Son of Cervantes
Member
I loved most of them (especially the original Lee/Kirby run, Byrne's run, and Waid/Wieringo's run). What these runs have in common is the interaction between the members of the cast, the fact that one can pick up and read them and understand everything that's going on, the character relationships, etc., perfectly, without having to go through an extensive Wiki beforehand. The characterizations are consistent, the plots are out-of-this-world yet easy to follow, and the artwork is dynamite. Yeah, Byrne's run had that icky Alicia Masters/Johnny Storm relationship, but that was thankfully retconned a few short years later by Tom Defalco who realized that the relationship just didn't make any sense.
However, I have to say that I loathed the Mark Millar and Jonathan Hickman runs. Mark Millar goes grim and gritty with the FF with his Marquis of Death storyline, and even kills off The Thing's Aunt Petunia in what feels like a really cheap shocker.
As for Hickman, I don't know where to start. He doesn't seem to really care about the core team at all - in fact, they barely interact during most of his run. The interplay between the FF is what I like about the book, and Hickman almost seems to be bored by the idea. Instead, the book is REALLY about Valeria Richards, Nathaniel Richards and to a lesser extent Reed, with a sprinkling of Franklin and the other Future Foundation kids. Valeria Richards is a ridiculous character - a 3-year-old super-genius who outsmarts and outthinks everybody, including Dr. Doom and her own father. What's more, so many previous events are referenced (the War of the Kings, the death of some future Galactus, Nu-World, etc., etc.) with zero context given. What's worse, Hickman either didn't know or didn't really care about previous characterization, so he turns the Wingless Wizard into some sort of religious loony (later explained in a few throwaway lines as him having some sort of brain tumor). The Mad Thinker also does not sound at all like The Mad Thinker.
Ugh. I hated Hickman's run. And then Matt Fraction's run had a great start for its first few issues until it became rudderless and boring.
James Robinson's run (which ended with Fantastic Four's cancellation), on the other hand, actually felt like the FF again. The focus was, again, on the four leads. The other Future Foundation kids were sidelined during most of the run, and Valeria's characterization was much more believable - she's brilliant, a super-genius even, but she's also 3 years old, and as such, can be extremely naive.
I also read a bit of Walter Simonson's run (in the Marvel Epic Collection "Into the Time Stream"), which shares Hickman's focus on "high concept, big science ideas" but also maintains the characterization and the relationships between the core characters which is such a basic part of the book. I'm looking to see if I can find the rest of Simonson's run.
However, I have to say that I loathed the Mark Millar and Jonathan Hickman runs. Mark Millar goes grim and gritty with the FF with his Marquis of Death storyline, and even kills off The Thing's Aunt Petunia in what feels like a really cheap shocker.
As for Hickman, I don't know where to start. He doesn't seem to really care about the core team at all - in fact, they barely interact during most of his run. The interplay between the FF is what I like about the book, and Hickman almost seems to be bored by the idea. Instead, the book is REALLY about Valeria Richards, Nathaniel Richards and to a lesser extent Reed, with a sprinkling of Franklin and the other Future Foundation kids. Valeria Richards is a ridiculous character - a 3-year-old super-genius who outsmarts and outthinks everybody, including Dr. Doom and her own father. What's more, so many previous events are referenced (the War of the Kings, the death of some future Galactus, Nu-World, etc., etc.) with zero context given. What's worse, Hickman either didn't know or didn't really care about previous characterization, so he turns the Wingless Wizard into some sort of religious loony (later explained in a few throwaway lines as him having some sort of brain tumor). The Mad Thinker also does not sound at all like The Mad Thinker.
Ugh. I hated Hickman's run. And then Matt Fraction's run had a great start for its first few issues until it became rudderless and boring.
James Robinson's run (which ended with Fantastic Four's cancellation), on the other hand, actually felt like the FF again. The focus was, again, on the four leads. The other Future Foundation kids were sidelined during most of the run, and Valeria's characterization was much more believable - she's brilliant, a super-genius even, but she's also 3 years old, and as such, can be extremely naive.
I also read a bit of Walter Simonson's run (in the Marvel Epic Collection "Into the Time Stream"), which shares Hickman's focus on "high concept, big science ideas" but also maintains the characterization and the relationships between the core characters which is such a basic part of the book. I'm looking to see if I can find the rest of Simonson's run.