The Fantastic Four Appreciation 2021

[Reviresco]

why is Galactus’s mouth so big? I am laughing but at the same time kinda scared
edit: I should have commented on the post about the series, my bad

I think it's because Galactus is eating that galaxy.

[Iron Maiden]

Ah!! Counter Earth Lady Dorma. Marvel totally wasted that character.

Speaking of this ... somehow I missed the Heroes Return run, i.e. Claremont's run on FF is being collected! Two volumes are already out.




Collects Fantastic Four (1998) #1-15, 1/2, Annual '98; Iron Man (1998) #14. The Fantastic Four make their heroic return to the Marvel Universe — courtesy of comic book heavyweights Scott Lobdell, Chris Claremont, Alan Davis and Salvador Larroca! And old enemies lie in wait, including the Mole Man, the Red Ghost, the Trapster, Ronan the Accuser, the Frightful Four, Terminus and Crucible! But what does the bizarre Technet want with Franklin Richards? And where does the Captain Britain Corps stand on the matter of Reed and Sue’s son? Plus: The Human Torch and Spider-Man, together again! The Scottish savior Caledonia debuts! Iron Man strikes! Franklin gets a puppy! The Thing contends with Multiversal madness! And Adam Warlock’s opposite number, the one known as Her, returns! It’s an exciting and action-packed era for the FF, collected for the first time!



Collects Fantastic Four (1998) #16-32, Annual 1999-2000. Marvel’s First Family faces deadly new threats as they adventure across time and space! First, the Fantastic Four encounter Hala’s mightiest: the Kree Avengers! But who are the four familiar faces that lurk in the Negative Zone’s Shadow City — and what will happen when they clash with Lockdown and Rosetta Stone? But the biggest danger of all comes from the FF’s most fearsome foe as Doctor Doom returns from Counter-Earth! He didn’t come alone, and their cataclysmic clash will leave Mister Fantastic in a dangerous and unexpected situation. But why is the Invisible Woman announcing her marriage to Doom?! Plus: Annihilus seeks revenge, the Ruined target Paris, the Frightful Four return, Namor the Sub-Mariner makes his play, the Shadow Hunters strike and the truth about Valeria is revealed!

I think this is the first time Claremont's Fantastic Four has been collected. I can't figure out why there's been such a long delay. I think his run had a rocky start since Scott Lobdell left suddenly for a job on the West Coast and Claremont was the editor at that time. So he took over the title. I think the rest of the run is quite good and has been underrated. The only thing I didn't like is what he did with Crucible. I don't know what Lobdell had planned for him but he had established a link to Doom whereas Claremont made him one of the members of the Enclave.

I think I may end up getting both of these TPBs.

[Iron Maiden]

I think it's because Galactus is eating that galaxy.

I thought Galactus always had to use that converter gizmo or something to absorb the energy.

[Reviresco]

I thought Galactus always had to use that converter gizmo or something to absorb the energy.

You're right! At least in the 616. Perhaps it is just creative license?

[Reviresco]

I think this is the first time Claremont's Fantastic Four has been collected. I can't figure out why there's been such a long delay. I think his run had a rocky start since Scott Lobdell left suddenly for a job on the West Coast and Claremont was the editor at that time. So he took over the title. I think the rest of the run is quite good and has been underated. The only thing I didn't like is what he did with Crucible. I don't know what Lobdell had planned for him but he had established of a link to Doom whereas Claremont made him one of the membes of the Enclave.

I think I may end up getting both of these TPBs.

That's what I thought -- that it hadn't been collected before this. Which is weird. I definitely need this for my FF collection.

[SJNeal]

I think this is the first time Claremont's Fantastic Four has been collected. I can't figure out why there's been such a long delay. I think his run had a rocky start since Scott Lobdell left suddenly for a job on the West Coast and Claremont was the editor at that time. So he took over the title. I think the rest of the run is quite good and has been underated. The only thing I didn't like is what he did with Crucible. I don't know what Lobdell had planned for him but he had established of a link to Doom whereas Claremont made him one of the membes of the Enclave.

I think I may end up getting both of these TPBs.

Claremont's run is one of the few that I've read in it's entirety, so by default it's one of my favorites.

I recommend swooping these up asap; the way books go out of print these days they might not be easy to find for long...

[Reviresco]

I thought this was hilarious.




http://kerrycallen.blogspot.com/2021...iewscreen.html

Kerry Callen has done some other amazing animated Kirby FF panels. They were posted in one of the earlier incarnations of this thread. I'll have to see if I can find it.

[Digifiend]

so what's going on with this Fantastic Four Life Story?

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...our-life-story

I hope that it is enjoyable. You're going to have 50+ years of adventures. I wonder if anyone is going to die before the end of the series-- and who Johnny ends up with?

I presume that this is separate from the Spider-Man Life Story tale. It would end up repeating a lot of backstory.

Well, it'll start in 1961 and presumably end in 2021, 60 years. Reed at least would probably be dead by the end as he started out already in his 40s. Ben's powers make him immortal, so he should last the duration unless he gets depowered. Presumably by issue 3 (which would be set in the 1980s) both Franklin and Valeria will have been born. So by the end, they would probably have kids of their own!

[Iron Maiden]

I thought this was hilarious.




http://kerrycallen.blogspot.com/2021...iewscreen.html

Kerry Callen has done some other amazing animated Kirby FF panels. They were posted in one of the earlier incarnations of this thread. I'll have to see if I can find it.

I have copies of 2 of them and have used them on other message boards. It would be great to put one or both of these on the first page of this thread but that would be up to the person who started the new thread.

[Iron Maiden]

Claremont's run is one of the few that I've read in it's entirety, so by default it's one of my favorites.

I recommend swooping these up asap; the way books go out of print these days they might not be easy to find for long...

I usually go to Tales of Wonder or find an Amazon seller that will give a good discount. I found the Fantastic Four runs after the Heroes Reborn to be pretty entertaining. The Jeph Loeb/Rafael Marin/Carlos Pacheco run comes after this and the only part I didn't like was the ending to the Abraxas saga where Sue became pregnant again. I wish they hadn't made it a gimmick pregnancy like that. They continued to use the Valeria von Doom character that Claremont created but I think I recall something about Marvel wanting to get rid of Claremont's stuff. Caledonia didn't appear anymore after his run ended and neither did Lancer. But I think Lancer may have been killed off in another comic. Her Marvel Fandom wiki isn't clear on that and just mentions that she was captured by General Otto Octavious of Counter Earth. Her last known appearance is just wallpaper in Exiles #81



But at least that appearance put me back on the trail of the fate of Counter Earth since this Exiles arc in #82-84 touched on the fate of Counter Earth. The Time Breakers ruled that it must be destroyed but it survived this story line at least.

[Chainsaw Vigilante]

Slott's failed on villains in general. We've had Griever, Doom, the Overseer, and Griever again. All of them have been written so pathetically, anticlimactically, and badly that I simply don't give any more **** about the conflict. That's a flaw of writing.

At least Knull, for his desire to destroy light like some Kingdom Hearts villain, actually added to the lore of the symbiotes in some way and filled in gaps like why the symbiotes don't have gods like other alien races.

Griever is a five-year-old who likes to stomp on sand castles.

Mutantfaker would be a more compelling villain. I'm not joking. Mutantface Manny has been set up unintentionally as a better villain than he is a supporting character.

I can't remember too many really interesting villains he's done in general. I haven't read his Spider Man, Mighty Avengers, or The Initiative, but She-Hulk didn't really have any, Great Lakes Avengers had a poorly depicted Maelstrom, and Empyre (which he co-wrote with Ewing) was a pretty weak crossover with Quoi and his dad not being all that interesting or threatening despite their histories. The most interesting one from his Silver Surfer run (which I enjoyed) was Glorian (who was set up early and had a late payoff).
You'd think an entity that offed a version of The Molecule Man that also had the power of The Beyonders stored within him (though the power was being used to help create the new realities with Franklin, so it wasn't all there, still with how MM was depicted in Ultimates2 it should be a huge deal) would be depicted as more threatening, that's partially on the art team as well though. Oddly enough there was an Entropy in the previous multiverse that was a big villain in Peter David's Captain Marvel series and lead to a soft re-boot of the 616 reality. I think Abraxas was done a lot better as a Fantastic Four end of the multiverse villain, and his story lead to Valeria coming into being which still stands now.

[CaptCleghorn]

Fantastic Four 674 comes out tomorrow (or later today if you’re reading this later). Generally, a new issue of FF isn’t worth a post like this, but this month’s issue is special for me. 50 years ago this month I got a copy of FF 110 (I do NOT own the error, although I have seen one in person).



From that issue on, I’ve been buying every issue. It’s been fifty years of collecting Fantastic Four for me and tomorrow’s issue is kind of special in that regards. My first issue was 85.



The issue appealed to me because I like the cartoon on TV. I did wonder why Sue had orange hair and why the others were calling her Crys. But I quickly realized what was going on. It’s why I’m not too worried about media difference from the comics confusing people. I was eight and I got it just fine.

But back to issue 110 and the journey. So being a fanboy, I naturally wanted a complete set. I looked, made contacts, traded, wheeled and dealed, hit flea markets, and finally was down to five issues I needed. One of them was issue 108. It irked me that if I started at a certain point, the issue a mere two months before that SHOULD have been considerably easier to acquire. Marvel was kind enough to put this in a special edition, Fantastic Four:The Lost Adventure #1, to remind me of my struggles and to celebrate my perseverance. Or they just wanted to rub it in.

Anyway, as of this issue #674, I mark 50 years of being a Fan 4 fan. May God have mercy on my soul.

[Digifiend]

Did they print the magneta and cyan inks the wrong way around there? The only thing that looks right is Sue and Johnny's blonde hair (which of course uses yellow ink and is thus unaffected).

[CaptCleghorn]

Did they print the magneta and cyan inks the wrong way around there? The only thing that looks right is Sue and Johnny's blonde hair (which of course uses yellow ink and is thus unaffected).

Thinking about how the error actually happened leads me to believe it had to have been a simple explanation like that.



Seeing the error and original side by side also supports that assessment which I'm agreeing with.

[Exciter]

Fantastic Four 674 comes out tomorrow (or later today if you’re reading this later). Generally, a new issue of FF isn’t worth a post like this, but this month’s issue is special for me. 50 years ago this month I got a copy of FF 110 (I do NOT own the error, although I have seen one in person).



From that issue on, I’ve been buying every issue. It’s been fifty years of collecting Fantastic Four for me and tomorrow’s issue is kind of special in that regards. My first issue was 85.



The issue appealed to me because I like the cartoon on TV. I did wonder why Sue had orange hair and why the others were calling her Crys. But I quickly realized what was going on. It’s why I’m not too worried about media difference from the comics confusing people. I was eight and I got it just fine.

But back to issue 110 and the journey. So being a fanboy, I naturally wanted a complete set. I looked, made contacts, traded, wheeled and dealed, hit flea markets, and finally was down to five issues I needed. One of them was issue 108. It irked me that if I started at a certain point, the issue a mere two months before that SHOULD have been considerably easier to acquire. Marvel was kind enough to put this in a special edition, Fantastic Four:The Lost Adventure #1, to remind me of my struggles and to celebrate my perseverance. Or they just wanted to rub it in.

Anyway, as of this issue #674, I mark 50 years of being a Fan 4 fan. May God have mercy on my soul.

Quite the anniversary - Congratulations!