Image Gallery by Don MacPherson Hey there, Fourth Rail readers. I had some images lying around I wanted to post on the site, but they didn't really fall into any kind of feature category that was usually run on the site. So I decided to cobble together this little image gallery. I needed to share, because I just love you that much. Ya ingrates. Behind the Curtain After seeing Randy's review of The Ultimates #5 as well as my own earlier this week, colorist Paul Mounts dropped us a line. Apparently, the art -- and specifically the colors -- didn't make it through the printing process all that well... too dark, Paul said. Personally, I thought the darkness suited the grave tone of the story, but after seeing what should have been, I have to agree that the reproduction shortfall is unfortunate. Mr. Mounts was kind enough to let us share some pages with our readers, and I've scanned the counterparts from the actual printed comic so you can compare. Click on the images to see larger versions (bear in mind these are large scans and will load slowly on lesser Internet connections). The image on the left is the one the colorist sent along, whereas the one on the right is the final printed page. Even at the smaller size, one can see the differences. Look at the clouds in the upper right corners, and the lights in the buildings. There's a sharper, more textured look to the pre-print image, and the colors are slightly -- and in some cases, quite -- different. Paul tells us that Marvel's disappointed about the situation as well, and new plates have been ordered for the eventual Ultimates hardcover collection. "The hardcover should be beautiful," he wrote in e-mail. Now here are some more examples: As you can see, the colors on the pre-print image of page three (on the left) are much brighter and crisper than those on the final printed page (right). Compare how the helicopter in the bottom panel is lit. Now let's move onto page nine: Again, the colors are much brighter in Mounts's pre-print image (left) than in the final printed version (right), but what really sets these apart for me is the Hulk's skin tone. In the pre-print version, there's a subtle green tint to his skin, whereas on the printed page, that tint is pretty much lost, leaving us only with a hard grey. Thanks to Paul Mounts for giving us a heads-up, and for providing a sneak peek at what readers can expect from The Ultimates hardcover reprint sometime in the not-too distant future. Steve Rolston in Halifax Strange Adventures is an award-winning comics shop with locations in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Fredericton, New Brunswick, and to mark Strange's 10th anniversary, owner Calum Johnston held a sale and signing at the Halifax store on June 29. Signing comics and doling out sketches was Steve Rolston, who's been in Halifax for a few weeks. I decided to visit some friends down that way and drop in on the signing. Steve, pictured above, is the Eisner-nominated artist of the first story arc of Queen & Country and Pounded, both from Oni Press. (Take note of the T-shirt.) Speaking of Pounded, Steve was kind enough to do a sketch of the book's protagonist, Heavy Parker, in keeping with my sketchbook theme of "Ouch, that's gotta hurt." I also got a look at some pencil work from Steve's latest project, Mek, written by Warren Ellis, to be published by DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions. Trust me... even if Ellis's name weren't enough to draw you to the book (due for release late this year), Steve's detailed artwork will be. Finally, here's a pic of the day's host, Calum Johnston. He's won the Eisner Spirit of Retailing award and a Diamond Comic Distributors contest for best comic book shop. When not running the Halifax shop, he's reading Alison Dare comics to his five-year-old daughter. And no, he's not as scary and intense and he pretends to be here. Don MacPherson never poses nude... on the first date. Email Don MacPherson comments about this column, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.