Ben Grimm ller s. rgo!

The cover to issue #92 of Fantastic Four was yet another that was duplicated for the FF reprint title, Marvel's Greatest Comics, as a near-copy of artist Jack Kirby's original effort, but with a number of alterations that are conspicuous considering that there's relatively little imagery on the original to worry about clashing with the MGC masthead or the lower UPC box. In fact, the only elements of note on the cover, but which stand out nonetheless, are (a) the promotional poster itself, with its bold announcement of the upcoming event and featuring (b) the Thing's likeness, with (c) the Thing's hand ripping it off the wall in a moment of irritation (or worse).

The most glaring two revisions have to do with perspective. For one, there's the fact that the images are flipped horizontally, which makes identifying the other changes a deceptive process. For instance, at first glance, the Thing's likeness in the original poster comes across as a more threatening expression because of the additional shadowing underneath his right eye (that is, on our left). Also, the revised image is slightly tilted--which initially seems more of an artistic choice, since the masthead would merge with the poster either way. (But more on that in a moment.)

So why don't we flip the image back to conform more with the original, in order to get a better look at what's been adjusted:

As we can see, the previous MGC revision, tilted to the right, results in a more pleasing balance for the cover, since the Thing's image ends up closer to the center of the page--whereas in the second revision, it falls slightly to the left, just as it does in Kirby's original. Another difference is that Kirby illustrates the Thing's hand in movement in the original, shredding the poster from the wall, while the revised copy is more of a "snapshot" representation of the hand's placement.

Also new is the change from monochrome to color for the Thing's "mug shot," perhaps to distinguish it more from the the altered hue of the poster, which is now blue. The photo's height has also been reduced--while flipping the image back has returned the Thing's threatening glare. In addition, there's a bit less "wall" to see on the MGC version, with its coloring also changed to coincide with the masthead background and its jagged detailing near the Thing's hand significantly altered.

Perhaps the main reason the entire image was flipped has to do with the UPC symbol, which apparently must remain in the left corner of the cover. It presents no problem for the original cover, of course; but had the image not been flipped on the MGC version, the symbol would have blocked some of the wording that probably contributed a great deal to selling the issue:

Finally, with the poster lowered on the MGC cover, some of the Thing's arm also had to be sacrificed, in order to avoid having his hand end up partially covering his face in the photo. The poor guy's visibility really took a hit, thanks to the MGC masthead--maybe that's what he should really be shredding.

If you're curious, you can check out Kirby's dramatic cover image of the actual match between the Thing and Torgo, from the comparison cover review appearing in an earlier post.