Lost issue of "Fantastic Four" resurfaces

Just imagine if someone at Abbey Road Studios came across a lost Beatles song.

The equivalent has happened in the world of comics: A lost issue of the "Fantastic Four," drawn by the late Jack Kirby and written by Stan Lee, has been found.

At the recent San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said Marvel will release the last "Fantastic Four" collaboration by Lee and Kirby in the spring.

The story was intended for the 102nd issue of "Fantastic Four" in 1970, during a particularly tempestuous time at the end of the Lee-Kirby partnership.

Kirby submitted the penciled artwork — along with his letter of resignation. Kirby resigned from Marvel so he could begin his "New Gods" series for rival DC Comics.

Lee was unhappy with the work, and it was shelved. Parts of it appeared as flashbacks in a very different story in "Fantastic Four" No. 108, but the original story was lost.

Marvel is paying top dollar to the Kirby estate for the rights to the pages and is talking with veteran inker Joe Sinnott about doing the work.

The company also is thinking about using only colors available in 1970 and doing another version using modern coloring techniques.

When Quesada approached Stan Lee about the story, Lee didn't remember it.

Luckily, Marvel had a plot summary. Lee is writing a new story to go with Kirby's pencils.

The comic will be presented in some kind of special format (that means expensive) to show off the last collaboration of two of the most influential creators of the second half of the 20th century.

Here are a few other announcements from what has become the largest comic-book convention in the world, awash with stars (and wannabe stars) from the world of comics, film and television:

Adam Hughes will write and draw a new series called "All Star Wonder Woman" that will concentrate on classic Wonder Woman stories, unhampered by complex continuity. Look for it next year.

Bryan Singer said that while he doesn't have a deal yet with Warner Bros., he plans to direct the next Superman movie, which should be released in 2009. (It's a shame it couldn't come out in 2008, the 70th anniversary of the first Superman story.)

Novelist Brad Meltzer will relaunch the "Justice Society of America" with a new No. 1 issue in coming months, just as the "Justice League of America" is being relaunched.

Controversial artist Rob Liefeld and writing superstar Jeph Loeb are bringing back one of the strangest Marvel experiments with November's "Onslaught Reborn." The original story featured a yearlong overhaul of the Marvel universe that many fans did not exactly appreciate. In the new series, the villain Onslaught returns and remembers who killed him the last time: the 6-year-old son of Fantastic Four's Reed and Sue Richards. Onslaught's out to return the favor.

Dr. Strange will return in a miniseries written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Marcos Martin. In a twist, the magician becomes like Batman, trying to solve the mystery of his own attempted assassination.