Fantastic Four Omnibus Volume 3

The Fantastic Four Omnibus, Vol. 3 by Stan Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic Four Omnibus Volume 3 collects issues #61-93 and annuals 5-7 of Fantastic Four.

I'm a Fantastic Four guy from way back and I've had the first and second omnibuses for years. When the third was reprinted this year, I had to get it. The dust jacket doesn't match the other two but I'm still pleased with it. I wouldn't have minded knowing this was coming out so I wouldn't have spent money on Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The Name is Doom but that couldn't be helped.

The classic team of Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, and Stan Lee are heading toward the end of their monumental run in this volume. In this collection, they go up against the Wizard, Galactus, Annihilus, the Mad Thinker, Maximus the Mad, Doctor Doom, The Frightful Four, Mole Man, and the thing that could tear the team asunder, Sue Richards' pregnancy. Guest stars include Daredevil, Spider-Man, Thor, The Inhumans, the Silver Surfer, and Adam Warlock, or Him as he was known at the time.

Kirby was on his way out the door and wasn't throwing quite as many ideas into the mix at this point, though he still had enough juice left for Annihilus and Adam Warlock. the rest of the villains are the old standards. Still, there is some groovy shit going on, like the Silver Surfer going to the Microverse, Crystal joining the team, and the psychedelic site seeing sojourn into the Negative Zone to grab Annihilus' cosmic rod. Ahem. My favorite part of this one was the last three issues, with Ben getting whisked away to the gangster planet to be a gladiator.

The art is Kirby in his prime, although there are fewer panels per page toward the end of the volume than we normally get. He wasn't phoning it in but he wasn't going 100 miles per hour either. Part of the greener pastures thing I mentioned earlier. Stan Lee's dialogue alternates between great and grating, always with a hint of cheese. I love it but some of it is terrible.

Back to the art, Kirby was still experimenting despite being disillusioned with how much credit he was getting. There were some Kirby collages and this volume has some striking covers.

The Fantastic Four Omnibus, Vol. 3 is the penultimate volume of one of the greatest runs in comics history. 4 out of 5 stars.

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