Review # 134: "Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Vol. 1"

Reed Richards has gone through the ringer lately, with several writers suggesting that Mr. Fantastic is not so fantastic after all. From the horrific zombie Reed Richards in "Marvel Zombies" to the fate of Ultimate Universe Reed to nefarious "Planetary" analogue Randall Dowling, there is potential for great evil in the leader of the Fantastic Four.

Review # 114: "Fantastic Four - Doomed" and "FF - Family Freakout"

The fate of Matt Fraction's dual run on "Fantastic Four" and "FF" turns out to be an interesting case study on creative team changes. Yanked from the title to write "Inhumanity," his plots are handed to new scripters. One switch works well. The other does not.

Review # 92: "Fantastic Four by John Byrne Vol. 2"

If you look up a summary of John Byrne's career and come across the section on the Fantastic Four, you'll get a list of all the major changes he made to the title during his time as writer and artist. What you won't find is any mention that he peaked before any of those changes happened.

Review # 62: "Fantastic Four - Road Trip"

Damn it, Marvel: you got me. Originally, I had no plans to follow Matt Fraction's run on "Fantastic Four," but meshing his first three issues with the team with his first three issues with FF got enough of its hooks into me to drop 18 bucks on the second trade. I figure: why not? Fraction is on a roll, though its weird that the biggest property he's been working on with Marvel is the black sheep of his current output.

Review # 41: "Fantastic Four - New Departure, New Arrivals" and "FF - Fantastic Faux"

The Fantastic Four have been on a hot streak when it comes to writers lately. Mark Waid's forced departure led to a fan backlash that extended his stay. Jonathan Hickman stretched the team to its limits, bringing characters like Spider-Man into the fold. Unfortunately, the run of his successor is being cut short as the red hot Matt Fraction is leaving a double 16-issue arc to pen a series about the Inhumans. He will still be plotting, just not scripting.

Review # 10: "Fantastic Four by John Byrne Vol. 1"

John Byrne is quite possibly the most underrated comics creator of all time. He's one of the greatest writers, plotters AND artists in the history of the game but you rarely see him mentioned along the likes of your Lees, Kirbys, Millers and Moores. Maybe it's because he didn't really create any enduring characters or properties. What he DID do, though, is take a character that already existed and made them the best they could possibly be.