Paolo Rivera Illustrates Fantastic Four in Mad Men style

Paolo Rivera Illustrates Fantastic Four in Mad Men style

Comic book artist created fan pieces of Fantastic Four in homage to hit television series

Editorial Opinion
By MrFantastic - Aug 16, 2015 06:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four
Source: PaoloRivera.blogspot.ca
Paolo Rivera is one of the comic book industry's top artists. From his work on Spider-Man and Daredevil, he has also done work from DC Comics. His art is best described as being a Norman Rockwell-type photorealism style, not unlike Alex Ross' work on the Marvels and Kingdom Come miniseries.

A few years ago, Rivera created a series of drawings to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Fantastic Four. Evoking visuals from the hit AMC series Mad Men, he completed a poster titled "Pencils and Cigarettes." On his website, Rivera describes the poster as such: "This is the team as they first appear, with a healthy dose of inspiration from Mad Men and my favorite 60s illustrators."

Actor Jon Hamm is used as a visual template for Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic. Indeed, the finished product does resemble Hamm's advertising executive character Don Draper, only replacing the alcohol and cigarette with a book. While the look of Sue Storm/Invisible Woman is inspired by January Jones, Rivera had a friend stand in as the model. For the artwork, Rivera used watercolor and goache in the underpainting process.

 

The end result is impressive in its visuals. One can't help but envision the lost possibility in which a Fantastic Four period piece was made instead of the Tim Story films. It also brings to mind an alternate universe in which Jon Hamm goes from portraying an ad man to playing Reed. Now there's a bit of casting that isn't hard to stretch...
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DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 8/16/2015, 7:16 AM
Just bring the rights home already, Marvel would do them justice

I still need to catch up on Mad Men, this is cool
MrFantastic
MrFantastic - 8/16/2015, 7:32 AM
@DrunkenNukem

Agreed. It was a great series. I love this artwork- even if its just a fan thing.

@DrKinsolving

Maybe someday, we'll see the Four where they belong....

DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 8/16/2015, 8:58 AM
@MrFantastic

Right on man, hopefully
MisterBatfleck
MisterBatfleck - 8/16/2015, 9:16 AM
Man, Paolo's art is god-tier.

MrCBM56
MrCBM56 - 8/16/2015, 10:28 AM
noice.
DeusExSponge
DeusExSponge - 8/16/2015, 1:52 PM
Excellent art work, and boy does it suit the Fantastic Four.
MrFantastic
MrFantastic - 8/16/2015, 6:46 PM
@DeusExSponge

Rivera's artwork is great. He should be consulted by the studios when they make comic book adaptations.

Ten years ago, Jon Hamm would have been perfect as Reed Richards. No offensive to Ioan Gruffudd, but I think Hamm has a captivating presence and self-assured confidence. Give him some grey dye at the temples, and you've got Mr. Fantastic right there!

For Sue, the ideal choice would be Charlize Theron- circa the early-mid 2000s when she won the Oscar. Johnny could easily be someone like Heath Ledger- he certainly looked the part. As for Ben Grimm, I would go with Chris Penn- that is, if he were still alive and healthy.
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