Eras of the F4

[SJNeal]

When I really think about it, I haven't read as much FF as I think I have. The only runs I've read in their entirety are:

*DeFalco/Ryan - My intro to the team. Not the most revered run, but I still have a soft spot for it.

*Claremont/LaRocca - Same. It holds up about as well as DeFalco's imo.

*Waid/Wieringo - Possibly the best of what I'm familiar with. I know I haven't completed it, but I love what I have.

*Robinson/Kirk - Pretty forgettable, but not offensive.

*Fraction/Bagley/Allred - I loved it at the time, but reread a bit recently and can't remember why I loved it...?

*Slott/et al. - Middle of the road for me. It's not groundbreaking but it's not as awful as some seem to think.

I have every Epic Collection released, so there's the complete Lee/Kirby run, and some other random stuff, but I've yet to dive in.

[PhoenixReborn85]

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

I hope whatever he makes is good and doesn't go over everyone's head. From what I read, his endings can get a little messy.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Englehart II: I liked the new team, the power upgrade on the Thing, the She-Thing...it ended horribly, everything from #329 until "Harkness" left was crap.
Simonson: it was fun. And he brought back the Thing...gave him the upgrade...and then some. When he left, it was like putting the toys back in the box for someone else to play with.
Claremont: all he was known for was mutants, mutants, mutants. Give him something else to write. FF seemed like a good fit. Johnny was a playful yet mature individual, Ben used his experience as a pilot, etc. The first year played into the obligatory must-have-past-mutant-glory syndrome, but he was on a roll with the Negative Zone stories and the Baroness Von Doom stuff before he got yanked back to the X-Men again.

[Kurt Busiek]

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.

Chris wasn't the editor, Mark Powers was.

Scott was missing deadlines, so they brought in Chris to dialogue a couple of issues over Scott's plots and plot a fill-in, to keep the book on schedule.

Scott chose to leave at that point, and Chris was asked to keep going.

kdb

[Iron Maiden]

Chris wasn't the editor, Mark Powers was.

Scott was missing deadlines, so they brought in Chris to dialogue a couple of issues over Scott's plots and plot a fill-in, to keep the book on schedule.

Scott chose to leave at that point, and Chris was asked to keep going.

kdb

Thanks for clearing that up! I liked Chris Claremont's run quite a bit. It was a bit rocky at first IMO but about issue 14 or 15 things really got rolling.

[K7P5V]

OMG! Glad to be feeling the love for the Walt Simonson run. Truly an underrated classic (IMHO):

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 know, right?! The New F4 is still the most memorable highlight from the Simonson run, along with Frank's cameo.

[K7P5V]

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.

Me too. It was nice reading Simonson's Thor again. Too bad both Thor & Iron Man ended up trapped in time.
And about Death's Head, I'd be interested if Simonson got another chance to work on him again...

I think Morrison's Fantastic Four 1234 was a great mini for the FF and their supporting cast.

Agreed. For what it's worth, I enjoyed Namor utilizing mind-tricks to make Sue believe he was capable of nullifying her force-fields...

[Cat]

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.

The Claremont run is being done in trade paperback form at the moment, as Fantastic Four Heroes Return. Volumes 1 and 2 are out now, and volume 3 comes out in November. Just a shame it didn't get an omnibus, but at least it finally got collected.

[SJNeal]

The Claremont run is being done in trade paperback form at the moment, as Fantastic Four Heroes Return. Volumes 1 and 2 are out now, and volume 3 comes out in November. Just a shame it didn't get an omnibus, but at least it finally got collected.

Vol. 1 is unfortunately out of print already.

But vol. 3 will wrap up the run, so hopefully they'll collect in omnibus format after that.

[gurkle]

The first two Heroes Return volumes have all of Claremont's run; I think the third volume picks up with a fill-in story written by John Francis Moore, and then to the run which Carlos Pacheco co-plotted with Rafael Marin (with Jeph Loeb coming in to do the dialogue a few issues later).

[Cat]

Vol. 1 is unfortunately out of print already.

But vol. 3 will wrap up the run, so hopefully they'll collect in omnibus format after that.

Bookdepository.com still has volume 1 in stock.

[Bunch of Coconuts]

Waid/Wieringo is the only time I was able to enjoy the F4.

Idk if that classifies as a true “era”, but as far as I’m concerned it does.

[EmeraldGladiator]

there is something about Claremont's style that always gets me, I guess since I grew up on it. The thing I liked best about his run on FF was the Valeria characterization. She was a major addition to the family that hadn't really had one since Franklin. I loved her close connection to Dr. Doom and the Larocca outfit.

[SJNeal]

The first two Heroes Return volumes have all of Claremont's run; I think the third volume picks up with a fill-in story written by John Francis Moore, and then to the run which Carlos Pacheco co-plotted with Rafael Marin (with Jeph Loeb coming in to do the dialogue a few issues later).

Bookdepository.com still has volume 1 in stock.

Good to know on both counts!

[Englehart Humperdinck]

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.

I enjoyed Englehart's run, even the John Harkness issues, although it wasn't his best work. The artwork looked wrong once Romeo Tanghal replaced Joe Sinnott as inker, but I think editorial interference was a bigger drawback, with Crystal and Mantis being removed and Reed and Sue brought back against Englehart's wishes.