitor? And how will his plans clash or align with those of the Japanese scientists?

Perhaps in the inside front cover and the first four pages of The Visitor #5, we'll get a hint of where writer Paul Levitz, penciler and inker Soo Lee, colorist Ulises Arreola, and letter Simon Bowland are taking us with this beautiful and intriguing series.

I hope you enjoyed this preview of The Visitor #5. So what happens next? Who will live in this issue, and who will die? And how will the actions of Talia, the Japanese scientists, and the Visitor affect the future of the Valiant universe?

Drop by your local comics store today and pick up this penultimate chapter. I promise you: some of your questions will be answered!

Dragon Dave