Mighty Marvel Masterworks - The Fantastic Four Volume 2

 

As I've said a million times, I love these early 60's Marvel tales and the FF were always a terrific tableau. The Lee and Kirby team were at the top of their creative streak at this point and while the characters continued to evolve (as characters should), the stories also moved from the fairly absurd  and somewhat outlandish to the suspenseful and - for comic books - multi-layered.

This volume starts with "A Visit With the Fantastic Four" which shows the team as relatable humans who interact with the local kids, show off their powers (and in the Thing's case, his literal human side), and gives a bit of history of the team members. From there, we get the truly wacky Impossible Man, the team's (and the Thing's) first interaction with the Hulk, the Red Ghost ("Commies" were the enemies of the time) and his Super Apes along with the first appearance of the Watcher, the Sub-Mariner as a pawn of the Puppet Master, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android and, of course, their arch-nemesis, Dr. Doom (along with the Ant-Man!). On top of all of that, the Super-Skrull - the alien with the powers of all of the FF combined - also makes his first appearance! And then, the Molecule Man! Wow! To say the creative team was on a streak is a monumental understatement!

Of course, there is still the early 60's misogyny, especially with Sue Storm as the "helpless female", before her powers expanded and she became one of the most potent characters in the Marvel Universe. But overall, the storytelling is above par, the artwork is striking and we see why the FF became one of the most popular comics of all time!