'But my greatest goal here was to impress myself.'Ĭontinue reading to see the preview pages for Fantastic Four: Full Circle. 'There's definitely a risk involved in varying what I do,' Ross admitted. Ross concluded by stating his goal was to impress himself with his change in art. 'I couldn't get the main title back then, but I could carve this one-of-a-kind take,' he said. After coming to terms with missing out, Abrams offered Ross the chance to work on Fantastic Four without having to meet a monthly deadline. Unfortunately, those plans eventually went to writer Dan Slott and artist Sara Pichelli. After hearing Marvel was relaunching an ongoing Fantastic Four series after shelving the title in the 2010s, he inquired about working on the project. The story of how Alex Ross got involved with Abrams is an interesting one. Realism is my stock and trade, but you can still get that within a more high-contrast representation.' I needed to boil down what I do to a more graphic degree. 'To do the pop art aesthetic right, you couldn't do it with over-rendered, over-illustrated work. 'It seemed very suitable for the material,' Ross said.

He then revealed how Fantastic Four: Full Circle takes place after the events of 1961's Fantastic Four #51, where an intruder breaking into the Baxter Building sends them off on a mission to the Negative Zone. 'I thought there was a way to connect with the Pop Art of the time period if I changed what I did, and presented that style and not my traditional painted style,' he said. Known for his painted style of illustration on iconic titles like Marvels and Kingdom Come for Marvel and DC, respectively, Ross decided to more closely follow Marvel's Pop Art era from the 1960s.

'His style informed the first 10 years of their existence and it's the shadow all artists have been working under for these last 60 years.' 'I wanted to present a version of the Fantastic Four as close to a Jack Kirby style he envisioned for the series as he created the characters,' Ross told The Hollywood Reporter.

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