The Fantastic Four Appreciation 2020

[K7P5V]

Ooh, that is gorgeous. Where is it from? Did it appear in any comic? Do you know if Buscema finished it up (inked) himself, or did someone else subsequently worked on?

Thanks! Here's the link where I found this wonderful masterpiece:
https://www.deviantart.com/namorsubm...cema-429644107

Awesome stuff!! Big John is one of my favorite artists of all time.

Thanks! One of my favorites, as well.

No matter the design, Big John's dynamism always comes through:

[U.N. Owen]

On reinvigorating the Fantastic Four, I think the lack of any new and interesting rogues is definitely a big part of it. Another is the characters themselves. They aren't put in situations to explore who they are or to show different sides to them. Reed is still doing his absent-minded scientist thing, Johnny being irresponsible, and Ben's new status quo as a married man hasn't changed him much. Sue... might as well be non-existent. I think Slott may have taken the name Invisible Woman too literally.

Because nothing challenges the characters on a personal level at all. It's not good. What makes Reed and Doom good foils is that Reed and Doom are geniuses. Reed overcompensates for his mistakes, see the rocket accident which is now retconned because I don't know what the hell is going through Slott's mind, while Doom is too vain and egotistical to accept his own faults. It's what makes them interesting. None of the villains challenge any character now except for brute strength.

Nothing interesting is happening with the characters, them being a family is harped on every issue but nothing new or interesting is done with it. The kids are teens now, that itself should come with new challenges and dynamics in the family. The characters feel flat and one-note.

The kids should have gone to Whitley since they do nothing except waste ink.

[Frontier]

The kids should have gone to Whitley since they do nothing except waste ink.

Whitley probably would've been perfect to do a book or contribute on Outlawed. He wrote a lot of good teen hero books.

[markhyperion]

On reinvigorating the Fantastic Four, I think the lack of any new and interesting rogues is definitely a big part of it. Another is the characters themselves. They aren't put in situations to explore who they are or to show different sides to them. Reed is still doing his absent-minded scientist thing, Johnny being irresponsible, and Ben's new status quo as a married man hasn't changed him much. Sue... might as well be non-existent. I think Slott may have taken the name Invisible Woman too literally.
Nothing interesting is happening with the characters, them being a family is harped on every issue but nothing new or interesting is done with it. The kids are teens now, that itself should come with new challenges and dynamics in the family. The characters feel flat and one-note.

Their adventures are also boring and do nothing for the Marvel universe. Part of what the FF did was expand the Marvel universe in big ways. And so far the only new thing has been soul-mate planet, which feels so forgettable and unimportant. There needs to be some big changes and the Fantastic Four need to be treated as important again by doing things that are important to the Marvel Universe.
Also the characters are in desperate need of interesting developments and changes, particularly Sue and Johnny.

You are 100% right.

Here is the really really stupid thing. They have an amazing "Big Bad" on the periphery already. Aka The Maker. How has he not gone against Reed. It allows for that "Doom/Reed" type rivalry. An untethered immoral downright EVIL Reed is a threat to all reality.

Plus, you have the dynamic with Sue. She'd think she could save him. Johnny amd Ben as well.

I feel like Future Foundation was kinda setting it up, but was cancelled.

Maker has appeared in Venom as a foil. He even hinted contact with the surviving council of Reeds. How about he comes back LEADING the council of Reeds.

Could even lead to Alternate reality hoping (instead of space hopping) for the FF.

Hell, have council of Sue's eventually show up.

Maker could even side with Hydra Sue. What it means to FF to be themselves can be explored. I mean it's right there.

[Digifiend]

Whitley probably would've been perfect to do a book or contribute on Outlawed. He wrote a lot of good teen hero books.

Yeah, he did. His Unstoppable Wasp did well in digital and TPB, so well they brought it back so he could finish his story after it had been cancelled for low print sales reasons. And then he got royally screwed on Future Foundation, with three forced rewrites which caused delays (first Slott claimed Franklin and Valeria, prompting him to bring in Lightspeed and Rikki Barnes, then Rocket was going to die in GOTG so he replaced him with Yondu, then he got his own book after the first issue was drawn so "Yondu" was revealed to be Lyja the skrull) and cancellation before the first arc was finished. Had it continued, it could've tied into Outlawed.... though the tie-in would've probably happened instead of Power Pack. I think they decided to cut their losses in the end, as it seems they didn't even wait until issue 1 was out before wielding the axe. Which is a shame, because it was good - but unfortunately, it was doomed from the start.

He also wrote the Champions tie-in to the Monsters Unleashed event, which introduced the Freelancers team of teen villains, who Waid immediately used in the next arc of the team's ongoing.

Is he just doing indie/creator owned stuff now?

[Crimz]

I hope Slott's run only lasts another year. That gives him time to do the story that he's always wanted that he keeps talking about and it would be for the teams 60th anniversary. That way the anniversary can be one for a big ending and a new beginning with a different creative team. Fans enjoying his run would have had him for 3 years on the book and that is definitely enough time to have a creator on a book.

[U.N. Owen]

I hope Slott's run only lasts another year. That gives him time to do the story that he's always wanted that he keeps talking about and it would be for the teams 60th anniversary. That way the anniversary can be one for a big ending and a new beginning with a different creative team. Fans enjoying his run would have had him for 3 years on the book and that is definitely enough time to have a creator on a book.

Call me cynical, call me overtly pessimistic, but I would hate to see what Slott brings further to the table since his run has been nothing but failure in my eyes:

Cosmic entity? Fail x2

Doom vs the FF? Fail

Family drama? Drama without a story is just a running gag. Fail

Space adventure? Fail

Keeping me invested? Fail


At this point, I'm sure Slott would retcon Franklin's x-gene to be from Namor or Jesse Alexander.

[Digifiend]

Jesse Alexander? Are you suggesting that Sam's father is a mutant?

[U.N. Owen]

Jesse Alexander? Are you suggesting that Sam's father is a mutant?

It's a reference to how the artist in FF always draws Franklin as a whitewashed Sam Alexander as shown here:





I haven't even gotten into the rant about how Valeria is drawn as a shrunk down Sue.

[U.N. Owen]

I get that making distinct faces for characters is hard, but come on.

[Shadowcat]

When Slott leaves, I’d love to see Ewing or Zub on this book, with Larraz or Silva on art.

[danielsan52]

Frank and Val should each have Box suits.

[Fokken]

When Slott leaves, I’d love to see Ewing or Zub on this book, with Larraz or Silva on art.

Larraz & Silva are the BOSS BETCHES of Marvel Art these days.

Everyone wants them.

[Shadowcat]

Larraz & Silva are the BOSS BETCHES of Marvel Art these days.

Everyone wants them.

They should be on flagships, frfr. My favorite artists putting out work for Marvel currently are those two, and Mahmud Asrar.

[The BaRoN]

They should be on flagships, frfr. My favorite artists putting out work for Marvel currently are those two, and Mahmud Asrar.

Yep, those 3 and McGuinness are the best at Marvel right now.

Carlos Gomez, Bradshaw and Medina are a tier below them but still very good and I'd take any of them full time on FF but I think FF hasn't had a top tier artist in years.

Jim Lee, Larrocca, Pacheco and Ringo were the last I can remember.