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Post by Cei-U! on May 11, 2017 23:34:53 GMT -5
Once you get past the best of Lee and Kirby (#11-93, plus the six Annuals), there isn't really a whole lot left that, in my opinion, holds up. There's plenty of good artwork but nothing really grabs me until the Byrne run, which turns to crap once he writes out The Thing and puts Johnny and Alicia together (though there are isolated issues from the post-Ben era, such as the Dr. Octopus story, that I enjoy). I'm not terribly familiar with what's come out since '86, although I rather liked the Waid/Weiringo stuff I read when a friend loaned me a couple of hardback collections a few years back. Ultimately, though, I think the title only really worked under Stan and Jack.
Cei-U!
I summon the Fantasticomics!
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Post by tingramretro on May 12, 2017 1:09:11 GMT -5
I really liked the Byrne run, but the Roy Thomas stuff is still my favourite period for FF, really. It's what I grew up with.
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Post by Icctrombone on May 12, 2017 4:58:28 GMT -5
Once you get past the best of Lee and Kirby (#11-93, plus the six Annuals), there isn't really a whole lot left that, in my opinion, holds up. There's plenty of good artwork but nothing really grabs me until the Byrne run, which turns to crap once he writes out The Thing and puts Johnny and Alicia together (though there are isolated issues from the post-Ben era, such as the Dr. Octopus story, that I enjoy). I'm not terribly familiar with what's come out since '86, although I rather liked the Waid/Weiringo stuff I read when a friend loaned me a couple of hardback collections a few years back. Ultimately, though, I think the title only really worked under Stan and Jack. Cei-U! I summon the Fantasticomics! To each his own, I guess, but I loved the Lee/ Buscema run that included the Hulk-Thing fight the Overmind arc and the Galactus returns tale. |
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Post by badwolf on May 12, 2017 9:12:26 GMT -5
Byrne's run by far.
I haven't read all of Lee & Kirby yet, though.
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Post by brutalis on May 12, 2017 14:24:14 GMT -5
Lee & Kirby. Set the gold standard!
Byrne: at least he tried doing more than just repeating Lee and Kirby.
Lee & Buscema: classic in every sense and some of my 1st exposure to the FF.
Conway/Buckler: 70's funkadelic delight.
Thomas/Wein/Perez: super funtastic
Wolfman/Pollard: recapturing the joys of FF
All ably inked by Joltin' Joe Sinnott holding the entire runs together.
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Post by Icctrombone on May 12, 2017 20:17:18 GMT -5
Lee & Kirby. Set the gold standard! Byrne: at least he tried doing more than just repeating Lee and Kirby. Lee & Buscema: classic in every sense and some of my 1st exposure to the FF. Conway/Buckler: 70's funkadelic delight. Thomas/Wein/Perez: super funtastic Wolfman/Pollard: recapturing the joys of FF All ably inked by Joltin' Joe Sinnott holding the entire runs together.I always thought that Sinnott was the true MVP of the FF book. The only run that you list above that he didn't work on was the Byrne run starting with # 232. |
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Post by Phil Maurice on May 12, 2017 20:59:08 GMT -5
Ultimately, though, I think the title only really worked under Stan and Jack.  |
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 10:09:23 GMT -5
The Lee/Kirby stuff from the early days is still my favourite Fantastic Four era...
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,201 
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Post by Confessor on May 14, 2017 8:26:12 GMT -5
Like others have said -- and Hoosier X in particular -- the Lee/Kirby run from roughly #35 to around #95 is the best I've read. That said, I'd like to revisit the Roy Thomas and Len Wein era from the mid-to-late '70s because those were some of the first FF comics I read as a child. I haven't read any of those for probably 35 years though.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2017 8:54:47 GMT -5
Like others have said -- and Hoosier X in particular -- the Lee/Kirby run from roughly #35 to around #95 is the best I've read. That said, I'd like to revisit the Roy Thomas and Len Wein era from the mid-to-late '70s because those were some of the first FF comics I read as a child. I haven't read any of those for probably 35 years though. I read the same issues you did when I was a kid. I'm hoping to revisit them too at some point. |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 14, 2017 11:02:30 GMT -5
Like others have said -- and Hoosier X in particular -- the Lee/Kirby run from roughly #35 to around #95 is the best I've read. That said, I'd like to revisit the Roy Thomas and Len Wein era from the mid-to-late '70s because those were some of the first FF comics I read as a child. I haven't read any of those for probably 35 years though. I read from about FF #120 to about #160 in the Essential FF volumes (from the local library) a couple of years ago. I'd read quite a few of those issues before because they were very recent back issues when I started collecting comics and the used book stores had a bunch of them. but it was GREAT FUN to read them all in a bunch over several weeks. Especially to read the issues from the multipart stories where I had only one chapter. I especially like Thundra! You get a whole new appreciation of Thundra when you read her early appearances! |
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Post by String on May 14, 2017 12:07:10 GMT -5
While I have the utmost respect and love for Stan & Jack's original run, it's not my fav. That would fall to the Byrne run, his best work ever IMO. ^ This. Bryne was my first intro to the team and characters and such will always remain my favorite interpretation of them. I also seem to be in the minority in loving their Heroes Reborn title under Claremont/Pacheco/LaRocca. Yes, Claremont may have brought in his usual soap opera elements but isn't that what family is about? I've read some but not all of Waid/Wieringo but have enjoyed what I have read. Also, Wieringo's team-up with Jeff Parker on Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four: Silver Rage mini remains one of my favorite FF-ancillary books too. Walt Simonson's run was brief, intermittent yet invigorating |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on May 15, 2017 16:28:57 GMT -5
This needs to be a poll with options:
(A) "Lee/Kirby" and
(B) "Childhood Nostalgia."
(That covers all the possible answers, right?)
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Post by berkley on May 15, 2017 18:50:55 GMT -5
This needs to be a poll with options: (A) "Lee/Kirby" and (B) "Childhood Nostalgia." (That covers all the possible answers, right?) To a degree, though for myself, I find nostalgia-driven affection for something easily distinguishable from the esteem I hold things in because I think they're actually good. Also, nostalgia isn't always enough to keep me liking something I used to enjoy as a kid. |
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Post by dbutler69 on May 17, 2017 15:26:29 GMT -5
The Lee/Kirby run is great, if we can start with #44. Most of the previous 43 issues I only find so-so (though still great for the Silver Age). Aside from that I'd have to go with the Byrne run. I also enjoyed the runs of Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart (until he became "John Harkness"), Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman. Thomas and Wolfman did have the benefit of George Perez art for pretty good chunks of their run, though, and he's my all time favorite artist, though I think he was still learning the ropes when he was on the FF, but it's still great art.
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