Recently in Fantastic Four Category

Comic fans usually revere writers and artists and inkers (despite Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy).  The most overlooked creators are often the letterers, especially the ones from the golden/silver/bronze ages.  My favorite letterer whose style I could easily identify as a kid was Artie Simek.

Letters were painstakingly hand-drawn in those days.  I am sure if you asked a non-fan, they thought a machine put the letters in the comics.  Artie Simek spent his entire professional life perfecting this craft at Marvel and DC Comics.

Artie Simek became exclusive to Marvel during their 1960s rebirth.  Many of the early Fantastic Four comics were lettered by Artie.  Why do I like his lettering style so much?  Number one, the letters are big, clear, and extremely easy to read.  There’s a style to his letters that gets specially accented in the captions and credits.  I love the way he drew those bold characters.

On this Defenders splash page, you can see that Artie designed Giant-Sized logos for the title of the story, slanted against the tornado.  There’s a TS Eliot quote that Steve Englehart threw in there, giving Artie an opportunity to do some fancy calligraphy.

Nutty little details, like the “Y” peeking out of the top rim of the panel, just tickle me.  Simek probably lettered all of Marvel’s major titles during the 1960s and 1970s: Fantastic Four, Avengers, Defenders, X-Men, etc.  Don’t get me wrong, I also liked Sam Rosen, John Costanza, Tom Orzechowski, Gaspar Saladino and Todd Klein.

I always looked forward to seeing the name “Artie Simek” in the credits.  Giving letterers a credit was unheard of before Stan Lee started doing it in Marvel Comics.  Way to go Stan—and way to go, Artie!  Nuff Said!

Link:  Artie Simek Wikipedia page.

Here's a charming pinup of the Thing and his nephew Franklin Richards that Mike Deodato drew, somewhere around 2007.  Doesn't it just make you go awwwhhhhh?  Nuff said.

Before trade paperbacks and hardcover collections, we had reprints, but no way of seeing classic tales reprinted on quality paper...until the Marvel Special Editions started in the 1980s.  They had some great wraparound covers and I'll be presenting a few of them here.

Fantastic Four Special Edition from 1984 reprinted the classic Lee-Kirby story from the very first FF Annual.  John Byrne depicted this event in a widescreen drawing that made it seem like the invasion of Normandy!  You have to admire the detail on that Atlantean fleet.  Sheesh, it's enough to make an NYC resident flee to the suburbs!  In addition to the reprint material, Byrne drew some interior pages filling in on Namor's history, as well as some pinups.

This pinup of the Sub-Mariner presents Namor in an apparently more mature phase of his life.  Byrne would later create a Namor series in 1990, which he wrote/drew for 25 issues and stayed on as writer until issue #32.

Byrne obviously had fun drawing this pinup of Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl...before she became a woman!  Sue's hairdo and costume puts her in the early 1960s Kirby era.  Groovy!  Nuff said.

I have a fond attachment to Marvel’s reprint titles from the 1960s and 1970s.  This is where I was schooled in Mighty Marvel History, after all.  Marvel’s Greatest Comics was the home to Fantastic Four reprints, and issue #39 contained the story that originally appeared in FF #52, the debut of the Black Panther.

The reprint cover was by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott.  At first glance, you can’t determine the identity of the penciller, because Sinnott always managed to make these characters look consistent.  But if you look at the Thing, his expression and his stance, it is unmistakably a Starlin Thing.

Here’s the original art to the cover.  My apologies to the owner or gallery, I totally forgot where I found this scan!  Nuff said.

Adam Hughes has always excelled at drawing babes and adding a little humor to his compositions as well.  In 1994 he contributed a number of stellar pinups for the fourth Marvel Swimsuit Special--which took place in Attilan and the Blue Area of the Moon.

The cover featured Sue Storm getting her freak on with Namor the Sub-Mariner.  Is there any reason why Sue wouldn't want to have a fling with the undersea prince?  She looks pretty fantastic and her leg is slightly opaque to reveal Namor's speedo.

Janet Van Dyne looks pretty luscious in this one piece outfit.  My first impression was there is nothing funny going on here.  But look behind the Wasp to see the bulging thongs behind her, belonging to Wonder Man and Captain America.

This Scarlet Witch pinup is really clever.  She's not wearing a swimsuit per se.  Wanda has used her magic to disassemble her costume--helmet, gloves, cape, etc--leaving only her red centerpiece intact.  How many thirteen year old boys fantasized about undraping the Scarlet Witch?  Adam Hughes sure did.

Here is the funniest piece of this 1994 set.  The Sensational She-Hulk--a must-have babe for any swimsuit special--sitting on top of my favorite dog in the Marvel Universe: Lockjaw!  Clearly, Jen has been using Lockjaw's teleportation powers to zip around to the best beaches.  They've been to Rio and Jamaica and god knows where else, from the stickers plastered on Lockjaw's back.  Jen's bag is packed with thongs, and the creepy Watcher is lurking in the background on the left.  I pity poor Lockjaw, he just looks exhausted from hauling Jen all over the world!  Nuff said.

How many Fantastic Four covers did Jim Steranko produce in the 1970s?  Only three to my knowledge.

Fantastic Four #130 was produced during Steranko's flurry of 1972 covers for Marvel.  This issue featured the return of the Frightful Four, with an interesting twist.  Medusa, once a member of the Frightful Four in 1960s, had switched sides and become a member of the FF.  Taking Medusa's place?  Thundra, the Femizon who wanted to make babies with Benjamin J. Grimm.  The Thing looks great on this cover.

Fantastic Four #131 featured the answer to a mystery that began in Avengers #104--whatever happened to Quicksilver?  The last we had seen of the silver speedster, he had heroically sacrificed himself to defeat a Sentinel.  Seriously injured, Pietro saw something horrible approaching him.  Then he vanished, leaving the Avengers and his sister Wanda to wonder where he had disappeared.

This issue gave us the answer!  Quicksilver had been approached by Lockjaw, the teleporting giant bulldog from the Inhumans.  Lockjaw brought Pietro to Attilan, where he was nursed back to health by Crystal.  Crystal melted Quicksilver's icy exterior and he fell in love.  Naturally, when Johnny Storm discovered them together, a massive fight ensued.

It was a pretty darn good soap opera moment in the Marvel Universe.  Unfortunately, it had the side effect of removing Quicksilver from the Marvel playground for a number of years.

While the 1972 FF covers are good, they don't seem like iconic Steranko.  But the cover to the Fantastic Four Marvel Comics Index in 1977 is really groovy and psychedelic, man.  Nuff said.

One of my favorite Fantastic Four stories took place in Fantastic Four #57-60, where Doctor Doom conned Norrin Radd big time and stole his power cosmic.  All of marveldom thrilled at this story by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby—and mourned the trashing of it in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

At least we have the comics—and this nifty pin-up that Jack Kirby did the captures a key scene from that classic story.

Now here’s something else I’ve uncovered from the internet.  Steve Rude’s take on this scene, executed in his own Kirby Classic style!

Rude the Dude worked on a number of projects for Marvel, where he evoked memories of Marvel’s silver age comics.  There’s a lithograph Rude did for Dynamic Forces, Marvel Universe Classic—anyone have a good scan on that one?  If so, please send it me here, meanwhile, checkout the Dude’s awesome website here.  Nuff said.

Let us begin a week of celebrating the Presidents of the Marvel Universe.  And what better President to start with than numero 37—Richard Milhous Nixon!

In Fantastic Four #103, the Atlanteans attacked New York City—again!  As this was 1970 and early in Nixon’s administration, naturally he’d be concerned about a city full of liberals getting overrun by mermen.  The Thing is pretty excited to see the commander in chief on Reed’s big screen TV.  I suspect Ben’s really elated to have a device that is decades ahead of its time!

You’re going to see one line over and over again in these Nixon appearances: “Let me make one thing perfectly clear!”  This was Nixon’s signature line in speeches and press conferences.  The Thing’s pretty sure this will be over as soon as he gets his hands on Namor.  Only the problem isn’t just “fish-face”, it’s the evil mutant Magneto behind the attack on NYC!

When the Fantastic Four fail to defeat Namor, Nixon gets on the horn a few hours later.  He’s pretty quick to smackdown Reed for his failure to stop the armed hordes running around Manhattan.  “This is a sad day for Amahrica!”  Love how Stan Lee writes that Nixon accent.  I have to admit, seeing the Sub-Mariner lining up his troops in the Big Apple, that Nixon may have been justified in his frustration.

Nixon lets Reed off the hook one last time.  What’s he gonna due, nuke New York?  He might prefer getting rid of those liberal voters.

My favorite Nixon line seems to be a prophetic one: “We’ve never lost a war before—and I don’t intend to lose one now!”  That’s a not-so-subtle reference to the real-life Vietnam war, which we did lose under Nixon.

The Thing’s reply is classic: “Why worry?  There’s lotsa wars!  Ya lose one—ya find another!” 

I’ll bet anything that Stan voted for Hubert Humphrey. Nuff said.