Thanks to his photorealistic paintings of iconic superheroes, Alex Ross is one of the most celebrated comic creators in the history of the medium. Now, he’s gearing up to release a new story headlined by Marvel’s First Family. Via ComicBook.com, Ross has revealed details for Fantastic Four: Full Circle, a large-format graphic novel that hearkens back to the team’s earliest cosmic adventures.
The book is being touted as Ross’ first graphic novel, but this isn’t really the case. At 64 pages, Full Circle is exactly as long as Ross’ prestige-format DC titles from the late ‘90s, including Superman: Peace on Earth and Batman: War on Crime. Regardless, the new book marks the first graphic novel that Marvel has licensed to another publisher in over 40 years. It will also kick off a new venture between Marvel and Abrams ComicArts for graphic novel storytelling, appropriately dubbed MarvelArts.
Judging by the artwork, Ross is taking design cues from Jack Kirby’s game-changing Fantastic Four run from the 1960s. Readers can also expect a full-color painted foldout poster that recounts the characters’ famous origin story. Check out a sample page from the book below.
Here’s the official description for Fantastic Four: Full Circle:
“It’s a rainy night in Manhattan, and not a creature is stirring except for . . . Ben Grimm. When an intruder suddenly appears inside the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four—Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), the Invisible Woman (Susan Storm Richards), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm)—find themselves surrounded by a swarm of invading parasites. These carrion creatures composed of Negative Energy come to Earth using a human host as a delivery system. But for what purpose? And who is behind this untimely invasion?
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“The Fantastic Four have no choice but to journey into the Negative Zone, an alien universe composed entirely of anti-matter, risking not just their own lives but the fate of the cosmos!”
“This is the Fantastic Four story I have been wanting to tell for years,” said Ross in a new statement. “And visually it is one of the greatest artistic experiments I have attempted. I’m excited to share this work with everyone, as it unites the two great publishing forces of Marvel and Abrams ComicArts in a bold new collaboration.”
“Alex and I have been working together for close to 30 years, when I was an editor at DC Comics and hired him to paint his very first book cover back in 1993, before Marvels was published,” added Abrams editorial director Charles Kochman. “In Fantastic Four: Full Circle, Alex revisits a classic Stan Lee-Jack Kirby comic from the 1960s and introduces the storyline for a new generation of readers.”
Fantastic Four: Full Circle will hit stores on August 2, 2022. You can view the book’s full cover below.
Are you excited to check out Ross’ new story next summer? Let us know in the comment section below!
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