Written by Stan Lee
Co-Written and Art by Jack Kirby
Edited by
Published by Dark Horse Comics
With Fantastic Four: First Steps coming home on Digital next week, with wide-ranging marketing, it’s nice to see Marvel’s First Family getting some respect once again. Remember, the whole Marvel Universe wouldn’t even be here without Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny.
The remarkable original run of more than 100 issues straight by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee (with Joe Sinnott inking about half of the issues) saw some of the most innovative characters and concepts ever leap from the former’s mind right out onto the four-color pages.
Jack Kirby didn’t need drugs in the ‘60s. He just turned his imagination loose. Success bred success and he was on a natural high.
Most of the four main characters were hardly original. There had certainly been earlier stretchable heroes, invisible women, and literally an earlier Human Torch! And the adventurous foursome concept seemingly grew out of Jack’s Challengers of the Unknown, then recently created for Marvel’s Distinguished Competition.
But somehow, Stan’s over-the-top dialogue made it all click. These four characters bickered and bantered and fought like cats and dogs at times…because they were, first and foremost, family.
The success of the series overall, though, is that it contains hundreds of pages of some of the best artwork the amazing Jack Kirby ever did for comics. This is why Bullpen Books and Dark Horse hit another one out of the park with their new book, The Art of the Fantastic Four.
The Art of the Fantastic Four is just what it sounds like. In its over 200 pages, we’re shown every single cover of the title, sequentially, including the annuals. Wherever possible, these are reprinted from the original art. There are also Kirby’s pin-ups of the characters and, best of all, several full stories reproduced completely from the original art pages.
Oh, there are some informative text pieces throughout the book as well but if you’re already a fan, there isn’t much new in them. You’re here for the art.
Issue #54, September, 1966, is where I first came in and the original art for that cover is here. Its almost 3-D image of the Human Torch was my first look at the character, surrounded by floating heads of Reed, Sue, Ben, Wyatt Wingfoot, The Black Panther, and all the major Inhumans—all Kirby characters. This was probably my first look at Jack Kirby’s work as well!
One of my all-time favorite comic book pages, with the Silver Surfer flying over Manhattan, is here as well, also in its black and white original art. Kirby, who never really worked with assistants (unless you consider inkers assistants) drew scores of buildings and the single most impressive image of the Surfer ever drawn…and for page rates, no doubt. I keep going back to this image and just poring over it.
One of the great FF epics is the multi-issue serial where Dr. Doom steals the Surfer’s board and his powers. On the surface, Doom riding around on a flying surfboard sounds silly, but it worked, and we get one chapter of that story here. We also get FF # 71, with our heroes fighting androids, Annual # 6, where Sue gives birth to Franklin and Annihilus debuts as a recurring antagonist. Issues 82 and 83, featuring the Inhumans, are also here in their entirety, all in glorious uncolored originals.
The bottom line is that The Art of the Fantastic Four is a real treat for fans old and new. For the old, the warm glow of nostalgia gives it all an extra bite. For the new…well, I envy those just discovering Jack Kirby through all of these pages, some of his very best work!
Booksteve recommends.
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