As I entered Arsenal Comics and Games, I was overwhelmed with the choices in floppy comics. They filled a long wall, right when you walked through the door. You could reach out and grab the newest in a multitude of series just by standing in the doorway. Naturally, asking for help seemed the logical answer to my conundrum of which comic to choose. One of the owners of the store, Paul Martinez, was sitting behind the register and was kind enough to show me the latest in superhero floppy comics.
The first one that caught my eye was Fantastic Four, with the words "The end is Fourever #1" printed in bold at the top of the cover page. Paul explained that the Fantastic Four comics were coming to an end, with only four more comics being published about the famous team. The story about this decision goes along these lines: Marvel sold the rights to Fantastic Four to Fox Studios, who will not give up ownership. As such, Marvel can not use any of the characters from Fantastic Four in their movies (similar to X-men). Marvel plans to end the Fantastic Four in comics, probably hoping that a lack of attention given to them in comics will reduce attention given to the team in any medium, including film and/or tv (this has not been confirmed, just rumored). If that happens, Fox may be willing to sell back the rights to Marvel. Blogger Rich Johnston has more to say on the reasoning behind the cancellation in his article, "CONFIRMED: Fantastic Four To Be Cancelled In 2015 With A Triple-Sized Issue 645, For Fantastic Fourever".
The summary of the final comics is daunting:
THE END IS FOUREVER! Witness the closing act on the First Family of the Marvel
Universe! THE INVADERS meet the FANTASTIC FOUR as the hunt for REED
RICHARDS and the missing kids of the FUTURE FOUNDATION continues.
Meanwhile the mastermind behind everything unveils his ultimate plan. But how does
FRANKLIN RICHARDS factor in? And how does this all lead to…The END?!
I am interested in the politics behind such a massive decisions, for sure, but also in how they will end this iconic team's story. Also, is this really the end?
The summary of the final comics is daunting:
THE END IS FOUREVER! Witness the closing act on the First Family of the Marvel
Universe! THE INVADERS meet the FANTASTIC FOUR as the hunt for REED
RICHARDS and the missing kids of the FUTURE FOUNDATION continues.
Meanwhile the mastermind behind everything unveils his ultimate plan. But how does
FRANKLIN RICHARDS factor in? And how does this all lead to…The END?!
I am interested in the politics behind such a massive decisions, for sure, but also in how they will end this iconic team's story. Also, is this really the end?
As for Batgirl, Paul pointed out how Batgirl is going through a transformation in costume (which apparently happens all the time) and her comics are more single-stories as opposed to an over-arching one, like Fantastic Four. Considering our class is going ot be looking at her male counterpart, Batman, and the fact that her stories read more like a newspaper comic (like The Superman Chronicles), I decided to give her story a try and see if there was anything worth following. While I am more interested in the Fantstic Four comic, I am still curious to see how Batgirl is portrayed in her comic, especially with the rise in female orientated comics, like Ame-Comi Girls.