Three Fred Hembeck Marvel Sketches

I snagged a few more sketch cards from Fred Hembeck's eBay store, since he listed some characters I like. Right now I think he's got a bunch of combo cards listed, picturing comic book characters standing with Santa. The Punisher one he's got listed is pretty funny, as Punisher is holding a couple of gifts with gun barrels poking out of them.

First up is She-Hulk, a character I apparently already had a Hembeck sketch of. This one is a little bit different, so no harm done. The back features Hembeck's usual self-portrait and certificate of authenticity. I think the purple and white costume works pretty well for She-Hulk and is a bit of a nod to Hulk's famous purple pants, but my favorite She-Hulk costume is her blue and white one from her time as Thing's replacement on the Fantastic Four. There is also a red, yellow, and blue variant from a different stint on the Fantastic Four that is pretty neat.

The second sketch I got was the Fantastic Four's Invisible Woman in her traditional uniform. Hembeck added a little extra to the sketch by showing her leg phasing into invisibility. I thought it was a pretty cool sketch of a character that doesn't get much time in the sketch card spotlight, especially with Marvel's legal battles surrounding the movie rights to the Fantastic Four. It's been several years since the team had a comic in print, although Human Torch and Thing are coming back in a Marvel Two-In-One series soon.

The next sketch features Invisible Woman in a costume that debuted in late 1992, when Marvel was trying to be X-Treme and X-Citing! Susan Storm announced that the old jumpsuit uniforms made her feel frumpy, so she was unveiling this new look. The keyhole swimsuit costume only lasted a few issues before artists started filling in more fabric over time, and eventually her uniform pretty much went back to where it started. I still remember seeing this costume on a comic book cover at the store and being like, "Whaaaat?" so I guess it had the eye-catching effect that Marvel needed to get attention from juvenile male comic buyers. Hembeck added the invisibility effect to this sketch as well, on her left arm.

Those are three of my latest Hembeck acquisitions. I like following his auctions to see which characters he will offer next, and sometimes I bid on and even win a few.