It's the Easter Bank Holiday in the UK and we've decided to take a break from review writing this week, so expect a bumper crop of new reviews of the latest books next week.
But, rather than give you nothing, Matt C's gone through five - yes FIVE! - back issues of the Fantastic Four for his continuing Byrne FF Project.
FANTASTIC FOUR #246Writer: John Byrne
Art: John Byrne
Marvel $0.60
Matt C: Question: how many Doombots does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer: none! Even a facsimile of Victor Von Doom would never be witnessed sullying his metal-clad hands with a task fit only for a peasant! Question: how many Doombots does it take to bring down Marvel's First Family? Answer: Four, one for each of them.... at least that's what the Monarch of Latveria has counted on as his robotic lackeys hatch his plan to rescue his mind from it's miniature prison and return it to his comatose body (goddamn, I love comics!)! Byrne's obvious love for Marvel's Greatest Villain meant it was only a matter of time before he brought back Doctor Doom to pit him against the Fantastic Four and it's another furiously entertaining issue. But, as good as it is, it was just laying the groundwork for what came next... 8/10
FANTASTIC FOUR #247Writer: John Byrne
Art: John Byrne
Marvel $0.60
Matt C: The first stone cold classic of Byrne's run on Fantastic Four but surprisingly he relegates the titular foursome to supporting players for this issue as Doctor Doom takes centre stage. Doom shows the FF that since they aided the Latverian resistance in removing him from the throne the country has gone to hell, the populace living in fear of new ruler Zorba. Reed and co are forced to question whether they made the right decision getting involved with the affairs of a sovereign state because, even though it was for all the right reasons, things most definitely haven't turned out they we they hoped. The dialogue is pitch perfect - there have been very few writers who could match Byrne for the way he captured Doom's manner of speaking, getting the balance between majesty and menace just right. The art is absolutely stellar, and again Byrne manages to give Doom real emotion even with face obscured beneath the metal mask. "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" it says above the logo on the cover. On this occasion it's no mere boast, but an unquestionable fact. Brilliant. 10/10
FANTASTIC FOUR #248Writer: John Byrne
Art: John Byrne
Marvel $0.60
Matt C: A five thousand mile high alien who pilots an inconceivably huge spaceship which scoops up the Moon for a science experiment?! No visit to the Inhumans ever runs without incident as the FF discover once again when they arrive on the Blue Area of the Moon to attend the naming ceremony of Quicksilver and Crystal's baby. You can't pull the wool over Reed's eyes though, something that's blatantly apparent when one of his thought bubbles contains the following: "Am I being too analytical? Johnny has just been killed, yet I can't shake the feeling... No time to worry about that..."! After the stellar preceding issue things are scaled back here a little as nothing is what it appears to be and Byrne again excels with the single-issue-story format. 8/10
FANTASTIC FOUR #249Writer: John Byrne
Art: John Byrne
Marvel $0.60
Matt C: The relentless, unstoppable force that is Gladiator, Praetor of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, arrives on Earth intent on causing havoc - but why?! He may have a ridiculous hairdo but he is more than a match for the combined might of the FF - even the sheer brute strength of The Thing is useless against Gladiator's power as we witness when (among other blows) he knocks Ben back through a row of parked cars in a wonderfully rendered couple of panels from Byrne. As with many two-parters in Byrne's FF run this first installment is mostly setting up the main event next time, but us set-ups go this is pretty damn exciting, leaving you eager to get your hands on the next issue. 8/10
FANTASTIC FOUR #250Writer: John Byrne
Art: John Byrne
Marvel $1.00
Matt C: A 'Special 250th Issue!' featuring guest-stars galore, but this doesn't quite knock it out of the park in the way you might hope as ideas take a backseat to an extended smackdown between the FF, Captain America, Gladiator, Spider-Man and the X-Men. But, by focusing on fight scene after fight scene, it gives Byrne a chance to flex his artistic muscles and there's some gloriously exciting panels on display, all fizzing with energy and vitality (including a clever nod to the cover of Amazing Fantasy #15). So, not the hugely memorable milestone it could have been but still a heck of a lot of fun. 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment