THINGS I LEARNED FROM DRAWING ONE PAGE OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR

I recently sat down and drew page 11 from Fantastic Four #49 ("If This Be Doomsday," April 1966; written by Stan Lee, drawn by Jack Kirby).  This is the page where Alicia Masters shows the Silver Surfer what Beauty is.  If you haven't read these classic issues of the Fantastic Four, I encourage you to do so!  Especially this series, "The Galactus Trilogy," which ran from issues 48-50.  (And you might as well keep reading through issue 51 as well, "This Man, This Monster," which many critics consider the greatest superhero story of all time.)

Anyhow, as I was drawing this page, my mind was flooded with observations, thoughts and questions, which I reckoned I would share with you here today.  For reference, here's my version of the page:

(Click twice to enlarge.)

COMMENTS, THOUGHTS, AND LESSONS I LEARNED UPON DRAWING PAGE 11 OF FANTASTIC FOUR #49:

• So many words!

• At first glance, the page seems to be divided into a standard six-panel grid (with the bottom tier broken into 3 smaller panels), but actually each tier is of independent size.  The top row panels are slightly taller than they are wide, and taller than any of the other panels on the page.  Row 2 is more square-shaped than Row 1 (ie shorter), and Row 3 is even shorter still.  The Row 3 panels are divided into a vertically symmetrical pattern, with the two outside panels being slightly wider than the middle one.

• Silver Surfer uses the word "word" four times in seven panels.

• How many pages like this did Kirby crank out in a day?  Because I was exhausted after drawing just this one.

• In panel two, the ellipses after "sculptures" contains only two dots;  in panel six they save room by adding the exclamation mark onto the final dot in the ellipses.  Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I've used this trick in my own comics before!  Also, every line of dialogue on the page ends in an exclamation mark or a question mark.  Commas are used sparingly-- most of the text comes in short, staccato bursts.

• The Silver Surfer goes from Unquestioningly Destroying the Earth to Understanding Beauty in three short panels.  Maybe this is one reason why each one of these classic old comics issues provides the reader with such a fulfilling experience.  They are jam-packed.

Silver Surfer and Alicia Masters © Marvel Comics Group, Inc.

SPRAGG: THE LIVING MOUNTAIN

I have loved Marvel Monster Comics since I was a wee, college-aged post-adolescent. These stories were first published in the late 1950's and early 60's in Atlas brand comic books like Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, and Journey into Mystery. Beginning in the late 1960's, Marvel Comics began reprinting these stories in titles like Monsters on the Prowl, Creatures on the Loose, and Where Monsters Dwell, which is where I first encountered them. They're my favorite comics of all time.

This is the third in a series of Spotlights on Atlas-Age Marvel Monsters.

Previously:

Sserpo, the Creature that Crushed the Earth

Groot, The Monster from Planet X 

* * *

I guess the mystery has since been lost to time, but I'd love to know who at Mighty Marvel came up with this one...

American Scientist "Bob" is conducting research in Transylvania when he feels the trembling of an earthquake taking place 500 miles away.  He volunteers to go to the area to determine the cause of the quake, and finds a strange, fearful populace who refuse to even acknowledge the tremor.

In the center of town Bob discovers an enormously tall, circular wall, but the villagers refuse to explain it.  So he begins climbing -- when suddenly he's knocked flat by a burst of electricity!  The next day he rents a plane and tries to fly it over the wall--  only to have it blasted and broken up in midair!  Luckily, when he bails out he manages to land in a haystack...  Will the secret of what's behind the wall ever be revealed?!?

Finally, after consulting an old map, Bob finds an abandoned mine tunnel and burrows under the wall, where he finds a weird kind of construction zone.  There, hypnotized villagers ramble about with complex electronic equipment, toiling away in front of a large pile of earth, while a "strange high-pitched voice" orders them to and fro.  The workers mutter one-liners about something called the "kind" and "wise" "leader," Spragg.  Luckily, Bob's metal Spelunking helmet shields him from the powerful hypnotic forces, and he begins searching for the source of the voice.  Suddenly-- ("The hill – it’s starting to throb – to pulsate!!")--  two slits appear in the mountainside, widening into a set of fearsome eyeballs-- and the voice intones:  "Behold... the all-seeing eyes of your master!!"  Bob is stunned by his fearsome revelation: "The hill itself is Spragg!"

By pretending to be one of the hypnotized workers, Bob discovers both Spragg's origin (He and his kind were formed from "harmless spores floating aimlessly in space and time" that managed to find a home deep within the Earth's crust) -- and his evil plot to enslave the whole human race through his mesmeric powers.  Turns out, though, that Spragg's amazing mental capacity was damaged by the earthquake that brought him to the surface, and, for this reason, he has been commanding the humans in his service to build an enormous electronic dynamo that will boost his brain power.

Working through the night, Bob manages to come up with a brilliant plan to save the villagers and all of humanity.  But will it work?  Can Spragg the Living Mountain be stopped?  I won't say how, but yes, Bob manages to win the battle-- though not the war...  In the end, Spragg lives to fight another day (For some reason, years later, the powers-to-be at Marvel thought it would be a good idea to bring him back-- to cross swords with...  She-Hulk).

"Spragg, Conqueror of the Human Race!"
Story: Stan "The Man" Lee
Artwork: Jack "King" Kirby
Original appearance: Journey Into Mystery #68, May 1961 (Atlas Comics)
Reprinted in Creatures on the Loose #15, Jan. 1972 (Marvel Comics)
Creatures on the Loose cover by Gil Kane, inker unknown
Journey Into Mystery cover: Kirby/Ayers

Images from the great Monster Blog, Comic Coverage, and the Grand Comics Database.

NEXT: GROTTU, KING OF THE INSECTS!

GROOT: THE MONSTER FROM PLANET X

I have loved Marvel Monster Comics since I was a wee, college-aged post-adolescent. These stories were first published in the late 1950's and early 60's in Atlas brand comic books like Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, and Journey into Mystery. Beginning in the late 1960's, Marvel Comics began reprinting these stories in titles like Monsters on the Prowl, Creatures on the Loose, and Where Monsters Dwell, which is where I first encountered them. They're my favorite comics of all time.

This is the second in a series of Spotlights on Atlas-Age Marvel Monsters.
Previously: Sserpo, the Creature that Crushed the Earth

 

* * *

Perhaps the archetypal Kirby Monster Comic, "Groot, the Monster from Planet X," tells the uplifting tale of sad-sack biologist Leslie Evans, whose shrill wife Alice berates him at every turn for his "softness."  As they drive home from a dinner engagement, she tells him she wishes he was more like partygoer George Carter, who is "so manly-- so rugged..." sighing, "If only you were more like that, Leslie!". 

On the road that night, they see a bright glowing object that crashes into a local forest-- but Alice is tired, and urges him not to investigate it.  Then the next day she notices that their neighbor's fence is missing!  Must be some kind of a prank, muses Leslie, but he soon decides better, and goes out to check the forest where the glowing object landed...  (though not before getting henpecked even further by the shrewlike Alice).  Sure enough, there he finds "Groot,"* a giant tree-like monster, who is busy eating up all the wooden objects he can get his roots on: barrels, clocks, brooms -- and even a doghouse!

Leslie Evans, biologist

As Groot eats, his fiendish power grows, and soon enough Leslie returns with the cops, who hear the monster's ominous plan for them:  Using the power of Wood Control, Groot will cause the neighborhood trees to surround the town and grow their roots rapidly into a net beneath the earth.  This will allow him to lift the entire city skyward, through outer space, to his home on Planet X, where the hapless humans will be subjected to unsavory scientific experiments!

Bullets are fired, but to no avail; even flames cannot harm Groot's powerful trunk!  As the frightened townspeople look on, Leslie makes a bold and public oath to bring Groot down and save his city.  Returning to his lab he works deep into the night.  Finally, under cover of darkness, he arrives back on the scene with several small boxes that he opens near Groot's rootlike feet... and... within a few hours the mighty Groot has fallen!  How did Mr. L. do it, you ask?  SPOILER:  Why, specially bred termites, of course:  the only thing on Earth that could conquer the Unconquerable power of Groot!

Then, in perhaps the greatest comic book ending of all time, the now-humbled, boy-am-I-glad-to-see-you Alice folds hero Leslie in her lithe, feminine arms, and murmurs, "Oh, darling, forgive me! I've been such a fool!  I'll never complain about you again! Never!!"

Doesn't get any sweeter than that.

*Not to be confused with Grottu, King of the Insects (Strange Tales 73--2/60, and WMD 3--3/70) or Gruto, the Creature from Nowhere (Journey Into Mystery 67--4/61, and WMD 11--9/71).

* * *

"I Challenged Groot... the Monster from Planet X!"
Story: Stan "The Man" Lee
Artwork: Jack "King" Kirby
Original appearance: Tales to Astonish #13, Nov. 1960 (Atlas Comics)
Reprinted in Where Monsters Dwell #6, Nov. 1970; Weird Wonder Tales #19, Dec. 1976; and Atlas Era Tales To Astonish Vol. 2 (Marvel)

Images from the great Monster Blog and the Grand Comics Database, with a tip of the hat to.

More nerdlike info on Groot.

NEXT TIME:  Spragg, the Living Mountain

SSERPO: THE CREATURE THAT CRUSHED THE EARTH

I have loved Marvel Monster Comics since I was a wee, college-aged post-adolescent.  These stories were first published in the late 1950's and early 60's in Atlas brand comic books like Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, and Journey into Mystery. Beginning in the late 1960's, Marvel Comics began reprinting these stories in titles like Monsters on the Prowl, Creatures on the Loose, and Where Monsters Dwell, which is where I first encountered them.  They're my favorite comics of all time. 

This is the first in a series of Spotlights on Atlas-Age Marvel Monsters.

* * *

One hundred years ago, scientist Thomas Burke is hard at work in his lab, toiling away to perfect his growth serum.  But try as he might, he can't discover the ultimate, final ingredient that's needed for his formula to become active.  Finally, in frustration, he hurls the stoppered vial into the ocean, where it settles untouched on the bottom for decades.

One hundred years later, a hungry sea-creature, of unknown species, comes across the bottle while out looking for food.  It innocently opens the vial-- the contents of which mix with the sea water-- and drinks it down.  Lord love a duck!  How was Prof. Burke supposed to have known that the missing ingredient that had escaped him for so long was actually common, everyday water???

The poor little creature begins growing at a rapid rate   He's soon discovered by some sea-going natives, who bring him ashore to their tropical island, and name him Sserpo.  Soon enough though, little Sserpo has grown so large that his enormous bulk causes their island to sink beneath the ocean waves!

Heading back out to sea, Sserpo quickly grows to over 1,000 feet, and makes his way to Japan, where even nuclear weapons prove useless against him--  he's simply too large for them to be effective!

Meanwhile, a modern day American scientist works feverishly to come up with some way to halt Sserpo's frenzied growth.  At this point, the creature has become so large that  he towers over entire continents, and if unstopped, he'll soon be so huge that his weight will throw the Earth off its axis, dooming the entire planet to destruction!

I won't reveal how mankind finally thwarts Sserpo's untamed growth, but it does involve the planet Jupiter, and the darndest intergalactic contraption ever devised.  And the shocking twist ending has to be read to be believed!

Truth is, I always felt a little sorry for ol' Sserpo.  He was just a hungry little sea-creature of unknown species, looking for a quick meal.  He certainly didn't mean to cause the human race so much grief.  But such is life, I guess.  Fare thee well, Sserpo...  wherever you are.

"Sserpo! The Creature That Crushed the Earth!"
Story: Stan "The Man" Lee
Artwork: Jack "King" Kirby
Original appearance: Amazing Adventures #6, Nov. 1961 (Atlas Comics)
Reprinted in Monsters on the Prowl #27, Nov. 1973; and Amazing Adult Fantasy Omnibus (Marvel)
  Images from the great Monster Blog and the Grand Comics Database.

NEXT TIME:  Groot, the Monster from Planet X!

DEVIL DINOSAUR HOMAGE IN COLOR

Hommage à Jack Kirby (et Morrissey)

Drawn by the Jovial John Porcellino

Colored by the Nerdy Noah Van Sciver

2010

To see the rough b+w version, click here.

To see a painful comparison with the actual cover, click here.

* * *

Lyrics © Morrissey

Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy © Marvel Comics

Can we have a job, please?

"IF THE PEOPLE STARE, THEN THE PEOPLE STARE"

Devil Dinosaur cover homage:  a rough scan that still needs to be tweaked, cleaned-up, and colored.  Apologies and respect to the great King Kirby.  (And Morrissey!)