They Got The Body Types Right In Ion #10

This is Kyle Rayner. He's a very nice boy.



I liked the recent issue of Ion, which had an interesting story, and incidentally had Guy Gardner in it, which always boosts a book in my esteem. What I really did like however, was the art, by Greg Tocchini, which I really only mentioned in passing in my previous review.

Why do I like it? It is clear and unfussy, and nicely done, but that's not the main reason. I LOVE the fact, that Mr. Tocchini has presented us with a variety of body types. This is of course, a subject that has come up before, but it is still always a pleasure to get past the massively over-muscled super-heroic musculature that graces the pages of SO many books, and instead have a normally sized hero instead.

Look at this:



Here, we have Kyle talking with Captain Atom, who it turns out ISN'T dead at all. Wearing some rather massive armor, the good Captain is tall and broad-shouldered, and obviously well-muscled, without thankfully, being freakishly so. In contrast, Kyle is quite a bit shorter, and much smaller. He has a slighter build, and just looks younger...which is as it should be.




Now here is Kyle talking things over with Guy, and again it shows their differing body types. Guy is older and taller than Kyle, and he looks it. Again though, he's not bulging with incongruous muscles. And, it's always a pleasure to have Guy smiling without grimacing.

Three different characters, and three different depictions of body types. And that's how it should be.