Marvel Knights 4, Volume 2: The Stuff of Nightmares

Marvel Knights 4 (Collected Editions)

by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Jim Muniz

While New York freezes in the icy grip of winter, an old foe resurfaces with a grudge: Namor! And the crown prince is demanding Sue make good on a old promise - even if it's over Reed's dead body. Meanwhile, closer to home, Johnny may be the only person who can help a Washington Heights woman find her missing son. Plus: Something very, very strange is happening to New York's First Family of Super-Heroes. Their deepest fears and doubts are spreading from their dreams - their unconscious minds - to the waking world. What's real and what's not? The FF's old villain Psycho-Man may hold the key, but he's... dying?

Collecting: Marvel Knights 4 8-12

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2005

About the author

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the television series Glee, Big Love, Riverdale, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He is Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics.
Aguirre-Sacasa grew up liking comic books, recalling in 2003, "My mom would take us out to the 7-Eleven on River Road during the summer, and we would get Slurpees and buy comics off the spinning rack. I would read them all over and over again, and draw my own pictures and stuff."
He began writing for Marvel Comics, he explained, when "Marvel hired an editor to find new writers, and they hired her from a theatrical agency. So she started calling theaters and asking if they knew any playwrights who might be good for comic books. A couple of different theaters said she should look at me. So she called me, I sent her a couple of my plays and she said 'Great, would you like to pitch on a couple of comic books in the works?'"
His first submissions were "not what [they were] interested in for the character[s]" but eventually he was assigned an 11-page Fantastic Four story, "The True Meaning of...," for the Marvel Holiday Special 2004. He went on to write Fantastic Four stories in Marvel Knights 4, a spinoff of that superhero team's long-running title; and stories for Nightcrawler vol. 3; The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2; and Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.
In May 2008 Aguirre-Sacasa returned to the Fantastic Four with a miniseries tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" storyline concerning a years-long infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien race, the Skrulls,and an Angel Revelations miniseries with artists Barry Kitson and Adam Polina, respectively. He adapted for comics the Stephen King novel The Stand.

In 2013, he created Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie Andrews in the midst of a zombie apocalypse; the book's success led to Aguirre-Sacasa being named Archie Comics' chief creative officer.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continues to be a interesting look into superheroes who've lost all their money trying to fit into society.

I liked the idea of Namor wanting to sweep Sue off her feet once more, cause he's that much of a dick, but he seemed a little out of place here. Almost forced into it for the storyline of finding a missing child. The ending conclusion there is actually pretty heartfelt and touching though. The second story is good, a return of a baddie that makes you fear things, but it also didn't do much new and the end result happened the exact way you can guess.

All solid writing aside, the art is on and off here, looking weird sometimes, and not to my liking sadly.

Overall a 3 out of 5, solid, but not as good as volume 1.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loves me some FF in any incarnation. Marvel is doing a disservice by not publishing any new FF stuff.

[Adil Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 2. The art team has changed, so that the artwork is now more dramatic than before. And to add to the drama, enter Namor, and Psycho-Man.

I've never understood Namor's character, and now that he is so blatantly trying his charm on Susan Richards, I'll even go ahead and say that I don't like him.

When the Psycho-Man attacks, his attack is on the entire NYC. And if that wasn't bad enough, the sun has disappeared out of the sky too.

Individual Ratings:
#8-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#9-⭐⭐⭐
#10-⭐⭐⭐
#11-⭐⭐⭐⭐
#12-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thoughts at the end of volume 2: I would much rather see the Fantastic Four facing human problems with super human grit and determination (as in volume 2) than battle super villains. The comparitively weak storyline here means that I will be temporarily discontinuing the series.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second volume felt very rough both in terms of story and art. We have the Fantastic Four more or less settled in their different jobs as part of this new phase in their lives. And then we have Psycho Man coming out of the woodwork and posing as a threat to the city. But how do these heroes get to deal with things while still holding down regular 9-5 jobs and after having been admonished by the city for damage done in the past?

I still don't quite get why this is a Marvel Knights-branded story and the way things are going doesn't quite feel like it's contributing anything significant to the greater realm of the Fantastic Four's legacy and lore.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say I completely understand why this series even existed. The first two issues here are a completely out of character and nonsensical fight and the final three are a battle with the Psycho Man. The battle against a super villain issues are fine, but isn't that what this series was supposed to NOT be? Those are just typical superhero comics, and there already was a FF book for those stories. I don't think I'll be reading anymore of this series.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just really love this series. Seeing the FF doing more “normal, mundane” things is a nice dichotomy to their usual adventures. (Though, of course, we still get their usual adventures, too—such as fights with Namor and nightmares taking over the city.) The nightmares arc was a really interesting, engaging one. Honestly, it was just plain cool.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

It's an OK idea to try to focus on these characters as people but the stories just weren't that good.

I felt like the art was too glossy and the over-sexualization of Susan Storm too distracting and counter-thematic.

[Arnoldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good stuff. Feels like a throwback to a what-if series of issues, but deals with the characters more maturely instead of a simple chapter of a story that might have been for the Fantastic Four.

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this one to be rather lame. The art is mediocre, but I did enjoy some of the side plots. 1.5/5.

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

8-9, Frozen, ☆☆☆
10-12, The Stuff of Nightmares, ☆☆☆☆

[Valentin Derevlean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trebuie să recunosc că tot ce mi-a plăcut la primul PB, aici m-a cam enervat. Înțeleg mișcarea creatorilor de a umaniza personajele până în mijlocul conflictelor casnice, dar o ceartă dintre Namor (absolut ridicol) și Reed din cauza pasiunii prințului subacvatic pentru Sue, soția sa, e cam prea de tot pentru mine. Apoi încă o poveste puțin lacrimogenă care să salveze situația, despre dispariția și moartea unui tânăr, iar spre final povestea principală, cei patru fantastici contra Psycho-Man, un antagonist care scoate la suprafață toate fricile și spaimele orașului, prilej numai bun pentru a o pune pe Sue să rezolve din nou situația. Tind să cred că tot rebrandingul din seria asta e și despre cum Sue e cea care leagă și desface tot ce mișcă în lumea fantasticilor. Poate mă înșel.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good Marvel Knights book. Not a huge Fantastic Four fan, but if they were always this good I would be. Great setup of a story, FF living a relatively normal life. Even the bit was Namor was well done and well earned and believable. Just a pretty good use of the FF universe and power set. Better than typical writing and quite good enough art. 4.5 of 5.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guess I was a little brief last time, huh? I enjoyed these issues because I like getting into the characters’ heads more. These are somewhat less about superheroes and more about heroic people. I liked the ending of this story arc quite a bit.

November 2016 - More great stuff ... 'nuff said.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Largely eschewing the traditional good guys vs bad guys model, the stories were generally well written. Readers who know the traditional Fantastic Four character will get the most out of the volume.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely characterized look at the Fantastic Four.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel Knights was supposed to be a bit more for mature readers. So why do this still feel like your basic superhero fun?

[Devero · Rating 2 out of 5]

meglio delle storie precedenti, si vede che Aguirre-Sacasa inizia a prendere confidenza col quartetto.
In generale però siamo ancora insufficienti.