Comments on: 365 Reasons to Love Comics #345

By: Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics #364

Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics #364 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:42:11 +0000

[...] The titles included Mystery Incorporated, No One Escapes… the Fury, Tales of the Uncanny (featuring USA, the Ultimate Secret Agent, and Hypernaut), Tales from Beyond (with N-Man and Johnny Beyond), Horus, Lord of Light, and the Tomorrow Syndicate. The main characters served as plays on the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Dr. Strange, Thor, and the Avengers, with numerous other touches thrown in as well. On their own, the 1963 books stand as excellent comics. They even come complete with throwback touches like editorial captions to past issues, bulletin pages, letters pages, and cheesy ads (”Shamed by you English?”, Soil-Monkeys, and numerous Commie-bashing items). The issues serve as brilliant tongue-in-cheek packages. They’re also the complete antithesis to everything else Image was publishing at the time. [...]

By: Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics #352

Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics #352 — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:30:12 +0000

[...] He also wrote the Fantastic Four Roast, seen at the top of the post. Drawn by pretty much everybody working for Marvel at the time, it’s both a supreme farce and a loving tribute to Marvel’s first family. [...]

By: Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics Archive

Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics Archive — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:08:56 +0000

[...] 345. Fantastic Four [...]

By: fourthworlder

fourthworlder — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:22:22 +0000

What an awesome creation, the FF.

My all-time favorite issue was 45 (thanks for showing the cover), introducing the Inhumans one by one. I also really loved those two early Red Ghost/Watcher’s Blue Area issues, and the two-parter with the Thing/Hulk fight and the Avengers. And oh so many others…
But I disagree with Ken S about ALL the original 108 issues being wonderful. To me the final Kirby issues got pretty tedious and uninspired. He was deliberately NOT creating anything new, cranking out the book each month while he doodled Orion and Metron in his free time, waiting.

I also do have a fondness for Roy Thomas’s stint in the mid-seventies, especially the issues with the Impossible Man and the Frightful Four. And John Byrne’s three-parter with Terrax and saving Galactus was a great story.

By: Mark G,

Mark G, — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:52:26 +0000

Indeed the 1st FF Omnibus has received a 2nd printing (now with a sewn binding) and is available for purchase:

http://talesofwonder.com/product-exec/product_id/47482/affiliate_id/5

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:12:45 +0000

Is the first Omnibus getting a second printing? I really want it! I wasn’t born for more than two decades after they started their run, and I have never read a single issue of it. And I know that makes me less of a person.

By: Ken S.

Ken S. — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:09:50 +0000

Another vote for “This Man, This Monster”, my favorite comic story of all time.

And I agree you can stack any of the 108 against almost any other issue of any other book (giving some leeway for outdated gender roles and terms).

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:38:35 +0000

I’ve been a fan of The Inhumans since I first saw them- Kirby’s odd character designs are striking, and Black Bolt’s power being a huge liability (even more so than Cyclops, The Thing, or the Doom Patrol) is awesome. Plus, a giant dog with a tuning fork on his head- what could be better?

By: fanboy d

fanboy d — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:46:06 +0000

i’m desperate to get my hands on the omnibuses…

By: Discogod

Discogod — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:47:50 +0000

I’ve gotta go with “This Man, This Monster” too. First time I read it was in Les Daniels’ book about Marvel, and as a boy who’d grown up on Byrne & Simonson’s FF, it was a revelation. It introduced me to the Kirby & Lee FF, and gave me a new found respect for both the characters and the creators.

By: Mark S

Mark S — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:36:18 +0000

What Todd said, though I do have a lot of love for the unhailed issue 81. Kirby’s work in that one is so kinetic it stunned me as a young child, and more than any other single issue it’s the reason I still love comics nearly 40 years later.

By: Todd Lawrence

Todd Lawrence — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 06:48:30 +0000

There are no “favorite Lee/Kirby FF moments”. Every one of those 108 unique issues was a gem.

A perfect series if there ever was one.

By: Bret

Bret — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:14:52 +0000

Neat. I REALLY liked “This Man This Monster” first time I read it. One of the best comics ever.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 04:36:55 +0000

Kirby had pretty much finished the pencils on the first issue published that he didn’t do, and so Marvel are re-releasing it.

By: stealthwise

stealthwise — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 04:07:43 +0000

What “Lost FF issue”?