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Fifty Years Ago Today... (Fantastic Four discussion)

Turtletrekker said:
...saw the release of Fantastic Four #1 by Lee and Kirby.

fantastic_four_1.jpg


Also today, Marvel released this teaser, possibly hinting at the return of the Human Torch come November (The team stopped using the "4" symbol when Johnny "died").

The Fantastic Four was my first super-hero comic book, specifically FF 233, "Mission For a Dead Man" by John Byrne and the FF have been my favorite super-team ever since.

FF233.jpg


Through the purchase of back-issues, I own most of the Lee/Kirby run and, through the wonder of reprints, read their entire run. Byrne's run was, frankly, fantastic (Strangely, Byrne's "FF" is the only thing that he has ever written that I have really liked).

I'm loving the current run by Johnathon Hickman almost as much as the Byrne run and it is one of my most anticipated books every month.

Who else loves Marvel's "First Family"?
Click to expand...

I do!

My first comic wasn't, strictly speaking, an FF comic. It was a Godzilla: King of The Monsters where the team guest starred and I've been hooked on them since. I used to watch reruns of the Hanna-Barbera toon religiously, I had a brand-spanking new FF lunch box (with illo by John Buscema), but I really didn't start collecting the comic regularly until early in the John Byrne run and was only exposed to the Kirby/Lee years through reprints. I stopped buying regularly when Jerry Ordway took over and didn't start up again until the Simonson run, which I only followed a few issues. I've bought them sporadically ever since, because no one since John Byrne has made want to buy every single issue.

I'm not into this "Freedom Foundation" s--t, and i'll be glad to see it make it's exit.
 
Future Foundation is science and that has to do with Fantastic Four big time. It is the exploration of Reed Richards major scientific ideas and the implementation of them along with the consequences of such ideas. To say it isn't Fantastic Four to me would seem to show a lack of understanding of the characters, especially Reed. FF is really Reed's book anyways.
 
And it's not as if there haven't been tempoary fluctuations in the line-up in the past. Crystal and Medusa have filled in for Sue, Luke Cage and She-Hulk have filled in for Ben, Scott Lang filled in for Reed, T'Challa and Storm have filled in for Reed and Sue and now Spider-Man is filling in for Johnny. What's the big deal?
 
Admiral_Young said:
Future Foundation is science and that has to do with Fantastic Four big time. It is the exploration of Reed Richards major scientific ideas and the implementation of them along with the consequences of such ideas. To say it isn't Fantastic Four to me would seem to show a lack of understanding of the characters, especially Reed. FF is really Reed's book anyways.
Click to expand...

Wrong. Fantastic Four has always been about a family of superheroes. It has never been strictly Reed's book, and to simply reduce it to being about Reed and about science brings a coldness to it that I have no stomach for.

You like it? You can keep it. I'll wait till the storyline's done to come back.
 
Besides which Peter was pretty much formally made an honorary family member in one of the Brand New Day crossover stories where he finally reveals his identity to the group much at Johnny's insistence that he do so or lose his friendship. Jonathon Hickman actually revealed at SDCC that it was Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott that suggested using Peter in the first place when he was putting his plan together for "FF". In story it is Johnny's wish that Peter succeed him in order to ensure a smooth recovery period and to help the kids, especially Franklin to deal with his "death".

@Admiral2 I didn't say it was exclusively Reed's book, Hickman has done wonderful things with the rest of the family as well. Especially Sue, Val, and Franklin, along with the rest of their extended family. Not to mention the character evolution that he has given Doom. It's fine if you don'tlike it but it seems to me that you don't understand what Hickman is trying to do. You're probably one of the first Fantastic Four fans that have had such an vehement opposition to everything that Hickman has done.

As for waiting for the "storyline" to be done before coming back, I'm afraid you'll probably have to wait a long time since Hickman isn't going anywhere.
 
I would consider at least Tchalla, Medusa, Crystal and Namor part of a 'extended' family a bit, since they made their debut in the magazine (with the exception of Namor, but he did make his first Silver age appearence in FF and his relationship with Invisible girl/Woman has been a major story element many times).


The FF is sort of a family-it's no mistake that the Incredibles feature a similar power set, I believe.
 
I dunno if you'd consider the Inhumans part of an extended family of the FF now since there's about to be a war starting...and they're going to be smack dab in the middle of it!

The FF aren't sort of a family, they are a family and yes "The Incredibles" were pretty much a homage to them.
 
Admiral_Young said:
@Admiral2 I didn't say it was exclusively Reed's book, Hickman has done wonderful things with the rest of the family as well. Especially Sue, Val, and Franklin, along with the rest of their extended family. Not to mention the character evolution that he has given Doom. It's fine if you don'tlike it but it seems to me that you don't understand what Hickman is trying to do. You're probably one of the first Fantastic Four fans that have had such an vehement opposition to everything that Hickman has done.

As for waiting for the "storyline" to be done before coming back, I'm afraid you'll probably have to wait a long time since Hickman isn't going anywhere.
Click to expand...

There are times when I can be incredibly patient. This will be one of them.
 
Sigh. I don't think anyone bought that Johnny was "dead" in the first place. Hickman has had a plan and is enacting it. We never saw Johnny die in the issue, all we saw was him and a horde of Negative Zorde creatures swarming him along with the assumption he wouldn't survive and he was going out in a blaze of glory.
 
I don't know why the characters treat him as dead and not just captive/missing. All the crazy stuff they've been through, all the reversed deaths they've experienced... they didn't even see him die!
 
Teaser for Fantastic Four #600.

No word on whether this is a permanent return to original numbering, or if it will go back to being "FF" with the next issue. They are also being understandably coy about whether or not Johnny will actually be returning in 600 or not.
 
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It could be a non-event like time travelling back to the past when he was still "alive". But I gotta assume it's the return of Johnny.

Maybe Spidey will stay on the team and then they'll have to call him Johnny Five Is Alive :cool:
 
^ The speculation is that there will be two Fantastic Four books. FF will remain, while they're adding the original Fantastic Four book which will be more adventure based. FF will continue to be more science adventures. Hickman will remain on both. Or it's possible they could incorporate FF into Fantastic Four. As the previous teaser which is my avatar indication Future Foundation seems to be remaining.

Jonathon Hickman basically planned every single part of his run. This is all part of the plan...
 
I pretty much learned to read on the Lee and Kirby FF. One of my earliest memories is the big Thing versus Hulk versus Avengers two-parter. Stories like that had a huge effect on me when I was a kid. Ben getting beaten down again and again, but refusing to quit; Reed trying to help him even though he was too sick to stay awake; Johnny trying to help him even though he was too hurt to fly. They wrote about heroes in those days. :bolian:
 
Lee and Kirby's run is legendary. Really when I read Marvel Comics as a kid it was mainly Spider-Man and my introduction to many of the characters I love today was through minor crossovers and appearances in Amazing Spider-Man.
 
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