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When you’re a Marvel artist producing mountains of concept art, unfinished dreams land in the scrapbook. The old adage, “Kill your darlings” is a bittersweet reality of the business.

This is something the Marvel Studios’ Head of Visual Development, Ryan Meinerding has to live with on a regular basis. At New York Comic Con 2024's spotlight panel on the concept artist, Meinerding talked about how his art and designs often end up unfinished as he moves onto the next project. “A lot of times I start something and then move onto something else, like big battle scenes,” he told his audience with no small sense of regret.

Alluding to the 2023 Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Meinerding fondly mentioned an unfinished piece of concept art of Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk rollerblading on the Venice beach, holding up a Volkswagen bus filled with hippies to assist with a flat tire – all while looking on her phone.

The room laughed at the mention, seemingly eager at the idea of a comically cute image of the She-Hulk multitasking – and just as disappointed that it wasn’t available to them. For anyone willing to negotiate the virtual back issue bins, there's a chance to pick up the next best thing: this 1984 Marvel Press poster by comic book artist John Byrne, which demonstrates a similar casual humor to what Meinerding was describing:

Of course, if there's a lot of demand, why couldn't Meinerding go back and finish it now as a poster or art print in its own right...? Come on, Marvel – think of the merchandising opportunities! 

Want more? Make sure you've read our list of all the best Marvel Comics stories of all time, and get ready for all the free Marvel comics coming as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day / Comics Giveaway Day events.