Superhero Minimalism: Team Zero in Six Panels

It's been almost a year since the last time, but you might remember my earlier posts where I attempted to provide a summary or trailer for a comic book series using only one panel from each issue of the series.

Here are those attempts:

• All Star Superman in Eleven Panels
• All Star Batman in Nine Goddamn Panels
• X-Men: Fatal Attractions in Six Panels

I thought I'd try it again, this time with a lesser-known mini-series published by Wildstorm in 2006: Team Zero, by Chuck Dixon and Doug Mahnke.

Let's give it a shot:

TEAM ZERO IN SIX PANELS

(click to enlarge)

All Star Superman #12 in One Panel

Following up on this post, here is All Star Superman #12 summarized in one panel (click to enlarge):

Superhero Minimalism: X-Men: Fatal Attractions in Six Panels

This is the third in an ongoing series of posts where I attempt to provide a summary/trailer for comic book series using only one panel from each issue of the series. See the first post here and the second here.

Let's turn the clock back to late 1993: the comic book industry is booming, Image Comics is a shining new star in the firmament, and four new Supermen have taken the place of the recently-deceased Superman. Over at Marvel Comics, writers Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell put together Fatal Attractions, a six-part crossover running through X-Factor #92, X-Force #25, Uncanny X-Men #304, X-Men #25, Wolverine #75, and Excalibur #71.

Here's my attempt to retell the story in only six panels, one from each issue (spoilers):

(click to enlarge)

What do you think? Should I have used a panel that more explicitly showed what happened to Wolverine? Did the issue of Excalibur add anything to the story? After re-reading Wolverine #75, I still think it was one of the best single issues of any superhero comic book from the 1990s. Do you agree? Finally, does the line "That the difference between his goal and that of Xavier's is nearly identical in intent if not in execution" make any sense? Shouldn't it have read something like, "That his goal and Xavier's goal are nearly identical in intent if not in execution"?

Superhero Minimalism: All Star Batman in Nine Goddamn Panels

This is the second in an ongoing series of posts where I attempt to provide a summary/trailer for comic book series using only one panel from each issue of the series. See the first post here.

Unlike All Star Superman, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is much more difficult to summarize because writer Frank Miller and artist Jim Lee spent the first nine issues setting a mood rather than telling a story. Things happen, but the overarching plot of the series seems to be inching along. That said, here's my best shot (spoilers):

Let me know what you think. And make sure to check back next Monday for the next post in this series -- I'll be heading further off the beaten path on that one.

All Star Superman in Eleven Panels

One of the great aspects of All Star Superman is its economic use of pages to tell an epic story. Writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely effectively communicate entire scenes in single panels. You could call it superhero minimalism.

In that spirit, I thought it might be neat to try to retell the story so far, using only one panel from each of the first eleven issues, in an attempt to put together a (somewhat) coherent summation of the book/trailer for the twelfth and final issue.

Let me know what you think: did it work? Do you have suggestions for different panels to use? Remember, only one panel per issue. Also, if anybody knows how to set this up as a slideshow, let me know.

Edited to add:

Now that the series has concluded with issue twelve, I've gone ahead and put up a post with the final panel.