Marvel Essential Fantastic Four Comic Book Review: Dr. Doom and Daredevil Guest Star as the Legend Grows!

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby used this run of issues to explore the characters in the Fantastic Four world in more depth than most comics at the time, and it is great to be able to read the developments all at once. Reed Richards and Sue Storm (Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl) move closer to the altar, getting engaged after she works out her feelings for the Sub-Mariner.

The Sub-Mariner still comes across as a hot-headed egotist, but he is taken down a peg by the fact that a surface woman would spurn him. He is much deeper than many comic book characters of that time.

Sue and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) reunite with their father, and the superhero foursome have to deal with their loss of powers at one point.

But Lee and Kirby don't skimp on the action: This book contains several battles with Dr. Doom, the return of such bad guys as the Mole Man and the Red Ghost and the introduction of such new villains as El Diablo, the Hate-Monger and Medusa (who issues later turns out not to be so bad after all).

This edition also includes what I've always considered the best Thing-Hulk fight, a two-parter that guest-starred the early Avengers.

Not every story was spectacular. ''The Infant Terrible'' from issue No. 24 was just plain silly, and ''A House Divided'' from issue 34 wasn't very interesting. But overall this is a very solid collection of stories, and well worth checking out!

The issue to the right is the earliest Fantastic Four I own (no. 22), included in this volume. The comic bag still has the original price I paid for it back in the late 1970s -- $8 (marked down from $25)!

Dr. Doom first appeared in Fantastic Four No. 5, and almost immediately became the top villain for the Fantastic Four. In his debut it is mentioned that he was a university classmate of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic). But his full origin wasn't told at the time.

Instead, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby explored the Gypsy history of Dr. Doom in a 12-page separate story that appeared two years later in Fantastic Four Annual No. 2. It's a wonderful tale that highlights the villain's major flaw: his arrogance.

In addition to the origin tale, Dr. Doom appears in three battles against the Fantastic Four in this volume. So if you are a fan of this diabolical villain, you will be happy with this collection!

This close-up of Dr. Doom is from the cover of Marvel Essential Fantastic Four Volume 2.

There's a great two-part adventure against Dr. Doom at the end of the 20 issues of the Fantastic Four that are reprinted here. Issue No. 39 has the Fantastic Four, stripped of their powers during fight with the Frightful Four, returning home only to be forced to confront their greatest adversary, Dr. Doom!

Fortunately, Daredevil joins the fray and helps stall the bad guy's victory long enough for the Fantastic Four to regain their powers in issue No. 40. The Thing is the eventual hero in a dramatic scene!

One interesting note to this two-parter is the art on the Daredevil character. In some panels it looks like he wasn't drawn by Jack Kirby, the regular artist, but by Wally Wood, who was the artist on the Daredevil comics. There's just enough of a contrast of style to make me wonder if either Wood was called in to touch up some panels, or Kirby consciously tried to make Daredevil look like he did in his own comic series.

The cover of Fantastic Four 39 is from my collection.

Marvel Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 2 ends with a tale featuring the Human Torch, who had a solo series in the comic book Strange Tales starting with issue 101. The story here is from Strange Tales Annual No. 2, with Spider-Man as the guest star.

The villain is pretty run-of-the-mill, but the story is cool because it establishes the long-running teenage rivalry between Spider-Man and the Human Torch. It also includes the first time they meet on the top of the Statue of Liberty (which would become their regular meeting place in years to come).

The most interesting aspect of the story is the art. It's famously known that Stan Lee chose Steve Ditko to be Spider-Man's regular artist because he thought Jack Kirby's version was too super-heroic. And whenever I read a Jack Kirby-drawn story from the early days that guest-stars Spider-Man I can see exactly why Lee made the decision. He was absolutely right -- Kirby does draw Spider-Man as too big, too muscular. Check it out for yourself: this is the splash panel of the story, reproduced from the Marvel Essential book. It's much different than Steve Ditko's look.

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The Marvel Essential series reprints many of Marvel Comics' stories from the 1960s on in large volumes that usually top several hundred pages. The series began in 1997 with the publication of the Essential X-Men No. 1 and The Essential Spider-Man No. 1.

Many of the volumes have been printed more than once, with different covers on some of them, so don't let that throw you off when buying. Carefully check to make sure which volume number you are considering.

The huge advantage to these volumes is cost: a reader can get 30 or more stories for about what a half dozen new comic books cost, and the old stories have more pages of action per issue. The Essential books are much more cost-effective than buying all the original comics as well.

Invisible Girl started out in the early Fantastic Four comics as the weakest member, with writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby struggling to find ways that her power of invisibility could help the team. As the years went by they and other creators added to her powers, giving her the ability to project powerful fields of invisible psionic energy that she uses to attack and defend.

Her increased abilities has led her to be seen as one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe. Writer/artist John Byrne changed the name of the character to Invisible Woman during the 1980s to highlight that fact.

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Of course, Mr. Fantastic is actually the superhero ID of Reed Richards. But hey, not everyone knows that right?

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