Brace yourself for some corn...
In it's 40-year history, The Fantastic Four may not have
always been consistently "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" on a monthly
basis, but it's unique underlying structure became the prototype for all the superhero
teams which came after it.
All of them.
Similarly, Stan and Jack (comicdom's Lennon &
McCartney-no lie!), laid the foundation for the ultimate dysfunctional nuclear family
which has never been improved upon.
Forget the She-Hulks, Luke Cages, and time-displaced
Valerias (Please!)! Thank God Carlos Pacheco knows the winning combo: Reed, Sue, Johnny
& Ben! What a great 40th anniversary gift!
Speaking of gifts, the first new Marvel Masterworks in
years, reprintingFF#51-60 is out and I can't think of a better way to show any latecomers
how great the FF can be.
-Drew Geraci