Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus, Vol. 1

Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman #0-5

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Alan Davis (Cover Art), Barry Kitson (Illustrator)

Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman revamps and redefines Marvel's First Family in a sweeping and epic saga across time, space and reality! And it all begins when Mr. Fantastic decides to solve everything! As the team contends with Norman Osborn's Dark Reign, an older Franklin arrives from the future with an ominous warning! And as the Fantastic Four fight the War of the Four Cities, Mr. Fantastic assembles a band of genius youngsters. But when Nathaniel Richards returns, Galactus rises and a new Annihilation Wave threatens to invade from the Negative Zone, tragedy suddenly strikes. Grievng, the surviving members of the Fantastic Four dissolve the team - but from its ashes rises the Future Foundation! Guest-starring Spider-Man, Dr. Doom, Sub-Mariner an the Inhumans!

COLLECTING: Dark Reign: Fantastic Four (2009) 1-5, Fantastic Four (1998) 570-588, FF (2011) 1-5, material from Dark Reign: The Cabal One-Shot (2009)

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

800 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2013

About the author

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Fantastic Four comic books from Jonathan Hickman's run:
Fantastic Four #570-588 Hickman's critically acclaimed run begins by introducing the Four Cities, the Future Foundation and the death of one of the team AND in my opinion a perfect comic #588, a dialogue-less memorial to the fallen team member and then a truly amazing Spider Man short story. However #570 to ##582 were very average, so overall just a 7 out of 12.

FF#1-12 and Fantastic Four #600. Wow… wow… and wow. Spider-Man, the Freedom Foundation, the monochrome suits, the strange alliances, Inhumans, Kree, Subterraneans, Atlanteans, the Annihilation horde, the kids, the grandad, and the alternate rogue Reeds... finally the Fantastic Four (well since Stan Lee days) is at the top of its game! 8 out of 12

FF#13-23 and Fantastic Four #601-612 Simply the greatest Marvel run in the last 10 years! Astoundingly superior and nail biting. The fate of the Kree, Inhumans and the Four Cities, the alternate reality Reeds, last stands by Doom and Galactus(!), mad Celestials, time travellers, Power pack(!). A superb family led revival of the 'world's greatest comic book'. 9 out of 12

2014 read

[The Lion's Share · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first F4 comic I have read and I'm already becoming a Hickman fan. This seals it. This story was fantastic and what a physically beautiful book. It looks great amongst my omnibus collection.

Hickman manages to juggle multiple characters, gripping giant storylines and death and introduction of old and new characters. He really has steered this in a fantastic direction!

I can't wait to read volume 2.

[Subham · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS JUST SO GOOD!

This is my nth time reading this run and I still freaking love it, one of the finest marvel comics ever.

It starts off so well with FF and the dark reign tie in, Reed using the bridge and then Sue and the others getting those fun moments of alternate realities, the confrontation with Norman, random adventures with the FF and I love the way he writes the villains, the coming of the future Franklin and val and whats going with them, giving insight into Nathaniel's life and how it retains to the current story, what happens with the "War of the four cities" arc and I love the way Hickman introduces so many things and sets this stuff so nicely, plus the way he weaves in Dr Doom and Galactus into it is just perfect, its so seamless and all these parts builds towards the big crescendo in the end in such a nice manner, its insane and then a moment with one of the main characters and thats such an emotional gut-punch and will make you love the FF even more!

One of the greatest comics period, the way it all bends so seamlessly and all the plots come together so well, existing concepts are used in such a brilliant manner and then each character gets their own spotlight and moment that makes you love them even more and the inter-play between them and finally the big thing to come, its just perfect plus it has a murderer's row of artist, each one soo perfect and makes this book so visually striking to look at, just wow! Marvel at its peak!! Its a must read run for every fan!!

[Vinicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esse primeiro volume do omnibus do Quarteto Fantastico escrito pelo Jonathan Hickman foi minha primeira grande leitura da equipe, tendo em vista que até entao, só havia lido os encadernados recentes da fase do Ryan North. Destaco isso, pois, Quarteto Fantastico nunca foi uma equipe que me chamou muito a atenção, devido a revista estar ligada ao gênero de ficção científica - o que não me atrai. Porém, por ser uma fase famosa da equipe com o Hickman, resolvi dar uma chance, e não me arrependi.

Por conta do grande número de páginas e vários arcos aqui compreendidos, fica difícil fazer uma review abordando todos os aspectos da revista, mas vou tentar trazer minhas principais impressões do omnibus.

Primeiramente, é importante destacar que o Hickman é um roteirista que desenvolve bem suas histórias, ao ponto que em determinados momentos de usas obras, ele faz uma construção de mundo, elementos e características, que ele irá trabalhar no decorrer da trama, logo, fica tudo bem amarrado e coeso, algo que está presente nesse volume 1.

Tudo começa durante a fase da Marvel do Reincado Sombrio, pós Guerra Civil, em que Reed Richards encontra-se perdido em seus pensamentos questionando-se sobre como ele poderia ter evitado essa guerra. Para isso, ele constrói uma ponte que o permite acessar diversas terrar e estudar como elas se saíram diante a Guerra Civil, buscando encontrar aquelas que conseguiram uma solução para o problema. O desfecho desse arco e das informações obtidas por Richards, se tornam o estopim para tudo que vem a seguir.

Posteriormente, ignorando os avisos de Susan, Reed fica obcecado por não conseguir encontrar uma solução para os problemas, dando origem ao arco Consertar Tudo, em que o personagem encontra uma "uniao" de versões de si mesmo que trabalham em busca de, literalmente, consertar tudo envolvendo outras terras.

Outro arco desenvolvido por Hickman, é em relação a fundação futuro, que foi criada por Reed após ele encerrar uma "organização" que ele havia criado em prol do avanço científico.

Essa Fundação Futuro, na minha opinião, se tornou o grande chamariz dessa revista, pois, os personagens que a formam, em sua grande parte crianças - Valéria e Franklin Richards inclusos - fazem a vibe do quadrinho ser bem divertida.

A participação de Val e Franklin, inclusive, são muito bem feitas, com momentos certeiros e que conduzem a trama, indo na contramão de personagens que aparecem sem propósito ou apenas para cumprir tabela.

Além disso, ambos os filhos de Reed e Susan, além de conduzirem tramas no presente - muito por conta das ações e decisões da Val - eles também aparecem em suas versões futuras, trazendo notícias importantes sobre seu pai e acontecimentos relevantes.

Entretanto, mesmo com o elemento de ficção científica e viagem no tempo, essa história trabalha muito questões de sentimentos e familia, dando uma dramaticidade ao arco bem interessante.

Ademais, esses elementos familiares estão presentes com recorrência no omnibus, com os membros do quarteto sendo bem desenvolvidos e trazendo suas personalidades próprias para as histórias, bem como os coadjuvantes da Fundação Futuro, que conseguem seu espaço e brilham em diversos momentos.

Ainda, as participações dos vilões são bem trabalhadas, principalmente o Topeira e o Doutor Destino, que aparecem em vários momentos.

Apesar de todos esses momentos bem interessantes, ressalvo minha crítica quanto aos elementos de ficção científica. Eu sei que é algo pessoal, mas as vezes algumas pessoas podem se identificar: em determinados momentos, o sci-fi extrapola o "logico" e acaba ficando confuso, com referências a histórias anteriores do quarteto ou até mesmo em aprofundar demais as ideias e raciocínios de Reed.

Também, é importante destacar que, no meio do omnibus, algo em torno de 4-5 histórias, o Hickman da uma desacelerada no ritmo e utiliza-se desses capítulos para expor conceitos que viriam a ser trabalhados posteriormente. De começo, isso acaba sendo confuso, mas quando tudo se converge em uma direção no final, é tudo muito bem feito.

Por fim, destaco a participação da Sue Storm que assume um papel de grande relevância política para com uma espécie/civilização, assim como as participações do Homem Aranha que, quando se une a Fundação Futuro, rende diversos momentos legais.

[Aildiin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot for several reasons :
- This is Jonathan Hickman and he is for me the best modern writer of epic super hero comics ( His Secret Warriors and his Avengers are great)
- I have read very little Fantastic Four and whatever I have read is very old so there was a huge novelty effect as well as the discovery of a part of the Marvel Universe that was unknown to me.
- This provides some interesting background on the New Avengers Illuminatis.

All in all a solid 4 stars and I can't wait to read volume two.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Hickmans run on F4 after reading it many moons ago and loving it again on returning to it. I love the ideas behind it and how it all comes together. How there’s so much going on but at its core it’s still about family. In my mind that’s what a good Fantastic Four story should be. Have them exploring and doing amazing things but at the end of the day it’s about the First Family.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hickman blows it out of the park. For my money - it's quite likely the best run since Kirby's initial run ended with #102. Beg, borrow or steal. You must read this book.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic four by Jonathan Hickman.

This was a omnibus i wanted for a very long time, and i really have mixed feelings about it. The story is really cool, and most of its artwork is incredible, i mean Steve Epting and Nick Dragotta on a Marvel book, awesome. But i have to get one thing out of the way, the quality of this book, and by that i mean the paper quality is abysmal, this is no way to treat fans of the Marvel omnibus, that is supposedly the best of there line. Its not the entire book but just random pages, really effing annoying, i have better toilet paper, some pages are so thin you can look through and on some the lettering is all smudged, again i have never seen this bad quality on a Marvel omnibus. And i hope they will fix it. The story is a wild adventure, with trips to the moon, the bottom of the sea and space, and its alway cool to see Galactus, Silver Surfer and Doctor Doom, and so many Marvel heroes. This book is a blast, just shitty paper sadly.

[Hella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was awesome. I loved the complexity of the plot and the twists.I loved the characters alot and the ideas to be honest were awesome especially the council of Richards and the annihilation story Ark. All in all it was a fun ride.

[Bram Ryckaert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first exposure to Marvel's first family, and I couldn't be more impressed. Hickman introduces a lot of ideas early on, and at some point you start doubting if all this will eventually have some sort of payoff... Well it does. Hickman throws a lot of balls in the air, but manages to juggle with every one. It all comes together, but at that point you realize a bigger saga is just starting... I can't and won't spoil much, but for any fan of mind-bending sci-fi and creative storylines in general, this is a treat to read. The book starts with Reed Richards asking himself how he can solve everything, how he can make up for mistakes in the past, and avoid conflict in the future. Like Remender's Uncanny X-Force, there's a central core idea that drives the entire book.

There is so much smart and creative writing going on here that I can't wait for the second omnibus to arrive. That's the crazy part: after all the great ideas Hickman puts out here, you realize this is only the first half of his run. And the second half is supposed to be even better. I for one can't wait.

An all-round fantastic book that has at least one new idea or discovery in every issue.

[Jordan Lahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This confirms for me that I'm not really a fan of the Fantastic Four, but Hickman creates such a large epic story I'm enjoying seeing it come together. There is a lot more background knowledge required than I expected, most of which isn't explained in the story. For example, many of the members of the Future Foundation show up earlier in the story at Franklin's birthday, with no reference to who they are and where they come from. Similarly I don't know how Doom suffered brain damage, and the dead Future Galactus is only briefly explained later in the book. I'm assuming many of these events come from earlier Fantastic Four stories, but I have no desire to go back and read them.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
Holy shit this was really great. Only reason this isn't getting five stars is because the Inhumans stuff got a little boring towards the end. Can't believe I'm a Fantastic Four fan now

[Graham Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my continued preparations for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”, I looked up the best Fantastic Four comics/runs and found Jonathan Hickman’s critically-acclaimed run frequently cited. This collection compiles a few different series of his about the team (“Dark Reign Fantastic Four”, the main Fantastic Four series, and “FF”). What’s depicted across the different series is an ambitious yet very well written take on Marvel’s First Family.

Part 1 is Dark Reign and it's an interesting enough mini-series. It's a multiversal story with Reed trying to look at other realities to see if there’s anything he could have done to have prevented “Civil War”, “Secret Invasion”, and now “Dark Reign”. The other three FF members meanwhile are lost in alternative timelines/multiverse worlds while Franklin and Valerie have to delay Norman Osborn’s arrival at the Baxter Building (this last one was the most amusing part of the volume). Ultimately decent and mostly just set up for what’s to come.

The bulk of the collection is the main Fantastic Four series and it's where Hickman really expands on the storylines that he wants to tell. A good chunk of this section is picking up the Mark Millar run I had read years ago with most of the details lost in my memory so it just seemed a bit out there (and a bit mean spirited to end some of these plotlines). The rest is an ever tangled list of storylines which draw so many parts of the Fantastic Four’s and Marvel Universe’s history (Atlantis, the Mole Man, Galactus, Doom). There’s also some new concepts introduced like the Council of Reeds (loses some of its impact considering all the other multiversal councils there are these days) and the Future Foundation (a name I’ve seen tossed around for years). It’s a lot to keep track of as Hickman plants a lot of seeds in storylines and lets them grow, intermingle, split, etc.. But towards the end the plotlines start to converge and there’s some nice payoff to several of the storylines. It ends on a tragedy that I knew was coming but it's still an emotional moment for the cast. The subsequent issue was certainly pulling at the heartstrings (or as much as it could with a superhero death). The Hulk’s reaction was surprisingly one of the best but of course Spider-Man’s scene with Franklin is one of the best parts of the entire run. There's some other sweet moments in the leadup (franklin’s birthday party, Ben getting a day as a “normal” guy) which taken with the post big death moments were better examples for me of Hickman “getting” these characters.

The final section of the omnibus is the intro to the FF series to reflect the death at the end of the previous section, the new emphasis on the Future Foundation , and Spidey taking a big role. I’m a bit surprised this was included in this omnibus instead of the next because it’s setting up a brand new conflict(s) but as it's a continuation of the Council of Reeds storyline, it was sufficient. Placement aside, I think I liked this section the most, be it dealing with the fallout of the big death and starting up the next plots. I liked the section of the Future Foundation and Doom assembling a team of Fantastic Four villains to plan out how to kill the Council of Reeds. As a follow-up I loved Susan’s reaction to it as she has been beating these villains repeatedly over the years. In general it was just a more manageable section to follow.

While I think Hickman’s start with this omnibus isn’t the best because there’s a lot of content, maybe too much, it got better as it went along. All of it kind of makes clear how wide reaching the Fantastic Four mythos and adventures can span, almost like its a microcosm of the Marvel Universe itself. Like I said earlier, Hickman has vision and ambition to match and for the most part the writing chops to back up what he has planned for Marvel’s First Family. I’m looking forward to the next omnibus.

[Pruett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, y’all know the chorus at the end of the Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer that goes “fan tas tic FOURRRRRR” ?

That’s what feeling reading this omnibus will give you. WOW. Jonathan Hickman ♥️

[Jameson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun. I’ve never read any fantastic four stuff so this was a blast. Sets up tons of stuff but also has some epic moments. Truly a joy to read!

[Erick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es la primera vez que me lanzo a leer un omnibus, y vaya que se me fue en chinga. Disfrute demasiado de la escritura de Hickman a la hora de desarrollar ala familia y a las motivaciones de cada un.
Reed cada que he estado avanzando me parece un personaje tan cabrón, todo lleno de matices y una profundidad tan interesante. Susan es lo más badass de este run, una presencia que impone y a mismo tiempo una calidez que conmueve, en definitiva es mi personaje favorito de este grupo.
Johnny y Ben me parecen lo mas empático de todo esto, una hermandad llena de discusiones pero también de momentos hermosos, es por eso que la perdida de uno afecta tanto al lector como afectó al otro personaje.
Más adelante continuare el con el segundo volumen pero al menos hasta ahorita termino con un muy buen sabor de boca

[Joakim Ax · Rating 5 out of 5]

It´s been a while since I started and finnished an Omnibus within TWO DAYS!
It´s so corny to say. but this book is Fanstastic!
The art-work is great for my taste. Clean-lins instead of artisticly abstract. The story is very fluent, which I did not necessarily expect from Hickman. But I finnished it of in two days and as my first Fantastic Four book from the 616 universe. This did not dissappoint.

[Will McClintock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johnathon Hickman can write a story! Earlier this year I read his Secret Warriors run. Which was basically a large Nick Fury story. Or leash that’s how it felt.

But man. When he takes over for Fantastic Four. He’s firing off on all cylinders. Every issue is a stand alone story but at the same time he’s slowly writing a huge overarching story as well. This Omnibus had some gut wrenching/super impactful/sad moments for the Fantastic Four Family. I can’t wait to pick up volume 2 and see where he takes it from here.

Hickman is a master at his craft.

[Octavio Aragao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estava curioso a respeito dessa fase escrita por Hickman, que parecia ter redefinido e atualizado o conceito da Primeira Família da Marvel.
Não me decepcionei. Roteiros excelentes, conceituais, que não deixam nada a dever aos grandes escritores de FC da atualidade, além de uma arte que agrega valor ao conteúdo narrativo. Com exceção de umas poucas páginas, onde o ilustrador se permite alguns excessos em detrimento da estrutura diagramática, tudo funciona muito bem.👏

[Vismund · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this in tpb format a few years ago...this was even better than I remembered. Hickman plays the long game, so it's neat to see seeds he plants early in the series, knowing that they blossom later on.

If you like Hickman or Fantastic Four, this is a must read!!!

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it back when I first read it when it published, rrrrreally liked it once again now when I re-read the whole thing.

Recommended for F4 fans for sure.

Great artwork, Solid story!

[Simon Traschinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, how can this be so good? Fresh, high concept ideas jumping on you every second page.

[Bryan Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start to the storyline! That final issue is powerful. Can’t wait to see where it goes from here

[renad · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know it's going terribly when I start including comics to my gr challenge...

[Batmark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The comic book series The Fantastic Four has two eras that allow it to rightfully claim the title of "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine": the first hundred issues published throughout the '60s and early '70s, plotted and illustrated by Jack Kirby (coplotted by Stan Lee), and issues 232–293 in the early to mid-'80s, written and illustrated by John Byrne. The Kirby years essentially invented the "modern" superhero comic book story, which continues to be the baseline by which most other superhero comic books are measured. The Byrne years both recaptured the spirit of Kirby's run and modernized Marvel's first family.

The first half of Jonathan Hickman's celebrated run on The Fantastic Four, contained in this omnibus, doesn't quite recapture the magic for me. The primary issue I have with the material in this book was likely beyond Hickman's control: it collects not a sequential set of issues of The Fantastic Four series but rather a bunch of Fantastic Four stories culled from a handful of different series and miniseries. The result is a disjointed hodgepodge of plots and storylines that start, fade into the background, return briefly, fade again, etc. Other plots are continued from other sources not contained in the omnibus (such as Norman Osborne's unexplained role as a government agent in charge of superheroes or something, and Dr. Doom's brain damage and the loss of his Latverian throne), thus diluting any emotional connection a reader might have with that part of the story.

In the Marvel comics of the '60s, '70s, and most of the '80s, the so-called crossover concept, in which characters from one series guest-starred in another series, was mostly limited to special events or to discrete appearances that didn't require a reader to know much more than, say, who Spider-Man is (i.e., a wise-cracking superhero who shoots webs and sticks to walls). This began to change in the '90s and 2000s, at which point the average reader could easily get lost trying to keep up with the hundreds of interconnections and shared plots among the dozens of series published by Marvel Comics. What had previously been a shared universe that hosted several discrete storylines became, in the twenty-first century, a shared universe in which a few primary storylines were explored piecemeal by various series.

This is not to say that Hickman's Fantastic Four stories are a total mess because he's only getting to tell part of the larger Marvel story at the time. On the contrary, the plots seem to be mostly his own, but it's clear that other series published at the same time as the issues that make up this omnibus were influencing things in ways that were somewhat trivial, but which nonetheless had an impact on the flow of the story.

This is the downside of writing a flagship title, I suppose. Like The Avengers or The X-Men, The Fantastic Four is a lynchpin in the Marvel universe, and a significant number of the publisher's other series revolve around its contents.

But putting all that aside, I just never got into the groove of the stories Hickman was telling, nor the pace at which he told them. The chapters (i.e., issues) frequently felt both too rushed and too inconsequential. He packs so much action and dialogue into these stories, but so often it amounted to nothing. Reed Richards tries to solve everything, which leads him to join a bunch of Reed Richards's from other universes who banded together to solve everything. (A cool concept that Dan Harmon swiped and has used to much better effect, in my opinion, in Rick and Morty.) But the Celestials invade the Reeds' sanctum, which pretty much puts and end to that, until a few of the Reeds crop up to present a problem much later on. The Inhumans temporarily leave the Moon for some reason and another group of Inhumans arrive with the stated aim of invading Earth, but, despite hearing this directly from these new Inhumans, the FF does literally nothing about it. Then the FF discovers Old Atlantis, which leads to Sue Storm becoming their sovereign for a short while, but she immediately goes home to NYC and carries on her old life while ruling this ancient kingdom, meaning that we get very little interaction between her and this potentially interesting subplot, except when the big twists occur.

And this is another problem: Hickman utilizes many big twists, but the in-between moments are rushed through in order to get to the next twist or big moment as quickly as possible. Again, this is probably not entirely within Hickman's control. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the powers that be at Marvel urge their writers to "get on with it" and avoid anything resembling downtime--especially for the flagship titles. And they must not be wrong, because this is a well-loved era of The Fantastic Four and readers obviously ate it up. So the problem is mine, meaning that this series just isn't for me.

[Yogarshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Hickman's run on Marvel's First Family has been highly acclaimed, and for good reasons. He hits the right notes, and thoroughly highlights the cosmic zaniness that makes a good FF story (with the support of many great artists). I only dock off a point because many sections feel like they're setting up for something big, and while the payoff is great, the setup does take a bit of a slog to get through.

[Stephen Kepler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing fun read with a great build up and a gut wrenching moment that really pulled at the heart strings.

[Omni Theus · Rating 5 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW *Spoiler Free*- https://youtu.be/Gq_LKLRALAY
Perhaps My Favorite Comic Run
OVERALL RATING: 5 stars
Art: 4 stars
Prose: 4.5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Pacing: 5 stars
Character Development: 4.25 stars
World Building: 5 stars

[Adam Sorensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love loved reading this, one of my favourites from Marvel! Hickman ties all the elements of the story so well, to a point where I felt a little uncertain about the disparate parts at first before being blown away by how they all intersect. It's so damn impressive, and the Found Family elements of the Baxter Building and its inhabitants is unbelievably charming.

[Relstuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fantastic Four is Marvel's first superhero family with a heavy Sci-Fi theme. I heard a lot of positive comments about Hickman's run on Fantastic Four. And now I get to add mine as I agree positive comments are well deserved.

We get to see how Reed reacts after the failed Skrull invasion and Civil War aftermath. He searches for the answers to how to solve everything and in so doing finds a council of alternate universe counterparts trying to solve all the problems on their worlds. But their methods may not match his ethics... this sets off a fairly complex storyline with lots of things going on in the background with maneuvering by Doom, Moleman, The Wizard, and several groups including the Inhumans and the Atlanteans.

The two Richards children are key elements and hilarious hi-jinks ensure when the adults are out and Norman Oswald (the former Green Goblin) shows up as head of government law enforcement agency (Shield/Hammer) to take them into custody.

The writing was kept me turning the pages and immersed in the story. Very happy with this work. Much better than the two Fantastic Four movies.

Minor cons, the ending leaving you hanging (this is volume one), no page numbers, and no written intro from the author or anyone. The only extras are the 50th anniversary covers in the back of the book.