Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 26, 2025 | 4 comments

SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS presents the FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK finale!

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

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By SCOTT SHAW!

From 1978’s What If? #11:

“SPECIAL NOSTALGIC NOTE: This issue marks, we think, an important milestone in Marvel – as we’re sure a few zillion of you will already have noticed (so we won’t waste much time reminding you). Mainly, for the first time in some eight years, Jack Kirby – the original awesome artist on THE FANTASTIC FOUR – returns to drawing Marvel’s first super-team, if only for the space of a single (and rather offbeat) issue. It also represents, in its own way, the first time Jack has written an F.F. story as well. It came about like this:

Page 1

“Almost since the beginning of the WHAT IF series, Rascally Roy had wanted to do a story in which the Marvel Bullpen gained the powers of the F.F. His own notion was to feature Stan as Mr. Fantastic, Jack as the Thing, Flo Steinberg (or Marie Severin) as the Invisible Girl, and his rollickin’ self as the youthful, blond Human Torch (for obvious reasons). In an effort to devote his scripting time to other mags, however, Roy recently had to offer the concept to Jack – who altered it by replacing Roy with Sol Brodsky (since Sol has been with the Bullpen off and on since the early ’60s, and Jack knows him somewhat better) and coming up with his own unique plot and approach. As for Roy – well, except for a bit of re-writing here and there (aided by the parallel-worlds concepts of neo-assistant editor Mark Gruenwald), he’s been content to read, savor, and enjoy. Hope you are doing the same.”

Pages 2-3

Of course, Roy was the editor of this issue of What If?, so it’s likely that he wrote this himself!

And who is the only person in the Marvel Universe who would name himself “Mr. Fantastic”? Smilin’ Stan Lee!

The actual story of “What If the Fantastic Four Were the Original Marvel Bullpen?” introduces the four Bullpen members while they’re battling against a generic purple monster, gives them a new superhero origin, and deals with Namor the Sub-Mariner and a few Skrulls to boot, all in a mere 36 pages. Jack’s embellishers are listed as Mike Royer (one of Jack’s best inkers) and then-somewhat-new-to-the-biz cartoonist Bill Wray.

Page 7

At the time, I had recently moved from San Diego to Los Angeles, and was living in an apartment in the San Fernando Valley’s Van Nuys. I recommended the building to other cartoonists, including San Diego’s talented young woman Shawn Kerri (who juggled writing and drawing for CARtoons magazine, writing stories for Walt Disney Studios’ overseas comic books, and creating gag cartoons for Hustler magazine!) and the young, eventual creator of The Rocketeer, Dave Stevens. Including myself, we had four cartoonists in the apartment building, a third of its residents.

Page 23

Bill Wray either was running out of time to meet Marvel’s deadline or he might have been doing Dave a favor to have the experience of inking Jack. I’m not certain, but within Los Angeles’ comics cartoonists our age, pages often got shared around a lot. I was primarily writing, pencilling, inking, and lettering underground comix at the time, while managing the American Comic Book Company shop in Studio City. I was also beginning to ink stories for the new line of Hanna-Barbera comics from Marvel.

Page 27

I first met Jack Kirby in 1970 and then many times after that. He was my hero, friend, and mentor. So when I saw that Dave was working over Jack’s pencils, I was nervy enough to ask him if I could ink a few things on the pages. (Bill never knew about that until recently!) Dave was a nice guy and a good friend, so he allowed me to ink some details, like we did when he was inking overseas Tarzan comics for Russ Manning. (He also helped with inking on a project I’ll be writing about one of these days.)

Page 28

I did some minor inking on three pages of this memorably Oddball story, specifically, Pages 23 (Atlanteans in  background of Panel Three); 27 (background figure in Panel Five); and 28 (figures and background of Panel Seven).

I’m a lucky guy to have known ’em all.

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Want more ODDBALL COMICS? Come back next week!

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MORE

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

— BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: 13 Great Early FANTASTIC FOUR Villains. Click here.

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For over half a century, SCOTT SHAW! has been a pro cartoonist/writer/designer of comic books, animation, advertising and toys. He is also a historian of all forms of cartooning. Scott has worked on many underground comix and mainstream comic books, including: Fear and Laughter (Kitchen Sink); Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie); Simpsons Comics (Bongo); Weird Tales of the Ramones (Rhino); and his co-creation with Roy Thomas, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC).

Scott also worked on numerous animated cartoons, including producing/directing John Candy’s Camp Candy (NBC/DIC/Saban); Martin Short’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley (NBC/Hanna-Barbera Productions); Garfield and Friends (CBS/Film Roman); and the Emmy-winning Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies (CBS/Marvel Productions), among many others. As senior art director for the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, Scott worked on dozens of commercials for Post Pebbles cereals with the Flintstones. He also designed a line of Hanna-Barbera action figures for McFarlane Toys.

Scott was one of the comics fans who organized the first San Diego Comic-Con, where he has become known for performing his hilarious Oddball Comics Live! slide shows.

Need funny cartoons for any and all media? Click here! Scott does commissions!