Since everyone is telling how they found the FF..

My first experience was with FF7 (planet X), in a large format hardbound British annual (Fleetway Marvel Annual 1973 I think, possible 1974). It was powerful, beautiful. Most people consider this a very weak story. I consider it one of the greatest stories of all time. I explain why on my web site. Maybe the difference is that I saw it in large scale black and white on thick paper in that magical book, and I read it slowly.

After many other positive influences, the issue that made me want to own EVERY issue was a reprint of FF 171. Its all about time passing, but is packed with gorgeous ideas and images and characterisation and fun. Again, this is an issue that most people forget. We can see a pattern forming here

I have always seen the FF as a single story that takes place in the real world. I don't find that is possible with other comics, except for the occasional short run of a few issues here and there. As a big story, I find the FF stands head and shoulders above all other comics. And as the biggest story ever told, it stands head and shoulders above all other literature (except perhaps the Bible: but my views on the Bible are equally unorthodox, as a glance at my web site will reveal: AnswersAnswers.com  You think my views on the FF are "out there"? You ain't seen nothin' yet )



Exactly! That makes all the difference. When Doom appears in the FF something in appearance 1 always leads to appearance 2: everything matters. There is a character progression. But if Doom appears a hundred times in other comics, and writer B has obviously not read all the previous appearances, then nothing makes sense.

That is why I see the FF differently to other people. I see it on its own. So if a character appears in another comic it might be real, might be fan fiction, but it's no a big deal. Maybe it's real, maybe it isn't. But by focusing just on the FF it's possible (and very rewarding) to see it as a rich and totally realistic single story. Every character is three dimensional and deeply interesting. They all grow and develop over the years, and everything they do matters both to the bigger story and to their own personal journey. But if I try to make sense of all the non-FF appearances as well, nothing makes sense.

For me, "superhero comics" and the FF are two completely different things. That's why I feel like a fish out of water on most comic message boards. Superhero comics are supposed to be read quickly, with instant payback. But the FF is (to me) primarily a long and complex novel. If you read it as just a superhero comic then a lot of issues and characters will be disappointing. I can't blame anyone for saying "issue X is bad" if they read it that way.

But if you read it as a novel (and treat other comics as trying to do something different) then every tiny detail of the FF becomes immensely important. Then every moment becomes exciting: the FF becomes the best superhero comic in the world, by a long way. In my opinion.

Or at least, it was like that before the 1990s. The idea of comics as novels died in the "writers don't matter" era (the famous Image quote, post Shooter, when Marvel's owners wanted fast profits and nothing else). And now that stories are written for the trade, and read out of order, continuity is seen as a dirty word. But the first 27 years can be read as a single novel, and that changes everything.





According to Simonson, the whole point of that cover was a parody of comics at the time: ridiculously big guns, mean Cable-like expressions, and bad anatomy. As for the head, bad artists make characters look stronger by making their heads smaller. It's called "shrunken head syndrome" and Simonson rightly mocks it.

BTW this is a perfect example of the "comics versus the FF" thing. If read as a comic, this cover is bad. But if we look below the surface it's all kinds of awesome.

One of my great pleasures is taking what seem like the very worst stories, and seeing how they can possible make sense. It always reveals patterns and connections that create whole new stories: layers and layers of depth, I love it! Whether it's planet X or Tomazooma or Reed fighting in World War II, the stuff that other people try to forget is the stuff I feast on.

Take Maleria for example...

I can totally see why the demon spawn is hated. She ruins one of the greatest stories ever, she makes no sense, she is totally irritating whenever she appears... on the surface she is possibly The Worst Character Ever. And yet... if we choose to see the whole story as a consistent whole then we have to deal with her. It is like the world's greatest riddle: the more difficult the riddle, the more interesting it is to solve. Maleria is possibly the hardest riddle of all, because most of her story is from the post-continuity era, when making sense of ANYTHING is a major task. But the more I dig, the more interesting she becomes to me.




I think Miss Fantastic hit the nail on the head: on the surface Valeria is hugely unnecessary. Why does she exist, other than to make everything she touches worse? What does she add to the FF? If we can answer that then we can start to make progress. As I see it, Valeria is essential to the bigger story moving forwards, for several reasons:

1. She forces us to look deeper: how can a character be so bad? What is really going on? Without Valeria we can maybe overlook the bad stuff in the post-continuity FF. But Valeria is so bad that is no longer an option. BEing forced to ask questions is a good thing.
   
2. Her (non-)birth was essential to the Reed and Sue's character arc. The family had to suffer everything: loss of home, confidence, purpose, being dragged through hell, et., and for a family drama losing a child was the worst thing that could happen.
3. Everything depends on Franklin. Franklin controls everything. The only way for the story to move forwards is for him to no longer be so mentally messed up. He needs a friend. Maleria is that friend. It is no coincidence that Mal is by his side in FF600, where he finally finds peace. She did it. Throughout the FF it is always the women who are the real power. E.g. the problems are never solved by violence, but by Sue making friends; Galactus was not defeated by the FF but by Alicia, through touching the heart of the surfer and thus Galactus' heart was no longer in the battle, and so on. Throughout history women have always been treated as flawed and weak, yet have quietly been the creators of everything, and Valeria is the ultimate example of this.
4. She unites the team with Doom. The enmity between Reed and Doom is the central symbol of the whole multi year story. Doom is Reed's mirror. Eventually they must make peace, and Valeria is the key. She links them together Doom'Reed is her father: we saw the start of this in Claremont's run, and it continues now, though as with all continuity post 1988 it is painfully slow and takes effort to decipher)
   

In this light all the bad stuff actually strengthens the bigger story:

• Val's crazy rebirth is the great turning point in Franklin's life: he decides to consciously start fixing things. Before that point all his actions were unconscious (e.g. FF150), not powered at all (I have a long discussion of FF322 in the notes to FF269), guided by Reed (FF245), or short term panics (annual 14). The rebirth was just proof of concept: he did not gain the confidence to do it properly and consistently until the climax in FF600).
  
• Val's irritating and impossible super intellect is because she has part of Doom inside her, and the spirit of Doom's old love Valeria, plus she's a split person - one girl with two brains, two minds, shared in a dream state, simultaneously being brought up in two dimensions (she grows up until age 14 under the care of Roma and Doom-Reed).
• The loss in FF 267 becomes even more tragic in a Shakespearian sense. The whole point of tragedy is it is caused by a hero's flaw. It is usually made worse by misunderstanding. See the greatest tragedies of all: Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, etc. The tragedy of FF 267 is foreshadowed in the great half way story, FF 155-157: The Surfer's tragedy is made WORSE because not only has he lost Shalla Bal, but unknown to him she is still here. Tragedy is not the same as bad luck. To lose a baby due to bad luck is sad. But sad things happen, and the true hero accepts it and moves on. But tragedy is different. In tragedy it is your fault and you deep down know it, but feel trapped, you cannot escape your fate because despite being a hero in every other sense you are unable to fix that one weakness, and everyone who knows you you suffers as a result. The guilt and ignorance and feeling of being trapped is what twists the knife: that is torment of the highest order! If only Othello had not been so quick to judge! If only Romeo had waited! If only Reed had paid more attention to his first child! Yet the hero cannot see it: they suffer exquisite pain because there is the niggling feeling that they have failed somehow, but they do not know how. Only the audience can see the bigger picture. (And as for reuniting eventually, that is the point of life after death, a point taken for granted in Greek and Shakespearian tragedy). FF 267, when we add Valeria, is true tragedy in the literary sense. And the fact that all readers hate Valeria for weaknesses that are not her fault, that she does not herself understand, well that is tragedy again. It's rich and powerful and delicious stuff IMO.
  

As to whether any of this makes sense, I argue that it is all foreshadowed before FF 267 (see my web site's notes on that issue, just added): it is not a retcon, but there from the start: it was essential that Val be conceived in subspace (the neg zone is the pace between other dimensions - see FF 51) to allow her to span dimensions like Franklin. And it was inevitable that Franklin would remove the new baby that terrified him, switching her to a safe place somewhere else. All the crazy stuff makes sense IMO.

On the other hand, as the only person who thinks this way I suppose I am insane by definition.