Hot Thing Summer: Fantastic Four First Steps magazine

One of my first comic book buying experiences was at my local Foodland, a grocery store which I think has been out of business for, like, 20 years at this point (I should have tried to get their spinner rack when it closed). I wanted to get one of those Spider-Man 30th anniversary hologram cover issues (the heart wants what it wants), and my mom balked at the cover price, which, I mean, was fair. But hey, Amazing Spider-Man #365 introduced Spider-Man 2099 to the world, so they provided some lasting cultural value.

Anyway, comics, and printed magazines in general, probably won't see a return to the newsstands and racks that I barely witnessed growing up, at least not in the way people get nostalgic for, but every once in a while you do see superhero comics show up in some unlikely-ish places. This summer, Marvel released a Fantastic Four: First Steps magazine, and I found it at the grocery store!

This issue came, in true comic book form, with two different covers. Both of the covers have previously published art, which is kind of disappointing, but at least they picked two good compositions. The cover on the left of the picture above has art by Phil Noto, and the one on the right is by Art Adams.

The interiors, similarly, barely have any original content, but I guess the potential audience for these is different than your regular comic book reader. I say this as someone who has no idea who picks up magazines from the checkout line.

The magazine mostly serves to reprint three separate, 21st century Fantastic Four issues, each of them the first chapters of storylines that are probably easily found in trade format.

I know that Alex Ross gets a king's ransom for his page rate, but Marvel publishes whatever he does over and over again, ad infinitum, so they get their mileage from it. Pages 1, 3, 4 and 5 are all Ross, from previously published works.

There are only a few short articles in this magazine, and they serve to tie the comics into the movie (hey, there's more Alex Ross art). I would have liked to see more pictures from and information about the movie, but I'm glad that there's a big focus on the comics throughout the publication.

Each comic issue has an introduction page that precedes it. Fantastic Four #60 might be the most published FF story since the '60s. This was sold as a 9-cent issue back in 2002.

The other two stories are from the Hickman/Eaglesham "Solve Everything" run, and the first issue of the 2022 series. All of the stories look really nice printed on glossy stock.

Around this same time, DC put out similarly sized and formatted collections for Superman and Batman, and I just saw a Teen Titans Go! issue out on my last trip to the store. It's great to see comics show up in places like these, beyond the standard Archie fare.

I wonder how many of these magazines were sold, not just because of reader interest, but because of the hefty price tag that accompanied them. These issues were $14.99 each! By comparison, some trade collections, with more material and a complete story, often run at around $9.99. So this was not what I'd consider an impulse buy. Since the DC issues are priced the same, this is apparently the cost of getting the rack space. I was supremely motivated to both find and buy these, but I was still taken back by the price, especially since there's almost no new content to be had. If you compare these to DC's 100-page Wal-Mart comics from five years ago, which had new lead stories and cost five bucks, these come up a little short.

The back cover was an ad for the movie, which was the natural choice.

I'm glad these exists, and was excited to see Fantastic Four comics outside of a comic shop! I definitely sorted through the entire stack to make sure I got the ones that were in the best shape. They're aimed at new readers, but I bet that collectors and existing comic fans were the ones to snatch these up.

Thing sketchbook, part 28

Whenever I'm behind on work and think, "oh, I haven't updated the blog in a while," my thoughts immediately go to, "well, what if you post some pictures of the Thing?" And then I think, "what if I ever run out of Thing sketches to post?" and I cry a bit, but then I remember that I will never run out of Thing sketches, because I have a lot and will never stop getting them.

Anyway, I'm definitely behind on work, and I guess the Comic-Con pictures can wait a little longer, so here are five more sketches from my Thing sketchbook! These are all...really great? I mean, they're all wonderful, but this group is particularly solid. Here they are!

Agnes Garbowska - New York Comic Con 2021

The 2021 New York Comic Con was the first big convention to return out of the pandemic. Thinking back to it, this was...probably a bit too early and I bet a lot of people got covid from this show? Then again, I bet a lot of people got covid from the 2024 San Diego show. I suppose I went (to both), so I have no room to judge. I do remember this show being smaller than most, and the people attending being more cautious than most shows that have taken place since.

I did get some Thing sketches, starting off with this one from Agnes Garbowska, an artist who has become a staple of comic convention artist alleys in recent years with a really great, fun style. This Thing (complete with Thing nipples) comes with a subtle glitter color wash that doesn't show up as well in the scan. I was so excited to get a new sketch in person, and this was a great way to start out.

Dane Ault - New York Comic Con 2021

Dane runs Monkey Minion Press and has a really swell booth at a lot of different conventions. Dane designs prints and stickers and other ephemera that I really like - and even got to do some design work for the AppleTV+ show, For All Mankind. I'm really happy that I was able to get him to draw in the book. I want to say that if the Thing has to pay for takeout in Manhattan, after saving the city and the world over and over, then something isn't right. Well, maybe he crashed through the wall at one point during a superhero battle and just took off afterwards. I guess we'll never know.

Jake Smith - New York Comic Con 2021

Jake Smith is a really dynamic artist who made a name for himself with Blood Force Trauma and then went on to do some work on a few Godzilla books. He also drew a cover to Planet Comics #4, which I was really lucky to get!

This pugnacious Thing is notable because Jake used a ben day sticker over top of his lines, which is how he created the greyscale effect that looks so cool!

Joe St. Pierre - Rhode Island Comic Con 2021

After NYCC, I got invited to the '21 Rhode Island Comic Con, where I sat next to Joe St. Pierre and got to chat with him for a while. Joe is a great artist who has drawn a bunch of stuff, but most historically significantly SPIDER-MAN 2099!! As we all know (everyone known this), the Fantastic Four 2099 all pretty much look just like their present-day counterparts, so drawing the Thing 2099 doesn't stand out among the other sketches in the book. Joe was kind enough to draw a flying car and "2099" in the background to help us all distinguish one from the other. Thing 2099! Yes!

Matt Smith - Rhode Island Comic Con 2021

I know Matt from his time on his Barbarian Lord comic, and he worked on quite a few FUBAR projects around that same time. Matt now does a lot of work on the Hellboy titles, which is really great for a fantastic creator with a beautiful style. Matt drew this dour Thing in the book that made the trip to Rhode Island worth it just from this.

Oh, and have we seen the leaked video of the Thing from Fantastic Four: First Steps? Comic accurate Thing, everyone!!

🎥 | New look at The Thing on the set of ‘THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS’ pic.twitter.com/Zz2q8sQt4D

— Fantastic Four Updates (@F4Update) August 28, 2024

Whatcha reading? Part 3! (Plus some Thing news!)

It seems that comic shops are opening up around the country, and most publishers are returning to a near-regular shipping schedule. That means it won't be long before my "to read" pile starts to build up again, so let's have one more entry into the long-running and highly popular "Whatcha reading?" series.

It would be foolish for me to ignore the grim scenario it took for me to have time for these books in the first place, but I will say that I have enjoyed finally getting to some of these comics that have been waiting around in a box for a very long time. Here's what I've been up to while the comic industry has had a delayed output!

DC's 1980s/'90s Star Trek series were a high point for the franchise's comic adaptations, in my opinion, with long, unbroken runs for both Star Trek and The Next Generation series. The Modala Imperative is something of a crossover between the two series, with four-issue miniseries with the same subtitle for both properties. The first series is a classic Star Trek tale, and the TNG followup is fun, too, with appearances in both series from an older Spock and McCoy. I liked it!

It's been a while since I completed my '90s Marvel 2099 collection, and now I'm getting around to reading them all in order. The first crossover of the line was the "Fall of the Hammer" story, which runs through all of the titles, even the quarterly 2099 Unlimited book. It is...a bit uneven, though I suppose you could say that about the line in general. But at least Spider-Man 2099 is great!

I grabbed the Wonder Woman-focused "War of the Gods" miniseries recently, and BOY, is it dense. as the title suggests, it pits different pantheons against one another as they fight for supremacy. The problem is, I don't necessarily care that much about the various Greek and Roman gods, so this one was a bit tough to get through?

I really like Bongo Comics, though often I find that I like the idea of the books they made more than the actual execution. That hasn't stopped me from collecting a bunch of their titles, though. I'm the proud owner of full series runs of Futurama Comics, Radioactive Man and Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, all of which took me a long time to complete. Simpsons Illustrated is nothing more than a reprint series, but I started picking up issues because it reprinted both Radioactive Man and Treehouse stories in some of the issues. And now I have the compulsion to complete my run of this series. Oh, and next on my list is all of the Free Comic Book Day issues, which I already have most of.

Last up! We've got the "Panic in the Sky!" storyline that ran through four Superman titles in 1992. I started collecting comics right around Superman #75, so these issues are just a few months behind that. I'm halfway through this storyline, and as you might expect, the overall story is a bit predictable, though some of the art is really good.

Well, I guess that does it for this look back. But wait! There are some new Thing items that I want to discuss!

Mondo recently came out with some Fantastic Four enamel pins, so I (of course) grabbed the Thing pin right away. 

These are some stickers that were made. How and why were they made, and why am I using passive voice to describe their production? We may never know. Please look for these soon in your favorite spots for vandalism.

The image was originally from the cover to Not Brand Echh #13. I liked the message, and I think ol' Ben Grimm would approve.

Funko is releasing a limited Thing Pop figure next week, featuring the Marvel Zombies version of the character. This one is another 10-inch giant Pop (with the regular-sized Captain Marvel to scale), similar to the Target-exclusive figure from earlier in the year. This figure implies that the Thing maintains a human-like skeleton in his cosmic ray-mutated form, with five fingers (and, presumably toes). I've seen artists float this idea before, that the Thing's fourth and fifth digits somehow fuse together to create his classic four-finger look. It's an interesting suggestion, I guess.

This one is a Comic-Con exclusive, so I'm going to try and enlist some help in getting one. Wish me luck!

Pictures from the 2018 New York Comic Con, part 3 (Saturday, 10/6)

I had so many pictures from Saturday at NYCC, we're getting a second post. Here we go!

Is it just me, or are Ghost Rider costumes really killing it over the last few years? Costuming in general has gotten a lot more professional-level, I guess, but I see more incredible Ghost Rider costumes than any other. Which one is this one, Johnny Blaze?

At the Tick booth, I ran into Barry Josephson, one of the executive producers on the current Amazon show! I, uh, gave him some pins.

Then I saw Tiffany Smith! I know her as a movie critic from various Rotten Tomatoes panels, but she's also an actress and show host!

Dr. Doom soon passed by. The guy in the background seems wary, as he should be.

The NYCC Tick issue debuted here (naturally), and here I am to the side of the New England Comics booth with artist Ian Nichols. Some VIP members came to the booth (as seen in the background) so we moved aside for a while.

And then I saw Jennie Wood! We had to discuss a signing on Sunday, and you'll see pictures from that...when I post Sunday's pictures.

Working my way out toward the concourse area, I saw this great She-Ra interactive display, and also this fan dressed as the Sorceress!

Since I had a few minutes, and because it looked so great, I decided to check out the display. The lines were confusing and I very well might have (unintentionally, I promise) skipped a major backlog of people waiting to see this.

I of course remember He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fondly from my 1980s childhood, but I never had any strong feelings about She-Ra at all. The walk-through was fun and we got some pins and other convention swag, and it convinced me to check out the show, even though I was sure it would be aimed at a younger audience. And then I watched the show and loved every minute of it. It's a great show and absolutely worth seeing if you haven't yet!

The show ended for the day soon after, but I managed to get a few more pictures of people in costume on this, the busiest day of the event. Here's Hellboy!

Ant-Man and Infinity War-era Spider-Man!

It's the show floor!

This person was ahead of the Spider-Verse game. Those octopus arms had to be cumbersome.

Is that a Mortal Combat/Green Lantern mashup? Weird.

This gentleman greeted me as I waited outside of a restaurant to eat dinner. Any 2099 costume is a good costume.

I wrote about this in January, but after dinner, I took off to find the Baxter Building!

I might have crashed a fancy party at Rockefeller Plaza.

On the way back to catch the train, I walked by NBC Studios and someone made fun of me for getting a picture here. It might have been SNL backup band members. That's okay - I had a Fantastic Four shirt on and was carrying convention items. I realize I looked like a tourist. I regret nothing.

I'll post Sunday's pictures soon!

2099 original artwork!

Marvel's 2099 line launched right as I was starting to read and collect comics, and something about it struck a chord with *slightly* younger me. Who can say what it was that made such an impression on me? Why, it could have been any number of...uh...well, okay, we all know what it was: Spider-Man 2099's incredible design by Rick Leonardi:

Has there been a better costume to come out of Marvel in the last 25 years?

Anyway, ever since I picked up a few issues of the 2099 books in the early '90s, I've held a soft spot for them. I tend to try and focus my original art purchases on the Fantastic Four and books I've personally worked on, but these few have managed to sneak their way in. Let's take a look!

This first piece is from Spider-Man 2099 #27, and even though he's out of costume, this page features Miguel O'Hara, Spidey himself.

The art is by Joe St. Pierre, and it was gifted to me by one Ian Nichols. I worked with Joe on a short story for Rhode Island's AR Comics, and even though he was doing me a favor by letting me write something for the book, Ian sent me this page as a thank you.

They - they said the word "Alchemax"! It wouldn't be a proper 2099 title without it.

This next page is from the second issue of Ravage 2099, the 2099 line's only non-derivative title of the launch!

This is the second page of original art I own from the late, great Paul Ryan, one of my favorite artists of all time. Oh, and it was also written by none other than Stan Lee! That's pretty exciting.

One fun note about this page is that the word "blasterproof" was added in the second-to-last panel as a late edit. I guess "bulletproof" didn't sound futuristic enough! Oh, Ravage 2099. You were weird.

These next two pieces are a bit more modern, coming from the recent relaunch of the Spider-Man 2099 series. Both are pieces of preliminary art, and both are by Pasqual Ferry. The first one is rough pencils that eventually became the a variant cover to Spider-Man 2099 #4, with a number of 2099 characters, like Spider-Man, Hulk and Doom!

Here's the final version. It changed a good bit from concept to print.

The next rough sketch eventually became a variant cover to Contest of Champions #4, which featured  a number of Marvel's characters from the future, including Iron Man 2020, who has two years left to remain a part of this group.

Here's the final cover, which took a lot from the rough sketch on the left. I do like the Killraven/War of the Worlds inspired Martian ship in the image to the right! But I'll take Spider-Man 2099 original art any way I can get it.