Project: Rooftop Announces "Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward" Redesign Contest

By John Freeman on June 26, 2012

They’re the first family of comic superheroes, and the first truly nuclear family in history; they’re the Fantastic Four. Created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee for Marvel Comics, the F.F. rang in their fiftieth year last year with Reed finally growing into that greying hair he’s always had. In modern comics, the team (and the title) are enjoying one of the most critically acclaimed runs since the original days of Stan and Jack, and to celebrate the team and their tenure Project: Rooftop is taking them in in our next redesign contest. “Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward” is a Project: Rooftop contest giving artists worldwide the chance to redesign this super-hero family in a friendly competition for honor, recognition and just plain fun.

“The Fantastic Four have been high on our list of heroes to celebrate here at Project: Rooftop for years,” says site co-founder and comics journalist Chris Arrant. “Now seems like the perfect time to honor these four timeless creations and the two men who created them 51 years ago.”

For this ambitious contest (Project: Rooftop’s first team contest), P:R’s staff will be joined by a very special guest to judge the entries: Stuart Immonen, artist of Fear Itself, New Avengers, Nextwave and creator-owned projects such as Moving Pictures, Shockrockets and Superstar: As Seen On TV. For the Richards and Co., Immonen has illustrated them in runs on both Fantastic Four and Ultimate Fantastic Four. Project: Rooftop has long admired his work and featured critiques of his superhero design on multiple occasions, and Project: Rooftop was in fact launched back on 14th March 2006 with an original redesign of Marvel’s Black Widow Immonen contributed.

Entries for “Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward” should redesign the original four members of the Fantastic Four: Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing and the Human Torch. Any entries including other characters or missing these four will be discarded. All entries must be received by 31st July 2012 at midnight EST. As usual, check our guidelines, include your name and website, and send your art as an attachment in jpg, png, or gif format to projectrooftop@gmail.com.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.