Eras of the F4

[bretmaverick2]

What eras of the team have you liked and you feel deserve more acclaim than they have received.

Highest on my list is the Steve Englehart run. STeve is a top writer. He has written a lot of my favorite runs of various comics.

The only thing that I think hurt the success of his run was less than stellar art.

[gurkle]

I wouldn't say it deserves acclaim, but I've always had a soft spot for the Chris Claremont run. Of course his writing tics were completely out of control, but the characterization of the Four was very good, especially Reed and Johnny. So many writers do "will Johnny ever learn to act like a grown-up?" and Claremont just... had him act like a grown-up. He still made jokes, still teased Ben, but he acted like a guy who had been doing superhero stuff for years and was an expert on the use of his own (potentially dangerous) powers.

The stories could have been better, but the Larroca/Thibert art team turned out art that was nice to look at and, remarkably, didn't require any fill-ins.

[Iron Maiden]

I wouldn't say it deserves acclaim, but I've always had a soft spot for the Chris Claremont run. Of course his writing tics were completely out of control, but the characterization of the Four was very good, especially Reed and Johnny. So many writers do "will Johnny ever learn to act like a grown-up?" and Claremont just... had him act like a grown-up. He still made jokes, still teased Ben, but he acted like a guy who had been doing superhero stuff for years and was an expert on the use of his own (potentially dangerous) powers.

The stories could have been better, but the Larroca/Thibert art team turned out art that was nice to look at and, remarkably, didn't require any fill-ins.

I have been saying the same thing for years about Claremont's Fantastic Four and your observation on how Claremont handled Johnny. I think the only other writer that didn't treat him like he had arrested development was Hickman. So disappointing that Slott has regressed the character in the current run. IMO Slott can't leave soon enough for me.

IIRC, I think it was in an article in the old Wizard magazine that stated that after the Heroes Return/Image run of the FF and other titles, Scott Lobdell was to be the regular writer on the FF with Claremont editing. There was a roundtable discussion of writers in Wizard that talked to some of the new launches. IIRC Mark Waid was doing Captain America, Kurt Busiek was doing Iron Man and so forth. Lobdell's run started out with Alan Davis on the art. But then something happened. I think Scott Lobdell took a job out in California working in the TV industry or it may be when he was trying to break into doing a stand up comedy act. It was decided since Claremont was already working on the title as editor that he would write the series. I got the sense that it was not something that was planned but someone had to take over quickly. It was a years ago so my recollection may not be 100 % accurate.

As for Englehart, I have to disagree. I think his run is one of the worst with one of his low point points being the cat fight between Crystal and Sue among others. IMO it lacked a cohesive direction. Crystal was getting treated pretty badly in that era and Englehart was one of the culprits. Sharon Ventura has never really recovered from being the She Thing.

[Crimz]

Marvel Knights 4 was a pretty fun run that doesn't get talked about a lot.

[FFJamie94]

I wouldn't say it deserves acclaim, but I've always had a soft spot for the Chris Claremont run. Of course his writing tics were completely out of control, but the characterization of the Four was very good, especially Reed and Johnny. So many writers do "will Johnny ever learn to act like a grown-up?" and Claremont just... had him act like a grown-up. He still made jokes, still teased Ben, but he acted like a guy who had been doing superhero stuff for years and was an expert on the use of his own (potentially dangerous) powers.

The stories could have been better, but the Larroca/Thibert art team turned out art that was nice to look at and, remarkably, didn't require any fill-ins.

I have a few issues from that era. It's a run I wouldn't mind completing. I don't think it's the best by any stretch of the imagination, but it pulls together some fun ideas.

I'm not the biggest Chris Claremont fan, but it feels like he works well with the team.

One era I think deserves more praise is the McDuffie era. It's only about 12 issues long, but he does pack in a lot of fun adventures into it. It also has Black Panther and Storm as members for a while so there's that.

[Riv86672]

Waid and Wieringo’s run is my favorite, second only to Byrne in giving me the same sense of anticipation from month to month.

I was eager to read what happened next, and ready to absorb all that beautiful artwork.

[CitizenXXX]

I think Mark Millar had interesting ideas, although perhaps not the best implementation of these ideas.
And so, the usual suspects are Claremont, McDuffie, Fraction (FF) and every F4 issue written by Karl Kesel.

All of these writers are of course inferior to the great, outstanding runs of Kirby / Lee, Thomas, Wolfman, Byrne, Simonson, Waid and Hickman, but they certainly deserve the attention they don't always get.

[Doom'nGloom]

I don't see Walt Simonson's run being discussed much and it's a damn crime. With robot Joseph Stalin and crazy brand new FF team featuring Ghost Rider it's bonkers in all the right ways. It's the Kirby-est FF I've ever read which wasn't drawn by Kirby.

[CitizenXXX]

The quirkiness, energy, humor, big ideas, and storytelling prowess of Simonson's run make him one of the finest in F4 history. Walt has gifted us with some brilliant things that are considered very significant for F4, and that besides the fact that it is just an amazing, incredible, fantastic comic and one of the best in the pantheon of the best runs.

http://www.tcj.com/simonsons-fantastic-four/

[Oberon]

Liking most eras but the era that was the first 5 or more years after Lee and Kirby, perhaps starting with the #150s.
A war between 'earths' with Arkon, 5th Dimension and others. The Darkoth demon, former friend of Ben's. That may have started earlier, but there was a sequel I think.

Perez as artist on FF later in this era, was superb. That Impossible Man story with the Bullpen. Gorr, Golden Gorilla.

I was in my early '20s, still shy, not involved, so these may seem more juvenile to some of you, but I imprinted on them. I've read them so many times (but not in 35 years, LOL)

I liked the era that was the run up and included FF 200, with the disbanding, possibly one of the best, with everyone's sol issue. (sorry, Sue's featured Namor, LOL).

Thundra, Tigra and Impy filling out the team when Reed is out of action, also his other dimension counterpart.

[Triniking1234]

I don't see Walt Simonson's run being discussed much and it's a damn crime. With robot Joseph Stalin and crazy brand new FF team featuring Ghost Rider it's bonkers in all the right ways. It's the Kirby-est FF I've ever read which wasn't drawn by Kirby.

I had the issues where they were time travelling with Thor and Iron Man and even Death's Head and the TVA showed up. Bloody hell.

[Oberon]

This era, approximately #140 to 200 or so had a variety of artists. I didn't follow all that creator stuff back then, but over those 5 years there were a number of artists at least.

[Iron Maiden]

I don't see Walt Simonson's run being discussed much and it's a damn crime. With robot Joseph Stalin and crazy brand new FF team featuring Ghost Rider it's bonkers in all the right ways. It's the Kirby-est FF I've ever read which wasn't drawn by Kirby.

I liked his writing but (don't throw rocks) I wasn't quite as fond of his artwork at times. Just personal taste.

The weird part about Simonson's run is apparently he ran afoul of then EIC Tom DeFalco. He took over after Simonson and if you notice, when DeFalco negated some elements in Simonson's run almost immediately after Simonson left the series (I assume willingly).
One thing that Simsonson did was to try and straighten out a lot of Doom appearances after Secret Wars and Byrne's story that brought Doom back to his original body which was destroyed when he got caught between the battle between Terrax and Silver Surfer. Simonson's story in FF #351 had Doom straightening out Doom/Kristoff by giving him his mind back another hold over from the Byrne run. Byrne didn't intend to keep it that way but left Marvel before he would address that. It was long overdue and kept getting dragged out by Englehart when Byrne left. Instead of me trying to explain all of it, here is a link to an excellent article called the Great Doombot Controversy that tells what Simonson did and why he did it

[PhoenixReborn85]

Marvel Knights 4 was a pretty fun run that doesn't get talked about a lot.

I loved that series when it came out. It was such an interesting take. It would've been a great Netflix adaptation.

The first F4 anything I read was Grant Morrison's Fantastic 1234. I haven't read it in a while, but I was a fan of Morrison's style at that time.

[Iron Maiden]

I loved that series when it came out. It was such an interesting take. It would've been a great Netflix adaptation.

The first F4 anything I read was Grant Morrison's Fantastic 1234. I haven't read it in a while, but I was a fan of Morrison's style at that time.

I think Morrison's Fantastic Four 1234 was a great mini for the FF and their supporting cast. IIRC Jae Lee's art on that series went on display at a museum that was spotlighting illustrative art. Apparently, Morrison wasn't a huge fan of the FF and I don't know how this project came about. But it would be a cool way to introduce the FF to the MCU.

I noticed Morrison announced he is leaving DC and probably will be doing other projects in the film/TV industry for the next few years