FFPlaza.com Multimedia: Kulpatronic FF

Multimedia: Kulpatronic FF

I generally don't like fan fiction. Not that I have anything against fan fiction in and of itself, I've just found that a lot of it is written and/or drawn so poorly that I have difficulty continuing past the first page. In this case, however, I stumbled across the last page of a Dick Kulpa story by itself. I enjoyed that single page enough to track down its creator and find out more.

Dick Kulpa is, among other things (Check out the official Dick Kulpa Fan Club Homepage to learn more about him), a fan of the Fantastic Four. Like many other fans, he grew weary of waiting for Reed Richards' return after his apparent death in issue #381. After waiting over a year with no hope in sight, Dick did what he had to do: create his own story to bring Reed back. It's a simple resolution. It flows quickly. It's executed well. Although there are some small items for Continuity Police to nitpick over, it answers several of this century's big mysteries in the Marvel tradition of re-evaluating history, which more than makes up for any glitches that a Negative Zone enthusiast (like myself) would notice.

Dick actually did this story as practice, using the return of Reed as a springboard. After completing the following six pages, he showed it to two people for their criticism, one being a friend of his and the other being comic book writer Barry Dutter. Up until now, the number of people who have read this story in its entirety could be counted on one hand. As the author of FFPlaza.com, I have the pleasure of introducing Dick Kulpa's look at the Fantastic Four to the public for the first time. Enjoy!

On to the story...