Books: Fantastic Four: 1234

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Fantastic Four: 1234
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Jae Lee
2002




Available now from Islington Libraries
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People as part of mathematical equations, inter-dimensional chess and giant robots from the sea: yes it's obviously Grant Morrison doing all his bonkers stuff but for once it left me feeling cold. Part of the Marvel Knights series which is quote unquote "the showcase for 'evergreen events' — self-contained limited series that think outside the box, that challenge readers to re-think their favorite Marvel characters and re-evaluate the legends that surround them" Fantastic Four: 1234 is a self-contained story featuring Marvels First Family which manages to condense almost ever Fantastic Four story ever told into one compact little tale. My problem is that having enjoyed the hell out of the Ultimate Fantastic Four series and Mark Millar's and Bryan Hitch's World's Greatest/The Masters of Doom Fantastic Four spin - 1234 felt a little dour and lacking the spontaneous and stupendous sense of fun that I'd come to expect from my FF stories. Also - I think it's rather telling that I'd read this book a few years ago - but decided to reread for the benefit of this post and couldn't really remember anything about it from the first time round.

You should realise that I may be in the minority when it comes to my dis-interest in this book (check out the links below for more glowing recommendations). And I should admit that the art by Jae Lee is very much gorgeousness but I kinda preferred the stuff he did in Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol 4 (and if you liked this - you really should check out that).

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Links: Comic Book Resources Review, GraphiContent Review, First Comic News Review.

Further reading: Ultimate Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest / The Masters of Doom, Fantastic Four: First Family, Spider-Man: Down Among The Dead Men / Venomous / The Last Stand.

Profiles: Grant Morrison.

All comments welcome.