44 Years of the Fantastic Four

by GIT Corp

Product Features

• Supports HyperTransport technology - A high-speed, low latency, point-to-point link designed to provide excellent interconnect for computation and networking. This Technology not only provides more bandwidth but also reduces the I/O bottlenecks and, consequently, greatly enhances the system performance
• AMD Certified Cool'n'Quiet supporting Motherboard
• Superb bandwidth AGP 8X graphics interface
• 3x DIMM Supports DDR266/333/400 Max 3GB
• Slots - 1x AGP 8X/4X, 5x PCI

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.2 x 7.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000EDGO2Q
• Item model number: 90001
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 26, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,689 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #6 in Software > Home & Hobbies > Movies & Television
  • #62 in Software > Children's Software > Games
  • #95 in Software > Home & Hobbies > Hobbies

Product Description

All fantastic four comic book from 1961-2004. Over 550 comple printable comics. All annual issues. All articles, fan pages, bulletins and pinups in each advertisement.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 20,000 pages for pennies a page, July 24, 2006

By 

Christopher J. Schillig (Alliance, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 44 Years of the Fantastic Four (DVD-ROM)

44 YEARS OF FANTASTIC FOUR compresses decades of comic books (20,000 pages according to the box, and I'm not counting them to argue) onto one DVD-Rom.

In some ways, the collection is better than those bulky, expensive Marvel Masterworks editions because you get the original coloring, the occasional nicked cover or yellowed page, all the original ads, Bullpen Bulletins, and letters pages.

In short, even though readers view this collection on a computer screen, it's closer in many respects to the actual act of perusing a vintage issue of "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" And the scans -- saved in two-page increments to better capture the occasional double-page layout -- look great!

And for the price of ONE Masterworks volume, you get an entire 44-year run!

They're all here: the classics, the long runs of solid stories, and the periodic dud. Readers can follow the team from its earliest days under Stan Lee and Jack Kirby when they stuck to the company's forte of giant monsters and aliens (hence, the Thing, the Mole Man and his band of underground misfits, and the Skrulls) through their grand experiments in the cosmic (Galactus, the Silver Surfer, Him, the Inhumans), a run of comics creativity that has seldom, if ever, been equalled.

Then follow the team through a darker period in the 70s when various creative teams floundered in the gigantic wake of Lee and Kirby's departure. Sure, there were some good stories (specifically, the Thomas/Wein/Wolfman era of scripting which included art by George Perez for too short a span), but there were a lot of dogs, too.

The book was reborn under John Byrne, who took over as writer and artist in the early 80s and restored the team to its glory days with the returns of Doctor Doom (the ultimate FF baddie), Galactus, and a healthy mix of the cosmic and day-to-day adventures.

Once you've finished those stories, you still have 15 MORE years of continuity on hand. Really, it's quite an imposing database of adventures, including all the specials and annuals, too. If, like me, you've read many of these before, you'll still find the occasional surprise or story you've forgotten. (For me, so far, it was finding an FF annual completely illustrated by the great Steve Ditko!)

I'm dropping one star, not for the collection itself, but for the lack of simple documentation to make the first-time user's experience with Acrobat Reader more enjoyable. In some ways, I prefer the CDisplay program for reading comics on a computer, as it is more intuitive and novice-reader friendly than Adobe.

However, a one-sheet page of instructions about issues specific to reading comics with Adobe would have shaved an hour's worth of frustration from my initial experience. For example, checking "use single-key accelerators to access tools" under the "General" section of "Preferences" (accessible through CTL+K) allows readers to use keyboard shortcuts while reading full screen.

And you'll want to read these full screen, instead of peeking at them through the Reader window. To access full-screen capabilities, use CTL+L. Once you've done that, increase the size of the page to a comfortable level by holding down CTL + SPACE BAR while clicking with the mouse. Then, you can easily scroll up or down each two-page scan. With a little practice, you'll soon be reading comics on the computer as easily as you read an actual comic book. But better instructions would have improved the process considerably.

A great collection, and a novel way to store thousands upon thousands of books and access them easily. Recommended!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Collection of Marvel's First Family, November 5, 2005

By 

Reader from the North (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 44 Years of Fantastic Four (DVD)

This DVD collects all FF issues including annuals. The company has scanned in all the pages (including ads, Bullpen page, letter pages, and back cover) from actual issues. A few of the pages are scanned in slightly crooked, but this could also be the printing on the originals.

I thought it might be difficult reading the comics on a computer screen, but after a few pages I liked turning a page with the push of a button. If you have a bright monitor or laptop, the colors should look nice.

Make sure that you upgrade to Acrobat Reader 6 (included on the disk) so that the Marvel watermarks don't show on your screen. If you try to print a page the watermarks will (I believe) appear.

Overall, a wonderful addition for those who have the original issues (as I do) but can't read them because of their value, for those who don't want to buy a bunch of the Masterworks titles, for those who want to see the comics with the original colors and printing quality, and for those who want to read all the issues in color. The cost of the total collection may seem high, but think about buying over 550 comics. That's less than a dime an issue--more than I paid years ago!

As Marvel does more of these, they may "crash" the back issue market. People who have the comics may decide to buy these DVDs and sell their back issues.

Highly recommended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great purchase... last year, June 10, 2007

By 

LunaLupus - See all my reviews

This review is from: 44 Years of the Fantastic Four (DVD-ROM)

I'm not really going to review this product, I'm only going to tell you that there is an updated collection coming. Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer - The Complete Comic Edition It has everything this collection has, but continues through Dec. 2006, with a total of "over 575 issues" of Fantastic Four. It also includes 185 Silver Surfer issues (Aug. 1968 through Dec. 2004).

From what I've counted, the Fantastic Four from Nov. 1961 through Dec. 2006 and all annuals comes to around 569 issues. You'll notice there are at least 6 unknown comics if I've counted correctly. I hope the Giant-Size comics are included this time.

Having bought this version almost a year ago, I will buy the new version, but I thought it only fair to let everyone else know.