Like why is Batman always so mad? Back in the day when they had to come up with ways to keep the Fantastic Four drama alive they'd have a split between Reed and Sue, and they've revisited that a number of times to establish the delicacy of a personal relationship. I'd want to react to that with everyone doing their part within the bounds of this family dynamic and the team. 'It's based upon the internal conflicts in character dynamics and what's making everyone so unhappy. It's the overall history of how the drama is built up,' says Ross. 'I'm trying to compose the version of a comic that I want to see as a reader. This 'Fantastic Four: Full Circle' edition harkens back to a gentler era with its old-fashioned charm and good-natured sci-fi tone that resonates with the vibrancy and vibe of the treasured source material. And that was all due to the Fantastic Four.'Ĭover art from 'Fantastic Four: Full Circle,' left, and Alex Ross, right. And that would be a thing that expanded comics from what it had been in the first 25 years of its existence, into what we take for granted now. You could pick up on the same dynamics that would grow and evolve over time. You were with personalities that you liked to check in on and see how they're getting along and what might be new in their lives. You were watching an ongoing soap opera and your adventures weren't just ending with the given issue you purchased.

'It was the turning around of so much of what would engage readers,'' Ross adds. It's also about the dynamics of comic book characters that were not perfect and had struggles, which was unique to this type of writing at that point in comics history. 'They obviously brought great characters like the Inhumans, Black Panther, Silver Surfer, and Galactus to the forefront, but the worldbuilding that would occur in that book was the cornerstone of all Marvel.' 'What Kirby and Lee were doing in that book was building out the construction of a book about introducing ideas, ways to approach characters and concepts,' he explains. Interior art for 'Fantastic Four: Full Circle' (Image credit: Abrams ComicArts)įor Ross, the Fantastic Four is the cornerstone of everything important that makes up Marvel, and for that matter, what makes up popular comics of the last sixty years.

Alex ross fantastic four full circle