Customer Reviews

Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four, Nos. 51-60 & Annual No. 4

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Following their classic Galactus trilogy, Lee and Kirby continue to produce the best comics of their careers. There are a few trite "Leeisms" in the issues (See the ending of "This Man, This Monster") but remember that it was Lee himself who made these trite because he first created, then overused them; however, the combination of Kirby and Lee worked magic that's rarely been matched. Joe Sinnott continues as inker which makes Kirby's art sparkle. If you can only pick one FF Masterwork, pick up #5, but the whole run is excellent. Also, if you want a real bargain, check out the "44 Years of FF" where you get all these issues and more on DVD.

The star of the show is the artwork. Kirby and Sinnott carried the FF to their peak. Lee's writing is at its best. The color is spectacular .... HOWEVER ... I would caution people AGAINST buying this book, because the reproduction is so poor, the art is often a twisted misrepresntation of the originals (an honored part of my collection I have enjoyed for years) and the text is often hard to read!

Marvel should be ashamed of themselves. They ought to take more pride and honor their history. Instead, their shabby reproduction does more harm than good to the grand legacy of Lee, Kirby and Sinnott.

I awaited months for this collection and I was truly desappointed by the awful job Marvel Comics did of reproducing these gems.

First, the paper: who said glossy paper was better quality? It makes the colors pop out way too much. The original colors were meant for a more absorbing paper. When printed on the glossy stock they just scream.

Second: the gorgeous inking by the imcomparable Joe Sinnot is totally destroyed by the abysmal reproduction.

These original comics are some of the absolute best ever. They need to be preserved for history's sake. I know Marvel can do better than that...This is why this book is rated 2 stars instead of the five stars the original material deserves.

I enjoyed the previous FF Masterworks editions as they gave the classic stories a new refurbished feel not seen originally when they first came out in print. Unlike DC comics then, up and coming Marvel used a somewhat inferior printer where the colors were not as dynamic as DC's. The masterworks series exposed the true and potential beauty of the artwork and made the stories dynamic.

Alas, this 6th edition of masterwork, as commented by another reviewer, used a poor quality paper almost akin to newsprint, not the high quality semi glossy paper of past editions. Thus, the black shades are not as vivid as they have been in the previous volumes.

What a shame, the stupendous artwork and stories suddenly looked pale, stale and tepid. A great disservice to Lee and Kirby...

If you are buying volume 6pm you don't need me to sell you on the quality of the contents of this affordable masterworks edition. What bugs me is that the paper they are primed on seems to be just a step above newsprint. That is all. Love the test of it.

This run of Fantastic Four comic books by Lee and Kirby, of course, is great. HOWEVER, this Masterworks collection is something of a rip-off. First of all, the suggested retail of $49.95 is up $15 from the price they had a year ago on other Masterworks. Secondly, the reproduction of the artwork is subpar... not to mention outright terrible at times. Worst yet, the inking job by Joe Sinnot is many times obviously "touched up" or completely re-done by another inker (Steve Leiloha?). Half the beauty of the artwork in an FF comic book is Joe Sinnot's inks over Kirby's pencils. That beauty is completely lost in these reprints. Don't buy this Masterworks. Go to a comic book shop and buy the original copies of these comics... if you go for the "good condition" (as opposed to "mint condition") comics you'll actually pay LESS than if you bought the Masterworks edition.

The stories are classic Lee/Kirby. This volume was everything I was hoping for when I bought it. I may be a little biased in that the FF are my favorite characters in the marvel universe but the price was low and the quality was good. I would highly recommend for any FF fan!

For anyone not already familiar with the FF comics from this era, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were building on the successes of their recently expanded cast of characters (especially the Silver Surfer and the Inhumans- both introduced in Vol. 5 of this series). What is stunning about this volume is that Jack Kirby somehow surpassed his work on the previous volume and his artwork is just stunning. Both Lee and Kirby were clearly having the time of their lives weaving their magic in the still newly created Marvel Universe. Although Vol. 5 contains their best known epic, the Galactus saga, they were still clearly at the peak of their creative powers with these issues.

Comic books are a artform and exist on many levels as great mythology and just pure fun. I can honestly say that the fantastic four exists as a great continuing story that can now be read from it's beginning to at least the end of the lee and kirby era so far. I must disagree that 'this man, this monster' is a trite story though. The other reviewer didn't like that one too much but I have always been touched by the story of a bad man's redemption. In fact I don't think lee and kirby ever did a bad issue of this title but for me that was always one of the highlights emotionally wise of their run. This one also includes the great Human torch versus the original human torch tale too and other great stories. Comics were always pop art and if you love movies most of them are storyboarded like comic books so they are related in that regard. Of course this isn't high literature which is great stuff and should be read but comics are worth reading and great comics with great stories and the sixties really liberated comics are really worth your time. This is just one edition of a great series of reprints. If you tried to buy these comics you'd spend quite alot of money. And this lee and kirby stuff is real classic stuff that will be read for centuries most likely. And best of all they aren't just scans of yellowing comics they look better than they ever did in these volumes.

The stories by Stan Lee were juvenile and pre-teen oriented, but I expected this. Kirby's artwork was simply superb! I've read rumblings about the reproduction and how its hurt the inking by Sinnott, but having never seen the originals I can only say that I was impressed even by the inking. If there is a difference between the originals and this reproduction, then I can only imagine how it must have looked. This was a fine trip down memory lane that was well worth the price. Very enjoyable to see stories that were printed about the time that I was born in 1967. Again - stories are pre-teen and juvenile (but I'm a kid at heart so "nuff said") and artwork and inking by Kirby and Sinnott that is stunning! I got off on this!