Tardi's Oneness in Layout

    When reading Adele Blanc-Sec, I couldn't help but be drawn to the realistic imagery that delighted every panel. Each individual shot captured immense detail, drawing us deeper and deeper into a world littered with strange possibilities. Yet, when I stepped back and tried to take in whole pages at a time, I couldn't help but notice the ever-changing panel structures within the work. Looking specifically at "Pterror Over Paris," Tardi seems to be incredibly attentive to time as well as suspense in his use of panels.
    The opening two pages of "Pterror Over Paris" illustrate this mastery quite well. We open on Paris's Museum of Natural History with succeeding panels getting closer and closer to the pterodactyl egg. On the first page especially, panel size informs the audience not only the expanse of the pictured scene (bursting out of borderlines in the first panel) but its importance. In the bottom row, the middle panel is slightly smaller than the outer two, with the egg case taking up the entire thing. I feel like this is a pause in time, Tardi giving us the object completely outside of context so we can feel its gravity in the sequence thus far. The final panel on the page operates as a small cliffhanger, with the "TAP TAP TAP" cluing us in to an immediate action or change.
    On the second page, what's most striking to me is the dichotomy of panel shape. The top row consists of stout rectangles, with the last panel being slightly larger than the other two. The bottom row are tall and thin spaces, allowing for upward motion of the winged beast. What these two separate sets say to me is Tardi is very conscious in communicating change, not just in his world and his characters but in the work itself. Because the dinosaur escapes its million year-old egg, Tardi has to give it more space, give the panel room for flight. And this play between panel and narrative keeps the story taught, keeps it feeling fresh and itself. It above all else illuminates the fact that Tardi is master of this domain.