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Fantastic Four: The Life Fantastic (Fantastic Four (Marvel Paperback))
 
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Fantastic Four: The Life Fantastic (Fantastic Four (Marvel Paperback)) [Paperback]

J. Michael Straczynski (Author), Karl Kesel (Author), Dwayne McDuffie (Author), Mike McKone (Illustrator), Casey Jones (Illustrator), Drew Johnson (Illustrator), Lee Weeks (Illustrator)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)


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Book Description

4 and upFantastic Four (Marvel Paperback)
FOUR FANTASTIC TALES OF THE FF! - When a doomsday weapon manufactured by Hydra turns up in the Nevada desert, there's only one man the authorities can ask to go in and defuse it: Bruce Banner! What does all of this have to do with the FF, you ask? Well, who do you think has to deal with the fallout when it all goes terribly wrong? - It's hard to believe Reed and Sue tied the knot 40 years ago... and it certainly doesn't seem that much time has passed to Reed and Sue themselves when a special evening out gives them a chance to look over their entire life together- past, present and future! - The Invisible Woman is dead! As Reed cradles his murdered wife, lost in grief, and Ben rampages after Sue's killer, Johnny defiantly decides to do whatever it takes- no matter the cost or consequence- to see his sister alive again. What he does will change the way the Fantastic Four look at him forever. - It's a day of celebration and reflection in Latveria, but deep within the confines of the Latverain Embassy to America, Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards engage in a subtle battle of wits, with all of Manhattan as the playing field. What are the stakes? And can Mister Fantastic triumph when all the moves have been made in advance? Collects Fantastic Four #533-535; Wedding Special; My Dinner with Dr. Doom; and Death in the Family.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 152 pages
  • Publisher: Marvel (September 20, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0785118969
  • ISBN-13: 978-0785118961
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J. Michael Staczynski was born in Paterson, NJ in 1954, from a lower-middle-class blue-collar family that moved 21 times in his first 18 years. He began writing in earnest and selling at the age of 17 and hasn't stopped since. He graduated San Diego State University with degrees in Psychology and Sociology.

As a journalist, he has written over 500 published articles for such periodicals as The Los Anglees Times, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Penthouse, Writer's Digest, San Diego Magazine, the San Diego and Los Angeles Reader and TIME, Inc. He has also published numerous short stories in Amazing Science Fiction Magazine, Pulphouse, and various anthologies.

As a television writer and producer, he has written over 200 produced episodes, including workj on The New Twilight Zone, Nightmare Classics and Murder She Wrote. He also wrote, created and produced the series Babylon 5, Crusade and Jeremiah.

Moving from TV to film, he wrote Changeling (directed by Clint Eastwood), Ninja Assassin (produced by the Wachowskis), provided the story for Thor (directed by Kenneth Branagh), wrote Underworld 4 (starring Kate Beckinsale), and has written numerous other films that are currently slated for production.

He has won the Hugo Award (twice), the Saturn Award, the Eisner Award, the Inkpot Lifetime Achievement Award, the E Pluribus Unum Award from the American Cinema Foundation, the Space Frontier Foundation award, the Ray Bradbury Award, the Christopher Award, and over a dozen others.

He was also nominated for a British Academy Award (BAFTA) for his screenplay for Changeling.

He writes ten hours a day, every day, except for his birthday, New Year's Day and Christmas Day.

 

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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Four Weddings and a Funeral?, February 4, 2007
By 
Nathan (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fantastic Four: The Life Fantastic (Fantastic Four (Marvel Paperback)) (Paperback)
This collection, THE LIFE FANTASTIC, contains four stories of the Fantastic Four. It opens with issues #533-535 of the regular F4 series, written by J. Michael Straczynski with pencils by Mike McKone. Taking place after JMS's first F4 story and before the family got mixed up in Civil War, this story is yet another iteration of the old Thing vs Hulk fight. It's a decent enough story, fun and amusing and pretty good, with nice art, but -- it's Hulk vs Thing. Again. It also follows up on a couple threads from the previous JMS story and leads into the Planet Hulk story that was about to start in the Hulk book. Not bad, but not great either.

Also in this volume are two stories by Karl Kesel: "The Life Fantastic" and "A Death in the Family", pencilled by Drew Johnson and Lee Weeks respectively. The former is Sue and Reed's 40th Wedding Anniversary Special; the latter is a story that tries to be a lot more touching than it ends up being. Again, neither of these stories is bad, but neither is very good, either. Pretty mediocre.

The highlight of this collection is "My Dinner With Doom", written by Dwayne McDuffie, who's the new writer of the ongoing F4 title now that JMS has moved on, with art by Casey Jones. Not a perfect story, not great, but even though it's yet another story of Reed and Victor von Doom, it works, and works pretty well. I can't wait to see what McDuffie does with the regular book.

I'd give this book four stars for the JMS and McDuffie bits, but Kesel's stories are mediocre enough to drag it down to three. Still, if you can find it at a discount, it's a worthy addition to your F4 library.
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3.0 out of 5 stars HIt and Miss, August 24, 2011
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This review is from: Fantastic Four: The Life Fantastic (Fantastic Four (Marvel Paperback)) (Paperback)
When I first heard the story of "Hulk Destroying Las Vegas" I had imagined a grand brawl between the Fantastic Four and the Hulk duking it out and having an entire city leveled in the process. What you get is a lackluster fight between Hulk, Human Torch, and The Thing. The cover of the book is actually more promising then the actual issues written by Straczynski, whom I like as a writer. To the pros of the story, Straczynski writes Ben and Johnny almost perfectly when they feud you get some very genuinely funny moments (also a strange instance of product placement). Overall it's not that impressive but it's not bad either.

I found the wedding anniversary story to be pretty boring, the premise was interesting but overall it didn't keep my attention well. Not much to say about that one.

The third story is fairly typical but I found it charming.

And the final story is a tale about time travel. It's funny and cute for awhile, until things go very wrong. Overall it's a very good story with a great conclusion, a slightly more realistic take on time travel in fiction.

I recommend for the last two stories, but only if it's under $10
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4.0 out of 5 stars Great installment featuring the Hulk and other stories, June 22, 2007
This review is from: Fantastic Four: The Life Fantastic (Fantastic Four (Marvel Paperback)) (Paperback)
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, whose early run on Amazing Spider-Man and his MAX title Supreme Power were nothing short of excellent, made a solid attempt at putting the "fantastic" back in Fantastic Four during his brief run on the title, and The Life Fantastic is proof of that. Beginning with another Thing versus Hulk story in the first half of this TPB, seeds are planted that will come to fruition in the exile and return of the Hulk, which leads to the current World War Hulk mega-event. After that though, Karl Kesel provides two stories, including the anniversary event of the wedding of Reed and Sue, while new Fantastic Four writer Dwayne McDuffie provides a typical Reed versus Doctor Doom story in a battle of wits. The best part of The Life Fantastic is definitely the various art, which features work from Teen Titans artist Mike McKone and veteran Lee Weeks among others. All in all, The Life Fantastic is a great installment featuring the Hulk and varying looks at aspects of the FF mythos, and is definitely worth picking up for Fantastic Four fans new and old.
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