Rating: 
Summary: Essential FF on a budget
Review: A good way to read some of the finest FF stories without breaking the bank on expensive Masterworks titles or back issues. I am eagerly awaiting the NEXT volume of the series which would contain some of the most ground breaking stories in comics history.
Rating:
Summary: Essential? You bet!
Review: Both Marvel and DC Comics have been reprinting their classic tales, making them affordable and accessible to modern collectors, but Marvel deserves an extra kudos for their exceptional "Essentials" series which reprint entire runs of 20-or-so comics from Marvel's Silver Age in a black-and-white "phone book" format (no doubt inspired by Dave Sim's massive collections of "Cerebus" comics). How innovative are these first FF comics? Picture the early 1960s, where a superhero team comic meant the rather whitebread "Justice League of America" from DC...classic stories, of course, but somewhat lacking in scope and character development. Enter Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's first Marvel Comic: the heroes don't wear costumes (not until the third issue, at least), squabble and fight (not unlike a real family) and face truly hideous and grotesque monsters of true nightmare quality. Reading these stories I'm often surprised at the sheer amount of plot and action that Lee and Kirby manage to squeeze into a couple dozen pages for each story...although this is slightly before the incredibly innovative period of Kirby's blockbuster, knock-you-out layouts, there's still, for want of a better phrase, "never a dull moment." This book, and others created by Lee and Kirby and the other great artists of early Marvel, created comics that inspired a whole new wave in the industry. This isn't the single greatest Fantastic Four period--Kirby's knock-out run beginning around FF #45 and including the mind-blowing Galactus Trilogy is yet to come--but it's an absolute must-have for anyone who professes to love comics. Finally, *very* high praise for the Essentials series in and of itself: I've always wanted to read *all* these stories, not just the few that get often reprinted in other formats (FF #1, 5), and this is simply the best way to read a couple years worth of continuity at an exceptionally affordable price. Sure, these are reprinted in black and white rather than the original color, but that's a minor problem-Kirby's art is as dynamic and innovative even without colors. The "Essentials" series is a re-publishing program that is much needed, and I hope it continues (how about a collection of Ant-Man/Wasp stories? John Byrne's run on FF? Gulacy's Master of Kung Fu?). Although DC has made enormous strides in re-presenting their classic works for a modern audience in their Archives editions and the Millennium comic books, Marvel has shown that it can and will cover all ends of the market with comic book format reprints, color graphic novel compilations, their pricier color Masterworks collections, and these accessibly-priced and aptly-named Essentials. There's only one thing Marvel could do better: add a "created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby" line to every Fantastic Four comic, giving homage and credit where credit's due to not only Stan the Man but the one and only King of Comics.
Rating:
Summary: Essential? You bet!
Review: Both Marvel and DC Comics have been reprinting their classic tales, making them affordable and accessible to modern collectors, but Marvel deserves an extra kudos for their exceptional "Essentials" series which reprint entire runs of 20-or-so comics from Marvel's Silver Age in a black-and-white "phone book" format (no doubt inspired by Dave Sim's massive collections of "Cerebus" comics). How innovative are these first FF comics? Picture the early 1960s, where a superhero team comic meant the rather whitebread "Justice League of America" from DC...classic stories, of course, but somewhat lacking in scope and character development. Enter Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's first Marvel Comic: the heroes don't wear costumes (not until the third issue, at least), squabble and fight (not unlike a real family) and face truly hideous and grotesque monsters of true nightmare quality. Reading these stories I'm often surprised at the sheer amount of plot and action that Lee and Kirby manage to squeeze into a couple dozen pages for each story...although this is slightly before the incredibly innovative period of Kirby's blockbuster, knock-you-out layouts, there's still, for want of a better phrase, "never a dull moment." This book, and others created by Lee and Kirby and the other great artists of early Marvel, created comics that inspired a whole new wave in the industry. This isn't the single greatest Fantastic Four period--Kirby's knock-out run beginning around FF #45 and including the mind-blowing Galactus Trilogy is yet to come--but it's an absolute must-have for anyone who professes to love comics. Finally, *very* high praise for the Essentials series in and of itself: I've always wanted to read *all* these stories, not just the few that get often reprinted in other formats (FF #1, 5), and this is simply the best way to read a couple years worth of continuity at an exceptionally affordable price. Sure, these are reprinted in black and white rather than the original color, but that's a minor problem-Kirby's art is as dynamic and innovative even without colors. The "Essentials" series is a re-publishing program that is much needed, and I hope it continues (how about a collection of Ant-Man/Wasp stories? John Byrne's run on FF? Gulacy's Master of Kung Fu?). Although DC has made enormous strides in re-presenting their classic works for a modern audience in their Archives editions and the Millennium comic books, Marvel has shown that it can and will cover all ends of the market with comic book format reprints, color graphic novel compilations, their pricier color Masterworks collections, and these accessibly-priced and aptly-named Essentials. There's only one thing Marvel could do better: add a "created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby" line to every Fantastic Four comic, giving homage and credit where credit's due to not only Stan the Man but the one and only King of Comics.
Rating:
Summary: Essential? You bet!
Review: Both Marvel and DC Comics have been reprinting their classic tales, making them affordable and accessible to modern collectors, but Marvel deserves an extra kudos for their exceptional "Essentials" series which reprint entire runs of 20-or-so comics from Marvel's Silver Age in a black-and-white "phone book" format (no doubt inspired by Dave Sim's massive collections of "Cerebus" comics). How innovative are these first FF comics? Picture the early 1960s, where a superhero team comic meant the rather whitebread "Justice League of America" from DC...classic stories, of course, but somewhat lacking in scope and character development. Enter Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's first Marvel Comic: the heroes don't wear costumes (not until the third issue, at least), squabble and fight (not unlike a real family) and face truly hideous and grotesque monsters of true nightmare quality. Reading these stories I'm often surprised at the sheer amount of plot and action that Lee and Kirby manage to squeeze into a couple dozen pages for each story...although this is slightly before the incredibly innovative period of Kirby's blockbuster, knock-you-out layouts, there's still, for want of a better phrase, "never a dull moment." This book, and others created by Lee and Kirby and the other great artists of early Marvel, created comics that inspired a whole new wave in the industry. This isn't the single greatest Fantastic Four period--Kirby's knock-out run beginning around FF #45 and including the mind-blowing Galactus Trilogy is yet to come--but it's an absolute must-have for anyone who professes to love comics. Finally, *very* high praise for the Essentials series in and of itself: I've always wanted to read *all* these stories, not just the few that get often reprinted in other formats (FF #1, 5), and this is simply the best way to read a couple years worth of continuity at an exceptionally affordable price. Sure, these are reprinted in black and white rather than the original color, but that's a minor problem-Kirby's art is as dynamic and innovative even without colors. The "Essentials" series is a re-publishing program that is much needed, and I hope it continues (how about a collection of Ant-Man/Wasp stories? John Byrne's run on FF? Gulacy's Master of Kung Fu?). Although DC has made enormous strides in re-presenting their classic works for a modern audience in their Archives editions and the Millennium comic books, Marvel has shown that it can and will cover all ends of the market with comic book format reprints, color graphic novel compilations, their pricier color Masterworks collections, and these accessibly-priced and aptly-named Essentials. There's only one thing Marvel could do better: add a "created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby" line to every Fantastic Four comic, giving homage and credit where credit's due to not only Stan the Man but the one and only King of Comics.
Rating:
Summary: The Birth of the Silver Age of Comics
Review: Every few decades, a comic emerges which changes everything in the medium. Action Comics #1 with the emergence of Superman. Frank Miller's "Batman: The Dark Night Returns". And bisecting these two milestones? Fantastic Four #1, the comic which gave birth to the Silver Age. This legendary issue is included, along with the 19 issues of the title which followed it, and the 1st FF annual, in "Essential Fantastic Four vol. 1". Each issue is absolutely packed with some of the most innovative characters and writing ever seen in comics. Aside from the truly radical members of the FF (a superteam that bickers? This ain't the Justice League), readers are treated to the first appearances of the Sub-Mariner, the shapeshifting Skrulls, and Dr. Doom. This is a top-drawer collection which every comics fan should own.
Rating:
Summary: The Birth of the Silver Age of Comics
Review: Every few decades, a comic emerges which changes everything in the medium. Action Comics #1 with the emergence of Superman. Frank Miller's "Batman: The Dark Night Returns". And bisecting these two milestones? Fantastic Four #1, the comic which gave birth to the Silver Age. This legendary issue is included, along with the 19 issues of the title which followed it, and the 1st FF annual, in "Essential Fantastic Four vol. 1". Each issue is absolutely packed with some of the most innovative characters and writing ever seen in comics. Aside from the truly radical members of the FF (a superteam that bickers? This ain't the Justice League), readers are treated to the first appearances of the Sub-Mariner, the shapeshifting Skrulls, and Dr. Doom. This is a top-drawer collection which every comics fan should own.
Rating:
Summary: The humble beginnings of the World's Greatest Comic Book
Review: From a historical standpoint the first twenty issues of "The Fantastic Four" are important because they were Stan Lee's first steps in creating the Marvel Universe. Before there was Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and everybody else, there was the Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, and Invisible Girl. I love how the cover of issue #1 proclaims that these four characters are "together for the first time in one mighty magazine," which is interesting since none of them had appeared individually in any magazine, monthly or otherwise (since Johnny Storm is not the original Human Torch). The whole point of "The Fantastic Four" was that Stan Lee was revitalizing the sorry state of superhero comic books in the early Sixties. While testing an experimental space craft Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Sue and Johnny Storm are exposed to a bombardment of mysterious cosmic rays. When they return to earth they discover that they have gained fantastic abilities, which they will use to fight evil. When compared to the competition at that particular point in time, these comics are pretty good, but I cannot help but compare them to the glory days of the Fantastic Four starting around year four when Galactus, the Silver Surfer, and the Inhumans first pop up. Lee's writing certainly improved over time, but not as much as Jack Kirby's artwork. Even within this collection, which covers the first twenty issues of "The Fantastic Four" along with the first annual, you can see a significant improvement in Kirby's artwork (just pay attention to how the Thing is drawn over this period), which I think goes beyond the work of Dick Ayers as the main inker on those later comics (Note: For FF#13 you have the rare combination of pencils by Kirby being inked by Steve Ditko). It is the character of the Thing that was the key to creating the most dysfunctional group of superheroes (before the X-Men reformed with Wolverine anyway). The pathos of a man turned into a monster, and being unaware of his fate unlike the Hulk, was another to overcome the elasticity of Mr. Fantastic, which is one of the lamest super powers, even if Reed Richards is a lot smarter than Plastic Man. Resurrecting the Human Torch as a hotheaded teenager was a good move, especially since it led to bringing back Namor the Sub-Mariner as well, but it was soon clear that Sue Storm's invisibility was no big deal and her powers were augmented with force fields. My memory of these early issues was that there were a lot of hokey villains, but in rereading these stories I am more impressed with the gallery of super villains Lee and Kirby created in these early years. Doctor Doom is, of course, the biggest and baddest of them all, and Lee returns to him and Namor repeatedly because they are clearly heads and shoulders about the others. The Super Skrull is a good second-level supervillian and I have to admit that the Miracle Man, the Red Ghost, the Impossible Man, the Molecule Man, the Mad Thinker and, yes, even the Mole Man, were not as bad as I first thought. However, the Puppet Master is just too freaky looking for me to accept; good thing Alicia makes her first appearance in that story as well. So I started out convinced that I was going to give the Volume 1 of "The Essential Fantastic Four" four stars, but when I went over these early issues again they were better than that; once you add in the historic significance of these comics you really have to give it five stars. But, when it comes to Lee and Kirby's work on the Fantastic Four, the best is yet to come, True Believers! (Final Note: Hey, kids! Can you spot Adlai Stevenson in one of these comics? Would it help if you knew that he was the Democratic nominee for President in both 1952 and 1956 and was the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. during the Kennedy administration? And they say comic books are not educational...)
Rating:
Summary: The humble beginnings of the World's Greatest Comic Book
Review: From a historical standpoint the first twenty issues of "The Fantastic Four" are important because they were Stan Lee's first steps in creating the Marvel Universe. Before there was Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and everybody else, there was the Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, and Invisible Girl. I love how the cover of issue #1 proclaims that these four characters are "together for the first time in one mighty magazine," which is interesting since none of them had appeared individually in any magazine, monthly or otherwise (since Johnny Storm is not the original Human Torch). The whole point of "The Fantastic Four" was that Stan Lee was revitalizing the sorry state of superhero comic books in the early Sixties. While testing an experimental space craft Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Sue and Johnny Storm are exposed to a bombardment of mysterious cosmic rays. When they return to earth they discover that they have gained fantastic abilities, which they will use to fight evil. When compared to the competition at that particular point in time, these comics are pretty good, but I cannot help but compare them to the glory days of the Fantastic Four starting around year four when Galactus, the Silver Surfer, and the Inhumans first pop up. Lee's writing certainly improved over time, but not as much as Jack Kirby's artwork. Even within this collection, which covers the first twenty issues of "The Fantastic Four" along with the first annual, you can see a significant improvement in Kirby's artwork (just pay attention to how the Thing is drawn over this period), which I think goes beyond the work of Dick Ayers as the main inker on those later comics (Note: For FF#13 you have the rare combination of pencils by Kirby being inked by Steve Ditko). It is the character of the Thing that was the key to creating the most dysfunctional group of superheroes (before the X-Men reformed with Wolverine anyway). The pathos of a man turned into a monster, and being unaware of his fate unlike the Hulk, was another to overcome the elasticity of Mr. Fantastic, which is one of the lamest super powers, even if Reed Richards is a lot smarter than Plastic Man. Resurrecting the Human Torch as a hotheaded teenager was a good move, especially since it led to bringing back Namor the Sub-Mariner as well, but it was soon clear that Sue Storm's invisibility was no big deal and her powers were augmented with force fields. My memory of these early issues was that there were a lot of hokey villains, but in rereading these stories I am more impressed with the gallery of super villains Lee and Kirby created in these early years. Doctor Doom is, of course, the biggest and baddest of them all, and Lee returns to him and Namor repeatedly because they are clearly heads and shoulders about the others. The Super Skrull is a good second-level supervillian and I have to admit that the Miracle Man, the Red Ghost, the Impossible Man, the Molecule Man, the Mad Thinker and, yes, even the Mole Man, were not as bad as I first thought. However, the Puppet Master is just too freaky looking for me to accept; good thing Alicia makes her first appearance in that story as well. So I started out convinced that I was going to give the Volume 1 of "The Essential Fantastic Four" four stars, but when I went over these early issues again they were better than that; once you add in the historic significance of these comics you really have to give it five stars. But, when it comes to Lee and Kirby's work on the Fantastic Four, the best is yet to come, True Believers! (Final Note: Hey, kids! Can you spot Adlai Stevenson in one of these comics? Would it help if you knew that he was the Democratic nominee for President in both 1952 and 1956 and was the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. during the Kennedy administration? And they say comic books are not educational...)
Rating:
Summary: "Essential" doesn't begin to describe these stories
Review: How much did these Lee/Kirby classics affect comics as we know them? Well, when FF#1 arrived on the scene, DC stories were likely to be Superman being turned into an Ant Superman or Lion Superman by red kryptonite, Jimmy Olson was turning into Turtle Boy, Lois Lane was constantly trying to trick Superman into marriage and Batman spent more time fighting aliens than he did fighting the Joker. When DC had a good story idea, they had to trumpet it on their cover with "Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! Not an April Fool's gag!"--DC was the pits! Along comes Marvel (Atlas at the time) which specialized in Godzilla type monster stories. Armed with new concepts-humanized heroes, longer stories, & continuity-the company took off. This is where the Marvel Universe was born and although these stories are simplistic (FF fought to a standstill by a hypnotist!? defeats Impossible Man by ignoring him until he leaves?!), they are the bedrock of modern comics. Lee/Kirby deserve all the credit they get for rescuing the form from oblivion and raising the intelligence of the genre. I hope that the series continues at least through the first 100.
Rating:
Summary: "Essential" doesn't begin to describe these stories
Review: How much did these Lee/Kirby classics affect comics as we know them? Well, when FF#1 arrived on the scene, DC stories were likely to be Superman being turned into an Ant Superman or Lion Superman by red kryptonite, Jimmy Olson was turning into Turtle Boy, Lois Lane was constantly trying to trick Superman into marriage and Batman spent more time fighting aliens than he did fighting the Joker. When DC had a good story idea, they had to trumpet it on their cover with "Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! Not an April Fool's gag!"--DC was the pits! Along comes Marvel (Atlas at the time) which specialized in Godzilla type monster stories. Armed with new concepts-humanized heroes, longer stories, & continuity-the company took off. This is where the Marvel Universe was born and although these stories are simplistic (FF fought to a standstill by a hypnotist!? defeats Impossible Man by ignoring him until he leaves?!), they are the bedrock of modern comics. Lee/Kirby deserve all the credit they get for rescuing the form from oblivion and raising the intelligence of the genre. I hope that the series continues at least through the first 100.
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