Fantastic Four

If you mapped the career of Mark Frost you’d see a line that veers across medium (he’s written, produced and directed in television and film, and as a bestselling author he’s published four novels and four nonfiction books) and lingers in unexpected terrain (acclaimed golf histories, historical fiction, a sitcom, writing stints on “Hill Street Blues” and “The Six-Million Dollar Man”). But the 58-year-old may be best known as the co-creator of “Twin Peaks,” the strange, hypnotic mystery dance that lasted 30 unique episodes in 1990-91. We caught up with Frost at Comic-Con International to talk about “The Paladin Prophecy” — his ninth book but his first for the young adult shelf — which arrives in September with a sci-fi mystery about a special youngster who is destined to join an ancient struggle against dark forces. HC: “The Paladin Prophecy” looks […]

Comics icon Stan Lee churned out hundreds of characters during the great Marvel renaissance of the 1960s and his collaborations with artists such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck and John Buscema created a vast and history-making tapestry of heroes and villains. But surely there were some duds in there, too, right? That was essentially the question posed by Patt Morrison of the Los Angeles Times and it led to this answer: “Oh, no, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have written it. Wait a minute, there was one. Jack Kirby and I were doing the Fantastic Four. We needed a new villain — we always worked under tremendous deadlines; we were doing dozens of books a month. I said: “Jack, I think a great name is Diablo; why don’t you draw a guy called Diablo, and we’ll give him some kind […]

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds A great deal has changed since gamers last pitted villains and heroes from the Marvel and Capcom universes against one another in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. That fighting game debuted in arcades — yes, arcades — in early 2000. Now, more than a decade later, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds just arrived for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Here at Hero Complex, to mark the release, we’ve been doing a series of posts looking at the game’s Marvel villains, their history and their combat moves. Today: Super-Skrull The Skrull Empire used to be an intergalactic force to reckon with. Before the Kree-Skrull War, before the destruction of their Throneworld of Tarnax IV by Galactus and before the Annihilation Wave, the green-skinned baddies were the mightiest villains in […]

 A great deal has changed since gamers last pitted villains and heroes from the Marvel and Capcom universes against one another in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. That fighting game debuted in arcades — yes, arcades — in early 2000. Now, more than a decade later, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds is about to arrive for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Here at Hero Complex, to prepare for that Feb. 15 release, we’re doing a series of posts looking at the game’s Marvel villains, their history and their combat moves. Today: Galactus             When it comes to the fate of our fragile planet, there’s no truth more inconvenient than Galactus. Known at various times as Devourer of Worlds, Pillager of the Planets and Ravager of Worlds (sensing a theme […]

A comic book store can be a vast and wonderful landscape, but sometimes it’s nice to have a compass to help you as you wander those aisles. With that in mind, the Hero Complex and the mighty G4TV.com have teamed up for a weekly series of video recommendations. Geoff Boucher of the Hero Complex will select and celebrate a new release  from the vivid world of superheroes and more traditional-minded fare, and the always insightful Blair Butler of G4′s Fresh Ink blog will recommend a worthy new release from the “non-Spandex” side of comics, those graphic novels and alternative press titles that use their comics panels in the name of memoir, literary experimentation or underground voice. – Geoff Boucher RECENT AND RELATED: Capes/No Capes: “Rat Catcher” / “Infinite Vacation” Capes/No Capes: “Next Men #1″ / “The Sword” Capes/No Capes: “G.I. Joe/Cobra” / “The Black Mirror” Capes/No Capes: “Earth 1“ / “Acme Library”

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds A great deal has changed since gamers last pitted villains and heroes from the Marvel and Capcom universes against one another in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. That fighting-game sequel debuted in arcades — yes, arcades — in early 2000. Now, more than a decade later, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds is about to arrive for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  Here at Hero Complex, to prepare for that Feb. 15 release, we’re doing a series of posts looking at the game’s villains, their history and their combat moves. Today: Doctor Doom A sorcerer, scientific genius and brutal dictator, Dr. Doom is the constant thorn in the side of the Fantastic Four. One of Marvel’s most cunning villains, Victor von Doom was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee […]

The Fantastic Four became the Fantastic Three on Tuesday when Marvel Comics snuffed out Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. Our Geoff Boucher caught up with Jonathan Hickman, the writer of the story that is making national headlines. GB: “Fantastic Four” has 50 years of publishing history and the weight of names like Kirby, Lee, Buscema, Byrne and so many others. Did you find yourself hesitating between keystrokes? JH: No. You can’t really think about it like that. In addition, this was my first big job at Marvel and I was pretty hungry, so I probably would have said yes to the adaptation of a sequel to “Apocalypse Now.”  Thank goodness it was this, and that I had a pretty solid plan. GB: As you listened to fan chatter over recent weeks it must have been even more interesting. Was there […]

From the Associated Press The Fantastic Four — superheroes whose creation nearly 50 years ago helped usher in the Silver Age of comics for Marvel— is about to become a trio. Marvel Comics said Wednesday that a member of the foursome — Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing — will die in issue No. 587 next month, a change that the company said will ripple across the Marvel Universe like never before. But who will die? That’s a secret protected with more might than the Incredible Hulk and Sentry possess, but executive editor Tom Brevoort, who oversees the comic book, says plenty of clues have been offered during the course of writer Jonathan Hickman’s run, including the current Three story line. “I think we’ve given plenty of hints as to who may die — perhaps too many, […]

FROM THE VAULT I adored the huge, vivid Marvel Treasury Editions from the 1970s. There was something about the size of the pages — they were bigger than most tabloid newspapers – that just made the books feel truly special, especially to a youngster who could barely hold the books upright. I have close to a complete collection of these amazing comics and I’ll be scanning and posting some of the best ones in the weeks to come. The majestically composed image above is from the back cover of ”Marvel Treasury Edition No. 2: The Fabulous Fantastic Four” from December 1974 and, yes, it was both fantastic and fabulous. The hefty, 100-page collection reprinted the entire GalactusSilver Surfer trilogy (that would be “Fantastic Four” No. 48-50 but you knew that) as well as two early 1960s issues. You can see the great front cover by John Romita below… Ah, memories. Just thought we’d start the […]

This is a longer version of my story that will run Sunday in the Los Angeles Times Calendar section…   You’d be hard-pressed to find a recent comic book that didn’t have the stylish scrawl of the artists somewhere on the cover, but that was not the case when Jack Kirby was making pop culture history back in the 1960s with his wildly kinetic drawings of the X-Men, Hulk and the Fantastic Four. “I think I have a highly unique and unusual style, and that’s the reason I never sign my drawings,” the proud Kirby told an interviewer in 1987, seven years before his death. “Everybody could tell any of my covers a mile away on the newsstand, and that satisfied me.” The satisfaction was fleeting. The artist may be reverently referred to as “King” Kirby by the pop scholars […]