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Fantastic Four (1961) #268-275, Annual #18

Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, Vol. 5

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Learn the fantastic mysteries of Mister Fantastic's past as he searches for his time-tramping father and reveals his pre-FF invasion-foiling credentials in a fight against a monster in the classic Marvel style! Travel to a world of cowboys and amazons! See the Thing find a house of horror on an alien world! And behold the face of Doom... but just the face? Not to worry, She-Hulk shows more than enough to compensate! Featuring the Black Bolt/Medusa wedding and the end of the Kree-Skrull War! Collects Fantastic Four #268-275, Fantastic Four Annual #18, and Thing #19.

248 pages, Paperback

First published December 14, 2005

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About the author

John Byrne

2,972 books366 followers
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name


John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.

Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.

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5 stars
67 (28%)
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95 (40%)
3 stars
61 (26%)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Dan.
3,238 reviews10.8k followers
July 15, 2016
Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, Vol. 5 contains 268-275, and Annual 18, Thing 19.

Reed, Sue, Johnny and She Hulk deal with Sue's miscarriage, fight Doctor Doom's mask, battle Terminus, meet Reed's father on a future wild west version of earth, and attend the wedding of Black Bolt and Medusa. And Spider-Man's alien costume escapes Fantastic Four custody, never to be seen again...

After me complaining that Byrne wasn't breaking new ground, I have to admit he's done that here, introducing Terminus, tying the Richards' family to Kang, and revealing more about Reed Richards. Reed Richard's past and family is fleshed out quite a bit. Since I read a lot about Reed's dad later on, it was cool to see his first appearance. The Inhuman wedding went the way of most super hero weddings. I was a little surprised that John Byrne was behind Johnny and Alicia Masters getting together. That pairing still makes no sense to me 30 years later.

Apart from some time travel and a quick trip to the moon, this one was a little more grounded than the previous four volumes. Byrne's art and stories have gotten better in the past few volumes but I have to think he was stretching himself a little thin at this point, doing everything on the Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight as well as writing the Thing.

4 out of 5 fantastic stars.
Profile Image for Printable Tire.
841 reviews139 followers
Read
July 13, 2015
Because You Demanded It! My reading of John Bryne's run on Fantastic Four continues. From here on out I am reading the actual issues I've collected, not the TPB collections. It hasn't been cheap and it's been a bit of a scavenger hunt to collect them all, so my reviewing may be a bit more critical to express the fact I am now actually spending money.

This "collection" begins with an issue I've had since I was a kid, the one with the cool photograph of Doctor Doom's mask on its cover. It's interesting reading some of these comics I've had and haven't read since I was 10 because now I'm able to fill in the gaps as to who the characters are and what's happening in the overall arc. Following this issue is Annual 18, another one I've had forever and have read a million times (it reminds me of the movie Enemy Mine), then a storyline involving Terminus, who is sort of a poorman's Galactus.

Next is the Warlord saga, which I found a bit disappointing, as the alternate world of the warlord was set up in a really cool way, but the conclusion of the storyline is extremely rushed and I'm still not sure why Reed Richards lost his memory or if he even got it back in the end.

And then: Thing #19. Ah, I had so much trouble finding this one in comic book stores. I think I went to a total of SIX before I finally found a copy in a new comic book store near my house, one I always forget is there! Well, it was $4, which is as high as I'm willing to pay for a single issue, but I was glad to finally get it. The story, as I figured before I even bought it, wasn't so interesting, and its inclusion within the overall Fantastic Four story arc was clearly an excuse to get some stupid schmuck like me to waste money on another comic book, but I was honestly a little thrilled to get ripped off in this way since I've always been too cheap to let myself be conned like this in the past. In the comic there's one good panel where Dracula is holding a tray of burgers and fries, and the Thing fights a Mummy with eye laser beams, so that's cool, I guess. Along this time I also read an earlier issue of the Thing I had, to get myself familiar with what was going on with him in 1984, and the Roast of the Fantastic Four, which I definitely recommend you check out.

(More egregious and insulting than the obligation to buy Thing #19 to get the full story of what's happening in the Fantastic Four comic was the inclusion in two separate comics of basically one-page comic-format ads for story lines with no apparent connection to the Fantastic Four whatsoever- one showing Spider-Man's symbiote escaping Reed Richard's lab, and another one involving Rama-Tut from some Avengers storyline nobody gives a shit about anymore. By the way, this is in addition to being reminded at least three times in each issue that Marvel's Secret Wars is "on sale now!")

The last comic in this "collection" is great: She-Hulk goes after a sleazy porn publisher. It reminded me of when all those actresses' nude photos were hacked a couple years ago, and what I bet they wish they could do to the sleazoids who posted the pictures on the internet.

And that's it for this "collection," I guess. As you can tell, this is really unleashing the nerd in me and it's become more about collecting these issues and reading the letter pages, bullpen bulletins, etc. than being a critical reader. This truly has been a Summer of Endless Childhood, which I think I deserve after having to do "adult" things like teach college classes for the better part of the year. Until next time, Make Mine Marvel!
Profile Image for Fernando Gálvez.
Author 1 book9 followers
June 10, 2017
En este tomo se viven las consecuencias de lo sucedido a Sue Storm-Richards. John Byrne va armando con cuidado el quiebre emocional de la Chica Invisible y lo que sucede con el resto de los integrantes de los Cuatro Fantásticos. Como consecuencia de un evento editorial (Secret Wars) uno de los personajes más populares del grupo será reemplazado por uno al que Byrne conoce muy bien (aunque al principio parezca un intruso y cueste amoldarse a la dinámica familiar que existe) le saca provecho en números posteriores.
Profile Image for Jefferson.
802 reviews7 followers
December 7, 2020
John Byrne once again strikes a perfect balance between epic superheroics and more down-to-earth, personal stories. However, the quality of the material is somewhat marred by some mediocre inking work in the last few chapters, as Byrne is forced to seek assistance to help with his heavy work load.
Profile Image for Kevin Morrison.
117 reviews
May 17, 2021
This had a great fight with Doom’s mask, alluding to the great power of Doctor Doom, a fascinating end(?) to the Kree-Skull war that the FF and Inhumans get mixed up, She-Hulk and the FF destroy Terminus (for now), Reed finds his father gone to an alternate reality, the Thing fights the classic Universal monsters, and there’s a fun She-Hulk story where she sticks it to sleazy media managers! All in all, this was a really fun read and a fun collection of stories!
Profile Image for Marcelo Soares.
Author 2 books14 followers
January 7, 2021
No último volume as primeiras histórias do Byrnezão da massa no Quarteto foram fechadas, este volume 5 é mais tranquilo, novas histórias começam a se abrir.
Logo no início a máscara do Doutor Destino - guardada na sala dos troféus - ataca inesperadamente os quartetianos, ou seja, de repente o doutor não tá tão morto como se pensava antes.
Depois o Quarteto viaja para o deserto e encontra Terminus, mais um alienígena gigante que quer conquistar o mundo, mas o Quarteto, com uma sacada genial do Reed, limpa o chão com ele.
Temos também o casamento da Medusa e do Raio Negro dos Inumados que é interrompido por uma última batalha na guerra Kree-Skrull na área azul da Lua, além disso, o Tocha, na maior cara-de-pau, começa a arrastar uma asa pra Alícia.
Logo mais, o Reed Richards resolve descobrir mais sobre o pai dele, o Quarteto viaja para uma outra realidade atrás de respostas sobre Nathaniel Richards e acho que surge a primeira menção de que o Kang seria um primo distante do Reed - mas tudo que envolve o Nathaniel Richards nunca ficou muito claro para mim.
Enquanto o Coisa enfrenta monstros no Battleworld do Beyonder e a Mulher Hulk enfrenta editores de revista de sacanagem - uma obsessão do Byrne -, o Tocha Humana fura o olho do amigo alaranjado e dá uns pegas na Alícia. Eu gostaria de defender o cara, mas é difícil; eu sei que o Tochinha perdeu a Frankie pra um cara maior que ele - Galactus -; a moreninha de cabelo punk também preferiu um ator de Hollywood, mas ainda tinha a loirinha de mullets que se vestia como o Boy George, não precisava pegar a ex do amiguinho, né?
No geral, é volume um pouco mais divertido - ainda que apareçam algumas cenas sobre a Sue e Reed lidando com a devastadora tragédia que fechou o volume anterior - e também um pouco mais sem graça, é o início de novas histórias que mudam ainda mais a dinâmica da família de heróis da Marvel.
Profile Image for Ed.
756 reviews13 followers
June 21, 2017
There's some fun stuff in this set of issues, but some real dogs too. In 268 through 270, there's a flying Doom mask and corny villain named Terminus that Reed beats in the dumbest way possible. But there's also some fun stuff with Wyatt Wingfoot and She-Hulk. Annual 18 is almost all terrible. I don't know why he thought the wedding of Medusa and Black Bolt was necessary. On the upside, the opening sequence with a Skrull and Kree battling for months is fun.

The 271 through 273 arc has some really fun ideas but the plot lands with a thud. The early 60s monster story flashback is just wonderful and Byrne really nails the art style of that era. The alternate universe stuff is a nice mishmash of popular genre stuff of the time like space cowboys and space barbarians (it reminded me a lot of Thundarr the Barbarian). But Byrne clearly got bored with the plot and wrapped it up in the laziest way possible. The ending literally happens off screen after an all white panel.

Thing 19 & FF 274 aren't exactly good but the Thing fighting the Mummy and Frankenstein's monster is fun enough. I like Byrne's art in these because he's inked by someone else. 275 is pretty bad and is largely about She Hulk nudes. And Byrne accused Claremont of letting his sexual peccadillos drive the comic.
Profile Image for Michel Siskoid Albert.
616 reviews8 followers
April 10, 2024
Collecting issues #268-275 and Annual #18, Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 5 also includes The Thing #19 (I see Byrne was trying to get traction on his rather pointless Thing book - Ben on a planet where nothing matters because it's all imagination, pass). This is essentially where I originally came in, though the collection has a couple issues I missed. Of particular interest: Black Bolt and Medusa tie the knot (this LATE in Marvel continuity?!), Johnny starts dating Alicia Masters in Ben's absence (don't worry, it'll be undone), the identity of Rama-Tut's time travelling ancestor is revealed, Byrne riffs on Marvel's early monster comics AND the so-called Universal monsters, and some low-life snaps a pic of a topless She-Hulk. Speaking of the Jade Giantess, she's worth her weight in gold in this series, and Byrne uses her (and draws her) well. It's kind of unfortunate to me that towards the end of the collection, he changes his art style, preferring thinner lines to his usual sharpie. Jerry Ordway will ink those admirably in the next volume, but I didn't like Al Gordon's take on these pencils as much. I respect Byrne wanting to evolve his style (there's no mention of it here, but I remember a text piece in the original floppies), but I still don't like it.
2,274 reviews5 followers
April 14, 2019
These issues may be slightly weaker than the previous collection, but they're still excellent, and Byrne continues to break new ground in this comic. Not only is he introducing new ideas and characters, but he's done something no other writer had accomplished to this point....he made a replacement team member meld with the team in a natural manner. She-Hulk's addition to the book works so well it feels like she's been a member of the team for years.
Profile Image for Shishuraj.
83 reviews
April 3, 2024
this is great if you wanna see she hulk fetishize a native american and reed richards navigate being a landlord. I only kept going for john byrne’s fantastic artwork
Profile Image for Eric Burton.
253 reviews2 followers
February 21, 2025
Still a fun read, but a step down from the last few volumes. The stories are more forgettable, and Ben Grimm is sorely missed from the team.
Profile Image for Kevin Mann.
177 reviews3 followers
February 3, 2015
Breezed through this one too. Byrne really was executing at full power through these last visionary FF TPB volumes, i have read consecutively. (2, 3, 4 & 5) --I thought the addition of She-Hulk would really annoy me, (i have never been a fan) but i really enjoyed it. It added an element of seeing the FF through new eyes, a perspective that you would not get if The Thing was there. As for the Johnny/Alicia thing.....uh....c'mon Byrne....And i may need to remove one star for Byrne giving Sue a horrific God-ugly white-trash shag MULLETT!! UGH!!! Lol. ....Now to the nuisance concerns : as i have complained about in prior volumes, the insertion of inferior stories from "The Thing" title always kills the volume's momentum, they really could have ommitted those as far as i am concerned ---they are bland & extremely boring--- and there is also a double-length FF Annual neither writen or drawn by Byrne, (plot credit only) which takes off a star for this TPB having too much non-Byrne Art, the substitutes just are not that good....and one last nitpick, Byrne allowed an outside inker for the last few FF issues in this TPB & the art is suddeny very "wonky"....but In spite of those complaints, It is for the most part still a masterwork, at least the FF titled issues are.


Profile Image for Helmut.
1,056 reviews67 followers
March 1, 2013
Bestes Comicheft der Welt? Ja, aber irgendwann reichts...

Die "Fantastic Four" haben eine lange Tradition hinter sich: Stilbildend für das ganze Genre. Dennoch haben sie sich weiterentwickelt, und John Byrne konnte zu Beginn seines Wirkens doch das in den Siebzigern etwas stagnierende Franchise neu wiederbeleben, mit frechen Ideen, bombastischen Effekten und der dezenten, aber wirkungsvollen Neuerfindung der Charaktere.

Sind Band 1-3 dieser Sammlungsreihe von Byrne's Run bei Fantastic Four noch uneingeschränkt empfehlenswert, und Band 4 noch ziemlich gut, wird halt aber irgendwann auch mal die tollste Idee etwas flach. Durch das Weggehen des Things und der wenig begeisternden She-Hulk als Nachfolgerin verliert das Team doch deutlich an Kohärenz und Witz. Die Abenteuer ähneln sich auch zu stark, als dass man immer wieder WOW sagen müsste, wie das zu Beginn von Byrnes Arbeit an dieser Reihe der Fall war.

Die Aufmachung ist identisch zu den anderen Bänden der Reihe, Softcovereinband, Hochglanzdruck auf recht dickem Papier, Originalfarben.
Profile Image for Maurice Jr..
Author 6 books39 followers
February 11, 2018
This volume covers the She-Hulk's FF debut, a battle against the planet destroying Terminus, Reed delving into his past, the FF time-traveling in search of Reed's father Nathaniel, a look at the Thing's adventures on Battleworld and the She-Hulk vs a peeping tom with a camera.

Wyatt Wingfoot returns to the team, and each member gets a bit of the spotlight. Aside from seeing Reed's childhood home and meeting his dad, we see Sue dealing with her ongoing physical and emotional recovery from her miscarriage, Johnny falling in love with Alicia Masters and She-Hulk out to stop a pornographer from printing topless pictures of her in his magazine. All in all, a nice run from the Byrne FF era.

Profile Image for Patrickderaaff.
471 reviews12 followers
February 23, 2013
The return of the FF from the Secret Wars marked a different tone in the stories. The best of John Byrne's run is behind us now, but there is still some good stuff ahead. The focus is more on the personal stuff, which Byrne really excels at. She-Hulk replacing the Thing brings comic relief, which is a good thing considering the tragedy that has hit Reed and Sue's lives. Johnny is also going through some changes, realising he is falling in love with somebody who has been very close for a very long time. Boy will there be hell to pay when Ben returns to Earth in Vol. 6 of this excellent FF Visionaries series. I could have done without the Monster Mash story though.
Profile Image for Ondra Král.
1,454 reviews123 followers
October 26, 2015
Řemeslně dobře zvládnuté příběhy, ale moc mě nebavily. She-Hulk coby nová členka týmu je absolutně nevýrazná a působí jako slabší kopie Bena, shipping Alicie a Johnyho je pak WTF. V téhle části nebyl žádný příběh, ke kterému mám důvod se někdy vracet. Docela ušel Annual (věčná válka mezi Kree/Skrully) a 275 byla docela vtipná blbina (bulvár vyfotí nahou She-Hulk).

Zbývá necelých 20 sešitů a docela se začínám bát.
Profile Image for Eric.
1,547 reviews6 followers
July 11, 2024
I'm having a hard time with this run, and I think it has to do with its glowing reputation. Maybe if I had read it closer to the 80s or something, I might also be like, "phew! what a breath of fresh air!" but it doesn't hit that for me today. It also doesn't help that I recently read through all the Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four and Byrne isn't really doing anything new, he's just playing the hits.
Profile Image for Angela.
2,597 reviews72 followers
August 7, 2011
Some fun stories. A nice touch is the way Susan reacts to her grief. It's just that this is nowhere near as good as previous volumes, maybe its to do with the downer that the team is on. A depressed team may not be as fun loving as a happy family.
Profile Image for Juan Jose.
247 reviews
August 10, 2011
I'm not fond of the "Reed Richards' father" arc, but it's still so good!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews