Fantastic Four #30: Reed’s Stretchy Body 81

Fantastic Four #30, page 15, panels 5-6

Fantasticast Four #30: Reed’s Stretchy Body 81

Written by: Stan Lee (A rather nice writer)

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby (A quite noteworthy artist)

Inked by: Chic Stone (A somewhat nifty inker)

Lettered by: Art Simek (An occasionally neat letterer)

Sometimes, it’s the less-flashy things that catch my eye. I really get the feeling that Sue, Johnny, and the reader, just happened to stumble upon Reed as he was making his way through Diablo’s castle. There’s no showing off, no intimidating his enemies, just a guy using his powers to do a job. It’s very casual and understated, and I really like it.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #30 on our thirty-third episode: Bad Horse, Bad Horse, with special guest host David Walker

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_33.mp3]

Fantastic Four #30: Reed’s Stretchy Body 79

Fantastic Four #30, page 1

Fantasticast Four #30: Reed’s Stretchy Body 79

Written by: Stan Lee (A rather nice writer)

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby (A quite noteworthy artist)

Inked by: Chic Stone (A somewhat nifty inker)

Lettered by: Art Simek (An occasionally neat letterer)

I have no idea what’s going on with Reed on this page. On first glance, it’s pretty simple – he’s using his stretching powers to get above the undergrowth to see ahead. But on closer look, things just don’t seem right. Reed’s belt line is depicted as being below Sue’s crotch, when he’s normally depicted as being taller than her. So, should I presume that in order to stretch his upper body, Reed had to shrink his lower?

Normally, Reed maintains the general proportions of his body whilst stretching. If using his body to bridge the gap between two skyscrapers, his beltline will remain at the middle of his body, and his limbs will maintain similar sizes. I’m really not sure why he’s chosen to ignore those proportions here – just look at the difference in size between his two arms – but it’s unsettling to see him break the ‘rules’ of his stretching.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #30 on our thirty-third episode: Bad Horse, Bad Horse, with special guest host David Walker

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_33.mp3]

Fantastic Four #29: Reed’s Stretchy Body 78

Fantastic Four #29, page 9, panels 1-2

Fantasticast Four #29: Reed’s Stretchy Body 78

Written with a dash of greatness by: Stan Lee

Drawn with a hint of glory by: Jack Kirby

Inked with a touch of drama by: Chic Stone

Lettered with a bottle of india ink by: S. Rosen

It feels like ages since we last saw Reed stretch himself properly, and whilst this selection doesn’t necessarily show his full capabilities, it is utterly insane. Reed is wrapped around a super-strong gorilla, ineffectively attempting to prevent him from doing anything with his arms. The gorilla then hooks Reed on to the back of a passing delivery truck, stretching him out like an elastic band, hoping that he’ll snap back.

First of all, pity the poor driver, speeding through the streets of New York only to see a bunch of super-powered simians tussling with the greatest super-heroes in town. Secondly, did the truck driver drive right through the gorilla? It looks like he’s standing right behind the truck, and he’s hooking Reed onto the corner of the vehicle closest to the reader, rather than the one closest to him. Finally, I really hope that the next panel is just a giant ‘TWANG’ sound effect.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #29 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_32.mp3]

We are eligible for nomination in the first UK Podcasters Award, in the Games & Hobbies category. Across the month of July, you can visit http://ukpodcasters.com/directory/podcast/the-fantasticast/ and click the nominate button. You can nominate us once per day between now and the end of the month, and we would be very grateful if you would be able to do this.

Fantastic Four #28: Reed’s Stretchy Body 77

Fantastic Four #28, page 14, panel 6

Written by Stan Lee (The Leader!)

Drawn by Jack Kirby (The King!)

Inked by Chic Stone (The Master!)

Lettered by Art Simek (The Letterer!)

The Fantastic Four and the X-Men don’t exactly have an illustrious history of team-ups. There’s the Pat Lee Fantastic Four/X-Men miniseries from about a decade ago, which was terrible. There was the weird Ultimate X-Men/Ultimate Fantastic Four miniseries that came towards the end of both of those titles, which was about the same level of quality as the parent titles. There’s the Claremont/Bogdanove miniseries, which is actually rather good. And then there’s this issue, the first meeting of the teams, which is generic beyond belief.

Today’s panel comes from the second major battle between the two teams, which takes place on a deserted mountaintop, and threatens to be a repeat of the first battle but without any pesky walls getting in the way. The Thinker and the Puppet Master have other plans, having booby-trapped the mountaintop with all sorts of devices that remove combatants from the team one-by-one.

We see here that Reed somehow gets caught up on a revolving reel that suddenly pops up from the ground. I guess it was lucky that Reed stepped on the exact spot between the two components of the reel, as it’s hard to see just how this could have been effective if he’d been a foot to the right.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #28 on our thirty-first episode: Just Three Of The Guys, with special guest-host Shawn Engel.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_31.mp3]

Fantastic Four #28: Reed’s Stretchy Body 76

Fantastic Four #28, page 9, panel 1

Written by Stan Lee (The Leader!)

Drawn by Jack Kirby (The King!)

Inked by Chic Stone (The Master!)

Lettered by Art Simek (The Letterer!)

I love this panel a lot. I shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do. I should be irritated by Reed’s body bending at right angles. I should be wondering just what muscles would allow someone to manipulate their body in such a way. I definitely shouldn’t be overthinking this as much as I am.

But, as with a lot of Kirby’s artwork, such anatomical concerns are completely invalidated by the sheer energy he imbues the image with. The Beast is moving at speed, and Reed’s stomach-side-step is clearly an instinctive reaction. The speed lines, the way Reed’s stomach seems to contract as if he were breathing in, the positioning of his arms, all of which make this image pop.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #28 on our thirty-first episode: Just Three Of The Guys, with special guest-host Shawn Engel.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_31.mp3]

Fantastic Four #28: Reed’s Stretchy Body 75

Fantastic Four #28, page 8, panel 2

Written by Stan Lee (The Leader!)

Drawn by Jack Kirby (The King!)

Inked by Chic Stone (The Master!)

Lettered by Art Simek (The Letterer!)

We’ve seen Reed turn himself into a ball before. It’s a nifty defensive trick, one that apparently increases his dexterity, allowing him to avoid, for instance, a hail of bullets. This, however, is the first time he’s used his ball-form in such a circus-like fashion.

He probably shouldn’t have chosen the most agile of the mutants to try this trick on. The Beast is only momentarily thrown off-guard by the move, quickly using his oversized feet and gymnastic ability to take control. We’ll see what that looks like for Mr Fantastic in the next post.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #28 on our thirty-first episode: Just Three Of The Guys, with special guest-host Shawn Engel.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_31.mp3]

Fantastic Four #28: Reed’s Stretchy Body 74

Fantastic Four #28, page 7, panel 2

Written by Stan Lee (The Leader!)

Drawn by Jack Kirby (The King!)

Inked by Chic Stone (The Master!)

Lettered by Art Simek (The Letterer!)

Well, I truly tempted fate by announcing a return to a regular posting schedule last week… The short version of what happened is that I developed intense lower leg pains, which were thought to be evidence of a blood clot for a bit. Thankfully, there was no clot, and with treatment of the muscles, I have made a full recovery. That’s why we’ve missed a couple of postings here, and why there was no episode of the show this past weekend. But, with everything back to normal, we’re back on schedule.

Today’s masterful panel comes from the moment where the X-Men reveal their true colours. Well, their true colours when they blindly follow the orders of Professor X. Cyclops opens up with a series of optical blasts that Reed decides to stretch his way around. It’s one of the best examples of Reed’s powers seen to date in the book. Reed retains his mass, stretching without thinning, which might seem a bit unlikely given the circumstances, but it’s a visual affectation that I really like.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #28 on our thirty-first episode: Just Three Of The Guys, with special guest-host Shawn Engel.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_31.mp3]

Fantastic Four #28: Reed’s Stretchy Body 73

Fantastic Four #27, page 6, panel 3

Written by Stan Lee (The Leader!)

Drawn by Jack Kirby (The King!)

Inked by Chic Stone (The Master!)

Lettered by Art Simek (The Letterer!)

Back to the Fantastic Four, and it’s the issue that guest-starred the earliest X-Men, as drawn by Kirby. the basic plot is that the Thinker and the Puppet Master team up to take control of Professor X, who orders the X-Men to visit the Baxter Building and attack the Fantastic Four. The panel prior to this one reveals that the X-Men have access to a ‘late model Jetcopter’, and that the Baxter Building is home to a heliport. This is clearly before Reed installed numerous sliding panels in the roof to allow various Fantastic Four vessels to rise upwards.

And, apparently, this is before Reed installed security cameras on the roof. We saw, back in the Thinker’s first appearance, that CCTV was in place inside the Baxter Building. But despite aerial attacks from the likes of Doctor Doom, Reed clearly feels that the best way to keep an eye on the roof is to literally keep an eye on the roof.

And just how can he see the jetcopter and the X-Men from that angle? Surely all he can see is the side of the building?

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #28 on our thirty-first episode: Just Three Of The Guys, with special guest-host Shawn Engel.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_31.mp3]

Fantastic Four #27: Reed’s Stretchy Body 72

Fantastic Four #27, page 20, panel 5

Presented by the most talked-about team in comics: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, author and illustrator extraordinary

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: S. Rosen

The inventiveness continues. One of the joys of revisiting this issue panel-by-panel has been to see the sheer number of different ways in which Kirby manages to visually depict Reed’s stretching powers. As we can see, Reed has made a bow from his body, and that visual is really strong.

So, let’s thanks Stan’s penchant for over-writing for working against the art here. We really don’t need Namor and Reed narrating this panel – it’s obvious that it’s a bow, and that Namor is going to be the arrow. It’s a shame – with two small dialogue balloons instead of three overwritten ones, this would be a really great panel.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #27 on our thirtieth episode: Horny Namor

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_30.mp3]

Fantastic Four #27: Reed’s Stretchy Body 71

Fantastic Four #27, page 20, panel 2

Presented by the most talked-about team in comics: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, author and illustrator extraordinary

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: S. Rosen

It’s been a couple of weeks since we last checked in with Fantastic Four #27. I hope you enjoyed the week of special content celebrating our 100th episode. It was great fun to put that all together, to get Andy onto the blog, and to share some behind-the-scenes secrets of the show with you all.

It should come as no surprise that Reed and Namor are still throwing down with each other. You don’t make a move on Sue (by which I mean, kidnap her and imprison her in your underwater palace) without risking the wrath of Reed, and this wrath continues to manifest itself in inventive uses of his stretching powers. In 89 issues of the Fantastic Four read for the show, this still stands out as the only time Reed uses his legs not only as a trip wire but to flip an opponent upside down.

Great stuff!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #27 on our thirtieth episode: Horny Namor

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_30.mp3]