I've been talking to an artist about this, and I think the ETERNALS #1 behind-the-scenes edition is essential reading for creators to look at how Kieron/Esad approach page budgeting and how they choose where to deploy his virtuosic art. I'll do a thread about it tomorrow.

But essentially, the panels/pages that have to be fully rendered are chosen very carefully, and everything else is either simplified, or left to the colourist. And the thing is, you NEVER notice it in the final comic. It's only when you look at the pencils that you see it.

Comics is never about making every panel shine. It's about storytelling, and the art is how that storytelling happens. Not everything needs a virtuoso touch. And you don't need to spend the same amount of time on every panel. Choose your moments.

It's called the Never Die, Never Win Edition, and it's free on Comixology here. Anyway, thread tomorrow. https://comixology.com/Eternals-Never-Die-Never-Win-Edition-2021-1/digital-comic/893277

Quick elaboration, as promised. I'm gonna stick to the published preview to avoid spoilers.

First things first. Page 1 is as elaborate as it gets. Utterly rendered, because this is your entry into the world, and it needs to give you that epic feel. A sense of what to expect.

Here's page 4 by comparison. Both panels 1 and 3 have backgrounds dropped in from elsewhere to cut down on the work, while panels 2 and 4 are pretty much all foreground, no background, because nobody needs background details at this point.

As pointed out by other folks, Ribic also reuses his own art from elsewhere, as with Ultimate Hawkeye in the following tweets:

https://twitter.com/LanTweets/status/1348396976841351169 https://twitter.com/LanTweets/status/1348397450021761024

And Ultimate Comics Ultimates here: https://twitter.com/RManta82/status/1347035432744325121

All of this works because he understands where the focus needs to be, and doesn't spend extra time on rendering every little thing. So there. Budget your time. Work smart.