Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 4

Essential Fantastic Four

by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Re-live more of the FF's classic exploits as they stand united against Dr. Doom, Annihilus and Galactus! Featuring the first appearances of the Kree and the microversal Psycho-Man! Guest starring Spider-Man, Daredevil, Thor and the Warlock formerly known as Him! Lee and Kirby were the ones who started it all, and they keep it going in these cosmic tales! COLLECTING: FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) 64-83, ANNUAL 5-6

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

536 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 1969

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]

The Silver Age Fantastic Four continues with debuts include the Kree, Centurion, Ronan The Accuser, the Supreme Intelligence, Super Android, a new member of the team... and a baby! Highlights is the battle with the Mad Thinker, low light was the battle in Sub Atomica. Theer is definitely a drop in story telling quality at this juncture in the FF story by Lee & Kirby as the demands of producing this, and so many other comic books begins to spread then thin. I read the Fantastic Four comic books and annuals covered by this volume. 6 out of 12.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK so that was a gigantic collection, spanning about 2 years of FF (67-68 I think). There's good, there's bad, there's ugly.

Good: It's fun to see Lee/Kirby original work.
Bad: Stan Lee has a great imagination, but his writing of characters was pretty stale and repetitive.
Ugly: The sexism runs rampant too often in this book, and Reed's middle name should be changed to misogynist probable wife-beater.

I'm the first person who knows you can NOT look at history with today's standards, but in this case, it's the late 60s, not 1953 or anything. Women's rights were happening, music, love, revolution, counter-culture, and Reed Richards seems to be written as the old fuddy duddy who knows best for everyone, including keeping his wife in check. There's insults, threats of violence, and condescending remarks all the time. I'm going to hope that it's just the character of Reed Richards who's supposed to be a Hank Pym-level asshole here...otherwise I think it makes you wonder about ole' Stan the Man...

Fun things: Black Panther's first meeting of Black Bolt (all 3 Illuminati together for the first time) and the rest of the Inhumans.
Spider-Man, Daredevil and Thor throwdown against the Y-chromosome FFers.
We see classic villains, like Galactus, the Mad Thinker, Wizard, Annihilus, and for the first time, Psycho-Man.
We get to visit the microverse for the first time.
We see Silver Surfer save Earth, after warnings from Uatu the Watcher.
We see the original Punisher (a robotic herald of Galactus, after Surfer was freed).
We see Maximus the Mad take over Black Bolt's Inhuman kingdom.
We also see, Sue gets preggo! And the birth of the as-yet-unnamed boy.
We see Reed finally cure Ben, only for Grimmy to have to chose between life forever without powers or forever as the Thing...

Thing is bi-polar; he either talks about Clobberin' Time or he's mopey about how Alicia Masters won't love him if she could see who he is...like Umm...dude? She's blind, she's felt the face...she knows.

Johnny likes cars, and making out with Crystal of the Inhumans.
Sue spends the majority of the book on bed rest, and Crystal sits with her and holds her hand...
Only near the end does the sensible thing happen, Crystal joins the FF in Sue's place after the baby is born.

So that's it in a nutshell...the stories themselves can be fun, but the dialogue is terrible. Concepts on a cosmic scale, no problem, but basic human interactions? Don't think Stan figured out those yet...
However, we get Jack Kirby's fantastic (pun intended!) artwork. Seeing the classics all by his hand is kinda very fun.

Sadly, it's in black and white and on newsprint, so you lose out on a lot of the real fun.

I'd give this 4 stars for retro fun, icons of the business, and big events in FF history...I'd take away at least 1 star for the borderline misogynistic abuse that Reed throws at Sue (funny part being, Johnny isn't that way towards Crystal, and Ben sure isn't that way towards Alicia, so I suppose that would give more credibility to the theory that Stan wrote Reed as a gigantic douche-hole on purpose, and that he himself isn't a terrible woman-hater).

It did drag a bit at times, and I did skim some stuff, like dialogue heavy parts, to get to the action, or the big moments, or the characters visiting...
But if you're inclined, it's definitely classic. (However, I think you have to be in the right mood for it...I almost put it down a few times...but it got better after the first 25% was done...)

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume includes some classic epics from the hands of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee presented in bombastic black and white. It all begins when the Fantastic Four decide to take a much needed and long overdue vacation, but the island in the South Pacific they choose is also the location of an ancient alien base belonging to the Kree and guarded by Sentry-459. But defeating the Sentry, only brings the wrath of Ronan the Accuser on our beleaguered heroes. Then we get the introduction of the Beehive and the birth of Him (not a very auspicious introduction for the character who will become known as Adam Warlock, but there he is). Next up is a tale pitting the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans AND the Black Panther against the menace of the Psychoman from the microverse (aka the Quantum Realm) and there’s even a short story featuring the Silver Surfer all on his own; both of these are from the pages of Fantastic Four Annual #5. And nestled within all this is the monumental news that Sue is pregnant and this first child of Marvel’s greatest super team is on the way. Then there’s an epic 4-part battle royal with the Mad Thinker pitting the Thing against the world. Then Reed and Sue are contemplating their departure from the team and retiring from adventuring now that Sue is pregnant. But the Watcher and a misunderstood threat from the Silver Surfer pull them back. Next up is a typical Marvel mash-up as only Kirby could deliver as the FF have to battle Daredevil, Spider-Man and Thor. After that Kirby delivers a 4-part masterpiece with Galactus again threatening the Earth and only the presence of the missing Silver Surfer can save the planet. And if that wasn’t enough, Kirby takes us to the wild and mind-boggling world of Sub-Atomica (aka the Microverse, aka the Quantum Realm) and the team has to contend with the Psycho-Man once again. Upon returning the FF have to deal with the Wizard and his new Wonder Gloves and The Thing has been transform, perhaps permanently, back into his human form of Ben Grimm. Then a threat from the Mad Thinker emerges that forces Ben to make a grave, life altering decision. There’s a quick visit to Wyatt Wingfoot out west and then the fateful day arrives and Sue goes into labor, which means Reed, Johnny and Ben head for … the Negative Zone? It seems that this superhero soap-opera wouldn’t be complete without a complicated childbirth and a unique substance found only in the Negative Zone will save her and the baby. But the introduction of Annihilus threatens to end their mission almost before it has a chance to begin. But we’re not stoping there, as the FF gains a new recruit: Crystal of the Inhumans. And she arrives just in time to send the Wizard flying with his tail between his legs in utter defeat. But it looks like Crystal might be leaving before she even catches a breath as her family summons her home and there’s more menace from Maximus the Mad. Yet another Kirby and Lee collection of masterpieces.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad that somewhere along the way some creators decided to salvage Sue Storm. I mean, in these stories, the FF is largely the Reed and Ben Show, but Johnny at least shows up to do things occasionally. Sue was always a faint presence in the early FF stories, and as she spends almost all of this book pregnant, her role is further reduced to cameos (mostly being ordered by Reed not to get involved in their latest adventure, AND SHE LISTENS TO HIM!) in her own book! Once you get past the sexist tones (if you can), there is, fortunately, still plenty of fun to be had in this book. First Annihilus, first Franklin Richards, Crystal's induction to the FF roster (and she even DID something!! ) and more.

Sure, the dialogue is thick and messy, but it's still damn fun. Ben Grimm gets some of the best lines, including a joke about the Torch that annoys Crystal during her first adventure with the team. Ben has to stop and explain that he's just kidding. Very cute moment.

Reed is great in these books (when he's not ordered his wife around!) - very pro-active, adventurous. He's a lab rat, but Reed Richards is not afraid to get his hands dirty! And nobody will go farther for the sake of his team and family than Reed will. Stan really paints Reed as a driven, compassionate man.

The Thing's tragic nature, which has gotten tired after 40 odd years of repetition, feels fresher here. A great story has Ben being cured, only to have the FF nearly defeated because they lack his strength. He considers turning back into the Thing (Reed explains that they cannot duplicate the previous experiment again, although I can't imagine why, so the re-transformation would be one-way), but he wants to talk to Alicia before making a decision. A super-powered robot later, and Ben is forced to become the Thing again in order to save Alicia. Twisted, sad, tragic stuff.

Kirby's art is explosive, leaping off of pages. Foes are punched into the reader's lap, and although facial variety isn't one of Jack's strong suits, he does a great job of keeping the characters distinctive and unique, even on extremely crowded pages.

Maybe the delivery isn't as smooth as some modern comics, but I will argue that some of these stories (particularly those that focus on Reed and Ben) have as much depth as anything being published today.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Kirby at the height of his 60s MARVEL powers: plotting and art.
Stan Lee at the height of his powers: plotting and scripting.
Say what you will, I think Jack plotted MOST of it but Stan I think also plotted and wow that man has a gift for dialogue.
I digress.
Joe Sinnott inking and the unsung hero of the FF.
THIS is what superhero comics should be and what all of them should aspire to.

[***Dave Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

These "Essential" volumes are great for mass reprinting of dozens of classic tales. Even without color, Kirby's art is amazing, and Lee is at the top of his writing game as well. Great stuff in these issues, including the introduction of the Kree, Annihilus, and Adam Warlock (back in his "Him" days), as well as the birth of Franklin Richards. Highly entertaining.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, these old super-hero comics tred a fine line between fun and way too silly. This volume does cross that line a time or two, but mostly it just butts up against it. Perhaps even pushing it out a bit further here and there.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really dig this collection. My only complaint is that they cycled through the same villains quite a bit. 4/5.

[Adam Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume collects Issues 64-83, and Annuals #5 and #6 of Marvel's first family. The book has some good issues, some odd ones, but overall comes out ahead.

Issues 64 and 65 classically introduce to the Kree Empire, first through a Sentry robot and then through Ronan the Accuser, a key moment in Marvel history.

Issue 66 and 67 are a somewhat so-so story about under earth people kidnapping Alicia for nefarious purposes. Not a great story.

Fantastic Four Annual #5 is a great annual. It's a 30 page story with the FF, the Inhumans, and Black Panther teaming up to find Pyschoman and some other villains plus a special announcement that Sue and Reed are expecting. It also includes a 12-page solo story for the Silver Surfer as he matches up with the vilainous Quasimodo.

Issues 68-71 are classic. While there have been other "Ben Grimm" turns evil stories, this was perhaps the most epic with a lot of twists and emotional tension.

After Issue 71, Reed and Sue decide to cut out on the FF but that's cut short when the Watcher has to summon them as the Silver Surfer has decided to start blowing things up to start world peace and the FF has stop in Issue 72.

Issue 73 is fun but somewhat gratuitous. Doctor has tricked the FF into fighting Daredevil and Spidey comes in along with Thor to even the odds. So it's a nice exhibition that's actually pretty pointless.

Issues 74-77 has Galactus returning to Earth to get the Silver to help him find a planet to eat and if he can't be found, Galactus will break his word and eat Earth. This forces the FF to go into a microscopic world to find the Surfer. It's a fun plot though to long-term Marveldom, it remains pretty inconsequential at the end.

Issues 78 and 79 are probably the definitive Grimm becomes human again stories. Ben regains his human form but has to make a tough decision when lives are on the line in Issue 79.

Issue 80 is a somewhat blah issue with the return of Wyatt Wingfoot as the FF deal with criminal trying to take advantage of Native American superstition. Haven't seen THAT story a thousand times.

This leads into the absolutely phenomenal Fantastic Four Annual #6 in which Reed levels with Ben and Johnny. Both Sue and the Baby are in danger because of the cosmic rays and the only to be found is in the negative zone and a battle with Annihlus. The nearly fifty page story is really an epic with emotion, awesome action, some fantastic splash pages, and one of Lee's greatest stories as we truly expand the Richards family.

To round out the book, Issue 81 has Crystal proving her worth to be on the FF and then heading back to her family to get them to sign off, only to find out Maximums has taken over the Inhumans. My big complaint with this one is that the FF had little to do with the efforts to remove Maximus as they were imprisoned for most of Issue 83.

Overall though this collection is just as good as the first three. It had fewer of the epic stories like Doctor Doom taking over the Silver Surfer's power and there were a few stories that were lame.

However, the story of the pregnancy of Sue Richards really trumps that. The "family" part of Marvel's First Family really stands out. Reed who, after getting married, seemed like a jerk to sue is much better as a father-to-be, dedicated to the survival and safety of wife and son.

And there's this great sense of love and loyalty as Reed and Johnny go into the breach, risking their lives in the Negative Zone. And Ben's decision to remain the thing is moving.

Speaking of moving, Jack Kirby has some great art here. The full spread picture of Sue and Reed is perhaps the most emotional, but some of them are also beautiful action spots like Reed, Johnny, and Ben travelling through the Negative Zone and several thrilling battle shots.

The collection isn't without its flaws. In addition to the weak issues I've already mentioned, I still don't have a sense of Crystal as a character and her powers are used so infrequently, it's hard to even remember what exactly they are.

Still, for its portrayal of the original FF and their strong family ties, this book is a must read.

[Harriet · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is important to be mindful of the context in which these issues were originally released. They were disposable. They weren't meant to be read twenty in a go. But even bearing that in mind, the stories in this volume don't bear repeated reads. Ben 'The Thing' Grimm, whose massive strength goes hand in hand with physical mutation which he believes renders his 'hideous', can't go an issue without deciding, with absolutely no evidence, that his girlfriend Alicia doesn't really like him and is ready to leave him for the first 'normal' man she encounters. It's dismissive of her and her autonomy, and it comes across as boringly self pitying. Add to that Ben's tendency to express his misery as aggression directed at the people who are supposed to be his closest friends, and you have a really not so loveable guy.

Meanwhile, Reed spends most of the issues telling his wife, the appropriately names Invisible Girl, to get out of the way and keep to her bed because she's pregnant. Which she does! She spends the rest of the book eithrr being ignored or outright lied to about what he husband and his two friends are up to. I don't know how that sort of thing went over when the comics were originally published, but in 2021 it leaves a very bad taste.

These issues aside, there's a lot of repetition in this volume. Dialogue, especially Ben's, becomes very familiar as he uses the same phrases issue after issue. Villains appear more than once and have basically the same fight. I started to wonder if I just don't enjoy Marvel comics of this period, but I've read through several of the Amazing Spider-Man Essentials and enjoyed them. In fact the issue he appeared in here was easily one of my favourites, despite an eye-rollingly contrived plot.

I do think that personally I would have enjoyed these stories much more if I'd read them in another format, like the much less affordable but glorious full-colour Masterworks editions. The black and white art here lacks depth and a few issues in The Thing's skin pattern started to look like migraine auras.

There are things to enjoy, though - Kirby's art can be amazing. I was especially impressed with his male figures, who are well proportioned and graceful. About a third of the way through I started enjoying the stories a lot more, and I was pleased with the development of Crystal's character and powers. Frankly, she seemed a much stronger fourth member of the Four than Sue. Overall, though, getting through this was a slog, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't already know they love these characters.

[Helmut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klopperei und ein frohes Ereignis

In diesem vierten Sammelband der Comics aus den Sechziger Jahren dreht sich viel um ein frohes Ereignis: Das Kind der Eheleute Richards. Sue wird daher, ganz dem Zeitgeist entsprechend, für die Schwangerschaftszeit praktisch aus dem Verkehr gezogen und tritt nur sporadisch auf.

Neben dieser Weltveränderung bleibt mir aber nicht wirklich viel Unterhaltung, außer man steht auf dieses ständige und langsam ermüdende "sich-kloppen". Die Formel der damaligen Superhelden besteht halt darin, jedem, der sich einem nähert, erstmal aufs Maul zu hauen und dann zu reden. Da waren die früheren Ausgaben in den drei Sammelbänden vorher doch sehr viel kreativer, witziger und abwechslungsreicher.

Dazu kommt etwas, was mir mächtig auf den Senkel geht: Das ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing mutiert zu einem hilflosen, heulenden und widerlichen Jammerlappen, der nur noch daran denkt, wie seine Alicia grad mit jedem anderen rumpoussiert. Das gabs zwar früher auch schon, aber in diesen paar Ausgaben in diesem Band ist das wirklich übelkeitserregend häufig der Fall.

Insgesamt also ein überraschend enttäuschender vierter Essentials-Band der F4 - ein tiefer Fall von Weltklasse in Regionalliga.

Und was kann die Jugend von heute nun von den F4 aus diesem Band lernen? Naja, dass man Ehefrauen monatelang ignorieren kann, wenn man ihnen dann als Ausgleich neue Klamotten kauft. Immer dran denken: "Wives should be kissed - not heard" (Zitat #65).

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really has amazed me at how good the early Fantastic Four comics are, especially when compared to other early Marvel comics. The quality in of art and story telling between vol's 2, 3, and this one are pretty indistinguishable. Sure, it's cheesy at times but if you enjoy the escapism of the superhero genre these are amazing reads.

The biggest thing I noticed in this volume was that you could feel the Marvel universe growing. Not just with their interactions with other heroes, but via other heroes taking on their villains and the continuing growth of the Inhumans as major players in their world.

With Sue's pregnancy we have the teams first but far from last new team member, Crystal. Both Crystal's joining the team and Sue's pregnancy shined a light on the sexism of the time. There were a lot of groan inducing moments when Sue was basically held prisoner away from the world so she not see a single thing that upset her, less the pregnancy go wrong. Sue manages to go through her entire pregnancy without actually showing the readers visually that she was pregnant, which I found very strange. I'm not sure if this was due to something with the comics code or whether showing was just very taboo at the time.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid fun. If you are interested in the Fantastic Four at all, the original Stan Lee and Jack Kirby run is where it all started, and is what all subsequent creators look to when tackling the Fantastic Four. This volume introduces the villains Ronan the Accuser, Annihilus, and Psycho-Man, all of whom show up fairly regularly throughout the Marvel Universe. Although there isn't a real stand out story, all of the stories are solid entertainment, and they all have the sense of wonder and humor that helped make the FF so popular in the first place. This volume places more emphasis on Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, and Thing, and they all have some great moments. Invisible Woman fans may be disappointed, as she is indisposed for much of this volume.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good collection, but we are clearly past the peak of the Lee\Kirby run. It seems like when you read it, Jack Kirby was clearly not wanting to use any of the new characters he had created, since he was kind of getting screwed by Marvel at the time. There is also a real sense of a "backdoor pilot" to quite a few stories involving the Silver Surfer and the Inhumans. There were plans for both of them to have their own series, with Jack involved, but that never happen. So, instead, we get these stories where the FF are guest stars in their own book. I think the stuff going on behind the scenes hurt this book more than anything.
The art is really great though. Jack is getting really close to what his art what be when he was penciling the forth world saga.

[Burgoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a slight step back from volume 3. Don't get me wrong -- it's still a fun read. But volume 3 felt like almost every issue had some sort of significance in the overall history of comics -- first appearance of Galactus! Reed & Sue get married! There are more of these stories that are just normal monthly stories from the time.

That being said, it's still amazing how well these old FF stories hold up after all these years.

[DavidO · Rating 1 out of 5]

I see this volume has a lot of high reviews, but I'm not sure why. The stories are so-so, never great. Every time the Sivler Surfer appears its to be overly critical of mankind, while the main characters spend pages bashing and fighting, interspersed with some really bad soap opera. Stan Lee's writing isn't horrible, for him, but it isn't great, even by his own low standards.

[Devero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sono passati oltre 50 anni da quando Stan Lee scrisse queste storie e Jack Kirby le disegnò. Erano un capolavoro allora, lo sono anche oggi. Sono passati quasi 35 ani dalla prima volta che lessi, negli albi Corno, e mi prendono ed emozionano oggi tanto quanto allora.
Consigliate a chiunque ami il fumetto.

[Juan Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome set of stories. Those comic-books were fabulous. Lee, Kirby and Sinnott at their best