Customer Reviews

Essential Fantastic Four: Vol. 3

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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.

This is not only an excellent book, but it is also a classic study at how important an inker is on the penciller. Starting in issue 44, Joe Sinnott took over as inker of Jack Kirby's work and the result is startling. Sinnott dramatically improved the art and brought out the talent that Jack Kirby has.
The stores themselves and mixed, but the Galactus tale still holds well including the introduction of the Silver surfer. My personal favorite is the battle with Dr. Doom after he stole the Silver Surfer's powers. Doom pontificates in all his bravado and the FF finally realize (du) they are out of their league. If you've ever wanted to see why the silver age of comics was the silver age of comics, get this book!

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.

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.

First of all, this is a review for Volume 3 of the Essential Fantastic Four series. Currently, if you search for this volume on Amazon.com with just the keywords "Essential Fantastic Four" the search engine only turns up Vols. I & II. Vol. 3's ISBN number is 0785107827, if you are having trouble locating it.

This is the best Volume of the Essential Fantastic Four series so far, with the beginning of the Inhuman saga, and Johnny Storm's love affair with Crystal. What to say except that as a child I was introduced to the FF a year too late to get the Inhuman series. I borrowed another kid's copies of this series, read them, and cherished them in my memories.

And now, some thirty five years later, I finally have my own copy of these fabulous stories.

Spanning the years 1965-1967, the bulky 536 pages deliver the winning trifecta of writer Stan Lee and artists Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott in several of the best story lines ever for the Fantastic Four.

The appearances by characters like Galactus - "The Galactus Trilogy" - the Inhumans, Black Panther and the Silver Surfer provide incredible venues for the FF, but a means to provide springboards to future top guns in the Marvel Universe.

The FF was a flagship franchise during this time period and it was three individuals who combined their incredible talents to make the four simply fantastic.

If the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee team was the Beatles of superhero comics, then this is their Revolver [UK]. Kirby, already the most accomplished artist in comics, had the muse plop squarely in his lap and is at an absolute career peak with this run; Lee, smart guy that he is, had the good sense to stay the heck out of the King's way (or, as he does in some of my favorite bits, use the captions or Thing's dialogue to wryly comment on the proceedings). What else? I don't have enough good things to say about Joe Sinnott's inking (starting with issue 44) of Kirby's pencils here - after years of hit-and-miss embellishment, Jack must have been pleased as punch to have him on board.

I have read these comics many, many times since I was a kid and have become, if anything, more impressed with them with each passing year. I literally cannot imagine a disinterested party not feeling the same way about the explosion of creativity going on in these pages.

Regardless of when you first picked up a comic book, if you ever enjoyed a Fantastic Four comic, you must know about the stories reprinted in the "Essential Fantastic Four Volume 3". Stan Lee and Jack Kirby enjoyed perhaps their most creative period during this time, and comics were never the same again.

The Frightful Four. The Inhumans. The Silver Surfer. Galactus. Wyatt Wingfoot. The Black Panther. Blastaar and the Negative Zone. Quasimodo. The return of the original Human Torch. If this volume spanned four more issues and another annual, we would have also seen the first appearance of the Kree and their robotic sentry, the introduction of Psycho-Man and Sub-Atomica and the creation of Him, soon to be known as Adam Warlock (but I digress). All this plus the Watcher, Klaw, Doctor Doom stealing the powers of the Silver Surfer, and Reed and Sue's wedding. Writers, artists and now filmmakers have been making a career out of Stan and Jack's creations for decades, supported by the fact that the plot of the entire second Fantastic Four movie was clipped from the pages of Fantastic Four(s) number 48-50, 57-60, and the third annual.

Jack Kirby's art reached its peak during this period, supported by the vastly underappreciated Joe Sinnott. He polished Jack's pencils as no one else ever did and helped define Marvel's artistic (house) style along the way. One of the greatest comic artists of all was never greater than with this talented inker helping out.

And the stories... The FF met God (Galactus) and his angel (the Silver Surfer). The first black hero (not counting guys like Sgt. Fury's Gabe Jones) was seen. Reed's obsession with offering a defense against opponents who can travel faster than light led him to the Negative Zone and an encounter with Blastaar. And Doctor Doom was never more menacing than when he lulled the Silver Surfer into a sense of false security before stealing his powers.

And what about the Inhumans? In later years Dave Cockrum received much credit for his ability and willingness to invent and draw a virtual army of heroes (the Legion, X-Men, etc.), but Jack was there first with his visually stunning Inhumans. Black Bolt is graceful, powerful and regal, and the rest are also visually magnificent. Or should I say, fantastic?

This volume should be required reading for anyone that has ever leafed through the pages of a comic book. They demonstrate the potential the medium has, and one has to wonder how much the genius of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were taken for granted. Were they aspiring to lofty creative goals or simply putting food on the table for their families? Did they know at the time what type of legacy they were leaving for comic creators to build upon (or steal from), or were they just putting out stories they knew "kids" would like? Only Stan Lee could say now, but I would suggest that the stories contained in Essential Fantastic Four Volume 3 can be compared favorably to any comics of any era and hold their own. Whether the genius of these two creators was realized at the time or not, it was definitely on display.

If you collect the Marvel "Essentials" books to own the early stories, my advice is to get this one first. This will show you how it was meant to be done. This is what comics are supposed to be.

Enjoy.

No Spoilers. This is is some of the best Lee & Kirby stories ever. In this volume you have the first apperences of Inhumans, Silver Surfer & Galatus, Black Panther, Klaw, Walt Wingfoot. The stories are really good and the art is great. You will not be disappointed.

If you only get one of the Fantastic Four Essentials, make it Vol. 3. The Frightful Four w/ evil Ben, the Inhumans saga, Galactus and the Surfer, the Black Panther, it's all here. It contains the single greatest issue of F.F. ever, #58, "Enter Doctor Doom" (the cover was lifted for this new Essentials cover, I see). #58 promises everything and it's King Kirby's single greatest drawing effort in my humble opinion. What are you waiting for, true believer??? BUY THIS!!!