Ultra X-Men 1995 Card #100 Archangel 1995

This 1995 Ultra X-Men card of Archangel, by Boris Vallejo, is an airbrushed vision in blue and red. It feels like a moment, maybe in the early nineties, when painting could be slick, almost metallic, and very sure of itself. I'm imagining Vallejo in his studio, meticulously building up layers of pigment, blending and smoothing to achieve that hyper-real, almost surreal quality. It's interesting to think about how he renders the superhero's physique with such… well, let's call it confidence! The muscles bulge, the wings gleam – it’s a celebration of form and surface. Look at that pose; it's so dynamic, like he's about to take flight. The way Vallejo uses light to define the contours of the body, it's almost sculptural. It's part of a larger conversation about representation and how artists use their craft to interpret the world around them, and the worlds of comic books. We're all just riffing off each other, taking cues, and pushing boundaries.