Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 3

Essential Fantastic Four

by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Mysterious cosmic rays bombard four courageous explorers testing an experimental spacecraft. They emerge with amazing abilities and herald a new era. Using their powers to protect mankind, they are the Fantastic Four, Marvel's First Family! This volume collects perhaps the greatest of the legendary Fantastic Four stories--including the first ever appearances of the Black Panther, the Inhumas, the Negative Zone and the Silver Surfer and Galactus!

COLLECTING: FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) 41-63; ANNUAL 3-4

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

520 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 1967

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Silver Age Fantastic Four - debuts in thes volume include the Inhuman Maximus, the Alpha Primitives, the Negative Zone, Blastaar, Wakanda and the Black Panther, Him, the Kree, their Supreme Intelligence and Ronan the Accuser. So many staples of the Marvel Universe were put in place by Stan Lee! I read the 1966 to 1967 Fantastic Four comic books #46 to #69 covered by this volume. 7 out of 12.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are the stories that led me to love the Fantastic Four. The first Marvel comic I bought was FF#99, but these were the stories reprinted concurrently in Marvel's Greatest Comics. These were the stories in which I discovered Jack Kirby's magic. The Thing quits and fights his team mates. The Silver Surfer! The Inhumans! The Black Panther! The switch from Vince Colletta (ugh) to Joe Sinnott (The Best Kirby FF Inker!) Every thing I love about the FF.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is essential? It turns out each and every issue of the Fantastic Four between #41 and #63. With the addition of the third and fourth annual. And who can doubt it? In the first of the annuals Reed and Sue are getting married. And have to fight against practically the whole of the Marvel universe (which at the time was already huge but not overcrowded). And we get the famous scene where the creative team of Stan and Jack are not allowed to join the party.

The Inhumans are introduced, the Black Panther. And of course Galactus pays his first of many visits. His desire is to eat up the entire planet. The Watcher whose job it is only to watch cares enough for us tiny humans to slightly interfere. And then, of course, there is the Silver Surfer. He is the herald of Galactus and chooses to disobey his master. Why? Because of the blind friend of the Thing, Alicia Masters.

Can there be a more noble and tragic Hero than the Silver Surfer? Maybe not. But he is also not very smart. Dr. Doom has not much of a problem to rob him of his Cosmic Powers. Which he uses to very nearly annihilate the Fantastic Four. In the mean time the Silver Surfer captured in the castle in Latveria does not much except whining. And then when his surf board and his powers return to him he destroys the entire area. The people have not been very kind to him. But killing them all? I was shocked.

The genius of Stan and Jack (I will not enter the discussion here who was the one really responsible for the biggest artistic breakthrough since the days of Shakespeare) also gave us the first true Artificial Intelligence. Created by the Mad Thinker. His greatest mistake was, as he reflects, to give it a name! “I should merely have referred to you as Quasi-Motivational Destruct Organ, instead of shortening it to Quasimodo!” The problem is that Quasimodo thinks of itself as a person. “But I can reason.. I can compute.. I can feel... Why must I be imprisoned in this metal shell? I want to move... to be free..!”

Essential? Surely. (If only Jack could have drawn females.)

[Μιχάλης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inhumans, Galactus, Black Panther, Negative zone. Αν όλα αυτά σας λένε κάτι, είναι επειδή πρωτοεμφανίζονται εδώ.
Επίσης, οι πλοκές απλώνουν, πιάνοντας πλέον 2 και 3 τεύχη. Είχα ξεχάσει πόσο πολύ κείμενο είχαν τα κόμιξ της εποχής, και κάπου ο ρυθμός είναι αργός, όμως, στις καλύτερες στιγμές του, τα κόμιξ στέκουν μέχρι και σήμερα.

[John Gentry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ohhhhh Fantastic Four. This is volume three of the "essential" series. I'm going through a quest of reading the Stan Lee/ Jack Kirby run and the first two volumes were great but now it's just a little too bumpy for me. With this volume we've moved past single issues (with the occasional two parter) and have begun to go into continuous story arcs. The whole dynamic of the series changes and in my opinion it begins to start sucking just a bit.

First off we have to deal with this Ben Grimm betrayal story arc. Its amazing how much of a dick Reed Richards is. The Thing finally changes back into Ben Grimm, then bam Reed makes him turn back so that they can win a battle.

Thing ends up with the frightful four, shit goes south, he ends up with the FF again. This took soooooo long. Fuck the Frightful Four how could they ever beat the FF. Its the trapster, Medusa, the wizard, and sandman. What?? Regardless this was like a 5 partner I did not enjoy.

Next up is the annual featuring Reed and Sues wedding. Its a good one. Dr Doom creates a machine that makes all the villains want to crash that shit.

Next up THE INHUMANS ARC STARTS. Look I'm not even going to go into too much detail here. There is way tooooo much inhumans in this collection and I'm sorry, they suck. I'm not interested in them and they take up too much space. The characters are one dimensional and boring and the whole Black Bolt doesn't speak set up is annoying.

The infamous Galactus arc is next. It's dope and holds up well. Best arc in the whole book. Just ignore the inhuman segments..

Next up is the "this man this monster" arc. Thing gets body switched with this scientist jealous of Reed. Its a good fantastic four arc and feels really classic. Wyatt Wingfoot is introduced...that's all I'll mention of this character.

Then we meet the Black Panther. Beyond racial stereotypes the story arc is average at best. It definitely wins an award for weirdest plot with Klaw (master or sound) creating destructive creatures out of sound waves.

Alright I'm going to just stop right here....after this its more inhuman bull shit. The thing might fight the silver surfer ( and get his ass kicked) but that makes up for nothing.

I feel like Lee and Kirby were trying to invent a new form of comic storytelling with the multi issue plots, but didn't know how to make them interesting enough to stretch. We find a real lack consistency issue to issue that made reading through this volume actually hard. This surprised me be because I love silver age Marvel. We get the Galactus arc which as I said is great but it just doesn't make up for all the other stuff. These inhuman issues just don't work. It drives me crazy that I have to read about them over and over when the characters lack all sorts of depth. Were introduced to Klaw and Quasimodo as new villains but when compared to the rest of the rogues gallery they are D level players at best. Including the Silver Surfer into these issues seems like a cool idea (and when Dr Doom steals his power cosmic it is) but the dialogue being written for him is super stilted. What this comes down to is the simple fact that Lees writing is just not up to the par it used to be. Kirby's art is fantastic as ever even in the black and white.

Overall.....I give it three out of five. I expected so much more from this volume, and its unfortunate that the really great stories are hidden by the plethora of average to sub par plots.

[Adam Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has so many awesome things it. The best things in this book are better than Five Stars on any scale. At any rate, let's get to the nitty gritty:

Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 2 had ended with Ben Grimm forced to become the Thing to save the Fantastic Four from Dr. Doom and Ben announced he was leaving again.

The story picks up here with Ben making good on it. Ben is quickly captured by the Frightful Four who brainwash him into turning against his former teammates. This is a great storyline with some pretty good twists that lasts from Issue 41-43.

After that, we have the wedding issue. To be clear, the wedding was not as earth-shattering as some Marvelites indicate given that Aquaman had tied the knot the previous year but this wedding was particularly noteworthy as Dr. Doom used mind control to create an epic attack by nearly every villain in the Marvel Universe to ruin the wedding and the heroes all joined in the attack. Something for the guys here as Thor, Spidey, Iron Man, and everyone dukes it out. Once every settles down, two gatecrashers named Kirby and Lee are turned away by Nick Fury. Classic.

After the wedding, our focus turns to the Inhumans, a superpowered family that thinks of itself as a separate species with characters like Medusa (who is no longer a Frightful Four member), Gorgan, Triton, Lockjaw, and the strong silent type himself, Black Bolt from Issue 44-47.

Then Issue 48-50 feature one of the most important Marvel storylines: the first coming of Galactus, the devourer of worlds. He wants to dine on the Earth. Yet Ben's girl Alicia gets the Silver Surfer to feel compassion for humanity even if it means defying Galactus, who is the most powerful foe the FF have ever faced. The Watcher, a Marvel character who is pledged to observe without interfering breaks the pledge to try and stop and Galactus.

The Lee/Kirby duo had been running on brilliant since at least Issue 29 after a slump between #22 and #28. This featured another one. In some ways, it began in issue 50 where they announced that Johnny would be going to college away from the other three. They introduced Wyatt Wingfoot in Issue #50 as one of Johnny's college classmates. I think they were trying to push the racial diversity envelope but Wyatt was a really boring character.

The Inhumans had become trapped in their own refuge and even though they didn't impact the main plot, beginning in Issue 51, Lee and Kirby took time to explain what was happening with the Inhuman even if they were still just trapped and nothing at all.

I'd assign a mini-slump to Kirby and Lee from #51-#54 and it's a small one. Issue #51 actually had a pretty big emotional payoff as a mad scientist found away to become the Thing while returning Ben Grimm to normal. His plan was to use the power to defeat Reed Richards, but he learns a lot about Reed and about himself. And Ben gets a moment of clarity regarding the love the others feel for him.

Issue #52 and #53 introduce the Black Panther, so again they're not really bad. But this version of the Panther is a little more cheesy and less well-developed than I've come to expect. Just a rich African guy with a ton of money based on vibranium. And then there was Wyatt Wingfoot sucking up oxygen in the story.

Issue #54 is the worst issue in the whole book. Johnny's "love" for Crystal of the Inhumans was the result of a chance meeting that ends in "being in love." The type of thing you see in a Broadway show. Johnny and Wyatt set out to travel the world to find a way into the refuge of the Inhumans with Johnny nearly destroying the world before Wyatt Wingfoot can blandly save the day.

Issue #55 shows a turning point. It's not a great moment for Ben Grimm when he gets so stupidly jealous that he attacks the Silver Surfer but it makes for a great fight.

Then in Issue #56, they get a rematch with Klaw, the Master of Sound and I think the second battle was better than the first one that occurred three issues previous.

Annual #4 is dominated Johnny Storm battling the original Human Torch and is solid

Issues #57-#60 are epic as Dr. Doom deceives Silver Surfer and steals his comic power and uses it against the Fantastic Four. Really, it doesn't get any better than this. Courageous action by every male member of the FF makes for an awesome battle with Torch taking his power to new levels.

Issue #61 sees the return of the Sandman, this time in a suit that looks like it was designed by the Wizard. Really don't like this look on the Sandman who should be a more blue collar villain. Other than that, the story's good. Richards can only defeat the new and improved sandman by putting him into the negative zone, and Reed falls through himself.

Issues #62 and #63 focus on efforts to get Reed out and then to defeat Blastar, the deadly villain who gets out along with Reed. Here the Inhumans at least begin to justify all of the digressions that have occurred in this volume on their behalf.

Additional thoughts:

Positives: Beyond the normal story synopsis, I have to say this book includes a lot of great Kirby artwork including some fine full page drawings particularly in the Galactus and negative zone stories. The book is also amazing in the concepts it introduced that would be so crucial to Marveldom to this very day.

Negatives: The biggest negative in the book is the treatment of Sue Richards. In the stories in #21-#40, Lee and Kirby really worked to solidify the idea that Sue belonged in the team. In these issues, she's relegated to hostage and bit player. In addition, in some of the issues right around the time of the wedding, Reed is almost contemptuous of her calling her, "Woman!" Sue deserved better.

Still, as bad a negative as it is, with all of the surpassing trailblazing positives of this book, it's still a five star collection.

[Philip Athans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly brilliant--GALACTUS! IMHO still THE BEST comic book story arc EVER. The Silver Surfer, the Inhumans, the Negative Zone--wow!

[Leonardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection has all the mags which encompass the FF at their finest. From the mystery of the Inhumans to the coming of Galactus and then the introduction of Wyatt Wingfoot and Black Panther, this is one seamless narrative linking Marvel’s first family from one explosive escapade to the next. I wish I could be half as erudite of a thesaurus as Stan Lee was. He has a real knack for stringing sumptuous sentences that come from the mouths of his characters and roll over the ears as a mixed wine showcases the best of each vintage in the composite blend does to the tongue. Kirby’s art is stellar, especially with the weird machines of the devourer of worlds and the mind-melting realm of the Negative Zone. Black Bolt, the Thing, Black Panther, all quiver with power before delivering it on the end of their knuckles in spectacular blows. A grand symphony of pencils. Pick this up for the Galactus story if nothing else.

[Jamie Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked out this book because it contains the Coming of Galactus that they talked about in the first episode of the Comics Canon podcast and also because the FF has long been my favorite superhero team and i thought it would be fun to read issues from 50+ years ago.

I was right for the most part. It was very fun and often wacky. There were some gross treatments of women and the Black Panther was introduced and I’m not sure the level of problematic THAT was. Oh and your run of the mill toxic masculinity.

All that aside I quite enjoyed it and kept choosing to read it over other things I was reading.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even in black and white, Jack Kirby's artwork shines in this collection of the Fantastic Four's most iconic stories. Included here are the debut of the Inhumans, the Galactus trilogy, the wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm, the debut of the Black Panther and Blastaar, and the superb "This Man... This Monster" Thing story, making this an easy recommend for anyone wanting a crash course in the Fantastic Four's greatest hits. The fact that so many of these iconic stories take place in rapid succession is impressive in retrospect.

[David Macpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read these comics and they were great. The art was wonderful, but the overwriting by Stan Lee was a little exhausting. But to see how Silver Surfer was introduced was worth the wait. Also, the story of Dr Doom getting cosmic power terrific. I enjoyed it so much, but I did skip some of those endless narration balloons.

[Zachariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories but the invisible woman is always quickly dispatched. Lee doesn't seem to have anything for her except to care for Mr. Fantastic, who's kind of a dick

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite my aversion at first, these old runs are really growing on me. 4.5/5.

[B.J. Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great.

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars!

[Nathan Boleen]

Book #15

The First 5 - Recommended by every comic book store owner. This volume has the "first appearance of the silver surfer" they say. I just find myself wanting to color in the pages. I suppose I do HAVE to read it, but I haven't been that enthralled after the first two issues.

The Second 10 - I feel about the same with it. It definitely contains some nomenclature of the time, which is intriguing.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I was trying to get someone to read the Fantastic Four I think I would hand them the origin issue and then tell them to skip everything until this collection. That isn’t to say that what happens between isn’t good, or important, but these stories are so damn good they will go back read all that and beyond it. There isn’t a single issue in here that isn’t a giant sized insane concept story. The FF are fighting the Inhumans one minute, and then Galactus the next. It never lets up.
A really big thing to note is that this is the collection where Joe Sinnott took over as regular inker for Vince Colletta. If you think an Inker can’t make a difference in a book take a look at the difference of what’s on the page. I’m not saying Vince was a bad inker, but Joe really got into the groove with Kirby. You got the sense that Vince was also inking other books, so he had to get in and get out. But Joe seemed to really take his time with the work. He got in there and did every little detail and black area that Kirby was drawing. He also seemed to have a better handle on Kirby’s action. When someone gets punched you really feel the motion and the explosion of impact.
While we are on the subject of people who inked Kirby we have to talk about the man himself right? Kirby is one of my favorite artists of all time, and the work in this book is a big part of that. I just love the way he draws…well everything. I know Kirby isn’t known as someone who draws pretty girls, but I love the way he draws Sue and Crystal. I don’t think anyone could have done a better job at these stories. From the Forbidden land, to the Negative Zone, then to Wakanda, Kirby can do it all and make all of it looking amazing.
My one complaint about this book is the way Reed talks to Sue. I know that is was a different time, and you might think that was just the way a man would talk to his wife, but really he comes off as a big fat Jerk.

[Trevor · Rating 2 out of 5]

With about 800 superheroes in New York (we saw a lot of them in FF Annual #3, at Reed & Sue's wedding), why didn't anybody else show up to fight Galactus? We're talking about a being whose only purpose for existing is to eat planets, and Earth is next, and nobody will lift a finger against him other than the Fantastic Four? Where are the X-Men? Spider Man? The Avengers?

But the absolute worst thing about it is the Inhumans, specifically Crystal. Johnny Storm and Crystal's relationship is about the most shallow thing i've ever been subjected to. They met once for about ten minutes, Johnny followed her around because he thought she was the hottest girl ever or something, and then suddenly they both seem to think they're in love and become the most sappy crappy and pathetic pair of people in the history of ever. The Inhumans become trapped in a bubble for a while, and Crystal mostly just sits around and cries while Johnny spends months of his life trying to free them just so he can see her again. Sue Storm is completely useless and annoying, and she keeps apologizing for "being feminine." The men are pig-headed baboons who always feel the need to protect the women, such as Sue, who can obviously fend for themselves. Reed Richards, have you forgotten that your wife is a superhero?

Idiots.

I don't know why i keep reading these, instead of getting better, they're getting progressively worse.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this stuff was surprisingly fun. It suffered from the standard over-bubble-ing that was so popular at the time, like someone saying (out loud!) "Oh my god there's a thing flying towards me and I'm holding a glass of water and balancing on a unicycle and there's no way I have enough time to dodge" BAM! and while I'm reading it, I'm like "just shut up and move! Quit talking! Just dodge the freaking thing!"

So there's that. And there's some pretty intense sexism between Reed and Susan, some of which might be the time period (?) And some ridiculous plot twists, particularly the frequent deus ex machinas's where Reed just invents something to save them.

But there's some good stuff, too. Some interesting imaginative twists, interlocking plots, and of course a lot of incredibly lasting characters are introduced. Ben is just hilariously funny (although also at times as annoyingly whiny as that girl in the Twilight series.)

Basically, the whole book is worth this scene: Ben and Reed have been trapped by the supervillain, and Reed invents a thing that looks like a mix between a football helmet and a full-body cast to enable Ben to break out. Of course he explains to Ben that it's very dangerous, but Ben is the one who will have to try it, because he's the stronger of the two. To which Ben replies, "How come ya never cook up any gizmos that work better on guys who can stretch?"

Ha!

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was pure classic gold. So many unforgettable characters and story lines were introduced in here: Crystal, Lockjaw and all the Inhumans, as well as a huge story arc that runs in the background of most of this volume, Galactus and the Silver Surfer (not long after followed by the story that involves Doctor Doom stealing the surfer's board and cosmic powers), and on top of all of that the Negative Zone is introduced in here.

These are all characters, story's and concepts that make up a good chunk of the Fantastic Four main mythos. Most of the various cartoons that have been made cover ground introduced in this volume because it seems to be the height of the F.F. originality: the awkward beginnings are over and new amazing ideas seemed to be just flowing.

As I write this I haven't read any further volumes of essential F.F., and what else I have read of F.F. is in current large crossover titles such as House of M and Civil War. So I'm interested in seeing if the level of interesting ideas and great quality keeps up or if it hits that slump that the other Marvel titles I've read pretty far into seemed to have hit around volume 4 or 5. I'm not saying I'm expecting the series to get bad, but maybe not as good. No comic could last as long as these have without their ups and downs.

[Rich Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you buy any of the Fantastic Four Essentials books, THIS is the one to get. It really shows you the heart and soul of Jack Kirby's run on the book, with the Inhumans, the Silver Surfer, Galactus, Blastarr, the Black Panther and many more of the characters that became the backbone of the Marvel Universe premiering in Fantastic Four #41-63. It also includes the annual with the marriage of Reed and Sue, and #51, which is perhaps one of the finest comic book stories in history.

Not in color (and don't bother with the Masterworks that reprints #51-60 - the reproduction on that one stinks), but Jack Kirby doesn't need color to tell a good story. And he tells some great ones here!

[Martinray2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Kirby was the Picasso of comic book art- an auteur who could tell a story with astounding innovative drawings that burst off the page like mortar shells. His imagination was cosmic in scope, and myths spewed from his hands at the speed of lightning.

The Galactus/Silver Surfer series was so good, I kept searching for something akin to it for another decade, before giving up the hunt and "graphic novels" (to use the current vernacular) as a form altogether.


Oh yeah, a guy named Stan Lee may have helped somewhat, as well. He's a good man with a quip and a broom.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reprints Fantastic Four #41-63 and Annuals #3-4. The Fantastic Four meet the Silver Surfer, turn back Galactus, find the Inhumans, and Reed and Sue get married. This collection is probably the best representation of the Fantastic Four. It went a lot of direction be it the introduction of the Silver Surfer and his battle with Galactus or involving the Black Panther and the Inhumans. The Fantastic Four is at its strongest when it is a "family affair".

[Vince Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Kirby, and quite a bit of it too. 500 pages plus, to be semi-exact. A bit cheesy at times, but that is all part of the fun. This is where "it all started"... Galactus, the Silver Surfer, the oddly named Inhumans... You can kind of feel Stan trying to take super hero stories to a higher level of complexity and maturity, although the racism and sexism kind of holds the stories back from being "real" for modern readers. All in all extremely fun entertainment, though.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

By way of analogy: Lee and Kirby's collaboration in 60s Marvel was the British invasion, and their work on FF was The Beatles, then this period was the White Album. There's a 10-issue run in here that introduces the Inhumans, the Silver Surfer, Galactus, and the Black Panther. Any one of those would have been enough to make this a classic, and it's baffling they were able to create all of them within a single year.

[Harriet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm enjoying these less and less as I trudge through them. I think this will be my last attempt at the FF.

Also, Alicia should just dump Ben. His constant self pitying and outbursts of rage make him utterly unlikeable 90% of the time.

Reed is as sexist and superior as ever, and Sue is no less insipid or inclined to repeatedly apologise for being female as she was in the previous two volumes.

Ugh.

[Dan Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never into the FF, so this was actually kind of fun. I got it for $2 at the local library book sale and old comic book stories like this are as much an anthropological looking glass as they are entertainment. Still, first appearances of the Silver Surfer, Galactus and the Black Panther can't be beat.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it, what everything since issue 1 has been building to. If you don't read any other FF book read this one. It includes the first appearances of Silver Surfer, Galactus, Black Panther, Blastaar, The Inhumans! And the stories are almost all multi issue epics from way before they started "writing for the trade." I give it five stars this time as I can't give it 5 stars squared.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of amazing first-rate classic adventures from Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Presented in striking black & white.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throughout most of the collection it seems the famous foursome is apart. But the adventures they do have are huge.
Introduced in this volume are:
Black Panther
The Inhumans
Galactus!
And probably more I can't remember...

The King is in top form here with incredible layouts and pencils.