Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne

Rating:
Summary: Vol. 1 = get on with it. Vol. 2 = much, much better.
Review: Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 1 left me with the feeling that Byrne was really keeping his good stuff in his back pocket until he had established himself on the FF. In Volume 2, you get a much better sense of the kind of Fantastic Four Byrne was trying to create. His art is its usual outstanding self, but the "just get on with it" feeling you got from most of the short vignettes of Vol. 1 is nowhere to be found.

You can't talk about FF Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 2 without talking about the Galactus epic. Galactus' rebellious herald Terrax comes to Earth, battles the Fantastic Four, and then holds the entire island of Manhattan hostage unless the FF kills Galactus. It's pretty much everyone versus Galactus in a melee that most of comicdom wanted to see happen for years. The panels with Spiderman and Daredevil deciding to sit this one out ("We'd just be in the way.") are priceless. One note, though: I should call it a half-epic, as the Trial of Reed Richards, and the fate of Terrax that happened after issue #250 are not included in this volume (hopefully there will be a Vol. 3). A bit disappointing, but only mildly so.

There are other good tales here as well - the fate of Frankie Raye, Dr. Doom enlisting the FF's help to reclaim the throne of Latveria, the revelation of Franklin Richards, etc. However, the other jewel in this volume is the finale - issues #249 and #250 - which features Gladiator (of X-men and Imperial Guard fame), as well as guest appearances by Spiderman, Captain America, and the aforementioned X-men (sort of).

All in all, I'd have to say that if you're trying to gather the best graphic novelizations of Byrne's work, this title is a must-have.

Rating:
Summary: This is a fantastic (pardon the pun) book!
Review: I grew up reading the byrne F4, it was one of the grandest reads, it was epic but he kept it down to earth by makign the connection with the characters.

unlike many superhero teams such as the JLA or avengers the F4 are not a team at all, they are a family, it's what makes the book so great, your seeing a family cope with all these problems..sure the problems are alien invaders and such but it works!

Byrne has lost his art and writing talent in recent years, some people may be scared off by that, so if you read his recent JLA tenth circle or spider-man year one don't worry, this was back when he was the best man around, he was writing the best superman, F4, and co-writing x-men among others, it was like he could do no wrong, he understood what made them tick.

also this book is great for kids and adults, i would give this to a kid just was my father gave me the byrne issues so long ago, now reading the issues again i see there is much more there to enjoy like bens struggle with being a monster, reeds struggle with having caused it...and much more.

also you should buy the first volume since it sets up characters for this volume and they have more impact when read together but this can be read alone and enjoyed greatly if you only get this one.