Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Pérez, Vol. 1

Fantastic Four (1961) #164-167, 170, 176-178, 184-186

by George Pérez (Penciller), Roy Thomas (Writer), Len Wein (Writer)

Before his cross-company fame for Disturbing Crises and Avenger adventures, Perez put the World's Greatest Super-Team through its paces - and first up was a fight with a fabulous fifties favorite! The Thing gets replaced in the FF, but who's replacing Mr. Fantastic in... the Frightful Four? Also featuring the Incredible Hulk, Luke Cage, the High Evolutionary, and costumed characters never seen before or since! Collects Fantastic Four #164-167, #170, #176-178, #184-186.

Genres: Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Adventure, Action, Fantasy

198 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2005

About the author

George Pérez (June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic books artist and writer, known for his work on various titles, including Avengers, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.

Reviews

[Stephen Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reliving these Fantastic Four stories from the late 1970s. It is so nice to read stories that don't drum on for an entire year, requiring me to buy other titles that the story line ran through, and getting to the point of forgetting what the point of the story is George Perez and Marvel for this wonderful book. This book is proof of Marvel's former glory, a great that once was, and can be again someday.

[Maurice Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good look into the Fantastic Four's classic past. I enjoyed the journey- my only complaint was that they couldn't get all the issues in this run- it left gaps that folks like me who didn't read it at that time can't fill. This covered issues 164-167, 170, 176-178 and 184-186.

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a collection of stories - there aren't any great stories in here (I find Roy Thomas was pretty weak as a writer) and because it follows the art of George there are gaps and we are left with unfinished plot lines. There is one cute story with the Impossible Man busting into the Marvel Bullpen but other than that the stories are pretty weak.

But we are highlighting George's art, so how is that? Not great. This was early in his career and while you can start to see his style peek out that I (and many fans) fell in love with - it is still in its early development here with the inkers overpowering a lot of his finer touches. So if you hadn't told me it was Perez's art I would not have been able to tell you.

I'll check out volume two to see if it gets better.

[Mat Brewster · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Fantastic Four book. I was not really impressed. This book highlights the penciler, George Perez and as such it skips around a little which is confusing. The art actually isn't that great and the stories tend to be a bit silly - especially the banter between the FF. I think I'll give a later collection of stories a try before giving up on FF, but if they don't get better I'll be moving on.

[Gabriel Rojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good sample of mid-70s FF. Nothing spectacular, but everything is good enough, with that fair flair of ol' Marvel decency.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The timeframe for the original publication of these stories is the middle of the seventies, a time of gaudy clothing and unusual hair on the men. Those aspects are an incidental part of the stories. This was a time when the stories were driven by the outstanding dialog of the characters. The members of the FF bicker within, internally and question their role in the group and world in general.
Some of these stories include appearances by “The Impossible Man,” a feature that I can easily do without. He is meant to be an amusement, but with the value of looking back, he reminds the reader of Jar Jar Binks in “Star Wars Episode 1.”
One annoying aspect of this collection is that it is not completely sequential. The episode numbers are 164, 165, 166, 167, 170, 176, 177, 178, 184, 185 and 186. Therefore, there is a loss of continuity, such collections are best when they are completely sequential. The fact that they are in full color is a strong point in favor.
This is an entertaining look back at the members of the FF when there was action, but the story was driven more by dialog and the interactions of the characters rather than action. They love and hate each other like family, which is what they are, held together by the bond of possessing great power.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My only gripe here is that they have a tendency to skip huge chunks of books and sometimes it takes a couple of seconds to figure out whats going, plus sometimes you just want to know what happened. Other then that I really liked the book and am glad this was part of the series where Sue was more powerful, not just the chick.

[Mitch Romig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a chore. There are a lot of skipped issues, I guess even in the 70's Perez couldn't make a monthly deadline. The stories are okay for their time and the art improves through the book but the collection skips too much story to ever get a groove going. I guess that is why we have late books instead of fill in artists now.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm never fond of these scattered artistic visionary volumes. However, this one does have a nice sampling of '70s stories, including classics like The Crusader and The Salem 7 (as well as some duds, like a Hulk/Thing team-up).

[Robert Cahill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories weren't bad. Ben Grimm losing his powers and getting a mech-suit, The Thing and Hulk joining sides against The FF, the Frightful Four beating the FF, and Franklin Richards being kidnapped were all interesting. I'm a big fan of George Perez. This Fantastic Four run was one of his earliest.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my short note on the book here:
[http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/20...]