Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic stories at a great price!
Review: Another excellent tome in the "Essential" collection, this one covers the "mid" years of the Lee/Kirby run, between the outstanding inventiveness of the earliest material and the legendary run in the #40-#60 range that introduced Galactus, the Inhumans, etc. So what's the highlight here? Well, #20-#40 pretty much are reprinted, and even in black and white they mostly shine - the best stories include the origin of Dr. Doom, a slam-bang battle between the FF, the Hulk and the Avengers, an awesome confrontation between a powerless FF and Doom, and the introduction of the Frightful Four! Woo! Great stuff! I'm only knocking this down one star because of the hideous inking Kirby's pencils got on the first five or so issues included in this collection - it's slapdash and sketchy, awful stuff compared to Chic Stone's great inking in the last 2/3 or so of this mammoth book. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic stories at a great price!
Review: Another excellent tome in the "Essential" collection, this one covers the "mid" years of the Lee/Kirby run, between the outstanding inventiveness of the earliest material and the legendary run in the #40-#60 range that introduced Galactus, the Inhumans, etc. So what's the highlight here? Well, #20-#40 pretty much are reprinted, and even in black and white they mostly shine - the best stories include the origin of Dr. Doom, a slam-bang battle between the FF, the Hulk and the Avengers, an awesome confrontation between a powerless FF and Doom, and the introduction of the Frightful Four! Woo! Great stuff! I'm only knocking this down one star because of the hideous inking Kirby's pencils got on the first five or so issues included in this collection - it's slapdash and sketchy, awful stuff compared to Chic Stone's great inking in the last 2/3 or so of this mammoth book. Buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: Companion piece for this great graphic novel
Review: As great as this graphic novel was by itself, I know of one helluva great companion piece in the form of a book entitled "The Adventures of Darkeye: Cyber Hunter" whose odd manner of having log-entries over chapters seems almost like the script for a graphic novel, even though it is in the science fiction/high-tech and cyberpunk genre along with books like "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", "Prey", and "Altered Carbon". Very fast-paced and visual as well as being very exciting due to its action-packed pages.
Rating:
Summary: Companion piece for this great graphic novel
Review: As great as this graphic novel was by itself, I know of one helluva great companion piece in the form of a book entitled "The Adventures of Darkeye: Cyber Hunter" whose odd manner of having log-entries over chapters seems almost like the script for a graphic novel, even though it is in the science fiction/high-tech and cyberpunk genre along with books like "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", "Prey", and "Altered Carbon". Very fast-paced and visual as well as being very exciting due to its action-packed pages.
Rating:
Summary: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine on the cusp of greatness
Review: At the end of this second volume of "The Essential Fantastic Four," which reprints issues #21-40 along with "Fantastic Four" Annual #2 and a selection from "Strange Tales" Annual #2, we are finally to the point where this really was "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine." I have been debating whether it that point was reached when the FF tangled with the Frightful Four in issues #36 and #38, but at this point I want to consider that as merely a prologue to what happens in issues #39-40. This is where the group loses their superpowers, just as Dr. Doom learns Reed Richards had tricked him into thinking he had defeated the FF. Now the Lord of Latveria is back to finish what he started while Reed tries to find a way for each of the quartet to be able to simulate their powers. With some help from Daredevil (Matt Murdock's is the FF's attorney), they manage to survive getting killed long enough for Reed to figure out how to get their powers back. This leads up to the first truly great moment in the history of the series, where Reed has to change Ben Grimm back into the Thing, at which point the man turned back into monster goes one-on-one with Dr. Doom. Fueled by his pain and anger, the Thing literally starts peeling Doom's suit of armor off of him. After his victory the Thing announces he is quitting the group.After these issues we learn Medusa is part of the Inhumans, are introduced to the Black Panther, and reach the apex of the series as Galactus the devourer of worlds comes to Earth, announced by his intergalactic herald, the Silver Surfer. Clearly those issues are the high point of the series (how do you top beating a god?), and this latest clash with Dr. Doom is clearly part of that plateau. However, the stories coming before this point are a mix of hits and misses. For every encounter with Dr. Doom or battle between the Thing and the Hulk, there is a powerful alien baby or a Mr. Gideon. I really want to give this collection a 4.5, because it is a step up from what we saw in the first volume but not as consistently great as what is coming in volume three (I round up because of the climax to issue #40). The Fantastic Four tend to fight the same "old" villains, with repeat appearances by Namor, the Mole Man, and the Red Ghost, along with, of course, Dr. Doom (whose origin we finally learn). Crossovers in this volume involve not only Daredevil, but Spider-Man, the X-Men, and even Nick Fury (without his Howlin' Commandos). Jack Kirby's artwork shows vast improvement over the first nineteen issues and he is about to hit full stride on this strip, where he did what was far and away his best work in one of the longest and most distinguished careers in comic book history. Stan Lee does a much better job of having the action be the equal of the book's soap opera elements in these stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Four Merely OK...
Review: Comics fans usually date the Silver Age of the medium from the first appearance of the Fantastic Four in FF#1. By the time the issues collected in "Essential Fantastic Four vol.2" appeared, however, the magazine had lost quite a bit of its initial steam. Jack Kirby's art still retained its powerful punch, but Stan Lee's writing began to show the strain as he tried to crank out multiple Marvel titles every month. As a result, the FF went through a number of odd mood swings, such as when Sue Storm joined the Thing and the Human Torch in trying to oust her own fiance as leader of the group because he spent too much time working on scientific projects. The stoic Mr. Fantastic responds to this leadership challenge with all the grace of a three-year-old. While the Torch and Thing's bickering has always been part of the formula, Lee usually plays Richards and Storm with some nuance. There is plenty of good stuff here as well. The first appearance of Dragon Man is a keeper, as are Dr. Doom's appearances (including the legendary "Battle of the Baxter Building"). Of particular interest is a story wherein in the aftermath of a battle with the Frightful Four, the FF lose their powers and develop alternate means of taking the fight to their enemies. I recommend this collection to die-hard FF fans (like they don't already have it) and Jack Kirby fans interested in the very beginnings of his cosmic style. For all others, pick up the first volume instead.
Rating:
Summary: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!
Review: Emblazoned upon the top of every Fantastic Four comic book isthe banner that says "World's Greatest Comic Magazine".These are some of the stories that often earned that distinction as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit their stride. Am axnoiusly awaiting vol 3, which will contain the first appearances of the Silver Surfer and Galactus. These are the kinds of stories which formed the basis of the Marvel Comics Universe.
Rating:
Summary: The stuff of childhood dreams
Review: First of all, this is a review for Volume 3 of the Essential Fantastic Four series. Currently, if you search for this volume on Amazon.com with just the keywords "Essential Fantastic Four" the search engine only turns up Vols. I & II. Vol. 3's ISBN number is 0785107827, if you are having trouble locating it. This is the best Volume of the Essential Fantastic Four series so far, with the beginning of the Inhuman saga, and Johnny Storm's love affair with Crystal. What to say except that as a child I was introduced to the FF a year too late to get the Inhuman series. I borrowed another's kid's copies of this series, read them, and cherished them in my memories. And now, some thirty five years later, I finally have my own copy of these fabulous stories.
Rating:
Summary: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine lives up to the name
Review: Here began the best years of The Fantastic Four. Writer Lee developed real (albeit sometimes hokey) characters (this is, after all, a comic book) who each spoke in a voice unique to them (often lines of dialogue were attributable even without the pictures), and artist Jack Kirby reached his creative Marvel peak. A must for any fan of the genre, but particularly for the FF afficianado. These stories teach two important lessons about the collaborative medium that is the comic book (particularly the dramatic/action/adventure/superhero book). The first is the importance of writing. Yes, you can tell a story with pictures alone, and Jack Kirby was better than almost anyone else at doing that. It was, after all, Kirby's talent in this regard (along with Steve Ditko's) that led to the development of what came to be known as "The Marvel Method", with artists drawing and often plotting before one line of description or dialogue was written). But just as the sound era made John Ford a better director (THE IRON HORSE is a very good silent picture; STAGECOACH-- made only a dozen years later-- is a great film), likewise Stan Lee's dialogue made Jack Kirby's great art into a great comic book. You only have to read much of Kirby's later work (especially for DC). While incredibly creative, imaginative, and powerful in its artistic vision, the dialogue (written by Kirby himself) is often stilted and, unless adopting an obvious accent, lacks specific characterization. The second lesson is finding the right inker. Joe Sinnott's inking of Kirby's FF pencils took everything to a higher level: a vast improvement over Vince Colletta's earlier FF efforts. Yet even this is situational. Colletta's inks of Kirby artwork on Thor was the perfect match of inker with penciller with subject, just as the Kirby-Sinnott collaboration was perfect for the FF (and just as Syd Shores' inks were perfect for Kirby's Captain America). Very few inkers are good for all artists on all titles (Frank Giacoa comes to mind as being able to do this, and maybe Tom Palmer, but not many others). And so in Volume III of THE ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR, "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" begins to live up to its billing. See for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine... Most of the time.
Review: I have all of the first three "essential Fantastic Four" volumes, and I have no problem at all with saying that this one is my favorite. All the way through to the end of volume 2, the stories were okay, but basically blah as far as super-powered action goes, but almost immediately as soon as volume 3 starts, the intense stories begin. The thing is captured by the enemies of the Fantastic Four and brainwashed, quite convincingly, and since this ain't a mush mag, he doesn't just "break out" of the brainwashing.
The stories move on into the wedding of Reed and Sue that is interupted by just about everyone EXCEPT the Sub-mariner, who up to that point, one would expect to be the first one to object to such a union. This is a wedding unlike any other, full of cameos by every other major super-hero and super-hero team in the marvel universe up to that point.
This volume also contains two of my favorite of the early FF sagas; the time when Dr. Doom stole the powers of the Silver Surfer and the first coming of Galactus.
Although I tend to favor the latter over the former because of its larger cosmic physics and the fact that it implemented more (at the time) revolutionary sci-fi concepts, both have the charm of showcasing a superbeing who threatens the safety and/or freedom of the Earth's people, and who is WAY more powerful than the entire Fantastic Four combined. In both cases, a clever method was needed to pull off a victory, making them, in my mind, top-knotch tales.
But don't for a minute think that this particular fruit salad is without a single sour grape. The original introduction of the inhumans (which, for some reason, I have heard others refer to in a positive light) is also included, and although for the sake of completeness I wouldn't change that...
I mean... I LIKE the inhumans as characters, but their original introduction just stunk. When I first read it a long time ago, I forgave it because I thought I might have missed the issues where they EXPLAINED what was going on, but when I read this volume, I realized they really DIDN'T explain what was going on, which was a big disappointment to me.
My gripes include the fact that they wait quite some time before explaining Triton's powers, thus making him largely unlikable during the first couple sagas with him, the fact that no one ever learns why Medusa was working with the bad guys, no one ever learns the truth about Black Bolt losing his voice, they never quite straightened out who wanted who to go to the great refuge and Maximus just kinda came out of nowhere, as did virtually everything surrounding the character, including but not limited to his involvement in Black Bolt's "accident," the true nature of his powers and how he got hold of Black Bolt's crown in the first place. I'm like Reed Richards. I love knowing stuff. So naturally, I disliked the introduction of the inhumans.
But on the whole, this is a really cool volume containing some awesome stories and some sweet battles and of course, plenty of Ben & Johnny's killer arguments. Definitely worth the read.
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