autistic? ....
autistic? ....
Like i said in another thread. The Fantastic Four simply doesn't work. Hulk, Spidey and X-Men came out in the 60s and progressed, churning out good quality stories. FF have not. There's a reason why readers have not connected with them in so long. In my opinion, the only time when the FF were interesting was when they were replaced with Hulk, Spidey, Ghost Rider and Wolverine.
I think the FF supporting cast is pretty diverse. Wyatt Wingfoot (Native American), Alicia Masters (blind) and Onome (Wakandan Future Foundation member). Other supporting cast members are fellow superheroes, witches, aliens, mutants, clones, androids, ect.
You do know that the hundred issue original Lee/Kirby run and the long Byrne run regularly feature high up in this sites 100 best ever comics? Hickman didn't write those!
And on top of those celebrated runs I'd argue there are other long runs (like the first Mark Waid run and the Mark Millar run) where the average story quality compared pretty favourably with large majority of mainstream super hero comics.
Who are these unknown "interesting characters" that can hold attention in spite of bland stories and poor writing? I've never come across them!
Last edited by JackDaw; 08-11-2017 at 10:19 PM.
The Lee/Kirby, Byrne, and Hickman runs are considered by most to be the top three runs on FF. The real debate is who else comes close. In addition to Waid, Walt Simonson's run (despite the joke Spidey/Hulk/Punisher/Ghost Rider story) gets a lot of credit. Claremont, Ton DeFalco, and Marv Wolfman also have their fans. There's been a lot of good stuff in the past 50+ years.
IMO The Fantastic Four aren't dated that's a lame excuse by people who dislike them but don't have an argument why like someone just saying something is dumb or stupid without elaborating when saying they dislike something. The FF are the exact opposite of dated they are timeless in their concept they are at their core a family a big old dysfunctional at times but loving family who goes on crazy adventures their adventures involve Time Travel, Space, Parallel Worlds, and Other Dimensions rather then just family vacations which makes them only more awesome.
I agree that they aren't dated at all, I've read and heard people say that as the reason why they aren't so popular anymore. I wanted to know why the FF and not the many other heroes made around the same time or prior. You'd never hear anyone say Batman was dated and he was created in the 40s.
But as I said in the OP I do think that there is a problem with Reed being the focus way too often. When was the last time Sue or Ben had character development? Or when has Johnny, that wasn't a variation of him having to grow up? It's not like this team is a big rotating roster and yet most members are neglected. Someone a few pages ago said Hickman's run and Secret Wars was a great ending to Reed's story and I somewhat agree. Secret Wars wasn't a great ending for the FF, it was a great ending for Reed and we need the other three to get much more focus and development.
Another issue is that many have said the FF's role is innovation, exploration and discovering new things. But many writers who come on to the book seem restrained by the great Lee/Kirby run that they don't bring anything new to the franchise. The FF need new things to happen to them, it's a book that has to have new places and concepts as that's what it's all about. No more fighting the Mole Man for the thousandth time.
Be sure to check out the Invisible Woman appreciation thread!