Location:FANTASTIC FOUR Title: Kirby, Jack - Fantastic Four, issue 98, cover (May 1970) Artist:Jack Kirby (Penciller)
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Joe Sinnott (Inker)
Media Type: Pen and Ink Art Type: Cover For Sale Status: NFS Views: 5130 Likes on CAF:1516 Favorited on CAF:5 Comments:44 Added to Site: 12/3/2011
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Description
The first piece in my Kirby gallery...what a way to kick it off. The cover to May 1970's issue #98 that featured Lee/Kirby's "Mystery on the Moon" storyline (if anyone knows why it's "Doomsday on the Moon" on the cover and 'Mystery on the Moon" in the interior, would really love to hear about it). In May of 1970, Kirby's time with the FF and Marvel was coming to a close - two months prior he had called Stan Lee after delivering his final pages for issue #102 and resigned, having just executed a contract with DC to create it's "Fourth World' characters & stories. His final story in issue #102, 'The Strength of the Submariner", would be published with a John Romita, Sr. cover - who would assume pencilling duties for the next five issues until John Buscema took over in issue #107.
The Fantastic Four debuted in their first issue in November 1961 and were the first superhero team created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby. Together, they developed a collaborative approach to creating comics with this title that would come to be known as the ‘Marvel Method’. As the first superhero team title produced by Marvel Comics, it would be the cornerstone of the company's rise to pop-culture conglomerate.
Ironically, and according to legend, the inspiration for creating the team came from Marvel’s competitor, DC Comics. Marvel’s Martin Goodman, a publishing trend-follower, aware of DC’s Justice League of America book and its’ strong sales, directed his comics editor, Stan Lee, to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee, writing in 1974, "Martin mentioned that…'If the Justice League is selling, why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?’” Flash forward ~50 years and a few billion dollars in enterprise valuation later.
The release of The Fantastic Four #1 was an unexpected success. Lee had felt ready to leave the comics field at the time, but the positive response to Fantastic Four persuaded him to stay on. With the third issue, Lee created the hyperbolic slogan "The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!!" With the following issue, the slogan was changed to "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" - it became a fixture on the issue covers into the 1990’s and on numerous covers in the 2000’s.
The Fantastic Four have always been portrayed as a somewhat dysfunctional, yet loving, family. Breaking convention with other comic-book archetypes of the time, they would squabble, hold grudges and eschewed anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status. The team is also well known for its recurring encounters with characters such as the villainous monarch Doctor Doom, the planet-devouring Galactus, the sea-dwelling prince Namor, the space-faring Silver Surfer, and the shape-changing alien Skrulls.
The story frequently cited as Lee and Kirby's finest achievement is the three-part "Galactus Trilogy" that began in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), chronicling the arrival of Galactus, a cosmic giant who wanted to devour the planet, and his herald, the Silver Surfer.
Amazing how many Grail pieces have switched hands in these last couple weeks! A classic from Jack "The King" Kirby! Congrats on such a fAntastic acquisition!
Here it is and WOW!!!! I LOVE this cover, everything about it is perfect, even the font and text layout! What a piece, superb in your stellar collection, congrats Chris!!!! =)
Well, would say It's really a good idea to buy as the first piece a museum piece... but it's quite difficult to achieve for us poor mortals! Congrats on this amazing goal, Ronan!
The 'Doomsday' lettering on this cover looks like a paste-over or replacement stat. If original paste-over, maybe there's lettering underneath? You need to investigate, as I'm now curious what might be hidden underneath (if anything)!
