Fantastic Four #6 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In 2003, Marvel established an imprint for all ages. Unlike Star Comics in the 1980s, this imprint would star the heroes of the 616-Universe. First titled 'Marvel Age', the plots were taken directly from the earliest issues to bear the Marvel Comics brand name. Written by Stan Lee and featuring the art of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others. Marvel Age Spider-Man and Marvel Age: Fantastic Four. The retellings would be written by the best and brightest of the Marvel Bullpen with Manga inspired artwork by up-and-coming artists from the Japanese inspired medium. 

In this issue which reimagines Fantastic Four #6 from 1962, the Fantastic Four's most deadliest foes, Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner have joined forces. Doom has invented a device that can control the gravity of any object. The plan is for Prince Namor to visit the Baxter Building under the rise of a proposed truce. While there he will hide Doom's device inside the recesses of the skyscraper. 

It's actually not very hard for the Sub-Mariner to hide the device. While Sue Storm is Mister Fantastic's girlfriend, she's been developing feelings for Namor during their recent skirmishes with the ruler of Atlantis. Ben Grimm and Little brother Johnny Storm want to mop up the floor with Namor. Sue wants to finally have a chance to sort through her feelings. Meanwhile, Reed Richards smells a rat and right he is! Because Doctor Doom has activated his gravity device, sending the Baxter Building into outer space with the Sub-Mariner aboard! Heading directly towards the sun, with the oxygen running thin, I guess only so much can be said about honestly and loyalty when you make a deal with Doctor Doom!

The writing by Marc Sumerak was quite good. I've read this issue a number of times. The original, I mean. So it is a bit weird to experience this plot with references to more modern pop culture icons like Jerry Seinfeld. Though, did kids from 2005, when this Marvel Age issue was published, know who of the comedian and star of a TV series that went off the air 7 years prior? So the references are a bit awkward- too  awkward. But this is something that the big two publishers have been guilty of for decades. But it's also forgivable. Trying to relate to kids is hard. Not everyone can do it.

What, in my opinion, isn't quite so forgivable is the art. I should be a crime to think that you can't make a comic book for children without dipping into the Manga ink well. Sure, Manga is what has inspired a large number of artists who hit the scene in the past 30 years. But it should not be the only style of artwork that young comic book readers are exposed to. Especially for such an iconic family the Fantastic Four. That ever-changing look of characters based on their emotions which is a Manga staple just doesn't work with The Thing or the Human Torch. Heck, it doesn't even work with the plastic fluidity of Mister Fantastic. You'd think that it would considering that he's stretchy. But here, it just looks weird. Blame artist Alitha Martinez for that. However, I'm really confused as I've experienced some of her work before and it did not look like this. Maybe early in her career she tried the Manga route. If so, I am glad it was a phase or the comic collecting world would have been deprived of one of the most talented female artists of the past 2 decades.

If this  wasn't a FF comic book, I probably wouldn't keep it. But just like when I listen to Queen, a bad Fantastic Four comic is better than no Fantastic Four comic book at all!

Completing this review completes Task #8 (Fantastic Four Comic from the 2000s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

Fantastic Four #268 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

This 1984 issue of Fantastic Four has heartbreak, mystery and tons of action. Not to mention a bunch of guest stars!

The story takes place after the Secret Wars. The Thing has temporarily stepped away from the team in order to find himself on the Battleworld. Taking his place is She-Hulk. Jennifer Walters has been on the team for a couple of weeks now and seen action as the FF's heavy. But she's yet to seen the interior of the Baxter Building. Sue Richards has just previously experienced a miscarriage. So in order to give Sue and husband Reed a chance to mourn, Johnny Storm thinks now is as good a time as any to give She-Hulk the deluxe tour of the team's headquarters. 

One of the areas where Johnny takes Jen is to a little seen 'trophy room' full of tech recovered from the Fantastic Four's numerous encounters with baddies. One of the newest additions to the room is the mask of the recently deceased Doctor Doom! And it gives both the Human Torch and She-Hulk the creeps . Rightfully so! Because all of a sudden the mask comes alive and starts destroying the entire building!!!

I had mentioned that this issue had a bunch of guest stars in it. Assisting with the complications of Sue Richards gamma infused pregnancy are some of the Marvel Universes leading experts in gamma radiation. Dr. Michael Morbius, Dr. Bruce Banner, Professor Walter Langkowski (Alpha Flight's Sasquatch) are consulted to tragic circumstances. Even the diabolical Otto Octavius is given a day pass from prison on the good and desperate word of Mister Fantastic. But alas it just wasn't meant to be.

As a parent of multiple multiple miscarriages, I can completely sympathize with Reed Richard's. Knowing my wife was suffering and that my children were at risk, I too would have moved Heaven and Earth to save them. God knows I tried.

Speaking of Bruce Banner- he actually makes 2 cameos! That's because during her tour of the Baxter Building, She-Hulk recounts her origin story to Johnny Storm. Thanks to a blood transfusion from cousin Bruce, Jen first became the Savage She-Hulk before gaining full control of her rage and emotions as the Sensational She-Hulk!

The characters all with beady little eyes. The blondes all with Farrah Fawcett style hairdos. The dark blue uniforms with the white collars. She-Hulk in all her Amazonian stature and allure. This is quintessential John Bryne Fantastic Four! The only thing missing is Wyatt Wingfoot. But don't worry; he's teased to be returning in the next issue.

Lastly, I have to marvel at the cover. It's a combination of an actual photograph of Doctor Doom's mask and John Byrne's version of ray beams shooting out of the mask's eyes! The creator of the real life Doom mask is Eliot R. Brown. Some of you might recognize his work of the famous live action cover of 1985's Amazing Spider-Man #262! Note: The image I have used is a hi-definition version found on Marvel.Com. Here you can see the full outline of the mask and the rivets. On the original cover, all that is really hard to make out. One of the few times that digital beats paper...

A great issue with action, adventure and sadness! But absolutely powerful. 

Completing this review completes Task #6 (Fantastic Four Comic from the 1980s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars. 

S.H.I.E.L.D., Vol. 1: Perfect Bullets

I really enjoyed ABC's Agents of SHIELD. Sure, a lot of it has to do with me being a big fan of Nick Fury and the spy elements of the Marvel Universe. Regardless, Agents of SHIELD was a show that got better with age. Ironically, as the series progressed, it strayed further from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's because it was established that despite Agent Phil Coulson dying at the hands of Loki, everything that happened afterwards followed a slightly different timeline on another universe. So despite what you think about Spider-Man: No Way Home introducing the multiverse to Marvel movie fans, it was Marvel's Agents of SHIELD that did it first.

And before I get into my review of this book, can I just comment on the actor who brought Phil Coulson to life on many occasions? Clark Gregg is just wonderful as the walking Encyclopedia Britannica of superheroes and their adversaries. I may not agree with all of the actor's politics. But I thought he brought such an energy to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the show. I hope he's not truly retired from the role. I'd love to see him interact with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Cumberbatch 's Sorcerer Supreme.

This series, penned by Mark Waid, was Marvel's attempt to bring the Agents of SHIELD into the Marvel 616 Universe. Waid's been known to make some controversial changes to established DC and Marvel canon. But he did a fantastic job here. 

One of the smartest moves was to essentially have each issue be a team-up with at least one superhero. Coulson, May, Fitz and Simmons conduct missions with the likes of Spidey, Ms. Marvel, The Invisible Woman and many others. The first assignment has Phil Coulson spread extremely thin when creatures from all of the nine realms begin an all out invasion of Midgard. There's literally dozens of comics brightest stars in that story, including Tony Stark who's in his Superior Iron Man stage of life. 

6 different artists pencil an issue in this book. My favorite was Alan Davis' work in the Spider-Man story that takes place in Doctor Stranger's Sanctum Sanctorum. He evoked a mix of Steve Ditko and Steve Englehart's tenures on the good doctor's title. 

The book concludes with an odd little segment of comic strips about Agent Fitz and his new artificial intelligence program H.E.N.R.Y., which takes the holographic form of a green Capuchin monkey. I felt like there were clues or maybe some Easter eggs that were hinting to what will occur in Volume 2. However, if that's the case, I was a really bad detective.

I really enjoyed this volume. Too bad, I don't have the next volume immediately on hand. But I've got trade credit and a hole burning in my pocket. So maybe I'll continue these adventures real soon.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Fantastic Four Anniversary Tribute #1

Late 2021 marked the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Fantastic Four. The previews of this book listed dozens of amazing artists and inkers along with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Naturally, I thought that this tribute was going to be of dozens upon dozens of stories, one-pagers and pin-ups. And since Stan and Jack were listed, there might be some reprints or maybe some never-before-seen scripts and sketches. I was really excited. 

So on the New Comics Wednesday this book dropped, I sprinted over to my favorite LCS after work and bought me a copy. Then for some reason, I didn't read it until last night. And boy was I disappointed.

Instead of all new takes on the First Family of Marvel Comics, the abundance of art talent were each given a page from Fantastic Four #1 and Annual #3- the marriage issue between Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl. In other words we get the amazing stories written by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. But no Jack Kirby art! I don't know whether this is yet another kick in the nuts to the legacy of Jack the King from the House of Ideas or I got taken for $7! Maybe both!

I think if Marvel had went the extra mile to assign a team of writers to the rest of the art crew and have greats like Neil Gaiman, John Byrne and Alan Moore rewrite each page to reflect their style, I would have been okay with a retelling of those two classic comics. But to just remix the artwork is not at all what I expected or wanted in a tribute comic. 

Don't get me wrong. Seeing Adam Hughes, The Allreds and many, many more superstars put their thumbprint on the Fantastic Four's earliest, greatest hits was fun. I enjoyed attempting to guess who illustrated what and checking to see if I was right. But again, I felt like I was promised something I didn't get. 

A nice tribute that doesn't pay full homage to half of the creators of the FF. Thankfully, I didn't pay more than I did.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.