My favourite reviews of the FF movie have largely been on Facebook. Here are some samples.
…the most striking thing to me is how much less sophisticated it is than the original.
Worst zero-gravity natural childbirth sequence in cinema history.
…I think for modern audiences the FF comic book is a bit like Citizen Kane in the sense that the innovations of the original have been strip-mined and absorbed into comic book and film culture… to the point where what once seemed groundbreaking and sophisticated now seems cliche and childish.
The new Fantastic Four movie leans into the Jack Kirby Fantastic Four, and jettisons most of the trash added by Stan Lee.
It’s got a lot of good points. Probably more than any MCU product to date it shows Jack Kirby proper respect… Nice to see Susan portrayed as the most powerful member of the team, which she clearly is.
The Surfer wasn’t terrible but I’m not a fan of this version of the character. By that I don’t mean the gender swap. Shalla Bal or Norrin Radd, the Zenn La origin cooked up by Stan Lee behind Kirby’s back is repulsive to me. Kirby’s version was, like the angels of the bible, created by his god. There’s no life before Galactus. That’s why his discovery of human feelings and his rebellion are so impactful. The Zenn La Surfer, whether Shalla or Norrin, is a mass murderer on a galactic scale who finally suffers an overdue attack of conscience.
David Lawrence
Four Color Sinners has the story on Marvel’s real motivation for switching the gender of the character here. I think Kirby, who created strong female characters based on his wife and daughter, would be fine with a female Surfer.
I agree with nearly everything in these reviews.
A thought for what never saw the light of day
Never let anyone accuse you of saying Stan Lee did nothing. The incurious and inept editor did a lot to Kirby’s stories, and all of it was damaging. Tom Scioli wrote a good assessment for TCJ of Lee’s appropriation and bastardization of Kirby’s Surfer.
Chris Tolworthy details Kirby’s original intentions in The Lost Jack Kirby Stories, now an appendix to Volume 1 of the second edition of Jack Kirby’s History of the Future. Greatly expanded is the section covering issues 48 to 51.
The lost Galactus saga
(Fantastic Four #48-51, March-June 1966)
The original saga was much longer, and Galactus did not lose. Here are the clues.Clue 1: The series reboots with FF #51
This is the biggest clue, and it is not obvious unless you read all of Kirby’s Fantastic Four. If you just dip into the odd issue then you don’t see the progression. But if you read from issue #1 to the end then you see that time passes and everything moves forward: Reed and Sue date, they get married, they have a child, they retire from the team to raise their family (or would have done, if the editor had allowed it). Johnny starts in high school at age 16, then graduates and starts college and visibly grows up…
Chris Tolworthy
It’s interesting to compare Kirby’s conception of Galactus to Lee’s. Kirby created a character who is not a villain. Kirby’s Galactus is simply going about his business.
Kirby’s Surfer is a blank slate, as opposed to the disjointed character seen in Lee’s rewrite where the Silver Surfer is somehow at the same time a sensitive man with a past and the person who marks worlds for slaughter.
It is likely Kirby intended Galactus and the Watcher to be not only of the same race but brothers who took different paths. One the warrior wearing the garb modeled after a Roman Centurion. The other the toga-wearing sophist.
It’s up to us to keep this information alive in the face of the endless reprints of the published (compromised) version. Even if the Jack Kirby Collector were so inclined (and they haven’t been for some 70 issues), the declining readership seems more interested in Stan Lee’s classical influences (having rejected the idea that he paid other people to do his reading).
My last post ended with this line…
…like Silver Age Marvel, the editorial content ignores Kirby’s writing and never lives up to its promise.
Mark Marderosian responded…
That’s why the Fantastic Four are unreadable for me. You can glimpse greater, more timeless stories straining to be realized, which makes it ultimately just an exercise in frustration to be avoided.
I am in no way invested in Kirby’s FF, which I only experienced in reprints. When Kirby left Marvel in 1970, he shook off the dust of Lee’s crummy little operation and went on to do better things. (That’s where I came in.) Kirby got over having his creations ripped away from him, and it costs me so much less to do the same. Kirby didn’t hate Stan Lee, but he understood him.
As Darrell Epp and Patrick Ford have been saying, this discussion is not for someone who believes “This Man, This Monster!” was the greatest comic ever. (Chris Tolworthy has that covered as well.) It’s a discussion for generations who aren’t invested in the original comics, who may be open to hearing what needs to be said about Jack Kirby.
Fantastic Four: First Steps was the best Marvel movie I’ve seen. The last one I saw (Avengers: Infinity War) was the worst, which for me makes it the worst in or out of the MCU. I dislike that the Surfer is Lee’s character rather than Kirby’s original, and it’s sad that Galactus started so well but was reduced to a regular-scale rampaging monster. But…
I love the futuristic New York of the 1960s. It’s just like Kirby imagined it: all the guys are wearing fedoras, and not everyone is white. The movie captures the enthusiasm of the space race as well as Kirby’s quiet moments and character interactions. An inordinate number of American characters (plus Galactus, who wasn’t American) are played by familiar UK actors, possibly a sign of things to come. The best part is that it honours Jack Kirby’s preference to be isolated from the rest of the Marvel universe, even if it’s only for this one movie.
accordingtokirby 