Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus, Vol. 2

Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus

by John Byrne, Marvel Various (Writer)

Superstar John Byrne’s legendary run concludes with one of the most innovative periods in FANTASTIC FOUR history! The sensational She-Hulk replaces the Thing, Sue Richards becomes the Invisible Woman, and Mr. Fantastic is tried for crimes against the universe! Also featuring the return of Doctor Doom, the fate of Reed and Sue’s unborn child, the resurrection of Jean Grey and more — as the FF confront deadly foes including the Mole Man, Doctor Octopus, Terminus, the Beyonder, Mephisto, Psycho-Man and Annihilus! Plus: The unfinished classic “The Last Galactus Story!”

COLLECTING: Fantastic Four (1961) 261-295, Annual (1963) 18-19; Alpha Flight (1983) 4; Thing (1983) 10, 19; Avengers Annual (1967) 14; material from Secret Wars II 2; Epic Illustrated (1980) 26-34; What If? (1977) 36; What The-?! (1988) 2, 10; Thing (1983) 7; Fantastic Four Roast (1982) 1; Fantastic Four Special Edition (1984) 1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Superheroes, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels Manga

1224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1986

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

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collects the second half of John Byrne's renowned FF run. I like some parts of it, like the Trial of Galactus, She-Hulk joining the Fantastic Four, and Sue renaming herself the Invisible Woman and being a more assertive character. The multi-parter with Psycho-Man was also good, as was the introduction of Kristoff, the young man that was brainwashed into thinking he was Doctor Doom.

That's about it. A lot of this volume felt a little uninspired to me. The first volume was a lot better than this one. Was it worth waiting six years for Marvel to finally reprint it? Hell, I don't know. I guess. I liked it and I'm glad I read it but I don't revere the Byrne run like a lot of people. It's pretty much covers of Lee and Kirby's Greatest Hits apart from the addition of She-Hulk. I have to wonder if there was more editorial interference in this half of Byrne's run or if he was running on fumes after the first half.

[Tesutamento · Rating 3 out of 5]

Büyük hayal kırıklığı oldu. İlk kitabın başarısı reddedilemezken burada kendi içinde bile bir seviye söz konusu değil. Kitabın ilk yarısı ilk kitaba yakınken ikinci yarısı maalesef berbat. Söz konusu seri Fantastic Four olunca epey tolerans gösteriyorum ama burada yanlış çok şey var. John Byrne'ün ikonik serisi ilk kitapta yakaladığı ivmeyi maalesef burada sürdüremiyor. Bunun başlıca sebebi kuşkusuz dönemin Marvel editörü Jim Shooter.

Kendisinin yazdığı Secret Wars'ta The Thing FF ekibinden ayrılıyor ve yerini She-Hulk'a bırakıyor. She-Hulk yazar Byrne'ün sevdiği bir karakter olduğundan ekibe güzel entegre oluyor olmasına da hak ettiği sahne ışığına pek kavuşamıyor. Kitap boyunca karakterin potansiyeline bir türlü kavuşamamasını görmek üzücüydü. Halbuki Thing'in bıraktığı mizah açığını güzel kapatmışken biraz da karakter derinliğine inilebilseydi güzel şeyler çıkabilirdi.

Ekibe katıldığı dönemde FF'in ana odağı Sue'nun hamileliği ve sonrasında yaptığı düşük olduğundan Jennifer biraz kenarda kalmış. Sue'nun karakter gelişimi için kritik bir rol oynayan Malice hikayesinin biraz Secret Wars II uğruna harcandığını düşünüyorum. Yani bu da Shooter'a yazar.

Başlarda araya giren The Thing serisinin sayılarını kötü buluyordum ama ikinci yarıda başlayan hikayelerden sonra o bile fena değilmiş dedim. Sıkıcı Annual sayılar, Avengers/Fantastic Four ortak hikayesi, Jean Grey'in doğumu ve en kötüsü Secret Wars II adlı fiyasko hikaye bir türlü Fantastic Four'un kendi yolunda ilerlemesine izin vermiyor. Maalesef bu kötü gidişat kitabın ikinci yarısını tamamen kaplıyor. Tam bunlar bitip seri düzlüğe çıkmış gibi görününce de Byrne seriden ayrılıyor. Öyle ki son sayıların senaryosunu o yazsa da çizimini başkasına vermiş durumda. Sanıyorum kötü gidişatın bir noktasında Byrne seriden usanmış olacak ki son hikayelerinde olayları apar topar bitiriyor, biz de ne olup bittiğini anlamak için bir sayfa boyunca Reed'den bilimsel açıklama dinliyoruz.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collecting the second half of John Byrne's five-year run on the world's greatest comic magazine. Some say it's the inferior half, and I suppose that's somewhat true. By this point, Byrne was writing and drawing two monthly books for Marvel, and writing another. The workload does seem to have taken its toll to some degree. After the first several issues in this volume, the art begins to look looser and less finished. Inking duties eventually get handed over to others. The art is still quite good, just not as good.

For most of this book, the Thing is replaced by She-Hulk for in-story reasons. I have nothing against the character, but she never quite fits in here, and other than acting as the team strong-person mostly just comments about how new she is to this super-heroing thing. I think she worked better as an Avenger, where there wasn't a family dynamic at work.

But the stories are still great, for the most part. Some of my favorites are here, in fact. The Psycho-Man returns to Earth with a new Hate-Monger and an insidious plot to tear our society apart. Mr. Fantastic battles Doctor Octopus for the life of his unborn child. An exorcist who believes Reed and Sue to be witches inadvertently unleashes the ultimate evil. And if you don't shed a tear at the tragic story of a lonely young boy who idolizes the Human Torch, you probably aren't really human.

So if this half is inferior, it's only in a relative sense. This is still some of the best material Marvel has ever released. My only real complaint about these volumes is that they didn't also include Byrne's run on the Thing's solo series (only a few issues where direct crossovers occurred.)

[Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally done with this unwieldy, almost decade-long run. it was quite good actually! i definitely think this second half wasn't quite as consistently strong as the first but at the end of the day it is a character defining read. I'll take it character by character because i think most of my thoughts revolve around them.

first things first, i think she-hulk is a fun addition to the team. it does feel a bit like john didn't know what to do with ben, his story kind of stays stagnant and his self doubts spiral in what is pretty nakedly just an excuse to write him out. but if he had to leave the team, I'm glad they allowed a new dynamic to take his place rather than just the closest match. jen's continual feeling that she is an outsider to this well established family makes for some interesting arcs, but it also can give way to her feeling like a background character for the more dramatic elements. a mixed bag overall but more of it works for me than doesn't.

sue wins the award for most improved by a country mile in this half. she was well written in the first half, don't get me wrong, but this book really allows her to undergo meaningful growth in a way all too uncommon for comic book characters. it was so satisfying to see her become more confident, assertive, and generally more comfortable in her own skin after the series of consecutive traumas she had to endure. and thoss traumas are largely handled with refreshing maturity... even if they did make malice look like *that*.

tying into this, Byrne seems to really have fun with interrogating reed here. starting off literally with his own trial at the hands of the kree, but then also constantly throughout this run he is faced with monuments to himself and the consequences his actions have wrought. he is called out for playing things too safe or overthinking in times when action is what is actually requires. this book not only lets him be wrong but it sort of relishes in when he is. reed sort of experiences a parallel but backwards arc to sue, learning to rely more on his team and trust in his family rather than shouldering the burden entirely himself. just like sue, he is given so much more depth here and frankly I'm eating it right up yumyumyumyumyum.

JOHNNY AND ALICIA SHOULD NOT BE DATING AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS PLOT LINE IS JOHN BYRNE'S MISTAKE. that's pretty much all i have to say about those two, their main internal stories in the back half of this run have to do with each other, but their romance feels totally contrived. they are two people who have been abandoned by the narrative finding plot purpose in each other, but never is ben's absence more felt than when these two exchange empty declarations of love and worry. i think this is frankly an affront.

anyway, as for the book at large, there are of course standout stories but there is a big two-word problem that drags down its storytelling ability: Secret Wars.

this omnibus is loaded with crossover fever. it's the kind of thing that gets people excited and boosts sales in the short term, but makes it an absolute pain to go back and read 30 years later. if i didn't go into this run with a base understanding of secret wars I and II i truly don't know if i would have been able to enjoy it as much. the story always feels like it's disrupted or has to rush to an abrupt end to make way for event storytelling. it's frustrating but it is the way of comic books unfortunately.

but i can't complain too much because at the end of the day this is a book full of solid and fun fantastic four stories that, individually at least, don't overstay their welcome and are packed full of unique visual ideas.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my way through John Byrne's second half of his FF run. The Thing has his solo adventure and She-Hulk takes his spot. And ofcourse there are many space adventures ahead. I like his first half better, but this is still essential stuff for Marvel and Fantastic Four readers.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of John Bryne's best runs. Should be near the top of all Fantastic Four fans reading lists.

[Retriitikko · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Byrne's Fantastic Four run took a whole new turn when the Thing decided to stay on the planet where the Secret Wars took place, and he was replaced by an avenger, She-Hulk. This second volume features very little Thing and quite a lot of She-Hulk, which in my opinion is good. She-Hulk is a nice change of pace to the Thing and his reckless bashing, and I think it was a good choice from Byrne.
Speaking of events like Secret Wars, there's a lot of 'em in this book. Both Secret Wars happened in the John Byrne's run's second half, so there's a little bit too much explaining the events in this book.

Otherwise, pretty much everything I said about the first book applies to this one; it's good, it's a fun read and once you start it, you want to finish it. Definetely worth a shot.

[Daniel Quiroz · Rating 4 out of 5]

No puedo describir certeramente la sensación que leer estos cómics me da: es como una regresión a un pasado ficticio, en el que me siento como un niño neoyorkino de los 80’s que va al kiosko de confianza a comprar el nuevo número mensual de su cómic de superhéroes favorito, que se imprimía en papel pulp barato y tenía anuncios publicitarios adentro.
Estos números no fueron esos primeros de Stan Lee y Jack Kirby de los 60’s, pero John Byrne no para de hacerle homenaje a todo lo que ellos hicieron antes que él, y para mí conserva un encanto especial. John Byrne: “el dibujante más veloz de Marvel”, le llamaban, “el hombre de la compañía” (por eso lo funaron después, pero esa es otra historia).
Por más que el cine quiera capturar una parte de la esencia de los cómics de esta época, hay algo intransferible en estas páginas: la ciencia ficción y la fantasía aquí no se trataban de una “decisión creativa” que se usa de comodín para justificarlo todo, sino de una forma de ver el mundo.
Creo que me estoy extiendo demasiado, pero cargué con este librote por casi siete meses, ¿cómo no voy a tener mucho qué decir? (y más de un año si tomo en cuenta el volumen 1).
Sinceramente, empecé a leer estos cómics con la excusa de prepararme para la nueva película de los Cuatro Fantásticos, y me terminaron gustando más los cómics que la propia película; ya que abrí esa puerta hacia el mundo de los cómics Marvel, no quiero cerrarla.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought all of these issues off of the spinner rack at 7-11 when released. Incredible stuff.

1984 and 1985 were the zenith of western civilization. The spinner racks at 7-11 were filled with gold month in and month out. I thought that it would last forever, as children tend to do. Little did 10-11-12 year old me know that this was the second golden age of Marvel, and arguably the last time that every single title was hitting high marks at the same time. John Byrne remains a favorite of mine, and this stuff still holds up decades later. Hard to pinpoint a favorite issue, but #276 was one I read several times on the Christmas break from school in 1984.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This behemoth took me forever to finish but I enjoyed it. John Byrne is a master story teller. While I enjoyed volume 1 more, this one was still great. Prior to reading this, I had no idea that Shehulk was ever apart of the Fantastic Four. Plenty of Marvel cameos through out the various issues within this book.

[Will Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh yeeeeeeeeah.

[Doom70 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half of Byrne's run in the FF.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the first omnibus. Still strong FF stories and art.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This deluxe edition finishes collecting John Byrne’s landmark 1980s run on the Fantastic Four. At the time, these comics set the standard for superhero comics. To more modern eyes, it’s on the whole solid, but it wanes at the end and is marred with some outright bad stories. One story, where a child imitates the Human Torch and ends up immolating himself, was at the time held up by some as a paragon of quality, proof that comics could deal with heavy issues. Today, though, it reads like a ham-handed after-school special which for some dumb reason intersects with Secret Wars 2. Even if the damn Beyonder wasn’t in the comic, Byrne’s awful moral (the child had a miserable existence and painful death, but his hero worship gave the child something to live for) would have made it a stinker by itself.

But all in all, Byrne maintains a level professionalism, and it’s the best sustained run the Fantastic Four would see for at least a decade in either direction.

This volume itself is stuffed with extras. Anything Byrne touched that was related to the FF is included, such as the Last Galactus Story, which remains unfinished decades later. For a while it was considered the Dead Souls of comics (now eclipsed in that regard by Big Numbers), but it, like the rest, was remarkable at the time but is merely competent now.

[Tankboy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Byrne pushed the group in new directions, but the second half of his run was marred by Secret Wars I and II, and uneven storytelling that spiraled out of stunt events. Still, forward thinking stuff for its time when not beset by outside forces.