Fantastic Four: All in the Family

Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 17: All in the Family by Roger Stern
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fantastic Four: All in the Family collects Fantastic Four #296-307, Fantastic Four Annual 20, and Fantastic Four vs. The X-Men #1-4.

The Fantastic Four have long been my favorite Marvel team but there are a few gaps in my Fantastic Four knowledge, like how did Ben get brought back into the fold after Johnny wound up with Alicia. Fantastic Four: All in the Family answers those questions and more.

This volume bridges the gap between John Byrne's run and Steve Englehart's editorial-plagued run, although Englehart's first couple issues are contained in this volume. The gang go up against Mole Man, Doctor Doom, The X-Men, The Wizard, the Mad Thinker, the Puppet Master, Diablo, and a lot of schmoes that never appear again but their worst enemies are themselves.

The group evolves quite a bit in this collection. She-Hulk leaves the team and Ben returns, only for Reed to hand the reins to Ben so he and Sue and leave the Fantastic Four to raise Franklin, never to be seen again...

I question a lot of the logic that went into this run. John Byrne put Johnny and Alicia together. Fine, although I still think that was a bad idea. What sense does it make for Ben to want to come back when Johnny and Alicia are getting married besides restoring the FF status quo? It also doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense for Crystal to want to come back since Johnny is recently married and Johnny and Ben trying to coexist without Reed and Sue doesn't make a lot of sense either with everything else that is going on. It probably would have made more sense for Ben to recruit three other characters and Johnny to strike out on his own.

All that aside, there are some fun moments in this, like She-Hulk goading Ben into a brawl to take his mind off of Alicia, Doctor Doom taking Franklin to hell, and Ms. Marvel putting Diablo in the hospital. Overall, my favorite part of the collection was the Fantastic Four vs. The X-Men miniseries. I like the idea of a mysterious diary shaking Reed's confidence. Both the Fantastic Four and the X-Men were in transition at that point, the FF to the new lineup and the X-Men were just about to begin their Australian era. Claremont's Franklin leaves a little to be desired, though. What four year old uses the word "certain"?

While not my favorite Fantastic Four volume, All in the Family is a good transitional volume between the Byrne run and the Englehart run. 3 out of 5 stars.

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