Art Adams Returns to FF with Variant Cover!

If you don't know who Art Adams is... well, what can I say? You damn well should! While Rick Leonardi is really the cat what got me into sequential art, Art Adams showed me the way it was done. Arthur Adams blasted out of Nowhere with his work on Uncanny X-Men Annual #10 and then started doing the covers for Classic X-Men. He did another few X-annuals and even a one-shot Creature From the Black Lagoon (which I may have lost... I had it, I don't know where it is, though), but he just kind of disappeared from comic books for years and I have asked and asked about him, but no one knew what had happened - hell, a lot of people didn't even know who I was talking about!

Art Adams' indelible influence can be seen all over the work of such heavy-hitters as Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, and even Michael Turner. He was the first to really break free of the Neal Adams-led photo-realism form and infuse it with a true cartoonish style without going completely into caricature or pantsed animals. It was a return of cartoon to comic books and while others may cite another artist(s) as having taken up the cause or carrying the baton (McFarlane, in particular), Art Adams preceeded them all.

This here's an official Marvel press release:

Honoring the reunion of Marvel’s First Family, Fantastic Four #551 now features a previously unannounced variant cover by industry legend Art Adams. Continuing the critically acclaimed run by writer Dwayne McDuffie and artist Paul Pelletier, the Fantastic Four are confronted by a hero from twenty in the future, who has traveled back in time to stop the world’s greatest threat. The hero: Dr. Doom. The villain: Reed Richards. But just how could a man known for his devotion to philanthropy and justice cause the end of the world as we know it?

Critics and fans alike continue to praise the team of McDuffie and Pelletier, with Don MacPherson of EyeOnComics.Com gushing, “McDuffie is in the midst of one of the most fun Fantastic Four stints I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and he manages to pull off the impossible…Pelletier’s art is a perfect match to the enthusiasm and bright, flashy super-hero action”

“It’s come together well,” said ComixTreme’s Blake M. Petit of the acclaimed FF creative team. “Paul Pelletier’s artwork continues to impress.”

Why is Dr. Doom the Earth’s last hope? And could he be right about Mr. Fantastic? The shocking answers to these questions and much, much more in Fantastic Four #551, now featuring a standard cover by Michael Turner and a variant by Art Adams.

Retailers note, check this week's Marvel Mailer for ordering information on Fantastic Four #551 Art Adams Variant.

FANTASTIC FOUR #551 ART ADAMS VARIANT (AUG072216)
Written by DWAYNE MCDUFFIE
Penciled by PAUL PELLETIER
Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
Rated A …$2.99
FOC - 10/11/2007, On-Sale 10/31/2007

FANTASTIC FOUR #551 ART ADAMS VARIANT (AUG078110)
Written by DWAYNE MCDUFFIE
Penciled by PAUL PELLETIER
Variant Cover by ART ADAMS
Rated A …$2.99
FOC - 10/11/2007, On-Sale 10/31/2007