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A review by mollylazer
Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four, Vol. 4 by Stan Lee
5.0
This set of 10 issues (and one annual) is definitely a step up from the previous 10, with fewer self-contained storylines and more subplots that bleed from issue to issue. I am not a fan of super-decompressed storytelling in comics, and Stan and Jack manage to keep things moving here while still letting events from previous issues impact the next one. The three-part storyline from issues #38-40 are a great example of this, with two different villains/villain groups, a guest star, and the introduction of yet another subplot that will carry the characters into #41. (The pages on which Ben turns back into the Thing are really something to behold. What pathos!)
Plus, we have Reed and Sue FINALLY getting together at the end of issue #35. It's interesting that, for a couple that is rightly considered Marvel's first couple, they really don't act like they're together at all for 33 issues (I'm not counting issue #1, when Sue reminds Reed she's his fiance). Sue's force field powers have made her an essential member of the team now, as well. Despite still being relegated to more "womanly" roles and being portrayed as physically weak on a fairly regular basis, she has saved the day on multiple occasions, which, as a female reader, I find to be a positive change.
*Fun fact: My father has an original copy of issue #32 ("Death of a Hero"), which I read when I was 6 or 7 years old. I distinctly remember being alone in my room and reading the page on which Johnny and Sue's dad dies repeatedly until I cried. Then I came out of my room a sobbing wreck, and my mother wondered what was wrong with me.
**I actually read these issues with my four-year-olds as part of the second Omnibus volume that collects issues #31-60 and Annuals #2-4, but I'm reviewing them as though we were reading Masterworks to keep track of when we finish each set of 10 issues.
***My four-year-olds LOVE Paste Pot Pete. We were all bummed when he became the Trapster.
Plus, we have Reed and Sue FINALLY getting together at the end of issue #35. It's interesting that, for a couple that is rightly considered Marvel's first couple, they really don't act like they're together at all for 33 issues (I'm not counting issue #1, when Sue reminds Reed she's his fiance). Sue's force field powers have made her an essential member of the team now, as well. Despite still being relegated to more "womanly" roles and being portrayed as physically weak on a fairly regular basis, she has saved the day on multiple occasions, which, as a female reader, I find to be a positive change.
*Fun fact: My father has an original copy of issue #32 ("Death of a Hero"), which I read when I was 6 or 7 years old. I distinctly remember being alone in my room and reading the page on which Johnny and Sue's dad dies repeatedly until I cried. Then I came out of my room a sobbing wreck, and my mother wondered what was wrong with me.
**I actually read these issues with my four-year-olds as part of the second Omnibus volume that collects issues #31-60 and Annuals #2-4, but I'm reviewing them as though we were reading Masterworks to keep track of when we finish each set of 10 issues.
***My four-year-olds LOVE Paste Pot Pete. We were all bummed when he became the Trapster.