Fantastic Four: The Movie

Fantastic Four: The Movie is, of course, an adaptation of the new Fantastic Four feature, a crowd-pleasing popcorn film that opened to boffo box-office numbers. Translating movies into comics, especially noisy, effects-laden movies such as this, is tricky business, as it’s hard to achieve the same sense of excitement. For example, Johnny Storm seems a bit more subdued than he did in the film, in part because the actor spruced up the role with his cocky portrayal and in part because certain scenes (such as the motorcycle stunts) were excised.

The fun to be had with these adaptations is in spotting the differences between the comic book and the film. Certain changes in this case are to condense the story (the skiing scene is missing), but some appear to be made for artistic reasons. (Nowhere in the film does Alicia ask about Ben’s color.) The comic book could be based on an earlier draft of the movie script.

Interestingly, the art is traditional FF—check out Johnny’s blond hair and Thing’s arching eyebrows.

— Brett Weiss

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#1

Jul 2005

Cover: $4.99

W: Mike Carey, Mark Frost, Michael France, Tom DeFalco · A: Dan Jurgens, Arthur Adams

Origin of Fantastic Four; Versus Dr. Doom; Essay -“Marvel’s First Family Hits the Big Screen!”by Michael Ruscoe; Includes movie adaptation plus Fantastic Four #358 story; Jack Kirby FF double page pin up; Stuart Immonen Dr. Doom pin up

4 copies from $2.75
Book #1

Jan 2007

Cover: $12.99

W: Mike Carey, Mark Frost, Michael France, Stan Lee, Marv Wolfman, Mark Waid · A: Dan Jurgens, Jack Kirby, Sal Buscema, Mike Wieringo

Collects movie adaptation, Fantastic Four #5, Fantastic Four #190, Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #60: ca. 2005

3 copies from $4.98