3 Freedoms Plaza?

As we head into the home stretch of the FF's "3" arc, the World's Greatest Comic Magazine seems to be pulling out all the stops. Just today, Marvel announced that issue #587 of Fantastic Four will be polybagged (how come no one in the 90's ever called it "ploybagging"? Seems more accurate), will NOT be sold on newsstands, and will NOT go into extra printings. A variant edition will come out the week after the initial issue's release, with a spoilerific cover (which I assume will show Johnny getting eaten by Galactus) by John Cassady.

Apparently Marvel's rationale for the "no overprint/ newsstand" policy is to drive up demand and keep the issue from being spoiled by the dreaded liberal media. Many of us can still recall comic events such as Captain America's death and Barry Allen's resurrection being first reported on by highly circulated news outlets such as USA Today.

While all of the items above rightfully blew my mind, the biggest part of today's announcements came in the form of the following quote from Marvel's press release: "This January Fantastic Four #587 marks the end of the Fantastic Four and the penultimate issue of Marvel’s longest running series. "

We all know that killing off a member of the FF is a giant publicity stunt, but Marvel is showing a real commitment to the idea of "3" being a complete game changer. And hey, you know what? I believe them now. In an era with 2 Captain Americas, A Bruce Wayne who publicly associates with Batman, A Spidey who sleeps around, and a thriving comic that gets away with having the same name as a restaurant chain ("Red Robin....Yum"), there is the distinct possibility that the Fantastic 3 are here to stay.

And while I am more curious than enraged by the future of the F3, I can't help but feel my blog is going to look seriously out of date. I mean, I don't want to change my banner! Oh well, They'll always be the FF to me. So until the title gets pared down to the "Fantastic One", vive la fantastique!

ZOMG Cheap Comics!

Hello FFans,

Your thrifty friend Kello here, to tell you that from September 25-30 there is a "Back to School" sale on a bunch of great comics over at Things From Another World. Most of the sale items are considered "nick and dent", which means they have some wear or tear. Although it may sound like the site is going to sell you a bunch of junk, I have bought these items and found no noticeable differences in quality.

I just spent about $100 and got 13 trades (including newer Captain America, Thor, and Punisher collections!) and 28 single issues.

And yes, there are plenty of FF comics on sale, too. Happy hunting!

Homages: Ha Ha!

I saw the top of this issue peaking out of a spinner rack at my local Hastings store (so what, I live in the middle of nowhere) and noticed the words "Comic Book" had the same font as the old Fantastic Four logo, so imagine my surprise when I saw the cover.



For those of you who don't know, the Comic Book Guy is doing his best impression of the giant green creature from the cover of 1961's Fantastic Four #1.
Looking inside the comic, there were a few obvious homages paid to iconic covers, such as the Death of Supergirl in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. While I heavily debated buying the issue, I somehow mustered some strength and put it back. But I did get to thinking that the cover to Fantastic Four#1 has had a lot of imitators over the years. A quick Google image search later showed me that Comicvine actually catalogued them. Here are just a few:

The store also had half-priced(!) volumes of the first 2 Fantastic Four Masterworks editions, which made me think of my friend Marc, and were very tempting as possible purchases. But will power again prevailed. So until I have a billion dollars to blow at Hastings, vive le fantastique!

Mad Props to Falisha

I wanted to give a big shout out to my online friend and graphic designer extraordinaire Falisha, who graciously used her time and creativity to make a new header for the Four Freedoms site. I mentioned a little while back that I was tired of the bland "Blogger template" look the site had, and Ms. Falisha hooked me up with a HUGE upgrade. So if I haven't said it yet, thanks so much!

If you want to check out Falisha's other graphic design work, head over to Jason Todd's Comic Spot . Also check out Creative Fiasco for her great sketches (warning, some of the sketches may cause you to go through puberty again). Long live Falisha, and vive le fantastique!

I Don't Think This Counts...

I hate blogs posts that simply put up links to other sites, but there was a cool little interview over at Newsarama with current Fantastic Four writer Johnathan Hickman about the future of the FF as it relates to Marvel's new "Heroic Age." Apparently, issue number 579 will be a "done-in-one" story that lets new readers come onboard ans get right into the story. It appears the issue will also feature a sweet Reed Richards spotlight cover by Alan Davis.





I think the best thing about this article is that Hickman states that his FF run is really telling a 30 issue story, broken up into arcs. It will be gratifying to see that come to fruition. Go here for the article.