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Fantastic Four Epic Collection
Fantastic Four Epic Collection, Vol. 21: The New Fantastic Four
Collects Fantastic Four (1961) #347-361 And Annual #24 And Material From Marvel Holiday Special #1. The Fantastic Four, like never before! With Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny out of commission, a new FF comes Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and the Hulk! But what monstrous threat could bring these heroes together? And how are the Mole Man and the Skrulls involved? Maybe the real FF can help figure all that out! Then, the one, true Doom returns - and a time-jumping battle for the ages with Mister Fantastic ensues! Did we say time? Uh-oh, better hope nobody tells the Time Variance Authority! The Thing battles the Wrecker before a fantastic new era begins - and a stunning revelation rocks the marriage of Johnny Storm and Alicia Masters! The New Warriors, the Guardians of the Galaxy and a Miracle on Yancy Street!
504 pages, Paperback
First published June 26, 2018
About the author
Walter Simonson
1,298 books175 followersWalt Simonson is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' Thor from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned work Star Slammers, which he inaugurated in 1972 as a Rhode Island School of Design thesis. He has also worked on other Marvel titles such as X-Factor and Fantastic Four, on DC Comics books including Detective Comics, Manhunter, Metal Men and Orion, and on licensed properties such as Star Wars, Alien, Battlestar Galactica and Robocop vs. Terminator.
He is married to comics writer Louise Simonson, with whom he collaborated as penciller on X-Factor from 1988 to 1989, and with whom he made a cameo appearance in the 2011 Thor feature film.
He is married to comics writer Louise Simonson, with whom he collaborated as penciller on X-Factor from 1988 to 1989, and with whom he made a cameo appearance in the 2011 Thor feature film.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 27, 2025
Arthur Adams guests on art for the first three issues where the Fantastic Four are replaced by Ghost Rider, the Hulk, Spider-Man and Wolverine. The Skrulls and Mole Man are involved as well. It's a lot of fun. The story also seems to be an attempt to let Adams draw whatever he wants (which he does, drawing all the old giant Marvel monsters.)
Then Dr. Doom returns and battles Reed between moments in time which draws the attention of the Time Variance Authority. Yes, Simonson brings the TVA back from his epic Thor run. And yes, this is the same TVA used as the basis for the Loki show on Disney+. I love everything about these two issues. Simonson draws such inventive pages throughout this arc. It's big and bombastic and no one uses sound effects on the page better than Walt Simonson. Alas, this is the end of Simonson's run.
After a fill-in issue Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan take over the book for the rest of the current FF run (50+ issues) until the book ends with Heroes Reborn. These issues were better than I remembered. The whole thing with Alicia happens during these half dozen issues. That's the only major story of note so far. Ryan's art is solid, sort of a John Byrne lite.
Then Dr. Doom returns and battles Reed between moments in time which draws the attention of the Time Variance Authority. Yes, Simonson brings the TVA back from his epic Thor run. And yes, this is the same TVA used as the basis for the Loki show on Disney+. I love everything about these two issues. Simonson draws such inventive pages throughout this arc. It's big and bombastic and no one uses sound effects on the page better than Walt Simonson. Alas, this is the end of Simonson's run.
After a fill-in issue Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan take over the book for the rest of the current FF run (50+ issues) until the book ends with Heroes Reborn. These issues were better than I remembered. The whole thing with Alicia happens during these half dozen issues. That's the only major story of note so far. Ryan's art is solid, sort of a John Byrne lite.
June 27, 2021
Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The New Fantastic Four collects Fantastic Four #347-361, plus Fantastic Four Annual #24 and material from Marvel Holiday Special #1.
I was a Fantastic Four subscriber off and on for the better part of a decade and I'm trying to get trades and omnibuses of all the issues I have so they aren't a pain in the ass to dig out of totes and read. This one is out of print but I found someone selling it for cover price after watching it for a couple months. Fuck off, gougers!
This volume contains the end of the Walt Simonson era plus the beginning of the Tom DeFalco/Paul Ryan era. Simonson's issues see Art Adams drawing the titular three issue tale with Hulk, Spidey, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine taking over for the FF, a Doctor Doom story, plus fallout from the timestream story of the previous volume in the form of the TVA and Justice Peace. There are also a couple fill in issues.
The DeFalco/Ryan era starts off with a bang, revealing Alicia Masters has been a Skrull since Secret Wars, sending the Fantastic Four into battle with Skrulls. Later, Ben and Johnny battle Dreadface and there's a Yancy Street Christmas with Ben to round things out.
Arthur Adams' art isn't my cup of tea but you can tell he had fun in the New FF storyline. I think Simonson was running out of steam by then, though. His art in the Doom two-parter and the TVA story wasn't quite up to snuff. The stories were written well enough, though. As an early 1990s comics reader, Ghost Rider and Wolverine were everywhere and I resented THOSE guys coming into MY book.
DeFalco was never the best writer in the Marvel pantheon but he helped reset the Fantastic Four back to baseline in this volume and gave Paul Ryan some great things to draw. Outting Alicia as a Skrull was a little heavy handed and felt mean-spirited at times. I think he did a great job with the Yancy Street Christmas story. Paul Ryan was a dynamite artist. As much as I like Walt Simonson on Thor, Ryan blows him out of the water on Fantastic Four.
Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The New Fantastic Four felt more like a transitional, rebuilding volume more than anything else but there are promising things ahead. Three out of five stars.
I was a Fantastic Four subscriber off and on for the better part of a decade and I'm trying to get trades and omnibuses of all the issues I have so they aren't a pain in the ass to dig out of totes and read. This one is out of print but I found someone selling it for cover price after watching it for a couple months. Fuck off, gougers!
This volume contains the end of the Walt Simonson era plus the beginning of the Tom DeFalco/Paul Ryan era. Simonson's issues see Art Adams drawing the titular three issue tale with Hulk, Spidey, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine taking over for the FF, a Doctor Doom story, plus fallout from the timestream story of the previous volume in the form of the TVA and Justice Peace. There are also a couple fill in issues.
The DeFalco/Ryan era starts off with a bang, revealing Alicia Masters has been a Skrull since Secret Wars, sending the Fantastic Four into battle with Skrulls. Later, Ben and Johnny battle Dreadface and there's a Yancy Street Christmas with Ben to round things out.
Arthur Adams' art isn't my cup of tea but you can tell he had fun in the New FF storyline. I think Simonson was running out of steam by then, though. His art in the Doom two-parter and the TVA story wasn't quite up to snuff. The stories were written well enough, though. As an early 1990s comics reader, Ghost Rider and Wolverine were everywhere and I resented THOSE guys coming into MY book.
DeFalco was never the best writer in the Marvel pantheon but he helped reset the Fantastic Four back to baseline in this volume and gave Paul Ryan some great things to draw. Outting Alicia as a Skrull was a little heavy handed and felt mean-spirited at times. I think he did a great job with the Yancy Street Christmas story. Paul Ryan was a dynamite artist. As much as I like Walt Simonson on Thor, Ryan blows him out of the water on Fantastic Four.
Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The New Fantastic Four felt more like a transitional, rebuilding volume more than anything else but there are promising things ahead. Three out of five stars.
September 24, 2021
Eu não tô curtindo o Quarteto do Simonson.
Não adianta, acho que o grande mérito da fase até o momento é o Novo Quarteto Fantástico, que é mais que fantástico; é Incrível, Hulk; é Espetacular, Aranha; é Fantasma, Motoqueiro; é Vendável, Wolverine se unindo para vingar o Quarteto original, chutar a bunda de monstros e derrotar os Skrulls. Mas como os quartetianos foram derrotas? Simples, através do adultério.
Uma Skrull chega a Terra e se disfarça do maior Tesão de cada membro da equipe; para vencer o Tocha, ela se disfarça de Nebula - a neta do Thanos e namoradinha do onipresente Totonho Druida -; para vencer o Ben, Alícia Masters; para vencer a Susan, Namor de sunguinha; para vencer a Sharon, o Ben e para vencer o Reed, a Susan. Logo mais de metade da equipe quer coisinha com alguém que não é o companheiro atual; ou seja o maior inimigo do Quarteto é o adultério. A história é divertida, não é nada de mais, mas é bem melhor que o resto apresentado até aqui.
Depois que tudo se resolve, o Dr Destino aparece e diz que pode transformar a Dona Coisa em menina de novo, ela topa, enquanto isso, Ben Grimm, com vontade de arranjar sarna pra se coçar, resolve se recoisar para coisar melhor com a Dona Coisa.
Vai todo mundo pra Latvéria, a Dona Coisa volta a ser teúda e manteúda, o Ben volta a ser coisa, aparece um terceiro Destino com a armadura tunada pelo "Pimp My Armor" que dá um cacete nos outros destinos e sai na porrada cronalmente com o Reed enquanto os outros Fantásticos enfrentam robôs malignos. No final, com a derrota temporária do Destino, o Quarteto é preso pela TVA - uma agência temporal genérica.
A história na TVA é bem ruim, milhares de conceitos exagerados sobre viagem no tempo e variantes e, no final, um maquinista alienígena diz que só leva o Quarteto pra casa se todo mundo ficar peladão, coincidentemente todo mundo usa roupa de baixo branca, sempre imaginei que o Coisa usaria uma samba canção colorida e confortável, mas é assim que acaba a fase do Simonson.
Temos uma outra história menor, envolvendo o Korvac e a gangue da rua Yancy e começa a fase do Tom De Falco que manda tudo às favas, esquece as mutações do Coisa, esquece a Sharon, o Mestre dos Bonecos reaparece com um segredo secreto e... revela que a Alícia - desde o tempo das primeiras Guerras Secretas - é uma Skrull.
Ou seja, Johnny Storm estava envolvido, ainda que inadvertidamente, num caso de "interspecies erotica" - Capitão Kirk curtiu essa fase. Ah, e a Skrull Lyja tá grávida.
Porque essa história foi produzida em conjunto com a Televisa mexicana e só falta alguém cair da escada.
Bom, obviamente, o próximo passo é enfrentar Paibok, o Skrull qualquer coisa, e salvar a Alícia em alguma galáxia distante. Após o resgate, o Johnny tá tri afim de pegar a Alícia, mas a Alícia só quer saber da Coisa dura, rija e alaranjada que é o Ben Grimm, afinal ela nem sabe do aconteceu nesse tempo todo, rola a maior torta de climão.
A Lyja? Aparentemente ela morre numa explosão cósmica, mas é a Marvel, né? Deve passar bem.
Depois temos umas duas ou três edições que não vão a lugar nenhum, com o Quarteto enfrentando Devos, o Devastador - também não sei quem é -; o Tocha e o Coisa enfrentando uma cópia mal feita do Venom numa ilha deserta e o Coisa e a Gangue da Rua Yancy enfrentando um Doutor Destino - já não sei mais qual.
Olha, é um pouco melhor que os anteriores, mas não é muito bom, acho que falta um pouco de delicadeza, especialmente, na função da Alícia-Skrull que me deixou com várias dúvidas sobre a sexualidade skrulliana, talvez mais tempo para desenvolver as dúvidas e os dramas e menos inimigos genéricos de uma única aparição - afinal, quem é Devos, o Devastador, na fila do pão?
Não adianta, acho que o grande mérito da fase até o momento é o Novo Quarteto Fantástico, que é mais que fantástico; é Incrível, Hulk; é Espetacular, Aranha; é Fantasma, Motoqueiro; é Vendável, Wolverine se unindo para vingar o Quarteto original, chutar a bunda de monstros e derrotar os Skrulls. Mas como os quartetianos foram derrotas? Simples, através do adultério.
Uma Skrull chega a Terra e se disfarça do maior Tesão de cada membro da equipe; para vencer o Tocha, ela se disfarça de Nebula - a neta do Thanos e namoradinha do onipresente Totonho Druida -; para vencer o Ben, Alícia Masters; para vencer a Susan, Namor de sunguinha; para vencer a Sharon, o Ben e para vencer o Reed, a Susan. Logo mais de metade da equipe quer coisinha com alguém que não é o companheiro atual; ou seja o maior inimigo do Quarteto é o adultério. A história é divertida, não é nada de mais, mas é bem melhor que o resto apresentado até aqui.
Depois que tudo se resolve, o Dr Destino aparece e diz que pode transformar a Dona Coisa em menina de novo, ela topa, enquanto isso, Ben Grimm, com vontade de arranjar sarna pra se coçar, resolve se recoisar para coisar melhor com a Dona Coisa.
Vai todo mundo pra Latvéria, a Dona Coisa volta a ser teúda e manteúda, o Ben volta a ser coisa, aparece um terceiro Destino com a armadura tunada pelo "Pimp My Armor" que dá um cacete nos outros destinos e sai na porrada cronalmente com o Reed enquanto os outros Fantásticos enfrentam robôs malignos. No final, com a derrota temporária do Destino, o Quarteto é preso pela TVA - uma agência temporal genérica.
A história na TVA é bem ruim, milhares de conceitos exagerados sobre viagem no tempo e variantes e, no final, um maquinista alienígena diz que só leva o Quarteto pra casa se todo mundo ficar peladão, coincidentemente todo mundo usa roupa de baixo branca, sempre imaginei que o Coisa usaria uma samba canção colorida e confortável, mas é assim que acaba a fase do Simonson.
Temos uma outra história menor, envolvendo o Korvac e a gangue da rua Yancy e começa a fase do Tom De Falco que manda tudo às favas, esquece as mutações do Coisa, esquece a Sharon, o Mestre dos Bonecos reaparece com um segredo secreto e... revela que a Alícia - desde o tempo das primeiras Guerras Secretas - é uma Skrull.
Ou seja, Johnny Storm estava envolvido, ainda que inadvertidamente, num caso de "interspecies erotica" - Capitão Kirk curtiu essa fase. Ah, e a Skrull Lyja tá grávida.
Porque essa história foi produzida em conjunto com a Televisa mexicana e só falta alguém cair da escada.
Bom, obviamente, o próximo passo é enfrentar Paibok, o Skrull qualquer coisa, e salvar a Alícia em alguma galáxia distante. Após o resgate, o Johnny tá tri afim de pegar a Alícia, mas a Alícia só quer saber da Coisa dura, rija e alaranjada que é o Ben Grimm, afinal ela nem sabe do aconteceu nesse tempo todo, rola a maior torta de climão.
A Lyja? Aparentemente ela morre numa explosão cósmica, mas é a Marvel, né? Deve passar bem.
Depois temos umas duas ou três edições que não vão a lugar nenhum, com o Quarteto enfrentando Devos, o Devastador - também não sei quem é -; o Tocha e o Coisa enfrentando uma cópia mal feita do Venom numa ilha deserta e o Coisa e a Gangue da Rua Yancy enfrentando um Doutor Destino - já não sei mais qual.
Olha, é um pouco melhor que os anteriores, mas não é muito bom, acho que falta um pouco de delicadeza, especialmente, na função da Alícia-Skrull que me deixou com várias dúvidas sobre a sexualidade skrulliana, talvez mais tempo para desenvolver as dúvidas e os dramas e menos inimigos genéricos de uma única aparição - afinal, quem é Devos, o Devastador, na fila do pão?
January 4, 2026
This is an interesting FF collection. There are a few Art Adams issues at the beginning with great work. The Simonsen run has quality work with complex plots, but suffers from the Johnny/Alica, Chary/Ben dynamics and the fact that the issues just aren't that fun. I liked the Doom issues that close out the run. DeFalco takes writing duties and immediately moves into soap opera plotting and retcons Johnny/Alicia and gets the Four back to the Four (though Simonsen was taking steps in that direction). The retconning is unpleasant but once DeFalco gets through it the issues start to get fun again and remind me more of the Kirby and Byrne Four. I was not familiar with Ryan's work which has more of a house style but is quite good.
January 30, 2019
I really, really liked this better than volume 20. As much as people seem to praise it, I'm just not a fan of Walt Simonson's artwork. I can't say why exactly, but there is something very off putting about it. Reading the Arthur Adam's and Paul Ryan stuff was so much more fun.
This is a great collection of stories though. We get the classic "New Fantastic Four" story where Spider-Man, etc, take over for the four. And we get the reveal that Alicia had been a skrull for some time. Both were pretty cool and I'm glad to have finally read them.
It seems like people don't think too highly of the DeFalco era of FF, but so far, I'm digging it and want to read more.
This is a great collection of stories though. We get the classic "New Fantastic Four" story where Spider-Man, etc, take over for the four. And we get the reveal that Alicia had been a skrull for some time. Both were pretty cool and I'm glad to have finally read them.
It seems like people don't think too highly of the DeFalco era of FF, but so far, I'm digging it and want to read more.
October 26, 2021
Fantastic Four stories seem to be overwhelmingly goofy.
March 31, 2024
Si bien la etapa de Walt Simonson en Los Cuatro Fantasticos no me ha parecido que sea especialmente brillante, sí es cierto que la sensación que transmite es, por completo, la de estar disfrutando al máximo de su etapa en la serie. Este tomo, que reúne parte de la etapa de Simonson y el inicio de la de Tom DeFalco, vamos a asistir a la reunión de los llamados "Nuevos Cuatro Fantásticos", una reunión de los héroes más destacados del momento (Spiderman, Lobezno, el Motorista Fantasma y el Hulk Gris) para ayudar a los Cuatro Fantásticos en un encontronazo con una skrull que se hace pasar por Sue Richards (y que quizá sirve un poco de antecedente de lo que va a venir después), y que va a llevar al nuevo equipo a vérselas con el Hombro Topo e Isla Monstruo, y lo hará con dibujo de Arthur Adams.
Simonson volverá a recuperar el control completo de la colección, guion y dibujo, en su próxima etapa, en la que el verdadero Doctor Muerte recuperará el control de Latveria, derrotando a Kristoff finalmente, y utilizará a Miss Marvel para atacar a los 4F, devolviendo a Sharon Ventura su forma física humana (y Ben Grimm a su vez recuperaba su forma pétrea habitual, en un ejercicio de "dejar las cosas recogidas para el siguiente guionista). Además, este nuevo enfrentamiento entre los 4F y Muerte va a llevar a la intervención de la AVT en su encarnación más clásica (me encanta el diseño de las oficinas repletas de mesas y mesas de funcionarios exactamente iguales), de modo que, para defender la existencia de su línea temporal, los 4F tendrán que hace frente a la AVT, a su representante burocrático (el señor Mobius) y a su brazo armado (el Juez Paz), que tanta importancia han tenido ahora a través de la serie dedicada a Loki.
Con esta historia, Simonson dejaba los juguetes recogidos para que llegaran Tom DeFalco y Paul Ryan, quizá demasiado rápido, porque he tenido la impresión de que simplemente Sharon Ventura ha desparecido, dejando al equipo en su formación inicial, y con el objetivo de deshacer uno de los argumentos más polémicos de John Byrne, como fue el matrimonio entre Johnny Storm y Alicia Masters... y vamos a descubrir que Alicia fue sustituida durante las Secret Wars por una skrull llamada Lyja, enviada por el Energoskrull (así, tal cual), Paibok, para infiltrarse en el equipo. Lyja morirá para salvar a Johnny... y con este movimiento, recuperamos a Alicia (rescatada por los 4F de los skrulls), que ha vuelto a estar enamorada de Ben Grimm, como si el matrimonio de Alicia y la Antorcha y la relación de Ben y Sharon no hubieran ocurrido nunca.
Ya decía Stan Lee lo de dar la ilusión del cambio pero sin el cambio... y aquí tenemos lo que viene siendo un reseteo total de la colección hasta su estatus inicial... y no se cargaron a Franklin porque debía de hacerles gracia... En fin.
No, no es uno de mis movimientos favoritos, creo que el triángulo Ben-Alicia-Johnny daba mucha profundidad a la serie y a los personajes, y este "reseteo", pues al final no deja de volver a un status quo anterior... muy anterior.
Simonson volverá a recuperar el control completo de la colección, guion y dibujo, en su próxima etapa, en la que el verdadero Doctor Muerte recuperará el control de Latveria, derrotando a Kristoff finalmente, y utilizará a Miss Marvel para atacar a los 4F, devolviendo a Sharon Ventura su forma física humana (y Ben Grimm a su vez recuperaba su forma pétrea habitual, en un ejercicio de "dejar las cosas recogidas para el siguiente guionista). Además, este nuevo enfrentamiento entre los 4F y Muerte va a llevar a la intervención de la AVT en su encarnación más clásica (me encanta el diseño de las oficinas repletas de mesas y mesas de funcionarios exactamente iguales), de modo que, para defender la existencia de su línea temporal, los 4F tendrán que hace frente a la AVT, a su representante burocrático (el señor Mobius) y a su brazo armado (el Juez Paz), que tanta importancia han tenido ahora a través de la serie dedicada a Loki.
Con esta historia, Simonson dejaba los juguetes recogidos para que llegaran Tom DeFalco y Paul Ryan, quizá demasiado rápido, porque he tenido la impresión de que simplemente Sharon Ventura ha desparecido, dejando al equipo en su formación inicial, y con el objetivo de deshacer uno de los argumentos más polémicos de John Byrne, como fue el matrimonio entre Johnny Storm y Alicia Masters... y vamos a descubrir que Alicia fue sustituida durante las Secret Wars por una skrull llamada Lyja, enviada por el Energoskrull (así, tal cual), Paibok, para infiltrarse en el equipo. Lyja morirá para salvar a Johnny... y con este movimiento, recuperamos a Alicia (rescatada por los 4F de los skrulls), que ha vuelto a estar enamorada de Ben Grimm, como si el matrimonio de Alicia y la Antorcha y la relación de Ben y Sharon no hubieran ocurrido nunca.
Ya decía Stan Lee lo de dar la ilusión del cambio pero sin el cambio... y aquí tenemos lo que viene siendo un reseteo total de la colección hasta su estatus inicial... y no se cargaron a Franklin porque debía de hacerles gracia... En fin.
No, no es uno de mis movimientos favoritos, creo que el triángulo Ben-Alicia-Johnny daba mucha profundidad a la serie y a los personajes, y este "reseteo", pues al final no deja de volver a un status quo anterior... muy anterior.
February 1, 2023
I read this book kinda by accident. A while back, I'd bought all three Fanastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson volumes on my Kindle, but for some reason, I had it in my head that the Simonson volumes missed a couple issues, so I bought this book to wrap up Walt's FF. Alas, this book contains an Annual, a fill-in, and post-Simonson FF (plus a short Christmas-themed tale from Walt, which was cute but didn't justify this entire book!). See my Simonson vol. 3 review for thoughts on the first half of this book.
The Annual ... I think I read six or seven pages and then skipped ahead. The fill-in was an interesting idea executed in boring fashion. The post-Walt issues were decent enough - a Thing-focused fill-in with a nice edge of tragedy around a mediocre brawl, and the early DeFalco/Ryan issues. Ryan's a very good, rather underrated artist - clear storytelling, sturdy figures, impactful action. DeFalco's scripts are solid as well - he handles the banter well and comes up with an interesting opening twist with a traitor inside the FF, but I wouldn't strongly recommend it. There's nothing really striking about it.
The book's editor has an afterword in which he mentions that it's fairly easy to write Ben and Johnny, but Simonson wrote a great Reed and writing a good Reed is the hardest part of the FF. That rings true to me, and in this book, only Simonson really nails that particular voice for me.
The Annual ... I think I read six or seven pages and then skipped ahead. The fill-in was an interesting idea executed in boring fashion. The post-Walt issues were decent enough - a Thing-focused fill-in with a nice edge of tragedy around a mediocre brawl, and the early DeFalco/Ryan issues. Ryan's a very good, rather underrated artist - clear storytelling, sturdy figures, impactful action. DeFalco's scripts are solid as well - he handles the banter well and comes up with an interesting opening twist with a traitor inside the FF, but I wouldn't strongly recommend it. There's nothing really striking about it.
The book's editor has an afterword in which he mentions that it's fairly easy to write Ben and Johnny, but Simonson wrote a great Reed and writing a good Reed is the hardest part of the FF. That rings true to me, and in this book, only Simonson really nails that particular voice for me.
November 15, 2023
This volume contains the end of Walt Simonson's Fantastic Four run and the start of Tom DeFalco's.
The first 3 issues collected contain the titular story. Wile the Fantastic Four are incapacitated, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk and Wolverine team-up in order to defeat a group of Skrulls on Monster Isle. It's a really fun little story and is illustrated by Art Adams. These 3 issues, however, are the only ones which include the New Fantastic Four.
The rest of Walt Simonson's run includes a story where the Fantastic Four battle Dr. Doom, and another where they have to escape the Time Variance Authority (who had imprisoned them due to Reed and Doom's excessive use of time travel in the preceding story).
After some filler, Tom DeFalco comes on board as the new writer. In my opinion, this was a step-up from Simonson, and I loved the art by Paul Ryan. DeFalco begins his run with the reveal that one of the Fantastic Four's closest supporting cast members is a Skrull. The FF have to travel to outer space in order to rescue the original. It's hard to say too much without giving away spoilers.
All in all, this is a fun volume. Nothing stands out as especially great, but there are no bad stories either. A consistently entertaining read.
The first 3 issues collected contain the titular story. Wile the Fantastic Four are incapacitated, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk and Wolverine team-up in order to defeat a group of Skrulls on Monster Isle. It's a really fun little story and is illustrated by Art Adams. These 3 issues, however, are the only ones which include the New Fantastic Four.
The rest of Walt Simonson's run includes a story where the Fantastic Four battle Dr. Doom, and another where they have to escape the Time Variance Authority (who had imprisoned them due to Reed and Doom's excessive use of time travel in the preceding story).
After some filler, Tom DeFalco comes on board as the new writer. In my opinion, this was a step-up from Simonson, and I loved the art by Paul Ryan. DeFalco begins his run with the reveal that one of the Fantastic Four's closest supporting cast members is a Skrull. The FF have to travel to outer space in order to rescue the original. It's hard to say too much without giving away spoilers.
All in all, this is a fun volume. Nothing stands out as especially great, but there are no bad stories either. A consistently entertaining read.
January 31, 2023
It was closer to a 4 star review than a three but it wasn't a 4. I loved the DeFalco/Ryan part of the book. I was relieved when the Simonson run came to an end. It wasn't so much as it was not as good as most of Walt Simonson's other works. The advertised highlight of the book the three issue story the New Fantastic Four featuring Joe Fixit Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man and Ghost Rider was the height of what became a trend in 90's Marvel books. It was unnecessary and bad mostly. Here it was ok but not an FF story not really. Adams art is beautiful and it fit the Mole Man aspect of the story well but I am not a huge fan of the end product. The latter handful of stories are DeFalco trying to bring back some of the FFs more solid traits and correct some mistakes namely the Torch and Alicia marrying and returning Doctor Doom to his storyline. This was a very good read. I can't wait to read the next volume.
July 17, 2022
COLLECTS FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #347-361, FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #24, AND MATERIAL FROM MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1
I picked up this collection from the library to check out the "New Fantastic Four" storyline, but the part of the collection I enjoyed the most was the Lyja/Skrull infiltration story told towards the end of this book. Just by coincidence, that story ties into some of the present-day stories being told by Dan Slott (as I write this review in 2022). I read a lot of the beginning of this collection, and a most of the Lyra story, and then scanned through most of the rest of this large collection.
I picked up this collection from the library to check out the "New Fantastic Four" storyline, but the part of the collection I enjoyed the most was the Lyja/Skrull infiltration story told towards the end of this book. Just by coincidence, that story ties into some of the present-day stories being told by Dan Slott (as I write this review in 2022). I read a lot of the beginning of this collection, and a most of the Lyra story, and then scanned through most of the rest of this large collection.
July 1, 2022
"I GAVE UP MY HUMANITY FOR CHRISTMAS!"
- Ben "The Thing" Grimm to a doombot, just before punching it.
KITCHEN SINK!!
What was in this volume? A better question would be what wasn't?
This b!+ch has everything: time travel, several doses of Dr Doom (never a bad thing), a super-skrull story, the Mole Man, relationship drama, Franklin being a stinker, space piracy, Ben and Johnny being bonding over explosions, interdimensional police agencies, Hulk, body possessing aliens, Wolverine, robot receptionists, Ghost Rider, circus animals, big sticks... did I already mention the kitchen sink?
I got this used for like $20, so my expectations were nonexistent. My memories of 90's comics aren't great and I've never been particularly keen on the FF, so I didn't expect much. I'm glad to say, once again, that I was WRONG!
Walt Simonson's run here is F@#$in' EPIC!!! Every story held me in, despite going all sorts of directions.
Art Adams, who I haven't had much exposure to is an astonishing illustrator. He's a fine compliment to Simonson's stories.
Mark Bagley (Ultimate Spider-man), one of my personal favorites, penciled issue #351.
If I hadn't got this because it was cheap, I'd've missed out on a really fun trip to a less cringey 1991.
Holy s#!+ this was fun. Four stars.
- Ben "The Thing" Grimm to a doombot, just before punching it.
KITCHEN SINK!!
What was in this volume? A better question would be what wasn't?
This b!+ch has everything: time travel, several doses of Dr Doom (never a bad thing), a super-skrull story, the Mole Man, relationship drama, Franklin being a stinker, space piracy, Ben and Johnny being bonding over explosions, interdimensional police agencies, Hulk, body possessing aliens, Wolverine, robot receptionists, Ghost Rider, circus animals, big sticks... did I already mention the kitchen sink?
I got this used for like $20, so my expectations were nonexistent. My memories of 90's comics aren't great and I've never been particularly keen on the FF, so I didn't expect much. I'm glad to say, once again, that I was WRONG!
Walt Simonson's run here is F@#$in' EPIC!!! Every story held me in, despite going all sorts of directions.
Art Adams, who I haven't had much exposure to is an astonishing illustrator. He's a fine compliment to Simonson's stories.
Mark Bagley (Ultimate Spider-man), one of my personal favorites, penciled issue #351.
If I hadn't got this because it was cheap, I'd've missed out on a really fun trip to a less cringey 1991.
Holy s#!+ this was fun. Four stars.
February 16, 2026
The cover feature, in which Wolverine, the Hulk, Spider-man and Ghost Rider take over for the incapacitated FF is a lot of fun, with Arthur Adams getting to recreate Kirby’s greatest monsters. The rest of the book is typical of the era, with fill-in issues, She-Thing and fun retconning people into Skrulls
July 31, 2019
The first half of this book wraps up Walt Simonson’s run, which is just about as good as the FF ever got. Unfortunately, it’s immediately followed by one of the worst eras of the comic. Hard to score, because the highs are so high, and the lows are very, very low.
May 3, 2020
FF stories are always a bit wacky, but in a good way. These characters are written to have heart and it shows, amongst the weirdness of superhero books they manage to have meaningful exchanges and moments.
April 1, 2023
A great drum of FF stories. Skrulls, the TVA, some wrecking crew action. Great stuff all the way around.
January 9, 2026
I bought this for the New Fantastic Four story line, which is just a few issues at the start of the book. I didn't find the rest of it all that interesting.
September 10, 2025
Walt Simonson knows ball
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews