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Marvel made histroy in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Not just comics history, but pop-culture history. How many people across the world today have heard of Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, Spiderman, The X-Men, Hulk, and even Daredevil? Granted, in today's world that is due to the magic of movies. But Hollywod owes a huge debit to Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, the incredibly talented duo who make the first 20+ issues of FF in this collection so impossible to put down. FF was one of Stan Lee's fvorite projects; probably his very favorite, truth be told, and it shows. The writing is fresh and interesting, the characters evolving and exploring their powers and place in the then-small Marvel Universe. I chuckle when I read the other reviewers complain about the black & white format. If you don't like it, spend $50,000 and buy the run of FF 1-170, which encompasses FF essentials 1-7. As for me, I love the essentials line; I get all the classic stories, artwork, and incredible Marvel history for a mere fraction of the price. Please Marvel, keep them coming!
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I honestly don't get the appeal of these books. Why bother making (or reading) black & white reprints of classic four-color comics...? I mean, yeah, the stories are still great and the original comics are hard to find, but a huge part of what made these comics great was the eye-popping artwork, including the bright primary colors: reading them in dull B&W is just plain wrong. Sure, the printing costs are lower, so you can get more pages for your money, but it's more pages of boring, not more pages of fun. It's really a travesty.
On the other hand, it recently occurred to me that these could be used as coloring books... Maybe you could buy a box of crayons to go along with all the artwork that the publishers ruined in this format. (Axton)
Rating:  -
It's easy to see why the Fantastic Four became so popular and why Marvel took off as a company in the 1960's. Stan Lee hit on a formula that seems cliched today, but was new and fresh back then. This foursome exhibit typical family tendancies and meet some truly original villains as they struggle to find their way in a brave new world!
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I really liked this volume (and subsequent numbers 2-5 for that matter). It brought me back to a more simpler time in my life when all I worried about was how the Fantastic Four was going to beat Dr. Doom again, and not today when I worry about the rent or who is going to be the next President.
GOOD STUFF! I would somewhat disagree with those reviewers who commented about how the paper is not as good (it isn't) or the fact that it is published in black and white and not color. As DC has done with their titles in their "Showcase Presents" series, both of these were obviously done to keep the price down to the consumer, and for that I am grateful.
One personal quibble. At the front of each volume, they have a couple pages listing each volume by number, and the writer, penciler, inker, and letterer, but they failed to list the title of the individual book there (ie. Fantastic Four 21#:'The Hate Monger', Fantastic Four 22# 'The Return of the Moleman," etc). To me this seemed incomplete as it forces you to look through the full volume for one villian. That may have been the publishers intentions, but I wish they had followed DC's example in the way they did theirs.
I personally own about a quarter of the original volumes listed in the entire "Fantastic Four Marvel Essential" series (bought them as a kid), and keep them in special individual plastic sleeves to preserve them. Not so much for financial reasons, but more for the memories. Therefore, for me, it was good to read them in this complilation set, and not having to worry about the condition if I were to take mine out of their sleeves to read them.
Looking forward to volume six when it comes out.
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I love classic comics! I wasn't even alive when these were printed and being born twenty years later I'm happy they reprinted these classics. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are my favorite comic celebrity team. The writing and stories are classic comics with a capitol c. The art is awesome. The books still hold up today. They're really enjoyable stories with great art. It'll make you a better person to read these. The black and white printing annoys me a little in this day and age. We have the technology to at least print them on color newsprint... but it does help you enjoy the art in its simplicity. But who can complain at the price? Great for summer reading outside!
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