Fantastic Four #54

Whosoever Finds the Evil Eye–!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: June 9, 1966
Cover: September 1966
12 cents
Script: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art: Jolly Jack Kirby
Inking: Jovial Joe Sinnott
Lettering: Snarlin’ Sam Rosen
20 pages

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My name is Prester John… and long have I travelled the world, seeking to unravel the mysteries of mankind! That is why men have ever called me… the Wanderer! And, the sights I beheld… the secrets upon which I stumbled… were far beyond description… yea, almost beyond belief itself… Can I ever forget those lonely mountain peaks from which I barely escaped with my life… after finding a savage race who thrived only in the land of endless snow…? And, I wonder if time has erased the glory of Cathay… where I witnessed the flight of giant projectiles… like roaring comets, soaring high into the heavens! Even madness did I encounter… such as the time I crossed the angry sea only to find a tribe who studied the stars… and who insanely proclaimed Earth to be round, like some great spinning egg shell! But, the greatest triump of my life was finding the fabled isle of Avalon! Avalon… hidden realm of miracles without end! Avalon… whose wizards created mighty machines which harnassed the natural forces of the universe!! Alas, that those same forces should have destroyed their own land… causing them to vanish forever from the sight of men!

Still in Wakanda, the Fantastic Four and Black Panther play a baseball game.

When Reed and Sue go off to “shmooze”, Ben exclaims, “What a revoltin’ development!” Not the first time he’s used the phrase in response to Reed and Sue going off to shmooze. We’d seen it before in Fantastic Four #35. Brian Cronin traces the evolution of the phrase from Life of Reily to Daffy Duck to Ben Grimm here.

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POSTLUDE: Marvel: Heroes & Legends #1

For Better and For Worse!

Featuring: Everybody
Release: August 21, 1996
Cover: October 1996
$2.95
Scintillating script by Stan Lee
Prurient plot by Fabian Nicieza
Pulse-pounding pencils by Sal Buscema, John Buscema, John Romita, Sr., Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, Marie Severin & Ron Frenz
Incredible inks by Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott, Terry Austin, Bill Reinhold, Marie Severin & Al Milgrom
Kaleidoscopic colors by John Kalisz (with perfect page one and colossal cover coloring by Paul Becton)
Lascivious letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft/ad
Effervescent edits by Matt Idelson
Aching assistant edits by Paul Tutrone
Evil editing-in-chiefing by Bob Harras
Very special thanks to: Mariano Nicieza, Darren Auck, Scott Koblish, Gil Kane, The Raiders, and the many terrific talents of the Mighty Marvel Bullpen
Based on Fantastic Four Annual #3 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
48 pages

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Just between us, Alicia– I’ve been ready ever since I met the man!

I’m not trying to include too many POSTLUDE entries, but don’t have a clear standard for when I do. Having a copy of the comic in my living room as opposed to in storage somewhere is a good motivator. Plus, I actively used this comic as a reference when making my Fantastic Four Annual post, in deciding who might have been present at the wedding but off-panel.

Heroes & Legends is a loving retelling of the wedding of Sue and Reed from 1996, by continuity nerd Fabian Nicieza with a rotating cast of classic artists and a script by Stan Lee.

We know Steve Ditko very well by this point. We’ve seen some early work of John Romita, but he’s just about to join our regular cast of artists. Gene Colan just started drawing Namor’s adventures. Marie Severin has been working behind the scenes, and we’ll see her artwork soon enough. We’ve already seen some artwork of her brother John. John and Sal Buscema will be shaking things up eventually, and Ron Frenz in the more distant future. We’ll see Tom Palmer soon enough. We’ve briefly met Joe Sinnott a couple times, but he’s just about to become a regular. I’d bemoaned he wasn’t the original inker on the annual. It came out just one month too early. The other inkers will be coming along later.

This tells the same story as the Fantastic Four Annual, but with over twice as many pages.

In a short while, we’ll also read Marvels #2, which includes yet another take on this wedding to contrast with these two takes.

We’ll compare the new comic to the original and note the artist on the new comic. The original art is all by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta. As noted above, for everything but the first page, John Kalisz did the colors in the new one.

The opening page deliberately mirrors the original.

The big addition is a kid named Mark, a superhero fan who gets separated from his father in the commotion, and targeted by villains and saved by heroes. He serves as the centerpiece for this retelling.

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