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| Image copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Funny how we can be so familiar with some images that we stop really 'seeing' them after a while. Case in point is FF #3, which I first read in the pages of WHAM! in 1966. I read it again a year or so later in an issue of MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS, and again in The MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL in 1972. I've now got various reprints of the story in different publications, but I only noticed something for the very first time while re-reading the story in a MASTERWORKS volume a couple of nights back. Can you spot what I'm referring to?
Look at the figure of REED RICHARDS in the above panel. That sure looks a lot like a STEVE DITKO drawing to me. Could Steve have retouched the figure at STAN LEE's request when SD was in the Bullpen one day, or maybe even redrawn it? Or is it just a totally coincidental resemblance to his style? What think the rest of you? Could I be right, or am I just talking my usual load of old pants? Let rip in the comments section, why don'tcha?!
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(Admittedly, Reed's hands don't look Ditko-ish in the slightest, but the face and sleeve definitely do. Maybe we'll find out for sure one day.)
Hi Kid,
ReplyDeleteI went to my original copy of FF # 3 (the first issue in my collection and in fine shape, but, alas, missing a story page!) and took a close look but I don't see evidence of Ditko on Reed. What you might be noticing is Sol Brodsky's inking and perhaps altering some of Kirby's faces/figures at Stan's reqest. I notice some oddities in some of the faces/hair, and in some instances it might even be Stan doing last-minute corrections (it was a small operation back then).
Well, you know your stuff, Nick, but that Reed face still seems to have hints of Ditko about it to me. True, it could be Sol's work, but maybe he was channeling Ditko when/if he made any alterations. Whoever did it, it doesn't look Kirby's style. Thanks for the input and taking the time to comment.
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