Rating:  -
Lee and Kirby really hit their stride with Fantastic Four with the issues in this volume. They introduce the Inhumans, Galactus, the Silver Surfer, and the Black Panther, all mainstays to this day in the Marvel Universe. They also begin the process of carrying storylines out over many issues. After the Inhumans are trapped in their city, it's nearly a year's worth of issues before they are freed and the storyline wrapped up.
That's what makes these collections so much fun. You can follow these storylines quickly and see the resolution in a couple of sittings. I'd give this five stars except for the first couple of issues until the wedding of Reed and Sue is done. That's a rather blah event, despite all the cameos. Otherwise, the rest of the volume is very very good.
Rating:  -
Although I respect Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for all they have done for the comic industry, and I cannot find it in me to either like or be entertained by their stories. It's because of people like them that comics are widely considered to be childish and immature. The dialogue is some of the worst I've ever read; I can't believe it were aimed at teenagers and adults instead of 5 year olds. The plotting is lame ans there's little in the department of character development (MORE superheroes who use their powers to fight evil and uphold the American way. wow.). I can't comprehed why Mr. Kirby's artwork is so admired. True, he paved the way for generations to come, but look at it! All the men look the same except for their hair color! Artists like Jim Steranko or John Romita Jr., hell, even Steve Ditko, should get as much if not more praise than he. Not to mention all the new talents like Frank Quitely or Steve Dillon or Phil Jimenez. So if you wish to buy this bleak and childish TPB (I refuse to call it a graphic novel!!!) then go ahead...and then buy good comics like The Invisibles, Sandman, and Preacher!
Rating: -
I have all of the first three "essential Fantastic Four" volumes, and I have no problem at all with saying that this one is my favorite. All the way through to the end of volume 2, the stories were okay, but basically blah as far as super-powered action goes, but almost immediately as soon as volume 3 starts, the intense stories begin. The thing is captured by the enemies of the Fantastic Four and brainwashed, quite convincingly, and since this ain't a mush mag, he doesn't just "break out" of the brainwashing.
The stories move on into the wedding of Reed and Sue that is interupted by just about everyone EXCEPT the Sub-mariner, who up to that point, one would expect to be the first one to object to such a union. This is a wedding unlike any other, full of cameos by every other major super-hero and super-hero team in the marvel universe up to that point.
This volume also contains two of my favorite of the early FF sagas; the time when Dr. Doom stole the powers of the Silver Surfer and the first coming of Galactus.
Although I tend to favor the latter over the former because of its larger cosmic physics and the fact that it implemented more (at the time) revolutionary sci-fi concepts, both have the charm of showcasing a superbeing who threatens the safety and/or freedom of the Earth's people, and who is WAY more powerful than the entire Fantastic Four combined. In both cases, a clever method was needed to pull off a victory, making them, in my mind, top-knotch tales.
But don't for a minute think that this particular fruit salad is without a single sour grape. The original introduction of the inhumans (which, for some reason, I have heard others refer to in a positive light) is also included, and although for the sake of completeness I wouldn't change that...
I mean... I LIKE the inhumans as characters, but their original introduction just stunk. When I first read it a long time ago, I forgave it because I thought I might have missed the issues where they EXPLAINED what was going on, but when I read this volume, I realized they really DIDN'T explain what was going on, which was a big disappointment to me.
My gripes include the fact that they wait quite some time before explaining Triton's powers, thus making him largely unlikable during the first couple sagas with him, the fact that no one ever learns why Medusa was working with the bad guys, no one ever learns the truth about Black Bolt losing his voice, they never quite straightened out who wanted who to go to the great refuge and Maximus just kinda came out of nowhere, as did virtually everything surrounding the character, including but not limited to his involvement in Black Bolt's "accident," the true nature of his powers and how he got hold of Black Bolt's crown in the first place. I'm like Reed Richards. I love knowing stuff. So naturally, I disliked the introduction of the inhumans.
But on the whole, this is a really cool volume containing some awesome stories and some sweet battles and of course, plenty of Ben & Johnny's killer arguments. Definitely worth the read.
Rating:  -
Here began the best years of The Fantastic Four. Writer Lee developed real (albeit sometimes hokey) characters (this is, after all, a comic book) who each spoke in a voice unique to them (often lines of dialogue were attributable even without the pictures), and artist Jack Kirby reached his creative Marvel peak. A must for any fan of the genre, but particularly for the FF afficianado.
These stories teach two important lessons about the collaborative medium that is the comic book (particularly the dramatic/action/adventure/superhero book). The first is the importance of writing. Yes, you can tell a story with pictures alone, and Jack Kirby was better than almost anyone else at doing that. It was, after all, Kirby's talent in this regard (along with Steve Ditko's) that led to the development of what came to be known as "The Marvel Method", with artists drawing and often plotting before one line of description or dialogue was written). But just as the sound era made John Ford a better director (THE IRON HORSE is a very good silent picture; STAGECOACH-- made only a dozen years later-- is a great film), likewise Stan Lee's dialogue made Jack Kirby's great art into a great comic book. You only have to read much of Kirby's later work (especially for DC). While incredibly creative, imaginative, and powerful in its artistic vision, the dialogue (written by Kirby himself) is often stilted and, unless adopting an obvious accent, lacks specific characterization.
The second lesson is finding the right inker. Joe Sinnott's inking of Kirby's FF pencils took everything to a higher level: a vast improvement over Vince Colletta's earlier FF efforts. Yet even this is situational. Colletta's inks of Kirby artwork on Thor was the perfect match of inker with penciller with subject, just as the Kirby-Sinnott collaboration was perfect for the FF (and just as Syd Shores' inks were perfect for Kirby's Captain America). Very few inkers are good for all artists on all titles (Frank Giacoa comes to mind as being able to do this, and maybe Tom Palmer, but not many others).
And so in Volume III of THE ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR, "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" begins to live up to its billing. See for yourself.
Rating: -
Volume 3 of "The Essential Fantastic Four" is the one we have been waiting for because with issues #41-63 and Annuals #3 & $ of "The Fantastic Four" we are talking the period where this truly was "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" This is also where the FF have their greatest battle, against the threat of Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer, and Annual #3 presents the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. Those stories alone would make this particular collection required reading but during this period Stan Lee and Jack Kirby also created the Inhumans and the Black Panther, substantially adding to the Marvel pantheon. But the clincher is that having come up with the ultimate FF story (everything is anticlimactic after you essentially stop a god from devouring your planet) there is another classic multi-part story as Doctor Doom steals the Surfers cosmic powers. Actually, I like those stories a bit more (check out the classic cover for issue #60), but then it is hard for Lee to go wrong with any sort of Silver Surfer story at this point in history.
Also, from an artistic standpoint I think Jack Kirby clearly reached his heights as an artist during this period, but a large measure of credit also goes to inker Joe Sinnot, who replaced Vince Colletta. Just compare the drawings of the Thing in the first story to those in the last in this volume and the improvement is obvious. If you go back to the first volume of "Fantastic Four" repeats the difference is even more striking. Kirby was also experimenting with zip tones, using photographs, working in a lot more in terms of backgrounds for his panels, and indulging in splash pages in the middle of stories. When you think of how long Kirby had been drawing comic books at that point in his career, the fact that his artwork could suddenly improve so dramatically is astounding. In terms of artwork and stories, this is as good as the "Fantastic Four" ever got in its celebrated history. When I think of the FF, the stories in this volume are the ones I remember best.
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