9 Comments on “10 reasons why Fantastic Four #51 is my favorite comic book.”

1. 1 Bob Mitchell said at 4:28 pm on January 20th, 2009:

   Ha, very cool. I read this just last night in fact, in one of those old over-sized Marrvel Treasuty editions from the 70s, super-sized Kirby art, those splash pages were amazing.

2. 2 Isaac B2 said at 5:11 pm on January 20th, 2009:

   Ah, Kirby. Those fabulous machines, those ridiculous emphases…

3. 3 Brian Smith said at 6:04 pm on January 20th, 2009:

   For #11 — and I’m shamelessly stealing from the commentary in that Marvel five-decade retrospective — I’d nominate the panel where Johnny lights his thumb on fire just to shut that guy up. Except for all the stuff that Ben’s doppelganger does, it’s the only panel where any of the team uses their powers.

4. 4 Max said at 6:07 pm on January 20th, 2009:

   The last panel with Reed is so righteous.

5. 5 Kevin Church said at 7:40 pm on January 20th, 2009:

   The Johnny/Wyatt Wingfoot scenes are just terrific in that comic, aren’t they? I could probably use a dozen more panels from that issue as examples of How Fucking Great It Really Is Seriously You Guys.

6. 6 Bret said at 12:53 am on January 21st, 2009:

   Huh.

   It’s my favorite comic too.
   Seriously, first Lee Kirby FF I read, and man did I hit the jackpot.

7. 7 KDBryan said at 3:22 am on January 21st, 2009:

   Beautiful comic. Nobody does ‘em like Lee and Kirby. It’s no surprise Peter David used this issue as a textbook example in his book on writing for comics.

8. 8 R. Maheras said at 10:24 am on January 21st, 2009:

   Great comic with a terrific twist ending. A classic example — one of the best of all time — of sequential art at its finest.

   By the way, I like the usage of emphases — and I still use it whenever I write, draw and letter a comic. Done right, it allows a writer to simulate tonal inflections in a silent, two-dimensional medium. After all… almost no one talks in a monotone all the time.

9. 9 Jim Kakalios said at 9:20 pm on January 27th, 2009:

   Ah, but for me, FF # 40 – Battle of the Baxter Building is still the apex. The five page scene where Doom throws everything he has against a fighting mad Ben, taking out his rage at being forced to become the Thing again, to no effect, still thrills. The first time I read it, with the second to last page ending on the panel with Ben finally getting to Doom, saying: “I finally got my hands on you and nothing can save you!” – that first time, my heart skipped at that scene.