Marvel; March 1983
Cover by John Byrne

Title: “Cityscape”
Synopsis: Somewhere in the Negative Zone, the Fantastic Four encounter an oppressed people living in the shadow of a mighty city.

Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: Byrne
Inker: Byrne

Review: John Byrne’s restless experimenting turns out a winner here, with a horizontally read issue that’s a precursor to the widescreen comics of the late 1990s. What’s even more impressive is the fact that Byrne didn’t pencil this issue, instead skipping straight to ink (see “A word from the writer/artist” below). The technique would add energy to the artist’s work, at the cost of precision and refinement. Story wise, this is a fun, done in one sci-fi tale, reminiscent of Byrne’s early work on Charlton’s Space: 1999. The twist ending is a good one, though it could have been played with more gravitas.

Grade: A

Cool factor: The horizontal format had huge “wow” factor at the time.
Not-so-cool factor: Murder. (Or at least cityslaughter?)

Collector’s note: Beware, this issue is supposed to contain a “Tattooz” insert.

Character quotable: “It … it’s almost obscene! Look at the way the colors flow, the way it … pulses!” – The Invisible Girl (who could, you know, just make it invisible)

A word from the writer/artist: “… the first one that wasn’t done in breakdowns was the Sideways Issue, which most people don’t realize ’cause the people who heard that I stopped doing breakdowns and was going straight to ink and came at me would usually pick an issue about ten issues after it happened as the starting issue to complain. The Sideways Issue was the first.” – John Byrne, in Comics Interview #25, 1985

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