Fantastic Four Volume 1 HC: v. 1 (Fantastic 4 (Numbered Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

For all the contributions that author Mark Waid has made to the Sequential Arts, it has taken a long time for Marvel Comics to give him his just due. Standout renditions of Ka-Zar and Captain America were all but flatly given the heave-ho after relatively short runs in the 1990s (Waid losing Cap twice!), and the work collected in the book featured here was almost cut short by apparent management issues (the same type which cost Marvel its overall best work and finest authors by the late 1970s, crippling the company until fairly recently years).
Thank Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada for stepping in, and setting things right, as he has generally done during his ongoing rededication & refining of the House that Kirby, Ditko, Thomas and Lee built. Because of this, the author of the classic KINGDOM COME and SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT continues to write some of the most inspired FANTASTIC FOUR sagas to be seen in quite some time.

Judge the results by reading this handsome hardcover collection of Waid's first FF stories from 2002-3. With art principally by the astonishing Mike Wieringo and the ever-present inks of Karl Kesel, the visual look is a powerful blend of quick cartoon and classic portrait, giving that feel of something simple communicating an intricate thematic wallop.
One may think of WATCHMEN's Dave Gibbons, and his expertise in this clearly defined, highly elusive area, but Wieringo has a mastery all his own here, and it grows with each panel. The character play in this series, always a crucial necessity for the FF, is captured so thoroughly, so beautifully in each face, in every move, with any emotion to bear.

Then, there's the writing. With Kurt Busiek, Grant Morrison, and Roger Stern, Waid has been a key factor in the resurgence of the superhero as ethical champion by the 1990s, after a period of manic-depressive tedium courtesy a legion of uninspired "realists" pimping off the superior efforts of Alan Moore and Frank Miller in the 1980s. Particularly with Busiek, Waid is noteworthy for reminding a whole generation that superhero comics can be just as pertinent, just as engaging, and just as worthy of diversified, intelligent readerships as the most blatently alternative comic line, or any other literature, for that matter.
Note the influence of such character-diverse, topically-focused perspectives upon the tremendous chronicles of relative newcomers such as Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and Darwyn Cooke. Take all this into account, and you begin to see that Mark Waid is a undeniable force to be reckoned with.

Consider his stunning depictions in this book. Waid captures what few, if any, have dared to venture upon; capturing the superhero team as the world-class adventurers and loving, tempestuous, rollicking family unit that the FF is supposed to be. Never has the give-and-take between the Richards, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm been thrown into more roadblocks, tickled with more outrageous wit, challenged by more horrific dead ends, blessed with deeper affection, suffered more stress and scars, or risen to the occasion with greater integrity and resolve than they do here.
From equations gone mad with passions, and childhood pains about to take a nasty spill into the present, we venture into a Dr. Doom story to end all Dr. Doom stories. Anyone needing a reason why the Latverian monarch has been the FF's arch-nemesis -and the Miltonic symbol of Marvel villainy- for over 40 years need only check these pages. Note the suave, imperious nature by which Doom dispenses ultimate betrayal, depraved murder, and unfeeling terror in the name of Class, Compassion, and Honor, and be very, very afraid.

Those who purchase this collection have much more to look forward to. Forays into nation-building, diplomatic blind-siding, and an ultimate challenge of the unknown with a voyage to the heart of.......

Sorry. That would be telling!

Just trust, with Waid's FANTASTIC FOUR,
that the very best is yet to come.

See you for Volume 2!
Good reading to all.

This piece is dedicated to Dwayne E. Muth.
Friend, Brother, Sequential Researcher.

A Collector. NOT a Speculator.

Happy Birthday, Bro!

Keep it true.
Keep it coming.

mfh 8 - 7 - 04

I love the FF and I love Mark Waid, and so this title is a no brainer. Mark brings a freshness to the FF that has been missing for quite a while. He seems to bring out the best in them, and look at them in a new way. The strength of the FF has always been that they have been a family. And that is just something that allows the writers to have a different type of dynamic in a story that is something that you don't often read about no matter what sort of literature you are into. If you are a fan of Mark Waid or the FF, and you haven't read in a while, this book will not disappoint. If you are new to the FF, then this book will lure you in. It's a must buy.

I remember when these stories came out in their original monthly format. I hadn't read the series since the eighties, but as Mark Waid had written some of my favorite comic books (Empire) of the past decade, and superhero books (JLA Vol. 7: Tower of Babel) in particular, I decided to give it a look. The stories seemed interesting but the artwork put me off at the time. Mike Wieringo's drawings struck me as cartoonish, especially compared to what I was used to seeing on the series in its heyday. It looked like a child's book. I put the issues back on the shelf, but certain elements I had glimpsed while browsing would stick in the back of my mind.

More recently, a strange thing happened. I had seen the Fantastic Four movies. They weren't good, but they reignited my interest in the group anyway, perhaps by inadvertently reminding me of what it was like when they were being done well. Suddenly, I wanted to read these stories I had passed up a few years earlier.

This volume is a perfect jumping on point for new readers, as the first story effectively introduces the characters while keeping things entertaining for those of us who are already familiar with them. Waid continues to take the group to exciting new heights with stories involving such imaginative concepts as an out-of-control wave of molecular instability and a sentient creature composed of pure mathematics. But the centerpiece of this collection is a multi-part storyline in which the Fantastic Four's greatest foe is frighteningly reimagined. Unfortunately, it's here where the art really lets the story down. It's a dark tale that would have been much more suited to an artist with a moodier, more realistic style.

The book contains supplemental, behind-the-scenes material at the back. The most significant of these is Mark Waid's manifesto for his interpretation of the team. I always like reading these, because sometimes it's hard to get used to a new writer's style on a long-running series, and it gives insight into why he's doing things the way he is, and why it works. There are also conceptual drawings, a Fred Hembeck comic strip, and other odds and ends.

In the end, I'm glad I didn't buy those original comics, because I love these big hardcover volumes that Marvel puts out, and this one is a winner. It is recommended for new readers as well as older ones looking for a fresh and exciting take on these forty-plus year-old characters.