Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: fanstastic four, jack kirby, marvel

Marvel Finally Admits Jack Kirby Co-Wrote Fantastic Four #1

Fantastic Four #1 is a pretty good comic, but a lot of people believe that it could be much better if old school artists like Jack Kirby had access to modern comics-making technology, such as putting gradients on everything and making the artwork really shiny. Luckily, Marvel has a solution: getting modern artists to redraw the comic and selling it for probably a minimum of seven bucks.

A press release for Fantastic Four Anniversary Tribute #1  explains:

New York, NY— August 3, 2021 — This November, fans will get to experience two of the Fantastic Four's greatest adventures in a brand new way in FANTASTIC FOUR ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE #1! In the tradition of GIANT-SIZE X-MEN: TRIBUTE TO WEIN & COCKRUM #1 and CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE #1, this giant-sized issue will present classic stories with stunning new artwork by today's leading artists.

Sixty years ago, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby made history and brought about the beginning of the Marvel Age of comics with the release of FANTASTIC FOUR #1. Now a bevy of Marvel's finest creators will pay tribute to that monumental moment by reinterpreting, page by page, the story from that inaugural release as well as FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #3, the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm!

Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort, who once denied that Marvel was blocking the publication of Fantastic Four and X-Men comics even though it was later verified that they were, said of the project:

It's the 60th Anniversary of the Fantastic Four—and that means it's a good time to assemble the best and brightest that Marvel has to offer to joust with the King. This issue not only reimagines that initial FANTASTIC FOUR issue from 1961 through the vision of the artists of today, but also the later story from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #3 in which Reed and Sue were married and the entire Marvel Universe of the period showed up. There's really no better way to commemorate this anniversary than by revisiting these classic works anew.

The jury is out on whether or not redrawing an already perfectly good comic is really a good way to commemorate its anniversary, but there is one demonstrably better way, and as it turns out, Marvel is doing it. The solicitation for the comic marks the first time Jack Kirby is listed as co-writer of the comics.

FANTASTIC FOUR ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE #1
Written by STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY
Art by ACO, AARON KUDER, ADAM HUGHES, ALBERT MONTEYS, ALESSANDRO CAPPUCCIO, BRYAN HITCH, CAFU, CARLOS PACHECO, CHRIS SPROUSE, DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON, DAVID LAPHAM, ELSA CHARRETIER, ERICA D'URSO, FEDERICO VICENTINI, GREG LAND, JAVIER RODRÍGUEZ, JOHN CASSADAY, JOHN ROMITA JR., KATE NIEMCZYK, KEI ZAMA, LEINIL FRANCIS YU, LEONARD KIRK, LUCAS WERNECK, LUCIANO VECCHIO, MARCO CHECCHETTO, MATTIA DE IULIS, MICHAEL ALLRED, MIKE DEL MUNDO, NEAL ADAMS, NIC KLEIN, OLIVIER COIPEL, PACO MEDINA, PATCH ZIRCHER, PEPE LARRAZ, RAY-ANTHONY HEIGHT, ROD REIS, RON FRENZ, SIMONE DI MEO, STEFANO CASELLI, STEVE EPTING, TOM REILLY, SALVADOR LARROCA, JORGE FORNES, KIM JACINTO, WALT SIMONSON, SIMONE DI MEO, LEONARDO ORTOLANI, SANFORD GREENE, TERRY DODSON & MARK BAGLEY
Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN
Variant Cover by JIM CHEUNG

What would Dan Lee say? Probably: "Excalibur, real believers!"

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