Fantastic Four Appreciation 2018

[Oberon]

Having said that, all these children were considered dead or missing and unlikely to return - how was this addressed? Did their parents or family present as effected by the events that took Reed and Sue away from the universe and considered dead?

I know they probably didn't but I just think it is an interesting spin to think about. In addition to everyone who thought half the FF were dead or seriously missing, there were also all these others, maybe at least 10? Also presumed dead?

[Crimz]

Having said that, all these children were considered dead or missing and unlikely to return - how was this addressed? Did their parents or family present as effected by the events that took Reed and Sue away from the universe and considered dead?

I know they probably didn't but I just think it is an interesting spin to think about. In addition to everyone who thought half the FF were dead or seriously missing, there were also all these others, maybe at least 10? Also presumed dead?

The only ones who aren't adopted by Sue and Reed are Alex (who's family seemed to know he was alright),and Onome.

Onome's family being angry about things could be interesting as it could cause tension with Wakanda and T'Challa.

[BAS]

Interview from a few days ago not making me optimistic about the possibility that the kids won’t be aged up. Just let them be kids. Teenagers suck.

Franklin has been a kid for over 50 years, and used predominantly as a plot device than anything else. Hickman showed a little bit of the potential of both Franklin and Val as active participants in the Adventures of the Fantastic Four. It’s high time they’re aged up to at least a pre-teen age. Ideally, a 12-13 year old Franklin and 8 year old Val would be more preferable than a stunted first grader and his super genius toddler sister.

[Crimz]

Finally have my copies!



Time to re-read!


Instead of posting again I might as well edit this post.

Here is Bleeding Cool's bestseller list for this weeks comics:

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/08...h-august-2018/

[The Overlord]

Going back to something I discussed in another thread, outside of Dr. Doom, what should be done with other FF villains? It seems like a lot of them have failed to up their game or develop into more interesting characters then the archetype villains they were back in the 60s, it seems like they are stuck in the Silver Age and the FF have outgrown them. Do the writers just recycle the same old Silver Age stories with the non Dr. Doom villains or should they do things to make these villains do things to up their game or give them new types of stories?

[runguy]

Franklin has been a kid for over 50 years, and used predominantly as a plot device than anything else. Hickman showed a little bit of the potential of both Franklin and Val as active participants in the Adventures of the Fantastic Four. It’s high time they’re aged up to at least a pre-teen age. Ideally, a 12-13 year old Franklin and 8 year old Val would be more preferable than a stunted first grader and his super genius toddler sister.

Actually, Franklin (adult) figured in quite heavily as he and Big G stopped the Mad Celestials!

[runguy]

Franklin has been a kid for over 50 years, and used predominantly as a plot device than anything else. Hickman showed a little bit of the potential of both Franklin and Val as active participants in the Adventures of the Fantastic Four. It’s high time they’re aged up to at least a pre-teen age. Ideally, a 12-13 year old Franklin and 8 year old Val would be more preferable than a stunted first grader and his super genius toddler sister.

Actually, Franklin (adult) figured in quite heavily as he and Big G stopped the Mad Celestials!

[Ravin' Ray]

by G. Kendall

Welcome to Adventure(s) Time’s fifty-fifth installment installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. I’ve mentioned before that this series isn’t limited to the DC Animated Universe. This week, I prove it by focusing on the most Marvel of Marvel properties.

The Fantastic Four launched the Marvel Age of Comics in 1961, becoming an instant hit. A cartoon series followed in 1967, an adaptation so faithful the writers literally tore Fantastic Four issues in half, with one scripting the first section of the comic and another the final simultaneously.

More here.

[Alpha Male]

Going back to something I discussed in another thread, outside of Dr. Doom, what should be done with other FF villains? It seems like a lot of them have failed to up their game or develop into more interesting characters then the archetype villains they were back in the 60s, it seems like they are stuck in the Silver Age and the FF have outgrown them. Do the writers just recycle the same old Silver Age stories with the non Dr. Doom villains or should they do things to make these villains do things to up their game or give them new types of stories?

I think going forward that the FF Rogues Gallery need a complete overhaul or revamp. I would start with The Wizard and the Frightful Four. I would have The Wizard ditch his costume and semi retire and become like a different "wizard" of sorts. He would be a crime consultant and weapon supplier to low level villains and charge for his services. He would also be like the character in The Wizard of Oz operating behind the curtain and granting wishes, although the upgrades are temporary.

I would have Diablo takeover The Frightful Four and have Absorbing Man, Titania and Chemistro as members. I would also add in Quicksand as sometime member of The Frightful Four. Hell, I would make it a Frightful Force.

I still haven't worked out what I would do with Mole Man, The Negative Zone and others.

[Crimz]

To start:

Dr Doom and Galactus - use them less and give other villains a chance

More new villains and threats - stop using the same old villains all the time and not every threat to the team has to have a villain behind it. It could be a force of nature or political.


Revamping the villains:

Diablo - Update his costume. I like that he's an alchemist, it could be viewed as an "old science" (that is surprisingly working) and he can come into conflict with Reed's "modern science". What he does is extremely dangerous and Reed tries to show him that there are better ways to do things now. His conflict with the FF should be about the ethics of science and what we should and shouldn't do to advance it.

That or make him fully magic and the conflict being trying to science vs magic. Reed hates magic and is not good against it, that in itself makes Diablo a dangerous foe.

Wizard - Another on in need of a costume update. His thing is all about profiting from science and the lengths he would go to do that. That's why he makes the Frightful Four (which should be renamed), as he see's that there are countless planets, dimensions and cultures to exploit.

Frightful Four - Change the name and no longer have the goal of defeating the FF. They should be the dark mirror to the Fantastic Four and be the dark colonization and taking resources aspect of exploring. They explore to take advantage of new cultures and planets and that comes into conflict with the Fantastic Four's goal of peaceful exploration in the name of expanding knowledge. Some places the FF visit are victims of the Frightful Four's exploitation and the team tries to put a stop to them, an interesting twist could be that the Frightful Four are government approved and. It can lead to interesting stories and dilemma that can't be solved by beating the others up.

Iconoclast - He's a more less known villain which give him more room to be retooled. Give him a costume update, and his main target is still Sue. Delve into why he must try and kill her before she does something that destroys his people. What she ends up doing can be that unknowingly her powers affect his plane of existence negatively or something. There is a lot if things you can do with him

Sandman- Other heroes constantly use FF villains and it's time the FF took some from others. Sandman would be a villain for Ben. Ben has tried to help Sandman reform before and it's never lasted, he still see's potential in him to be good and hasn't given up. Ben see's a lot of himself in the guy and sometimes they fight, sometimes they have a drink. Ben will constantly try and help Sandman to reform even when others say it's pointless.

Blastaar - Make him smarter and more of threat. He reclaims some of his kingdoms forces and he wants to take other earth with them as he's seen the heroes there. He believes with them under his power he can finally usurp Annihilus.

Annihilus - Just add revenge against Johnny to his goals. The insult he suffered from Johnny still plays on his mind and his target is not only that dimension but Johnny specifically

Mole Man and Red Ghost - retire them or give them to other heroes. The FF have outgrown them.


The focus should first be on new villains like the upcoming one. Then revamping older ones.

Marvel is free to steal any of my ideas when it comes to the Fantastic Four lol

[BAS]

Actually, Franklin (adult) figured in quite heavily as he and Big G stopped the Mad Celestials!

That's what I alluded to. In Hickman's mind, Franklin, Val and the rest of the Future Foundation kids had a purpose outside of just being plot devices. They all contributed something to expand the reach of the Fantastic Four, and with adult Franklin and Val specifically showing a future beyond being just "Reed and Sue's children".

I think we've gotten well beyond the point where a story involves finding a baby sitter for the kids, or saving them from the threat of one of their foes.

[Crimz]

Second printing of Issue 1 will have a spoiler cover for a variant.

https://www.newsarama.com/41325-fant...-spoilers.html

[The Overlord]

To start:

Dr Doom and Galactus - use them less and give other villains a chance

More new villains and threats - stop using the same old villains all the time and not every threat to the team has to have a villain behind it. It could be a force of nature or political.


Revamping the villains:

Diablo - Update his costume. I like that he's an alchemist, it could be viewed as an "old science" (that is surprisingly working) and he can come into conflict with Reed's "modern science". What he does is extremely dangerous and Reed tries to show him that there are better ways to do things now. His conflict with the FF should be about the ethics of science and what we should and shouldn't do to advance it.

That or make him fully magic and the conflict being trying to science vs magic. Reed hates magic and is not good against it, that in itself makes Diablo a dangerous foe.

Wizard - Another on in need of a costume update. His thing is all about profiting from science and the lengths he would go to do that. That's why he makes the Frightful Four (which should be renamed), as he see's that there are countless planets, dimensions and cultures to exploit.

Frightful Four - Change the name and no longer have the goal of defeating the FF. They should be the dark mirror to the Fantastic Four and be the dark colonization and taking resources aspect of exploring. They explore to take advantage of new cultures and planets and that comes into conflict with the Fantastic Four's goal of peaceful exploration in the name of expanding knowledge. Some places the FF visit are victims of the Frightful Four's exploitation and the team tries to put a stop to them, an interesting twist could be that the Frightful Four are government approved and. It can lead to interesting stories and dilemma that can't be solved by beating the others up.

Iconoclast - He's a more less known villain which give him more room to be retooled. Give him a costume update, and his main target is still Sue. Delve into why he must try and kill her before she does something that destroys his people. What she ends up doing can be that unknowingly her powers affect his plane of existence negatively or something. There is a lot if things you can do with him

Sandman- Other heroes constantly use FF villains and it's time the FF took some from others. Sandman would be a villain for Ben. Ben has tried to help Sandman reform before and it's never lasted, he still see's potential in him to be good and hasn't given up. Ben see's a lot of himself in the guy and sometimes they fight, sometimes they have a drink. Ben will constantly try and help Sandman to reform even when others say it's pointless.

Blastaar - Make him smarter and more of threat. He reclaims some of his kingdoms forces and he wants to take other earth with them as he's seen the heroes there. He believes with them under his power he can finally usurp Annihilus.

Annihilus - Just add revenge against Johnny to his goals. The insult he suffered from Johnny still plays on his mind and his target is not only that dimension but Johnny specifically

Mole Man and Red Ghost - retire them or give them to other heroes. The FF have outgrown them.


The focus should first be on new villains like the upcoming one. Then revamping older ones.

Marvel is free to steal any of my ideas when it comes to the Fantastic Four lol

Those are some good ideas.

There was a non canon short story in a novel from the 90s that would like to see adapted in the comics, where Trapster tries to reform and fails. It treated him like a human being rather then a one note villain with a stupid gimmick.

I would like to see Mad Thinker get the characterization he got in New Warriors, more morally ambiguous then just a straight up villainous mad scientist.

I think Mole Man should be an Anti Hero, who only wants to protect his kingdom and no longer wants to conquer the world or get into pointless fights in the FF.

Red Ghost was apparently killed by Captain Hydra, that's stupid, so I would ignore that. There is a million ways you can go with him. You can make him some scum bag who works for the Russian government or the Russian mafia or he could be a Marxist who thinks the FF just maintain the status quo and wants to use technology to create his ideal society. More of a modern take then being a Cold War relic.

[Mike]

Digging through one of my many long boxes I came across my first issue of The Fantastic Four.
Issue #176. Bought in the summer of 1976. Just before starting the 4th grade. The issue that started it all for me.
Still a fun read after all these years. Great art by George Perez and Joe Sinnott.
176.jpg

[Mike]

Double post!