The Thing in "Poker Face" by Matt Duarte
This page is set up in a five panel layout with the first four being in a two by two grid, all in the same size, and the last one a wide panel across the page.
Panel 1
Description: She-Hulk is holding a set of cards, close to her face, we can only see hers hands and a bit of her face. She looks focused and concentrated on her cards.
THING (CAPTION): Jennifer's pretty easy to read. She plays fast and loose, like she doesn't care if she wins or loses. Just for the fun of it, I guess.
THING (CAPTION): Still a lawyer though, and she can spot a bad bluff from a mile away. Looks like she’s puttin’ more effort into it for this occasion.
Panel 2
Description: Spider-Man is hanging upside down, he's also holding a hand of cards. We can only see his hands and his face, with the mask only halfway down (so we can see his mouth, but not his eyes). He has a smile on his face.
THING (CAPTION): Spidey is a different story. He plays it close to the chest, and that damned mask makes it impossible to see his eyes.
THING (CAPTION): Poor Pete's always broke, so if I raise the stakes enough, he'll fold faster than you can say "J. Jonah Jameson". Of course, that don't matter today.
Panel 3
Description: Wolverine is holding a set of cards as well, he looks calm and not giving any tells. We can only see his hands and his mask-less face. He is peeking at the side, at one of his table mates.
THING (CAPTION): Logan's the toughest cookie of the bunch. The man has more years of playing poker than I've been alive.
THING (CAPTION): And on top of that, the hairy bastard can smell your lies. Good thing Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew doesn't have to worry 'bout that right now, there's more interesting places for him to stick that damn nose.
Panel 4
Description: The Thing is holding a hand of cards. We can only see his big hands and part of his face, including his blue eyes.
THING (CAPTION): I never would've organized this tournament if I was planning to lose. I know I'm gonna win for two reasons...
THING (CAPTION): First, ever since the revoltin' development with Reed's crazy plan to get us to the Moon, those cosmic rays have given me the world's best poker face...
Panel 5
Description: She-Hulk, Wolverine and Spider-Man are all sitting around a small round table. She-Hulk is just wearing her bra and panties, Spider-Man only has his mask, boots, and underwear on him, and Wolverine just has his jeans and a wife-beater shirt (looking at She-Hulk). The Thing is also sitting there, and he is just wearing his regular Fantastic Four uniform pants. On the center of the table, we can see She-Hulk's skirt and blouse, Spider-Man's pants and shirt, Wolverine's boots and leather jacket.
THING (CAPTION): And two: no one...
THING (CAPTION): And I mean, NO ONE...
THING (CAPTION): Wants to see me lose at strip poker.
The End.
Haha, great page Matt. Even with all the foreshadowing the 5th panel caught me off-guard. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! Easily my favourite of the week :)
ReplyDeleteOh man, this is great!
ReplyDeleteI love how you take what looks like an ordinary situation that's already well-associated with Thing and manage to switch it up like that. :-)
ReplyDeleteNice work, Matt. I guess no one will ever solve Brody Bruce's quandary of whether his dong is made of rock as well. As for Wolvie's sly eyes, love that part.
ReplyDeleteTight script, good use of panel depth to control the reader's view, this works completely.
Probably nice you didn't go all dark like the rest of us. Ol' Grim could only take so much, I guess, ha.
Thanks for the kind words.
ReplyDelete@Ryan: The Wolvie bit was actually a last minute addition! I wanted to show three different reactions, so I figured to go with Logan being distracted by the fact that She-Hulk is um... losing.
Matt, apologies, somehow I missed this script first time round. Just wanted to say I finally caught it - and it was bloody excellwnt!
ReplyDelete