Writer Al Ewing is undoubtedly one of the freshest voices in comics. His historic run on Guardians of the Galaxy helped to set-up all the Marvel Cosmic adventures that helped fellow writer Donny Cates become a fan favorite and which have had such a massive impact in the comics since. Spaniard Marcio Takara (who uses the pen-name Juann Cabal) is the illustrator that brought life to Ewing’s big ideas and the artist that helped launch Tom Taylor’s career in comics on All New Wolverine and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Issue #12, “The Time of Mercy Is Past” is really the end of an era, and this incredible, full-cast splash page is unique among the entire run. All the characters James Gunn made famous in his MCU version of the Guardians are here as are the characters that most fans are looking forward to seeing in his forthcoming, final installment.
Final pages have become the focus of many collections, and this one is not just the final page of an issue, it is the final page of an Award-Winning story arc. It’s also objectively the best single page of Cabal’s run.
Cabal illustrates digitally, and so this page is a unique artist proof on high-quality illustration board that is signed and comes with a signed COA. With so many comic artists choosing to work digitally, digital proofs are rapidly becoming the norm and just like their analog counterparts are one-of-a-kind. They currently offer a competitive price-point as well, since an analog page of this caliber would likely be well above the $4000 range that Cabal’s commissions are running these days –and that would lack the extensive provenance of this iconic, full-team, published splash page.
Raphael: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle #1, 1st Printing CGC 9.2
