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RubricheSunday pageSunday Page: David Harper

Sunday Page: David Harper

Every week on “Sunday Page” an author has to choose a single page from a comic book. It could be for sentimental reasons o for a particular technical achievement. The conversation could lose itself in the open water of the comic book world but it will always start with the questione: «If you had to choose a page from a comic book you love, what would you choose and why?».

This Sunday I’m out with David Harper, journalist and writer in such outlets as Multiversity Comics and  SKTCHD (which he founded).

fantasticfourhickman

So, that’s an easy one. It’s from FF, the Fantastic Four series created by Jonathan Hickman. Why did you chose it?

Well, I won’t say it’s my favorite page ever or anything like that. I’m sure I could have found pages that deep down meant more to me or were from books I cared more about. The last page of Y the Last Man, for example, or maybe something from 20th Century Boys. I suppose the reason I chose that page from the final issue of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta’s FF is because it is everything I love about comics in one page. It’s a simple page, sure. But it has a ton of depth and really showcases the power of the medium in some really fun ways.

It’s an astonishing story. The bubble universe allows these weird scenes to take place, like dinosaurs vs. cowboys vs. jelly men. What’s so special about that page?

I really love the way the art tells the story. The zoom out from the handle. The extreme focus on the door. The panels featuring Leech and then Franklin heading to the bubble universe. It’s a great usage of the timing elements of panels, and a simple page that works in very intelligent ways. I also like how hopeful the meaning of the page is, and both what it means for the Future Foundation and for the world in itself. We can be our best self, if we choose to be. If we commit to it. It’s the series as a whole encapsulated in a page, and something that has wonderful underlying value.

I don’t know if it’s me or what, but the flow of the page is almost in slow-motion, kinda like you’re gasping for the last moments with the characters. Very bitter-sweet moment. It reminds me of the first Captain America’s ending. With the children going to the charge in slowmo.

Plus, I love the effervescent fun at the heart of it. Dragotta draws some of the best excited faces in the business, and who wouldn’t want their own bubble universe to play in with god-like powers? It’s too cool.

So, I guess you liked the Hickman run on the FF, right? I have such mixed feelings, ‘cause you desperately wanna feel the love but sometimes it’s a little too much convoluted for my money.

You know, I understand why people don’t love Hickman’s work – it can be impenetrable feeling, and I felt that about his Avengers work at first – but he was a perfect fit for the Fantastic Four. People are going to call blasphemy, but I think his run with artists like Dale Eaglesham, Steve Epting, Nick Dragotta and a whole mess of others is the best Fantastic Four run ever. It was such a perfect marriage of all the things that make them them. The science. The explorers. The family. The self-destructive nature of Reed. Ben’s humanity. All of that and more is in there, and even better, with the marriage of Fantastic Four and FF at the end, we were even given a look at true progression of the future of their section of the Marvel universe. Hickman’s run was also brilliant at capturing moments both big and small. Like, Fantastic Four #605 could have just been a time travel story, but instead it was a heartbreaking character study that also moved the story along. Franklin beckoning to his herald in issue #604 – “To me, my Galactus!” – was both a fangasm moment and a beautiful payoff to like, 20 storylines thanks to the family drama it was enveloped in. When Hickman’s on, I don’t know if anyone can do a Marvel story better than him. He’s unbelievable at leveraging continuity for maximum effect within his own stories, yet without making the individual issues suffer. The guy’s a genius. So yeah, I’d say I liked it!

I’m sure Hickman would tell you something like this.

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