Or - “Turner Can Barely Draw Humans, Who Thought He Could Draw Ben Grimm?”

There have been a lot of interpretations of the Thing over the years, from Jack Kirby’s original lumpy monster, which then rocked up, and then Joe Sinnott drew the “separate eyebrow” Thing, and then John Byrne rounded him off and gave him a gorilla’s body. There’s a lot of precedent for making slight changes to the Thing. There is NO excuse, however, for drawing him with a separate steam-shovel jaw ala Robotman of the Doom Patrol, especially when the interior art isn’t going to represent it. The terrible art makes me wonder how he keeps the lower half of his face from falling off there, and that’s before we even look at the starvation physiques on Storm and The Human Torch. I know, I’m an art whiner, and it’s an old comic industry trick to have a pretty cover sell different interior art, but the fascination at the big two with the work of Michael Turner eludes me. His art feels like a less-talented Arthur Adams impersonator, and I fail to see why anyone would buy a book just to see it on the cover, especially when the interiors are more skillfully done…

(more…)

Marvel Comics has announced Fantastic Four #544 has completely sold out at Diamond. The issue features the all new FF lineup. The company has announced it will be going back to press with a second printing featuring a variant cover by Paul Pelletier.

Take the jump for the full cover, plus a sneak at the cover of #545.

(more…)

No, I’m not talking about Tony Stark and SHIELD, but rather two Civil War tie-in issues. Marvel has announced Civil War: Battle Damage Report “prepared” by Tony Stark, and Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Aftermath, examining the effect of the event on the Marvel Universe have both sold out at Diamond.

Look out for other upcoming Marvel Spotlights, giving exclusive looks at major Marvel events such as Death of Captain America, World War Hulk and the new Fantastic Four.

via Marvel Comics

Or - “When Is A Surprise Ending NOT A Surprise?”

There’s a theory that circulates around my comic shop about the Fantastic Four, that states that people misunderstand the roles of the members. Contrary to popular assumption, says our thesis, Sue is NOT the heart of the Fantastic Four. That’s Ben Grimm, the member most likely to respond on an emotional level. Likewise, Ben is not the steel in the FF’s backbone, it’s Sue that truly acts as the team’s fist, the spine that will not break, even when everything has gone to pot and a big purple fat guy wants to eat the whole planet. That’s what made her decision to walk during the events of Civil War so stunning, not merely that this woman left her husband and family, but that the central pillar that kept the FF upright was gone, leaving only a wishy-washy squishy Reed to babble and freak out and build horrific implements of torture for Darth Stark’s super-stormtroopers. So, since this is Major Spoilers, and we already know the fallout of this issue (Stephen previewed it months ago), how do we get there?

(more…)

Marvel has sent us another teaser image to what may be the new Fantastic Four team up following the fallout from Civil War. Like before, the only message attached with the image was, “Is this the new Fantastic Four?”

This cover features artwork by Michael Turner.

(more…)

I have seen the trailer for the next Fantastic Four movie, and while it can’t be any worse than the first movie, I like what I see with the Silver Surfer.

[quicktime width="640" height="288" autoplay="false"]http://images.apple.com/movies/fox/fantastic_4-silver_surfer/fantastic4silversurfer-tlr1_h.640.mov[/quicktime]
What did you think? Pretty cool huh?

via Apple (link)

USAToday has some exclusive agreement with 20th Century Fox on dishing out the tid-bits of information on the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer flick. Today, the “news”paper gave us a look at the Silver Surfer.

Looks more like an artist rendering than something we’ll see in the movie. Looks rather plain to me, nothing we haven’t already seen in the Terminator movies. Guess I’ll wait until I see some actual moving shots before I give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

via USAToday (link)

That’s the question Marvel Comics posed to Major Spoilers readers when they sent us the cover to Fantastic Four #544. The cover features the Human Torch, The Thing, Storm, and Black Panther in what looks like the new team up following the events of Civil War. Click the image to embiggen.
What do you think?

Marvel Comics has let us know the Marvel Zombies hard cover will be going back to press for a third time, and will feature an all new cover by zombie painter Arthur Suydam. The cover for the third printing will be a zombie homage to Fantastic Four #49.

Marvel Zombies third printing will be availabe January 24, 2007 for $19.99.

The French Magazine Cine Live has published a group shot of the Fab Four from the upcoming Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer movie. Someone has scanned the image and posted it on their flickr site. You’ll have to follow the link to see everything, as Flickr has a “download image” option disabled, and I’m feeling a bit Grinchy this morning :) .
From Cine Live Magazine via Flickr (link)

MTV has posted a Behind the Scenes tour of the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie. The clip is hosted by Jessica Alba, and while we do get to see some production and a tour of the different departments, it is typical MTV fluff - in other words, don’t expect any major revelations.

via MTV (link)

The USA Today has given the world a sneak peek at the Reed Richards’ Fantasticar. The vehicle has evolved since its debut in Fantastic Four #3 (1962). You’re gonna have to take the jump to see this thing…

(more…)

Spooky Coincidence or are We Dead On?

We posted our first Major Spoilers In Out list last week, and already the repercussions are being felt.

On our Out List was Rob Liefeld. Nothing really against the guy, he made quite the money in the 90s. Comic Foundry has a funny chart asking why people hate Rob so much - via Comic Foundry (link).

Also on the Out List was the Animated Fantastic Four series that was running on the Cartoon Network. I say was because Cartoon Network has updated their programming schedule for November, and no trace of the animated show appear. Instead episodes of The Batman are taking its place. The Fantastic Four only saw seven of the 26 episodes air before the line up change occurred. No confirmations of the cancellation have been posted, so it could be CN made a temporary adjustment.

Is the In/Out list really that powerful, or are we just tied into the Zeitgeist? I prefer to think the list really is that powerful….Bwah-ha-ha-ha!

He was one of the biggest threats to ever face the Marvel Universe. So powerful was he that his defeat required the sacrifice of both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. The near unstoppable monster called Onslaught had been beaten.

Eventually, the fallen heroes returned. Captain America, Iron Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four all made their way back to the land of the living. Now, it is monster’s turn as Onslaught is reborn.

(more…)

The Eisner Award-nominated and three-time Harvey Award-nominated Son of a Genius returns in Franklin Richards: Happy Franksgiving! Special.

This all-new Franklin special by Marc Sumerak and Chris Eliopoulos features five more exciting adventures of the precocious son of Reed and Sue Richards, one half of the Fantastic Four.  It’s five times the fun as Franklin pushes his robotic baby-sitter and sidekick H.E.R.B.I.E. to his cybernetic limits.

(more…)