Oh.  Yeah.

I am the lucky commissioner of this one and it was a long time coming!  Nearly three years ago when I first decided to commission a piece from JB, a FANTASTIC FOUR 249 cover reimagining was high on my list of ideas.  I went with the MTU 68 cover instead and then I strayed down other roads for awhile before coming back to it.  FF 249 sports my second favorite Byrne cover and one of my top five or ten all-time covers by any artist.  It's also probably the most memorable single issue from JB's run on FF for me.  The battle between all the heroes and Gladiator was just awesome.  When I first met JB (MidOhioCon 2001), FF 249 was one of the handful of comics I had to take with me to get signed! 

Here it is:

So, back to the present:  obviously I decided not to go with a cover reimagining.  This isn't supposed to represent anything specific from FF 249, it's just obviously inspired by that issue. 

Nice use of space, filling up most of the page with the characters. I also like the way the metal is 'splintering' (not quite the right word) against Gladiator's chest.

Reflecting back on this story, and #250 in particular, got me thinking about double sized issues. I'm curious as to how do they come/came about? Does the editor just decide or does the writer propose it to the editor? Where does the artist get the time to do the extra pages -- are pages squeezed elsewhere or does the artist just work extra hours or does it cut into lead time? Would be interesting to find out.

Nice action-packed  commission.

For those that perhaps didn't notice at first, I requested that JB work my name into the background of the piece.  I didn't want it to be anything obvious that would distract from the art overall.  I'm very pleased with how he managed to do that and glad I asked for it!  Perfect!

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Those are shots from each of the first 45 issues of the FF in order. It's not about how different artists have drawn the Thing (unless you count the effect of different inkers). It's about how the character changed as Jack Kirby drew him.

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Go with shredding. This is something I have found quite fascinating ever since I first became aware of it -- the way "solid" metal like steel or iron shreds like paper when sufficient force is directed against it.

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I've noted many time before how impressed I have been over the years by Dave's costume designs. And one of the things that impresses me is how he could so often repeat the same elements, such as opera gloves and thigh boots, and yet end up with costumes that look so very different. Phoenix and his redesigned Ms Marvel are classic examples. It's THE SAME COSTUME, and yet it looks totally different! THAT'S talent!