#secret avengers

traddmoore:

SECRET AVENGERS Covers 1-15

By Tradd Moore and Matthew Wilson

Series written by Ales Kot, drawn by Michael Walsh, and colored by Matthew Wilson.

It’s been an honor and a joy drawing the covers for this wonderful series. Thanks to Ales, Matt, Michael, Lauren Sankovitch, Wil Moss, and Jon Moisan for being fun collaborators, kind people, and talented creators.

Check my “Secret Avengers” tag (or just click here) to see each cover individually, both inked and in full color, in higher resolution. There’s a bit of process in there, too.

Till next time!

My favorite run of covers in recent memory.

Secret Avengers badassery by Warren Ellis, David Aja, and Raul Allen

I think Matthew Wilson is my favorite colorist on the books I read, and this page from Secret Avengers is a good illustration why.

Check out the range and vibrancy of his palette, from the various shades of cool blue in the dark room, to the lighter blue of the medical-tube goop, to the bright green of the night-vision goggles, to the bright pink of Snapper’s encased brain. Dig his detailed shading on the night-vision goggles’ light trails, on the light and shadow on Maria Hill’s face, in MODOK’s gaping mouth.

It occurs to me that a theme of Secret Avengers is juxtaposition. You can see it in Michael Walsh’s art, which somehow manages to be cartoony and grubby and realistic all at once; in the dark colors of a night mission or secret lab set against the bright tones of science; in Ales Kot’s writing which mixes dangerous spy capers against lots of jokes. Really, in the idea of the Secret Avengers itself, where members of the most famous, flashy group in the Marvel Universe do secret missions as a team that doesn’t exist. Basically, its a great book.

SecretAvengers #4, June 2014. Ales Kot, Michael Walsh, and Matthew Wilson. Edited by Wil Moss and Jon Moisan.

Reading a series and finding a David Aja issue is a marvelous treasure. He is just a genius. This page is perfect; track the way your eyes scan to every element, and how they float across Arnim Zola’s panel after Cap identifies him. There are several other postable pages from this amazing issue, but I particularly like the way Aja draws Zola, one of Marvel’s top two dumbest-looking villains.

Secret Avengers#18, October 2011.
w: Warren Ellis.
a: David Aja / Raul Allen.

Secret Avengers#16, August 2011.
w: Warren Ellis.
a: Jamie McKelvie.
c: Matthew Wilson.