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Marvel Comics Presents #13 (FF & Shanna)Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #13 (Fantastic Four & Shanna the She-Devil stories only) Fantastic Four Shanna the She-Devil Mike Rockwitz - Assistant Editor Review/plot: ![]() ...and since he's trying to maintain a secret identity, he can't use his powers to get down. ![]() Reed and Sue were (gently) fighting about him going up on the roof in the first place, so Sue decides to teach him a lesson. ![]() Our Shanna the She-Devil story is by Bruce Jones, who had a good run on the Ka-Zar series. I didn't know that he also drew. ![]() Shanna is in Africa, helping out on a game reserve. They get a report about a man eating lion, but we're shown that the guy really killed his annoying wife and is trying to use the lion as an excuse. Shanna tracks down the lion and befriends it... ![]() ...and then returns and forces the killer to confess. ![]() The FF story is the better of the two, just because it shows a little of Reed and Sue's human side and married life without having them getting into a big stupid fight. Bruce Jones' art is kind of sketchy (except with the animals, which maybe he spent more time on or had references for) and it kind of ruins the Shanna story. Quality Rating: C Chronological Placement Considerations: The FF story takes place while they are living in the suburbs, so after Fantastic Four #307 and probably before they join the Avengers in Avengers #299-300 (although i've made exceptions for them still having the house after that). The Richardses are using the last name Benjamin and Sue is wearing a black wig to disguise herself, so maybe this was really meant to take place during their previous attempt at living in the suburbs, circa Fantastic Four #276. But Sue is referred to as the Invisible Woman, placing this after Fantastic Four #284, and their original house was destroyed by then. I don't really know if Reed and Sue attempted the same tricks during their second move to the suburbs. The second story takes place after Shanna and Ka-Zar's baby is born. It's referenced in the Ka-Zar story in Marvel Comics Presents #16 as happening concurrently, and that story takes place in the Savage Land, so both stories have to take place after Uncanny X-Men annual #12. References: N/A Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Shanna the She-Devil CommentsBruce Jones' Frazetta-inspired art has been appearing since 1968, but not much for Marvel outside of the non-MU b&w Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction(primarily fanzines, Warren, Skywald, Pacific, Eclipse, National Lampoon, etc.) Posted by: Mark Drummond | November 14, 2014 10:12 PM Fnord,I'm always curious about your opinions on story & art, but I have no idea what you mean by "sketchy". Should I just look at it as a synonym for "crappy"? Posted by: Jay Patrick | December 13, 2014 1:43 AM When i say sketchy i mean the art looks rough, like it was quickly drawn. It doesn't have to have a negative connotation; it just means instead of the lines being strong and solid the way most comic art in the tradition of say Kirby and Romita, the lines are soft and squiggly and it looks almost like the work is not fully done. If you take the panels after "killer to confess", for example, Shanna and the lion don't look fully drawn in the first panel, the flowered shirt guy doesn't even seem to have borders around his body, and he's kneeling on a patch of squiggly pencils in one panel. Shanna's hair in many panels throughout the issue also looks like a rough patch of squiggles that the colorist had a hard time dealing with. I could see Jones' art being inked or finished by someone else and it coming out very differently, which to me means that Jones' art is more like a layout sketch than full pencils. Again, it doesn't have to be a bad thing. I generally prefer bolder look art for my super-hero comics but i can see a story calling for a rougher style. I'm not an artist or an art critic so my vocabulary my not be correct, but that's what i'm trying to convey. Posted by: fnord12 | December 13, 2014 10:22 AM Comments are now closed. |
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