Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 20: Into the Time Stream

Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 20: Into the Time Stream by Walt Simonson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 20: Into the Time Stream collects Fantastic Four #334-346, plus the four annuals that comprise the Days of the Future Present saga.

Back in the day, I had a subscription to Fantastic Four for years unnumbered. Now, years later, I'm buying up trade paperbacks of that Fantastic Four run so I can get rid of some of my 2400+ comics. I found this one a couple days ago on my first trip to a comic shop in two years.

Most of the stories in this book are written and/or drawn by Walter Simonson of Thor fame. Old Walt knows his way around a FantastiCar for the most part. The Acts of Vengence three parter that kicks off the book was drawn by Rich Buckler and Ron Lim and was fairly humorous. Simonson tackles the topic of registering super heroes with a realistic approach.

The second story, Into the Time Stream, is an overlooked masterpiece of the 1980s. The Fantastic Four with Iron Man, Thor, and a powerless Ben Grimm in tow, investigate a time anomaly in the future and wind up in a mess involving a Celestial, Galactus, the Cross Time Council of Kangs, Nebula, Gladiator, and Death's Head. From there, the Fantastic Four wind up in an alternate 1980s where Stalin is still ruler of Russia and Dan Quayle is POTUS, and end up on an island of dinosaurs before finally arriving back home. Days of the Future Present was okay but forgettable, the shifting creative teams in the four parts kind of jarring.

Simonson colors outside the Lee and Kirby lines quite a bit during his stint on the book, throwing a lot of big concepts into the mix and trying some new things. The Time Stream storyline in particular impressed the hell out of me. It's funny that Simonson's FF run is overshadowed by John Byrne's in the same way Simonson's Thor run overshadows everyone else's. I don't like Simonson's art here as much as I do on Thor but he's clearly picked up the Kirby baton and running with it. He doesn't shy away from gigantic machines or monsters and depicts the King's creations admirably.

Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 20: Into the Time Stream is a bombastic Fantastic Four collection that channels Lee & Kirby but still stands on its own merits. Four out of five stars.


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