![\"\"](\"\/\/kirbymuseum.org\/blogs\/kinetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2011\/06\/A-Kirby-reject-pencils.jpg\" "\\"1-Kirby")
<\/a><\/p>\nInitially, what strikes me most about this page, without comparing it to anything, is that it is composed mostly of middle-ground shots of the Thing, first standing, then running and finally being struck by some sort of force. The camera then cuts to a foreground shot of a helmeted character spinning someone in the air above several onlookers. The sequence is well drawn, but not particularly exciting, mostly because of the fact that the Thing is alone in most of the panels, approximately the same size and it is not clear what sort of threat he is facing until the final panel, where it is not even clear that it is him spinning.<\/p>\n
Kirby was known to vary the size and angle of his figures from panel to panel, generally because it created more drama. Unless he was doing an action-to-action sequence, specifically emphasizing continuity of movement, the artist would usually follow a close-up with a medium or long shot.<\/p>\n
Based on the design of the helmeted figure. Glenn quickly deduced that this was a minor character called Magno-Man, whom the Thing was briefly pitted against in FF#92.\u00a0 Then, after I initially submitted this blog entry, I received communications from Craig M. and Greg T., both suggesting that the discarded\u00a0 page was designed to fall between pages 4 and 5.\u00a0 If we look at the quality of the published sequence,\u00a0 we see why Kirby has made the decision to discard the penciled page. In the first panel,\u00a0 we see the Thing\u00a0 surrounded by a group of threatening aliens in an urban landscape. The head of the saurian creature on the left is at the same level as the central background figure of the Thing, and the straight edge of a concrete structure brings our eye from the creature directly to the orange hero. The creature\u2019s tail and the barrel of a weapon bring us down to an overhead medium shot of the Thing facing Magno-Man in panel two.<\/p>\n Next we see a close-up of the Thing\u2019s head, with Magno-Man smaller on the right. This is followed by a larger mid-ground shot of the Thing propelled diagonally and rightward through the air, and finally we see his tiny figure crashing through a brick wall and swerving off into the distance. Compared to the relative sameness of the panels in the penciled page, Kirby has given us masterful sequence, composed of a variety of contrapuntally sized figures and objects.<\/p>\n Kirby knows, as the clich\u00e9 goes that variety is the spice of life. Observe the composition of the following page, as the Thing counters Magno-Man\u2019s attack. Panels two through four show us similar mid-ground shots, but they are action- to-action frames, showing close continuity as the Thing pushes his way through Magno-Man\u2019s force field. Panel three\u2019s Thing is slightly smaller than that of panel two, but the hero\u2019s figure then gets progressively larger and becomes a close-up in panel five. Panel six switches to a medium-long shot as the Thing rips up the pavement to topple Magno-Man.<\/p>\n Here again, Kirby\u2019s creative process is in the Zone, unlike the uninspired work that he has done in the rejected pencil page. Unfocussed there, he is now fully aware that the visual choices he is making are the optimal ones for kinetic storytelling.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n