Just reviewed some FF's by a man named Byrne and was struck by how Sue's appearance changed over time. In the first year of JB's second run on FF (232-243 or so), Sue's hair slowly, gradually lengthened. I felt she grew exponentially sexier as it grew. By 245 (the most gorgeous Sue cover I think you ever did) it was still fairly short but now styled more appealingly to my taste (that issue was a Sue showcase plot...did you give her a new doo in honor of that?) As the hair continues to grow, suddenly Sue is downright gorgeous in the 250s. For me, Sue was probably at her sexiest in the second and third years (259-262 especially), when her hair got down to the shoulder.
JB, you've always had an ability to draw comely lasses, from Phoenix to Colleen Wing to Scarlet Witch (yours is my favorite Scarlet Witch, though Buscema / Palmer's 1st run is a close 2nd). However, I really didn't think of Sue as "sexy" until fairly far into your second run. Obviously you're capable of drawing beautiful women, so was Sue's seemingly initially toned down sexuality something you were going for or something that I'm projecting / imagining? To me, Sue went from an antiseptic Barbara Bain look circa Space: 1999 and wound up more like, I dunno, Linda Evans in her best DYNASTY years (putting it in the context of the times).
Also, I noticed that Sue's hair on the cover of 232 is longer than it ever was on your entire run (below the shoulder)...did you change your mind when you went to draw the issue? I notice that the first panel of Sue has her sitting in the hair salon, discussing the shorter styling. Is this some kind of in-joke?
Regards,
Rick Senger
