FANTASTIC FOUR EPIC COLLECTION: INTO THE TIME STREAM

Walt Simonson is known as one of the top American comic book artists of the last forty or fifty years. He is most known for his art and writing of Thor during a four year covering most of 1983-1987. Though that is his best work he also had a strong run on Fantastic Four This collection has his first twelve issues a crossover novel between the FF Annual of 1990 and the annuals of the three X titles that existed at that time. The extra story FF 342 is a bad imitation of an earlier and much better story by John Byrne. Since Simonson did not write this, i think it should not be included. The first three issues ,which are part of the 1989 crossover Acts of Vengeance, are funny in a goofy way. The FF testifies before congress as part of a discussion of a proposed superhuman registration act and Simonson gets to ridicule politicians which is an easy shot and the FF fights a bunch of minor villains trying to kill them while disrupting the hearing. These stories are ok and not much more The main story and the crossover novel between the annuals that serve as a sequel are both very good to excellent as the time stream is endangered and the universe along with it. Reedfigures a rogue celestial is behind the time bubble and they take Thor and Iron Man with them. The action is very much sci-fi and Simonson uses his scientific background to good effect but the jargon at times undermines the story so I give it four stars. The X Men crossover is mostly free of the jargon so I give it five It is action packed .Simonson only writes the FF story but he plots the other chapters as well even though he is not credited with those plots. Overall it is a solid collection for any fan of superhero comics especially if you like Simonson or the FF but it should be enjoyable even if you dont .

Holy cow! It's Walt Simonson on Fantastic Four! What else do you need to know?Fine. Here's some stuff:Thor! Iron Man! Time Travel! Parallel Worlds! Dinosaurs! (if it's Uncle Walt, it's gonna have dinos) Kang(s)! Galactus! And more!For some reason, Marvel hasn't given this run of FF stories by the incredible Walt Simonson the Omnibus treatment. This makes me sad. Still, the two trade collections, of which this is the first, are an able substitute.Though somewhat obscure behind his more renowned Thor run, which I'm sure you already have, these are fantastic stories that shine out between the rather humdrum tales before and after Walt's run.What Simonson does best, in all of his work, is manage to tell involved, complex stories that pay great attention to the roots of the characters. And yet, he never loses that "Hey Kids, Comics!" feel from the earliest days of Stan and Jack.Another thing you can count on with Uncle Walt is lots of words. Dust off those reading chops, kids, 'cause there's all sorts of plot and concept to wrap your head around. Long before the Morrison brits and Bendis brigade, there was Uncle Walt with "Heisenberg stabilizers" and "existentialators pushed past maximum". Be awed! Be amazed! Be confused!Of course, the art is exceptional. It crackles with power and energy, trying to leap off the page at you in the finest traditions of The King himself. A more worthy successor to Jack could not be found.Sadly, all good things come to an end. Simonson's run was all too brief. But these FF tales take a backseat to none others and certainly hits high on any list of Uncle Walt's comics work.Miss it not, effendi!

I love Simonson but was disappointed with this book. FF was not his strongest work, and they threw in some other random stories as well. I would skip this if you were just looking for a Simonson book.

When Walt Simonson started his run on the Fantastic Four, the comic was at an awkward stage with its continuity. Walt just took the ball and ran with it churning out some great, entertaining stories. The art and layout is fantastic and he really gets the characters and themes of the Fantastic Four.

I love Walter Sumonson’s art but there are a lot of filler issues here from a story than ran through some annuals of several non- FF titles that year.

The stories are ok. The Thing was one of my favorite characters in Marvel comics but when they started having him change back to human form all the time, for me I lost some interest. The stories here are ok but I liked the the early FF much more.

A good storyline The F4 Thor and Iron Man travel in the timeline to stop Galatcus. Plus they get stuck in a different timeline and must stop Stalin.

i haven't finished the book yet. but so far,so good. had an excellent experience all the way around.

The second Fantastic Four instalment in the non-chronological Epic Collections is Volume 20, collecting material from 1989 and 1990. It's another great selection of classic stories, this time mostly from the writing desk of Walter Simonson. While he might be best known for his lauded Thor run, his FF work also showcases his offbeat, imaginative take on the superhero.The first sequence in this volume (part of the Acts of Vengeance event) sees the FF (actually the Fantastic Five, with a mech-suited Ben Grimm and the She-Thing sharing bruiser duties) attacked by a succession of D-list villains just as they are called to testify before congress concerning a proposed superhero registration act. While there are a few good moments, the art is slightly uninspired and the story never really catches fire.Thankfully, after this slightly sub-par opening, Simonson takes over art as well as scripting duties, and launches into the epic tale of the title. The Fantastic Four, as well as guest stars Iron Man and Thor, launch into the future in order to prevent a threat to the entire universe. The story is full of twists and turns, surprise villains and guest appearances from characters like Death's Head and Gladiator. Simonson's art, spiky and fresh rather than cleancut like the prevailing Marvel style, practically fizzes with his need to get all his ideas onto the page.Later issues in the book stem from this central storyline, the team's attempts to return to their own time seeing them variously battle a mech-suited Josef Stalin and attempt to survive on a prehistoric island. Throughout the wacky plot developments, Simonson makes sure to still find time for small character moments that really help the team feel like a real family.The hefty tome is capped with a four-annual crossover with X-Men, X-Factor and New Mutants. Days of Future Present, a sequel of sorts to the seminal X-Men tale Days of Future Past, revolves around Reed and Sue's son Franklin, and manages to cram in page-to-page action as well as deep emotional beats.While not quite as excellent as the stories in the last Epic Collection, those presented here showcase the talent of a genuine comics legend let loose on Marvel's first family. These rereleases remain a great way to enjoy the comics of yesteryear without breaking the bank; keep 'em coming!

This volume largely consists of four story arcs starting with the team pummeling large numbers of second string villains off camera whilst attending a Congressional hearing in a largely light hearted part of the Acts of Vengeance cycle along with three time travelling stories from 1989-1990.I was not aware of the full background of the new addition to the team Ms Marvel/She Thing and Ben Grimm in human form but managed to piece some of it together as I went along. The first time travel tale sees the team together with Iron Man and Thor travel into the future to try to stop a looming catastrophe, it stretches out over 5 issues and drags in a few other Marvel big-hitters before the team head back to their own time.The second time travel story is much more fun as they gradually realise something is wrong with where they are and try to rectify it.The third is a crossover tale "Days of Future Present" spread over the Fantastic Four's 1990 annual along with the annuals of the main mutant titles, X-Men, X-Factor and the New Mutants, it's a sort of follow up to the far better Days of Future Past as a visitor from the future appears and starts to cause mayhem with a few revelations along the way,As usual there's a few reprints of original artwork at the back.The Epic collection is a great way to catch up on what I have missed, I just need to find some way to store them, possibly by mothballing my Marvel's Essential collection as that appears to have bit the dust now.

I Fantastici Quattro visti nella loro essenza di viaggiatori dell'ignoto più che di supereroi classici. Una grande run con un Simonson in formissima coadiuvato da vecchie glorie come Rich Buckler.