A bouquet of my favorite comic book panels

Over the past three years I have come to immensely appreciate the talent and craft behind the comic book industry. From an under appreciated medium, it has come to the point where strong characters, deep and moving plots, and fantastic art make many graphic novels a sheer pleasure to read. 

That doesn't mean that there aren't bad apples. Like anything, there are some not so great pieces to weed out. But overall I've found a lot of joy and inspiration from delving into the comic book world.

As most of you, my dear readers, know, the past two months have been filled with a lot of personal hardship in the form of my health issues. God has sustained me in many ways, with a supportive family and amazing friends. However I believe he is also behind motivating me to join the tumblr roleplaying group that my friend Alicia had raved about all summer. I finally caved, joined the group... and have never regretted it. I've met some amazing people who have become very dear to me in a very short time, and I've also had the chance to share my love of comics and characters with those who appreciate them just as much as I do. 

Because we RP (short for roleplay) on Tumblr, we use a lot of graphics. I've started saving my favorite clips and panels, some humorous, some heartrending, and I thought it would be really fun to share some of my favorite pieces with all of you. 

First off is a gorgeous picture of one of my characters, Alison Blaire/Dazzler. She's a singer and channels sound into light/plasmabolts/serious stuff to be afraid of.  This particular picture is drawn by my absolute favorite artist, Sana Takeda, who makes every single page a gorgeous masterpiece. I think Ali just looks breathtaking here, and the rose is a gorgeous touch.

Next we get to see Ali's powers at work, aided by another favorite of mine, Theresa Cassedy/Siryn. These girls should always work in tandem.

The artwork for this cover is not my favorite, but I love it because of the emotion behind it. The most recent Marvel event has been the controversial SCHISM which has torn the X-Men right down the middle. One of my main characters, Rogue, must choose which side to join. Her two love interests, Magneto and Gambit, are on opposite sides. Which will she choose?

I'm a secret Rogue/Magneto shipper. For that reason I love the image of Magneto carrying Rogue off the battlefield. My Gambit utterly loathes this pairing and I have far, far too much fun teasing him about it... (Yes  Chris, this is here to tease you... ;) )

But I will forever remain a loyal Gambit/Rogue shipper, which I will prove by sharing one of my all time favorite pieces of art ever. Below is the cover to one of the only decent Ultimate X-Men comics ever. It's not just beautiful, it's breathtaking. My dream is to someday have a really nice large-sized version of this hung and framed in my home.

One of the reasons I love the X-Men is their willingness and ability to portray strong girls. I'm not in love with the art below (c'mon, you can't move in stuff that tight) but I do love the sentiment behind it.

Another kind of girl power below. The green haired woman is Lorna Dane/Polaris, youngest daughter of Magneto, and one of my main characters. Here she is seen spending some quality time with her niece, Luna (daughter of Quicksilver). We do have a Luna player on Tumblr who is absolutely adorable! 

I lovelovelove the ship of Lorna and Alex Summers/Havok (younger brother of Scott Summers). They're adorable and sweet and have a really long and enduring love story. One of the things I find utterly adorable about Lorna is how enthusiastic she always is about kissing Alex.

See? 

I love her priorities. XD

Moving away from the lovey-dovey stuff, this panel is sheer fun. Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) has been pining over his lost love (Kitty Pryde) and his friends are trying to distract him. A couple of the younger girls think Twitter might be an appropriate distraction. (The black-haired girl is a precog --- she can see the future. ;) )

Oh these Gambit/Rogue/Magneto pictures! I just can't get enough of them! Chris, I'm sorry. Shannon... join me in ALL THE ANGST EVER.

 Did you know there was a team of YOUNG Avengers? They are the children of the original Avengers and it's actually a pretty well written story. Two of them are Magneto's grandchildren, and he is helping them track down their missing mother, the Scarlet Witch. They are undercover in Germany... and Billy (the magical one providing the disguises) goes for a Sound of Music theme...

So that's an insight to why I love comics so much... and some of the moments that are worth reading again, and again, and again...