First off, product arrived in excellent condition, Ditto the 2nd volume. Secondly, the product's interiors--story and art--bring me back to when Marvel's 1st family had another bright spot in their long legacy of awesomeness. Scott Lobdell did the writing for the first three issues only and was joined by the amazing Alan Davis and Mark Farmer on art chores before they left and were replaced for the rest of the 2 volume run by writer Chris Claremont and artists Salvadore Larroca and Art Thibert. Having been collecting the X-Men by Claremont since the early eighties I was excited when I heard my man Chris would be assuming control of one of my all-time favorite superteams and I was, myself, not disappointed. I remember some in the letter pages writing about their irritation that there were many references to the mutant world of the X-Men during his early run; I assume because of the inclusions of certain characters associated with them almost exclusively such as Detective Charlotte Jones, the Technet, Opal Luna Saturnyne, Roma and the Warwolves (sometimes enemies of Excalibur, who Claremont also wrote). I didn't, at the time, understand what the problem was, and still don't--as all of them are parts of the same shared universe (and operated in the same city at the time), isn't it to be expected that they might run across some of the same adversaries/allies from time to time? Also, as of issue #13 that 'problem' was quickly--powerfully--put to rest, with the return of Ronan the Accuser, a longtime foe of just about everyone in the Marvel Universe, as they've fought Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Avengers since his creation but his first, and most hated, enemies are the Fantastic Four, and you totally get this during the 3-issue story he's a part of (one of which is found in the pages of Iron Man's own mag but is thoughtfully included here to wrap up the story for us readers. Immediately after, the FF travel back into the Negative Zone, another famous realm of exploration for the 1st Family, and run into what I assume was a few new characters Claremont and Larroca created, Lockdown and Rosetta Stone (awesome characters, putting a new and entertaining twist on the Distinguished Competition's own 'Dynamic Duo', who's appearances are way too few and far between as far as I'm concerned), along with the criminal hijinx of the FF's evil counterparts in the Zone, the Tetrad. Intriguingly written foes, I loved that 2-part story! A too-quick run-in with the Zone's sovereign, the savagely evil Annihilus ("A charming being, as always," said Sue Richards--that great writing, again!) followed, then the introduction of Valeria Richards Von Doom, the daughter of Sue Richards and Dr. Doom from a possible future. Great character, I've loved her ever since, ditto the warrior woman from the past/present called Caledonia, a fierce fighter with the whole 'Highlander' feeling going on who has become the protector, along with Alyssa Moy and Lockjaw of the Inhumans, of young Franklin Richards, taking the niche once filled by the witch Agatha Harkness. Gone too soon in issue#21 and then things built up to the issue 25 return of the one and only Dr. Doom in a body switch story that lasted till about issue 31, followed by the creative team's final issue on their run, #32, in a story that spotlighted the Invisible Woman and Namor the Sub-Mariner battling the undersea threat of one of Doom's vicious allies, Lady Dorma. Excellent stuff, revisiting this reminds me of the times when comics were a great deal, individual issues did not cost you your firstborn as they do now (Creators and their companies will never turn the current hard times around until they address and fix this particular obstacle to gaining a new readership fanbase--something imperative to the future of their success or failure; getting their products to reach more ppl; i.e. putting comics back on spinner racks, grocery stores and newstands and not just having them in comics specialty shops will help--its how I found them in my youth in the 70s and early 80s). The Dr. Doom story was the longest arc in their run (as he should be), and in most of the preceding year you could be hit with a few new characters, both friends and foes, but also dip into some of the team's great Rogues Gallery. In later years, this would change, and comics started making an arc last anywhere from 4 to 6 issues (this would become the norm, unfortunately), alongside the constant 'events' issues, there seem to be no room for the creators to tell their own stories anymore; I'd certainly be frustrated if I wanted to tell a particular character-driven story and in my first few issues I was told it was an editorial mandate that I hit pause and insert two or more issues of the 'event' so they can have another free plug thrown in. Such things made ppl forget later on that Spider-Man has his own fantastic Rogue's Gallery, his from the very beginning, but sometime after the McFarlane era you had Venom dominate every storyline and every year (along with Carnage, of course). Sometimes they would include the Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus, but in the JMS run, in five years, those two only showed up once and not a single other RG member showed up at all. I think I remember reading once that JMS didn't want to tell stories with his classic enemies, that he wanted to tell fresh stories, but can anyone imagine DC allowing a Batman writer to come along and mandate that idiocy for 5 whole years? No way. People forgot Spidey's Rogues are as varied and rich as Batman's (IMO, moreso) but you couldn't really blame them when they weren't actually seeing them anymore. I like Venom, but not a steady and exclusive diet of him; mix the characters up, that's what works.
I began rambling, my apologies, but I feel much better now, lol. Anyway, back to these great volumes: Excellent purchase. Pick these up, readers, and see if you don't agree with my rating. After a near decade of being mismanaged in mediocre stories and silly vapid stunts (Sue's 'boob' window, in one instance--she was the essence of the Marvel Universe Beautiful 'MOM', for gods sakes! Who's big idea was it to have her dress like she just escaped from a topless bar?!), and the inane 'storytelling' of the Image guys in 'Heroes Reborn', it was a true and welcome return to form for the Fantastic Foursome to have seen quality adventures again. Pick up the 'Heroes Return' stories; any of them really. You'll be happy you did. *****!
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