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ljames934's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
omnibusoverview's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lanternatomika's review against another edition
4.0
Before he was tasked with revitalizing the Ultimate Marvel universe, before he was asked to destroy the Marvel multiverse, and before he took on the challenge of ushering in a new era for the X-Men, Jonathan Hickman was just the latest writer to take a crack at the Fantastic Four. And this is the run that cemented him as Marvel's top talent. That was a long time ago, of course, but this run has aged pretty well.
In classic Hickman fashion, there's a question at the heart of this story: how can Reed solve everything? And, again, in classic Hickman fashion, he takes his sweet time in answering it. Most of what's collected in volume one of the omnibus sees the F4 going on seemingly unconnected adventures, with the occasional flashes of the conflicts to come. There's a turning point where everything locks into place, though, and like Hickman's other books, it's totally mind-blowing when that point hits.
As cool as the sci-fi adventures of the F4 are, stories like these are carried by the characters, and I've gotta say, Hickman's Fantastic family is endlessly charming. In contrast to the morally grey characters of Krakoa or even the Avengers, you can allow yourself to fall in love with any of the characters in this run, even though Hickman is mostly interested in Reed (ps: I think I have a crush on Sue now).
The disconnected nature of the early stories has its downsides. There's a major character death in the last quarter of this omni - I'm being vague, but y'all know who I'm talking about - and his death honestly feels a bit unexpected. If I reread the book, I might see how it was foreshadowed throughout, but on the first go, it sure felt like it came out of nowhere and didn't hit as hard as it could have.
Marvel cleverly closes out this volume of the omni with the sort of rising tension that'll make you want to start volume two straight away!
So far, I'm really enjoying his take on the Fantastic Four. As someone who's returning to comics after a long time, my perception of this franchise had been tainted by their awful track record on the big screen, but I'm digging this run! I will say that it's lacking a level of intrigue or excitement that his Avengers run was dripping with, but hey, it's a different flavor of story.
In classic Hickman fashion, there's a question at the heart of this story: how can Reed solve everything? And, again, in classic Hickman fashion, he takes his sweet time in answering it. Most of what's collected in volume one of the omnibus sees the F4 going on seemingly unconnected adventures, with the occasional flashes of the conflicts to come. There's a turning point where everything locks into place, though, and like Hickman's other books, it's totally mind-blowing when that point hits.
As cool as the sci-fi adventures of the F4 are, stories like these are carried by the characters, and I've gotta say, Hickman's Fantastic family is endlessly charming. In contrast to the morally grey characters of Krakoa or even the Avengers, you can allow yourself to fall in love with any of the characters in this run, even though Hickman is mostly interested in Reed (ps: I think I have a crush on Sue now).
The disconnected nature of the early stories has its downsides. There's a major character death in the last quarter of this omni - I'm being vague, but y'all know who I'm talking about - and his death honestly feels a bit unexpected. If I reread the book, I might see how it was foreshadowed throughout, but on the first go, it sure felt like it came out of nowhere and didn't hit as hard as it could have.
Marvel cleverly closes out this volume of the omni with the sort of rising tension that'll make you want to start volume two straight away!
So far, I'm really enjoying his take on the Fantastic Four. As someone who's returning to comics after a long time, my perception of this franchise had been tainted by their awful track record on the big screen, but I'm digging this run! I will say that it's lacking a level of intrigue or excitement that his Avengers run was dripping with, but hey, it's a different flavor of story.
kenmyr's review against another edition
5.0
Family squabbles, time travel, dimension hopping... this book has it all!
fossen's review against another edition
5.0
The scope is so big and complex, but at it's heart is a story about family -- specifically about fathers and sons. It's a story about finding family, and making that family bigger and bigger. And after two full volumes, it punched me right in the heart: "A perfect one."
I wish I could be clearer about my feelings on this run, but it's so many moments packed into so many pages. It's made me think deeply about time and aging and death. It's made me laugh and break into tears. In fact, this might be my favorite comic book run. Ever. I could easily start it all over again right now.
I do wish the collections were clearer with issue numbers or art credits. I understand Hickman controls the layout and wants it to read as an unbroken saga, but the table of contents was lacking as I tried to identify artists.
yogarshi's review against another edition
4.0
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.
jonwesleyhuff's review against another edition
3.0
I've been waiting a long time to read Hickman's run. He certainly captures the idea of the FF as explorers, and I really enjoyed that. The expansion of the main cast is great. "Killing off" one of the main cast is kind of boring as you know he or she will be back (because that's how comics work) but at least he's able to mine some drama out of it. But there are lots of fun, big concepts at here. The one problem I have... in some ways, character-wise, it feels like beats we've seen before. Delving into Reed's character a bit more is interesting, and I enjoyed Sue's new position with the citizens of old Atlantis, but having read FF growing up in the 80s and 90s, it was weird to have an older Franklin traveling back in time, and to have Nathaniel Richards back, too. And parallel Reed Richards! All things Tom DeFalco played with back then. It's done in a different way, of course, but it did feel a bit familiar. The art is pretty uniformly great, especially in the main book. I did think once they took it off in the direction of the Future Foundation, it was a bold and interesting take. It'll be interesting to see how long that lasts.
jekutree's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Jonathan Hickman starts his Fantastic Four Run with a grand slam. He writes compelling stories and adds a lot of personal flavor to the team. In my book he’s the only writer to successfully modernize the Fantastic Four. He makes them feel like the same team but in the 21st century. He makes them modern without making them feel needlessly edgy or dark.
Hickman’s approach to superheroes is very similar to Morrison’s, very large concept, very cerebral and very all inclusive. There are throwbacks to previous FF runs but Hickman makes their continuity his own. He writes Reed and Sue better than anyone ever has, his dynamic between them and the kids has never been better written. His Ben and Johnny have the right voice behind them, but it’s obvious his interests land more in the Sue/Reed/Val/Franklin ball park (and that’s ok). He also has a really good voice for Doctor Doom which is something I feel like Waid lacked.
Hickman takes plots that would happen in the Stan and Jack run and makes them modern, serious and attractive to a contemporary reader. He also does a fantastic job intertwining several plots and characters together that seamlessly come together for a great payoff.
Only negatives are inconsistent art teams and giving me a reason to read Millar’s Run.
EDIT: after a few days of sitting on this, it really is a perfect modern Fantastic Four book. There are no faults to the story being presented. For that reason, I’m bumping it up to a 10/10
Hickman’s approach to superheroes is very similar to Morrison’s, very large concept, very cerebral and very all inclusive. There are throwbacks to previous FF runs but Hickman makes their continuity his own. He writes Reed and Sue better than anyone ever has, his dynamic between them and the kids has never been better written. His Ben and Johnny have the right voice behind them, but it’s obvious his interests land more in the Sue/Reed/Val/Franklin ball park (and that’s ok). He also has a really good voice for Doctor Doom which is something I feel like Waid lacked.
Hickman takes plots that would happen in the Stan and Jack run and makes them modern, serious and attractive to a contemporary reader. He also does a fantastic job intertwining several plots and characters together that seamlessly come together for a great payoff.
Only negatives are inconsistent art teams and giving me a reason to read Millar’s Run.
EDIT: after a few days of sitting on this, it really is a perfect modern Fantastic Four book. There are no faults to the story being presented. For that reason, I’m bumping it up to a 10/10