Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Barry Kitson — Negative Space

Original Art and The Artists

Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #3, September, 2008

We close out our second celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Fantastic Four with a quick visit to the Negative Zone.

The Negative Zone, like so many of Jack ad Stan’s creations, endures. I’m sure one version or another will figure into the MCU when The FF finally receives the proper cinematic respect the team deserves.

In the meantime, we have the talented Barry Kitson, and the equally talented Mick Gray, delivering a dynamic and splashy page of Johnny Storm bursting into flames and out of the Fantasti-Car, leaving Ben Grimm unhappily behind.  (With a cute piece of dialogue to showcase his frustration, as seen in the published page below.)

It’s a terrific piece of art, and if I have any beef with it all, it’s in the published version, because, after coloring, Johnny appears to have a tight crew cut or no hair at all when he bursts into flame. (And stays that way.)

Johnny Storm without his blonde locks? Even on fire? Blasphemy, I say.

Jim Starlin — Clobbered

Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Fanfare #21, July 1985

Continuing our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the debut of Fantastic Four #1. (August 8, 1961)

Jim Starlin pens a love letter to the classic Hulk-Thing battles of the 60s and 70s with this fun two-parter from Marvel Fanfare.

The Hulk decks Mr. Grimm “off-screen” as it were, bridging the two issues.  (See below.)

I never cared one way or another whether The Hulk or Thing was stronger (I pretty much enjoyed any crossover), but apparently this subject is very emotional for some.

That said, Thor is stronger than either of them. 

Let the hate mail begin. Ha.

CBR has done a great overview of those classic battles, which you can read here.

Jim Starlin lets our imagination fill in the actual punch, as the Hulk has apparently just decked the Thing in between issues.
The Marvel Age of crossovers begins in March 1963, with a very busy FF meeting the Hulk and Spider-Man in the same month..

Tony Harris — Divine Time

Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Knights 4 #16, May 2005

Tony Harris delivers a terrific cover for one of the oddest–logoed titles in Marvel History.

The title is not “4”, but actually “Marvel Knights 4”, as the publisher decided to give an edge to the FF by incorporating them into the Marvel Knights brand. (Of course this assumes you know that MK stands for Marvel Knights. And that you’re certain that “4” refers to the FF.)

It’s a puzzler how they ended up there.

And speaking of puzzlers — this storyline deals with time travel and Ramades, son of Ram-Tut, who makes his first appearance the issue prior.

Rama-Tut, of course, is also Kang AND Immortus, and also ultimately retconned to be Nathaniel Richards. Reed’s father. The Time Variance Authority and the Time-Keepers are also involved. 

Frankly, as mentioned previously, I could never keep any of this straight, and even the very-detailed Wikipedia page can’t help my brain get around the various iterations of this character. (Not blaming them, though — it’s probably just me.)

Great cover art, though, and Tony colored it himself — adding the background texture as well. 

(As for Ramades? He has yet to reappear since this storyline was completed in issue#18.)

Ron Garney — Time’s Up

Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four #605, June 2012

Continuing our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the debut of Fantastic Four #1. (August 8, 1961)

Ron Garney — with the help of Jason Keith — delivers a dramatic cover of Ben Grimm and Franklin Richards preparing for a last stand against an unseen foe in a cemetery, indicating the rest of the team is dead.

It’s a time travel story, and a sentimental one at that  — as it explores The Thing’s near-immortal life span. In fact, Jonathan Hickman’s one-shot story itself feels like it would be right at home in a Superman comic.

If I have any small gripe — and I think it has happened elsewhere— is that the older Franklin Richards (Reed’s son) often looks too much like a younger Nathaniel Richards (Reed’s dad) in some of the time travel or multiverse stories. Confusing from time to time. (That pun was not intended. Seriously.)

Brandon Peterson — It’s Clobberin’ Time

Original Art and The Artists

Commission, 2010

Continuing our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the debut of Fantastic Four #1. (August 8, 1961)

How many brick walls has the Thing crashed through? That’s not some sort of rhetorical question — I have no idea what the answer is.

I do know, when I saw this cool commission, it reminded me in high concept (minus the silly tank top) of John Byrne’s great cover of the ever-lovin’ Thing’s return in Fantastic Four #274.

The Thing. Breaking through a wall. And smoking a cigar.

Works for me.

Nuff said.

Giorgio Comolo — World’s Greatest Comics Annual

Original Art and The Artists

Jack Kirby Homage, 2002 Cover Re-imagination, Fantastic Four Annual #6, November 1968

Continuing our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the debut of Fantastic Four #1. (August 8, 1961)

The great Italian artist Giorgio Comolo, a Jack Kirby fanatic, creates a terrific alternate cover for Fantastic Four Annual #6, one of the best solo FF stories to appear during the Lee and Kirby run.

Ironically, despite the acknowledged greatness of the issue, the published cover feels a bit lifeless. Comolo’s take is certainly a much more dramatic representation of the issue’s key moment.

As for that vial? Well, for a spoiler, you can read Marvel’s marketing copy below. Let’s just say its importance is yet another reason why we refer to Fantastic Four as the world’s greatest superhero soap opera.

For a look at some other Comolo Kirby homages, click here. 

Issue synopsis: The baby is coming! With Sue going into labor, Reed must make a perilous journey to obtain Element X, the only thing that can keep the baby safe from the cosmic rays in Sue’s body. The bad news – it can only be found in the Negative Zone! The WORSE news? It’s in the hands of one of the deadliest beings in any universe – ANNIHILUS!

Steve Epting — It Was Sixty Years Ago Today…

Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four #586, February 2011

One comic book. One grasp (and possibly a final one) at straws for a struggling comic book publishing company.

Sixty years ago today, Fantastic Four #1 hit the newsstands.

DC had slowly started its own superhero revival five years prior with the appearance of the Silver Age Flash. By the time the FF appeared, DC had establishes enough heroes to create a Justice League team comic book.

Heck, even Archie Comics launched some superhero titles (The Fly, The Shield, etc.) ahead of Marvel.

But Fantastic Four made an impression. Flawed heroes, who barely got along with each other? Fearsome Foes and supporting characters? Continuity, for goodness sakes? 

Talk about late to the party — but making an entrance. 

Within a few issues, Fantastic Four was the first, and ultimately greatest, soap opera saga in comics. And it didn’t take much longer for Jack Kirby to fully establish himself as the greatest visual storyteller the medium had ever seen, and for Stan Lee to become the greatest showrunner (and, for better or worse, showman) in comics’ history.

The original stories, of course, were much less complex and sophisticated than they are today. (As were the readers.)

Example: This great Steve Epting splash page from issue #586 is from a story that features time travel conundrums and a multiverse gone somewhat amok.

Heady stuff. But you should expect nothing less from Marvel’s First family.

The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine, indeed.

Stan the modest Man: The slogan “Greatest Comic Magazine in the World” became “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” in the following issue, and stuck around for more than 30 years.

Jack Kirby — Happy 60th, “The Marvel Age Of Comics”

Original Art and The Artists

Fantastic Four #42, September 1965

On Tuesday, August 8, 1961, Fantastic Four #1 hit the newsstands.

The rest, as they say, is history.

As promised back in January, we’re adding a few more Fantastic Four posts to continue the 60th celebration of “The Marvel Age Of Comics.”

And yes, we’re cheating a bit by re-running this great page by Jack from the beginning of the FF’s peak period.

But… no Stan Lee AND Jack Kirby… no Fantastic Four… likely no Marvel Age, period. So, in our mind, worth a repeat.

See you on Sunday.

1980: Jack had left Marvel, again, this time for the world of animation and independent creator-owned comic book projects. Stan was busy in Hollywood woking tirelessly (and mostly unsuccessfully) to make Marvel a brand in entertainment. I never take sides in the endless Lee-Kirby debate, so I say to the photographer who captured this pic (quoting from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance): “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
It all starts here: Cover and opening page for FF#1.

Mike Grell — Freelance

Original Art and The Artists

Jon Sable, Freelance, #18, November 1984

We close our month-long celebration of independent creators with a cool noir-ish page from fan-favorite artist Mike Grell and his mercenary (mostly good guy) Jon Sable. Appropriately, it’s the final page from a two-parter set against the Olympic games.

(1984 was 37 years ago? I need a drink.)

We also close with a great urban legend involving Sable, Pierce Brosnan, and the short-lived (and not great) Sable Televison series.

Sable TV series? Yep, I forgot about it, too.

Comic Book Resources has the skinny here:

https://www.cbr.com/jon-sable-freelance-pierce-brosnan-movie-tv-show/

And Mike himself discusses it, here:

SABLE AND GENE SIMMONS – SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
We can’t seem to find a high-res publicity image for short-lived Sable TV show on-line, but yes, that is Rene Russo with some big 80s hair.

Jim Lee — Divine

Original Art and The Artists

Divine Right, #1/2, July 1998

Divine Right: The Adventures of Max Faraday is Jim Lee’s final creator-owned project launched at WildStorm prior to DC Comics acquiring the company.

A number of fans called Jim a “sell-out” at the time, much in the same way they hollered when Jim and Rob Liefeld agreed to reboot some of Marvel’s classic superheroes a short while earlier. (Thank goodness contemporary social media hadn’t appeared yet, but let’s face it, trolls are still trolls.)

The Irony of that criticism? Being independent means making your own choices, on your own terms, whatever those might be.

And ultimately, the winnow swallowed the whale. DC became much more like WildStorm, rather than the other way around. And Jim of course became DC publisher.

As for Max Faraday? It was planned to be a mini-series, and has remained a “one and done” project with a complete collection finally appearing in 2014.

We continue with our month long celebration of the “Independents” — Independent creators and projects that continue to impact the comic book medium.  See you back here on Thursday.