Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four, Vol. 21

Fantastic Four (1961) #232-240, Annual #16

by John Byrne, Stan Lee, Ed Hannigan

The Fantastic Four are going back to basics, back to Byrne! The Marvel Masterworks is very proud to present the debut of John Byrne in his celebrated run as FF writer/artist. Byrne's deft balance, renewing the characters' core, revitalizing old foes and introducing new concepts, gave the FF a bold vitality. Marvel's First Family were back to the lofty heights of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In fact, the Lee/Kirby contribution to FF's 20th Anniversary is one of the many treats this volume has in store. Also included are an Annual by Steve Ditko, the FF Roast and a treasure trove of bonus material. Restored from extensive scans of original artwork, this is the defi nitive edition of one of Marvel's true classics.
FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) 232-240, ANNUAL (1963) 16; FANTASTIC FOUR ROAST (1982) 1

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

313 pages, Hardcover

Published December 24, 2019

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The return of the master to the FF. Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and my favorite John Byrne come back to do FF stories and art again! I love this collected volume. I get all my favorite FF creators in one book. Nice read. Recommended

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Byrne begins his FF run by breathing new life into Marvel's first family.

[Jonathan Ammon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Byrne takes the FF over for real, and the book immediately evidences vision. Byrne had pencil and story duties before but the inker molded Byrne's artwork into the Marvel style. Here, his own style shines through as does his vision to do something outside the story formula set down by Kirby and Lee. He expands beyond villain of the week and spends time developing each of the character's meaningful relationships while also pushing much more interesting science-fiction plots.

[Kevin Nobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Byrne really knows how to write this title. Fantastic Four is a sci-fi/fantasy/exploration title, and I'm pleased with the direction he's taking with it. This was a welcome respite from all the Spider-Man I've been reading.

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how Byrne built his stories layer by layer, teasing us with the next big reveal. His humor is also quite evident especially in his choice of covers explicitly stating that Dr Doom is not in this issue.

[ISMOTU · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Byrne begins his classic run on the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pues Byrne está aquí (o lo estuvo, que estos cómics son del ochenta y pocos), y de momento, en el primer tomo que cuenta con él como "autor completo", es decir, guion y dibujo (salvo alguna ayudita de Terry Austin con los lápices en algún momento), sube mucho el tomo de la serie respecto a la mayoría de las etapas anteriores. Quizá sea que estoy más acostumbrado al ritmo ochentero que a los anteriores, y que tengo los ojos hechos a Byrne, que su etapa en la Patrulla-X la tengo visitada y revisitada, o quizá sea que de verdad John Byrne es mejor que sus predecesores. Sea como sea, y con todos sus (muchos) defectos, ver los dibujos de Byrne son una gozada.

En este primer tomo, además, mantiene un buen equilibrio entre nuevos personajes (Arañita o el hombre común con el poder de alterar la realidad), personajes procedentes de otras colecciones que se encuentran por primera vez con los Cuatro Fantásticos (Ego) y personajes clásicos de la colección (Diablo, el amo de las Marionetas o el mismísimo Doctor Muerte); y no solo en los villanos, sino que va a avanzar contándonos el porqué de las fobias de Frankie Raye o va a presentar a un personaje tan icónico y desconocido hasta el momento como la Tía Petunia de Ben Grimm.

Así que... seguimos con el viaje...