MARK MILLAR! BRYAN HITCH! Need we say more? All right, we will! Who is Mrs. Fantastic? And how will her return into Reed's life rock comicdom's First Family? Also, get ready to meet the Invisible Woman's brand-NEW super-team! These stories will make Fantastic Four "The World's ULTIMATEST Comic Magazine!" Promise! Collects Fantastic Four #554-561.
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Along with Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar has been one of the key writers for Marvel Comics in the 21st century. After proving himself in the '90s as a talent to watch while writing for DC Comics and the UK comic 2000AD, his arrival to Marvel came at a time when Ultimate Spider-Man had just shot up the sales charts. It was in this environment that Millar made his first major contribution to Marvel with Ultimate X-Men, as Millar integrated forty years' worth of X-Men history, characters and lore into a solid two-year run, making the companion title to Ultimate Spider-Man every bit the creative and commercial success. Next up was The Ultimates, a new rendering of the Avengers that was to continue building on the success of the Ultimate line. He and artist Bryan Hitch pulled it all off in spades: The Ultimates and its sequel, Ultimates 2, were ensconced at the top of the sales charts every month; what's more, they were critical successes, as well. Meanwhile, Millar was invited to enter the regular Marvel Universe to take a stab at two of its most iconic characters: Spider-Man and Wolverine. Paired with industry heavyweights to draw his stories -- Terry Dodson on Marvel Knights Spider-Man and John Romita Jr. on Wolverine -- Millar brought the same fast-paced and cleverly constructed plots with which his Ultimate fans were already familiar. Amid building a small library of Millarworld indie comic books -- including the titles Chosen and Wanted, the latter of which was turned into a Hollywood blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie -- he managed to write Civil War, the epic seven-issue miniseries that definitively reshaped the landscape of Marvel's heroes. Kick-A**, a Marvel Icon project done in tandem with John Romita Jr., made an impressive impact on the sales chart before also being adapted for a major motion picture. In addition, Millar has reunited with Civil War artist Steve McNiven in both the pages of Wolverine and their creator-owned book Nemesis.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An All-Star Read that You Seriously Shouldn't Miss,
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This review is from: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest (Paperback)
The world was first introduced to the Fantastic Four in the pages of Fantastic Four #1, published by Marvel Comics in November 1961. Historically significant because it ushered in the "Marvel Age of Comics," and deserving of its title as "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" because of its radical innovation and creative new take on superheroes, Fantastic Four has over the course of the past half century been written and drawn by some of the finest talents working within the field of graphic storytelling.
During their epic and groundbreaking run on the title, writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/coplotter Jack Kirby brought a kinetic creativity to Fantastic Four,introducing radical new ideas, concepts, and characters month in and month out. During the entire duration of their collaboration, which lasted from issue #1 to #102 (September 1970), Fantastic Four was without question Marvel's most exciting and accessible monthly comic book. Lee and Kirby not only redefined the rules of the superhero genre, but they also created a new playing field altogether, and their Fantastic Four stories combined human drama with epics, big and cosmic. While easy to overlook now, their overall approach was extremely radical and risky at the time. And this is one of the reasons that Fantastic Four should probably be credited with being the original must-read title--under Lee and Kirby, Fantastic Four was a book that was fresh, contemporary, and now.Readers were really guaranteed only one thing in advance: Each issue promised excitement by way of the infinitely new. The recently released Fantastic Four: World's Greatest by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch collects issues #554-561 of the Fantastic Four monthly comic book and is recommended for several reasons. For starters, there's the all-star creative team. Over the course of the past decade, Millar has written many critically acclaimed titles, including The Authority, Superman: Red Son, and Wolverine: Enemy of the State.Bryan Hitch's work has made him one of the most popular comic artists working today. This collection reprints the first two story arcs of their planned 16-issue run on Fantastic Four. From the outset, it is clear that Millar and Hitch were striving to make their run definitive and memorable. That brings us to the second reason I recommend this book: Millar and Hitch succeed in giving the Fantastic Four back that proverbial wow factor. Embracing all that is classic about the FF concept, Millar and Hitch combine epic with interesting and new character development. I led off this review with an extensive historical discussion because Millar has cited the innovations of the classic Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four and John Byrne's remarkable run from the 1980s as central inspirations for what he hoped to achieve with Hitch on the title. Inspired by the best-of-the-best Fantastic Four stories of the past and wanting to make their own lasting mark on the historic title, Millar and Hitch bring it with no small amount of creative spark. They succeed in making Fantastic Four: World's Greatest an exhilarating, melodramatic, and incredibly fun read. Two complete story arcs--"World's Greatest" and "Death of the Invisible Woman"--are reprinted here, and both can be enjoyed by mainstream and first-time Fantastic Four readers. This collection would actually be a wonderful introduction to the team. It includes standard and variant covers (by superstar artists like Arthur Suydam, Marc Silvestri, and Simone Bianchi) for each of the issues reprinted within the volume. One of the first things you'll notice upon opening the book, even at a glance, is Hitch's beautiful artwork. Hitch reimagines the Fantastic Four in such a way that thoroughly contemporizes them while still retaining their instantly recognizable classic looks. He does for the visuals what Millar does for the characters and their world. Both the art and savvy writing project a discernable cool factor throughout. Many of Hitch's images are alternatively gorgeous or awe-inspiring enough to compel one to stop reading for several moments to simply stare and take in the wondrous visuals. Proficient panel designs are combined with skillfully placed splash pages and brilliant double-page spreads, creating and actualizing a visual look that is simultaneously contemporary and classic. Much happens here by way of story, plot, and character development. It is clear from the outset that Millar is a master at extremely tight plotting and deft, wonderful pacing. Multiple story threads are set in motion from the get-go. True to the spirit of the classic stories, creative and original science-fiction elements feature prominently into the stories throughout. These are on par with the best Fantastic Four stories of the past, and this is meant as a compliment of the highest order to this creative team. The NU-World, time travel elements, and some awe-inspiring plot twists involving well-known adversaries are cleverly introduced. Millar provides a wonderful balance between action and character development. Love and romance abound in these stories, amidst all the action. Johnny becomes involved with someone who may not be whom she initially seems to be. Ben also connects with someone, finding what seems to be the beginning of friendship and a genuine, lasting romantic love. An old romantic interest of Reed's emerges, and her character is made instantly interesting vis-à-vis clever dialogue and a wonderfully handled flashback scene. Reed and Sue's anniversary dinner stands out as particularly brilliant. (Reed's two anniversary gifts to Sue are wildly romantic and completely unforgettable.) This scene once again prompted me to momentarily stop reading simply because I wanted to bask in this moment of the story a little longer than usual. Millar and Hitch have once again made the Fantastic Four synonymous with "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" The central narratives, multiple story threads, plotting, pacing, interesting characterization, innovative character development, and dialogue, along with the outstanding artwork, make this an all-star read that you seriously shouldn't miss. -- Jeffery Klaehn
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful art, but the story lags,
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This review is from: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest (Paperback)
Millar seems to have a desire to tell big stories. I suppose comics today are full of big stories and grand story arcs. The Earth is in grave danger two times in this collection: from a giant robot and from the future Invisible Woman.
The big robot (CAP) didn't work for me. The idea that a collection of rich people could make a planet (Nu World), let alone a robot that could threaten all life on Earth... it just didn't work for me. The scale was all off (considering the Avengers were there as well). I suppose it was the story that Millar wanted to tell and it really didn't matter that it made little sense in the context of the Marvel Universe. The resolution to the Invisible Woman, New Defenders, etc. story needed Nu World, so I can accept it. I both liked and dis-liked the idea of Galactus being an engine. It's a cool idea, but does it make sense? I'm not sure. The artwork by Hitch is great and I regularly pick up the collection and flip through to admire the splash pages. The grand story is supported nicely by the grand artwork. I also enjoy the details that Hitch brings to the story with the FF's costumes and I enjoy his version of the Thing.
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but flawed,
By
This review is from: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest (Paperback)
Hot off their top-selling run on the Ultimates writer Mark Millar and artist Brian Hitch took on the Fantastic Four in an attempt to bring its sales up to the top. The results were a bit of a disappointment sales-wise and the story has some flaws but overall it's an interesting book worth checking out. Both the art and writing are quite similar to the Ultimates, even the FF's costume are changed to look more like the Ultimates. So if you liked the Ultimates add a star, if you didn't then stay away.
In a nutshell the plot is Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman's marriage is strained when his old flame Alyssa Moy shows up with a plan to evacuate everyone on Earth for an artificial "Nu World". In the meantime a group of time travellers called the New Defenders are up to something. No one can accuse Millar of thinking small. In his first issue he introduces the Nu World, a life sized, precise, duplicate of the Earth being build in another dimension. The Nu World will have healers called Nightingales who can eliminate disease, a supercomputer called the World Bank that will balance the economy for 1000 years and a robot named CAP (Conserve and Protect) to keep it safe. But he doesn't really think these ideas through. If the architects of the Nu World can do these things... why can't they save Earth's environment? Building an artificial Earth is much more complicated than taking carbon out of the atmosphere! And why aren't they sharing some of their technology now? Why are people dying of disease when they can stop it? And why doesn't our hero ever ask these questions? Soon enough these issues are pushed aside as the robot CAP gets free and starts destroying military bases. Here Millar makes a basic error in forgetting the 'show don't tell' rule. CAP destroys dozens of army bases, off panel. He defeats all of Marvel's heroes. Off panel. We hear how powerful this boring giant robot is but never see it. We have a similar problem with the New Defenders. To show how powerful they are Millar has then defeat Dr Doom and Galactus, off panel. Hitch's art is as gorgeous as ever, and as stiff. He's photorealistic artist who tries to make each image look like a movie still. He forgoes things like motion lines and sound effects. The problem is everything looks stiff and motionless, too calculated, too plastic. Nothing seems to move on the page. The ending has some twists but unfortunately they're pretty obvious. And they include the most pointless Wolverine cameo in years. Bottom line, it's a lot like the Ultimates, it has the same virtues and the same flaws so make your purchase accordingly.
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