Fantastic Four: The More Things Change...

Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 18: The More Things Change... by Marvel Comics
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fantastic Four: The More Things Change... collects Fantastic Four 308 to 320, Fantastic Four Annual 21, Incredible Hulk #350, and Hulk/Thing - The Big Change.

The post-John Byrne era of the Fantastic Four definitely had its ups and downs. One birthday, my mom gave me a stack of comics. On top was Fantastic Four #318. Doctor Doom leading the Fantastic Four? Ben Grimm a spikey Thing? A female Thing? Johnny married to Alicia Masters? I subscribed to the Fantastic Four shortly after, a subscription that would ultimately last six or seven years. When this trade was announced, I pre-ordered it, eager to relive some old nostalgia.

When Steve Englehart took over the Fantastic Four, he wasted no time in shaking up the lineup. Reed and Sue left the Fantastic Four and Crystal and Ms. Marvel joined to pick up the slack. The new group had a lot of potential, opening up new directions for the group to go in.

The art is great. Keith Pollard and both Buscema boys handle the art chore for most of the issues in this volume with Joe Sinnott on inks. Hard to beat an artistic pedigree like that. The legendary Berni Wrightson draws great renditions of The Hulk and The Thing in the graphic novel that starts the collection. Jeff Purves' art that closes the collection is okay, I guess.

I didn't care for Jim Starlin's writing in the Hulk/Thing graphic novel. Too damn many puns, for one thing. I'm conflicted on Steve Englehart's writing, however. On one hand, the character moments are great, although it's very illogical that Ben would want Johnny on the team at all considering he married Alicia. Sharon Ventura had quite a bit of character development, going from a damaged goods heroine to She-Thing over the course of the book. Johnny's conflict between being married to Alicia and his old feelings for Crystal had a lot of potential. Ben growing into his role as leader was one of my favorite parts of Englehart's run.

On the other hand, the Fantastic Four are supporting characters in their own book a lot of the time. Instead of creating compelling Fantastic Four stories, Englehart seems more content to tie up loose ends from Ka-Zar, West Coast Avengers, Comet Man, and Secret Wars, pulling the Fantastic Four along for the ride. The Fantastic Four shouldn't be such passive characters! I know the run was repeatedly hamstrung by editorial interference, like when Crystal was removed, but I have to think some of that was due to the nature of the stories Englehart was telling.

While shaking up the lineup opened up new potential story paths, the absence of Reed Richards ultimately removed a lot what propelled many Fantastic Four stories forward. While I liked the character moments, the stories were lacking. 3 out of 5 stars.

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