Panelocity: February 2015

Monday, February 23, 2015

Fantastic Four #107 (Pt 12) The Final Page

Fantastic Four 107 (1971) Buscema Fantastic Four 78 (1968) Kirby

FF 107 (1971) Buscema FF 78 (1968) Kirby

The last sequence in Fantastic Four #107:

Last page of Fantastic Four #107 (1971) Buscema

The Kirby panels from Fantastic Four #78:

Two-panel sequence on page 7, Fantastic Four 78 (1968) Kirby

Last panel in FF 78 (1968) Kirby

Click here to see more of the Fantastic Four #78 and #107 connection.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Fantastic Four #107 (Pt 1) John Buscema's Fantastic Four

Surprise! Betcha expected to see more Giant-Size Avengers #1 here. Well, I do have more Buckler queued up--boy, do I ever--but for some time now I've been itching to post a sampling of John Buscema's Fantastic Four. (I also have some John Romita Sr. FF in the hopper, but frankly I don't find it as interesting as Buscema's--or Buckler's--so it'll have to wait.)

You probably already know that Jack Kirby's last Fantastic Four issue was #102 (1970). Romita Sr. stepped in to fill the void and penciled issues #103-106. In John Romita...And All That Jazz, the Jazzy One noted he was "raised in the syndicated artists ghost period." That is, there was a time-honored tradition of keeping characters, especially well-known or longtime ones, "on model." And for the FF specifically, there was the need to adhere to the established versions of the Baxter Building...Reed's lab and equipment...the Negative Zone...and so on. Accordingly, it seems that both Romita and Buscema--who took over as the FF's regular penciler with #107--used the Kirby issues as their Bible.

FF 107 (1971) Buscema FF 78 (1968) Kirby

Also, during this post-Kirby period it wasn't just the art that evoked the Lee-Kirby era-FF. It was a time of transition for Marvel; not only was Kirby gone, but there were new owners, Marvel was in the throes of expansion, and Stan Lee was in the process of becoming publisher. With so many responsibilities--and without Kirby--it appears that when Lee put his writer hat on, he turned to what had worked in the past: Reed trying to change Ben back to his former appearance; Ben turning against the rest of the team; Thing versus Hulk; Reed trapped in the Negative Zone; Johnny brooding over Crystal; battles against all-powerful antagonists like Galactus...you get the idea. All this may have seemed fresh and exciting for readers brand new to the FF; but as someone who'd been reading the mag for a few years, this mining-the-past approach struck me as stale and uninspired--it was déjà vu all over again...and again...and again...

Okay, let's take a look at Reed trying to change the Thing back to his Ben Grimm appearance, from both FF #107 (Big John's first issue) and FF #78. Looks like Reed's using the same equipment both times, so chalk up one for consistency!