Via ComicBook.com, Marvel Comics and Abrams ComicArts have announced MarvelArts, a new line of graphic novels overseen by Charles Kochman, the editorial director of Abrams ComicArts, and Tom Breevort, Marvel’s VP of Publishing. The first book from both publishers will be “Fantastic Four: Full Circle,” by Alex Ross, which will also mark the writer/artist’s first original graphic novel.
The story will see the Baxter Building come under attack from Negative Energy parasites, forcing the Richards clan to venture into the Negative Zone to determine their enemies’ motives, and find out who is behind the planned invasion. The book will be printed in a larger, 8 ½ x 11″ format than a typical graphic novel, and will also contain a foldout poster of Ross’s retelling of the Fantastic Four’s origin.
While Ross’s art tends to be painted, this book will emphasize traditional comic book shading/coloring techniques like pencil hatching and screentones. “This is the Fantastic Four story I have been wanting to tell for years, and visually it is one of the greatest artistic experiments I have attempted,” Ross said in a statement. “I’m excited to share this work with everyone, as it unites the two great publishing forces of Marvel and Abrams ComicArts in a bold new collaboration.”
Kochman said, “Alex and I have been working together for close to 30 years, when I was an editor at DC Comics and hired him to paint his very first book cover back in 1993, before Marvels was published. In ‘Fantastic Four: Full Circle,’ Alex revisits a classic Stan Lee-Jack Kirby comic from the 1960s and introduces the storyline for a new generation of readers.”
“Fantastic Four: Full Circle” will be released in hardcover on August 2, 2022, and will retail at 64 pages for $24.99. You can check out a panel from the book, as well as the full synopsis, at ComicBook.com.
