Scan barcode
dantastic's review
4.0
Fantastic Four: Nobody Gets Out Alive collections Fantastic Four #377-392, Annual 27, Namor #47-48, and Fantastic Four Ashcan Edition.
I was a subscriber to Fantastic Four for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. My subscription ran out the issue before Reed Richards and Doctor Doom died under suspicious circumstances and I only read the book sporadically after that. I pre-ordered this book the second I saw it was on the horizon.
Paul Ryan handles the art chores on this and Tom DeFalco drives the car. Paul Ryan was never a superstar but he kept the trains running on time and was a great draftsman, possibly the Jim Aparo of his day. DeFalco was determined to shake things up on the Fantastic Four and had Alicia revealed as a Skrull in his first issue.
This volume sees Devos the Devastator attacking the Skrulls, Sharon Ventura once again becoming She-Thing, Reed and Doom having their final confrontation, and the survivors of the Fantastic Four picking up the pieces, only to find the mysterious Dark Raider on their trail.
This run is unfairly shat upon, mostly because DeFalco dared to color outside the Lee and Kirby lines. Reed and Doom dead? Adult Franklin, Ant-Man and Lyja hanging out with the team full time? Namor horning in on Reed's action before the body is even cold? All of this and more is hit upon.
Much like the Death of Superman a short time prior, the apparent deaths of Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom were the impetus of some compelling stories, culminating in Sue, Ben, and Johnny trying to save a parallel earth from Galactus, an earth Reed was too slow to save when the Watcher sent him to retrieve the Ultimate Nullifer instead of Johnny.
Paul Ryan was at the top of his game in this volume. I know this wasn't his last Fantastic Four work but I can't imagine him topping what he's done here. I have to think this was DeFalco's apex on the book as well. At the end of the volume, I have to wonder what the hell comes next. I guess I'll find out in the next epic collection.
Is Fantastic Four: Nobody Gets Out Alive the last good Fantastic Four run before Heroes Reborn? Possibly. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
I was a subscriber to Fantastic Four for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. My subscription ran out the issue before Reed Richards and Doctor Doom died under suspicious circumstances and I only read the book sporadically after that. I pre-ordered this book the second I saw it was on the horizon.
Paul Ryan handles the art chores on this and Tom DeFalco drives the car. Paul Ryan was never a superstar but he kept the trains running on time and was a great draftsman, possibly the Jim Aparo of his day. DeFalco was determined to shake things up on the Fantastic Four and had Alicia revealed as a Skrull in his first issue.
This volume sees Devos the Devastator attacking the Skrulls, Sharon Ventura once again becoming She-Thing, Reed and Doom having their final confrontation, and the survivors of the Fantastic Four picking up the pieces, only to find the mysterious Dark Raider on their trail.
This run is unfairly shat upon, mostly because DeFalco dared to color outside the Lee and Kirby lines. Reed and Doom dead? Adult Franklin, Ant-Man and Lyja hanging out with the team full time? Namor horning in on Reed's action before the body is even cold? All of this and more is hit upon.
Much like the Death of Superman a short time prior, the apparent deaths of Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom were the impetus of some compelling stories, culminating in Sue, Ben, and Johnny trying to save a parallel earth from Galactus, an earth Reed was too slow to save when the Watcher sent him to retrieve the Ultimate Nullifer instead of Johnny.
Paul Ryan was at the top of his game in this volume. I know this wasn't his last Fantastic Four work but I can't imagine him topping what he's done here. I have to think this was DeFalco's apex on the book as well. At the end of the volume, I have to wonder what the hell comes next. I guess I'll find out in the next epic collection.
Is Fantastic Four: Nobody Gets Out Alive the last good Fantastic Four run before Heroes Reborn? Possibly. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
More...