Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 20, 2025 | 3 comments

SUNDAY FUNNIES WITH KERRY CALLEN Meets FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK!

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It’s FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK! Because there’s a big ol’ movie coming out! Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX of columns and features! Flame on! — Dan

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Spider-Man is all about power and responsibility. The Human Torch is all about, well, the Human Torch.

Put them together, though, and they’re a couple of idiots.

Observe:

“As a kid I LOVED when Spider-Man and the Human Torch teamed up as good-natured rivals,” sez Kerry. “The first time I encountered it was in Marvel Team-Up #2, which I bought in 1972. It had an incredible kid-enticing cover!

“Since I lived in the country, I didn’t have the opportunity to get many comics. At some point I decided to start making my own! Looking at the results, you can tell I was also pretty influenced by Mad magazine. Here’s a photo of a few.

“Why do I mention all this? Well… I typically don’t take strip suggestions from people, but I found this commission request to be pretty dang funny. I tweaked things a bit, but the concept was his.

“The title references the Civil War series, but I looked it up and Captain America has had SEVERAL funerals in his career. (I was trying to justify my retro approach.) Aside from the Civil War funeral in 2007, there was Captain America #445 in 2013, Captain America #50 in 2002, Punisher/Captain America: Blood & Glory #2 from 1992, What If? #26 in 1981, and Captain America #113 in 1969. His friends were probably sick of going to them!”

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Want a commission? Send an email to KerryCallenArt@gmail.com. You can also find other work at linktr.ee/kerrycallen.

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Worth noting: If you showed up today assuming you’d find PART 7 of Kerry’s What WAS the Comic Battle of the 20th Century? — featuring 1978’s MACHINE MAN vs. TEN-FOR — we’ll be running that next Sunday.

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MORE

— The Complete FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK INDEX of Columns and Features. Click here.

— What WAS the Comic Battle of the 20th Century? PART 6 — 1976’s SUPERMAN vs. SPIDER-MAN. Click here.

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KERRY CALLEN spent much of his career as an artist and art director, developing product for Hallmark, but has also dabbled in comics for many years. As a freelancer, he creates work for a range of needs, spanning from Mad Magazine to children illustrations. He has two graphic novels available on Amazon worldwide, Halo and Sprocket: The Definitive Collection, as well as Dirtnap: Mystic Spit.