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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
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| Posted: 06 February 2014 at 10:14pm | IP Logged | 1
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Now entering Chic Stone's run as inker. Having greatly enjoyed his inks
over Kirby in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, I'm happy to see his work,
here.
The FF's first meeting with the X-Men in FF # 28 is a particularly good-
looking--and fun!--issue.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 07 February 2014 at 4:51am | IP Logged | 2
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I enjoyed the Chic Stone inks on FF when I was a kid. As an adult, aiming for a career in comics, I began to see other interesting elements there, too. Kirby, at that time, was doing very basic pencils, close to what we'd call breakdowns today. Inkers like Sinnott, Ayers and Roussos added a lot in terms of line weight, shadows and textures, but Stone basically inked what Kirby gave him. There's an "art lesson" to be had from studying the different inkers side by side.
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Brian Kelly
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 October 2010
Location: Canada
Posts: 224
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| Posted: 07 February 2014 at 11:03am | IP Logged | 3
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Yeah, I really like Chic Stones inks on Jack Kirby's pencils! I like how clean and clear it looks.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
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Posts: 15775
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| Posted: 07 February 2014 at 12:01pm | IP Logged | 4
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I enjoyed the Chic Stone inks on FF when I was a kid. As an adult,
aiming for a career in comics, I began to see other interesting elements
there, too. Kirby, at that time, was doing very basic pencils, close to
what we'd call breakdowns today. Inkers like Sinnott, Ayers and
Roussos added a lot in terms of line weight, shadows and textures, but
Stone basically inked what Kirby gave him. There's an "art lesson" to
be had from studying the different inkers side by side.
+++++++++++
This was the first thing I noticed. The art looks very clean and elegant,
but the line weight and shadows are very diminished when compared to
Roussos and Ayers.
As I recall--and I'll be getting to it, soon--there's a similar effect going on
with Colletta's FF stuff, but it doesn't look nearly as good as Stone's.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
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| Posted: 11 February 2014 at 2:32am | IP Logged | 5
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FF Annual # 2!
Up until this point, Namor had arguably been the FF's arch-enemy, with
Doctor Doom serving mainly as a mad-scientist-type.
This annual, however, is the game-changer, the story that clicks Doom
fully into place as one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) villains in
comics.
It's amazing how many embellishments to Doom's character that Stan
and Jack put into this annual. Right from the start, we learn that Doom
is absolute ruler of the small, European nation of Latveria, and is both
respected and feared by his subjects. We meet Boris, his loyal retainer.
Most importantly, we see his full origin, which turns Doom into a noble-
yet-tragic character. This is one of my favorite origin stories in all of
comics. So simple, and yet so rich.
I find it interesting that two elements of the story have been
misinterpreted more and more, over the years:
First, the notion that Reed and Doom were friends in college who had a
falling out. This is blatantly untrue. Doom was just a creepy guy that
Reed ran into a few times!
Second, that Doom blames Reed for the accident which scarred his
face, which is also blatantly untrue. He blames HIMSELF.
The two stories in this annual do so very much to set Doom up as a foe
worthy of being described as the most dangerous man in the world.
And, it is here that we begin to see the pseudo-Shakespearean
dialogue and underlying pain and rage that so define Doom's character.
Love it!!!
Also, this story moves Doom beyond simply mad-scientist territory, and
firmly sets him in the Old World, which nicely contrasts with the New
World of the FF and their high-tech, modern lives. Doom is a Gypsy
who wears a suit of armor, studied black magic, trained with mysterious
monks, and lives in a European castle.
On the negative side, we do also get that wacky scene where Doom
and Rama-Tut speculate that they're the same guy. I can rationalize it
by saying that a Doom was trying to trick Tut into sending him directly
back to Earth, since Tut didn't want to possibly risk his own life by
allowing anything to happen to Doom. It's still a very strange moment,
though. That whole thing worked much better with Kang and Immortus.
We're also starting to see Kirby really begin to break from the standard
6- and 9-panel grids. The Kirby-tech and action scenes are becoming
more elaborate, too.
It all just keeps getting better and better!
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
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| Posted: 17 February 2014 at 2:05am | IP Logged | 6
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Up to FF # 31. It's quite a thing to see how fast the book is evolving,
now. Kirby's action scenes, technology, and dynamic panel layouts are
kicking into overdrive.
The interconnected Marvel Universe is now in full swing, with frequent
cameos, continued stories, and editorial footnotes that refer to previous
events.
History in the making!
On the flipside, STRANGE TALES continues to be wacky fun, but is still
a bit of a chore to get through. The inclusion of the Thing as a
permanent co-star is clearly an attempt to spice up the Torch's solo
stories with more of the familiar bantering that is so crucial to the main
FF book.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
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| Posted: 20 February 2014 at 2:21am | IP Logged | 7
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Something I've not yet mentioned--
During this period, Kirby began experimenting with photo collages in his
art. Any thoughts on this, yay or nay?
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12717
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| Posted: 20 February 2014 at 7:19am | IP Logged | 8
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Kirby collages?
Not my cup of tea.
Also, when I re-read those issues, I find it to be so much of its time that the works comes off too dated.
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Robert White
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| Posted: 20 February 2014 at 8:11am | IP Logged | 9
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The problem with the collages is that in the original comics, you could barely make them out given the printing technology of the time. Only because of restorations have I been able to make out what Kirby was doing (The Fourth World omnibus's were the first time I was able to see one properly)
I think they were very creative and might surprise some people once, ya know, they actually get to see all the detail.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 20 February 2014 at 10:54am | IP Logged | 10
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With the collages, Kirby was basically ahead of the technology. Modern printing would have served them a lot better.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
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Posts: 15775
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| Posted: 20 February 2014 at 11:01am | IP Logged | 11
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I was comparing the different reprints I have (older Masterworks,
Omnibus, and newer Masterworks), and there's a huge difference in
quality.
The usual artwork is pretty muddy in the older reprints, but the collages,
in particular, are really a mess. The newer restorations, however, look
really lovely.
Makes me wonder what Kirby would have done with the collages using
more modern technology.
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Robert White
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| Posted: 20 February 2014 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | 12
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Some of his collages are slightly disturbing (in a good way) which surprised and impressed me. It makes me curious to find out how much Kirby knew about abstract art in general.
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