Fantastic Four: Flesh and Stone

Fantastic Four (1998) (Single Issues) #35–39

by Jeph Loeb, Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Marín Trechera

As Reed faces bankruptcy and Ben--the Thing--experiences great personal turmoil, they, along with Sue and Johnny, must fight to protect the world against supervillains including Diablo, Super Skrull, and the Grey Gargoyle.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an Emmy and WGA nominated American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.

A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.

Reviews

[Craig]

This is a fun volume. The FF had sunk into a kind of dolorous funk in the early-to-mid-'90s, and the '98 re-boot breathed fresh life into the book. This is a collection of issues 35-39, illustrated by Carlos Pacheco, who also co-wrote along with Jeph Loeb. The team is moving into a new headquarters (again) after the old one was destroyed (again), and end up in the Baxter Building, which is now also a spaceship. Along the way they face Diaablo and Skrulls and Grey Gargoyle, not to mention lawyers... with Foggy Nelson in their corner. The art, which is very bright and vibrant, does a good job of portraying action, with interesting flow and movement. The stories are good, too, with nice side-views such as of Ben on Yancey Street and Johnny's attempt to have an acting career adding depth to the characters in addition to the main action.

[Tesutamento]

Fantastic Four'un unutulmuş ya da üstü kapatılmış bir döneminde basılmış olan bu cilt serinin o dönemine dair isabetli bir örnek teşkil ediyor. Reed ve Sue iflas etmiş, elde avuçta ne varsa elden çıkarmaya çalışıyorlar. Ben depresyonda ama kimsenin umurunda değil, Johnny yine şan şöhret kovalıyor ama bu kısımlar da eğlenceli değil. Yani ortada ne aile var ne de kozmik maceralar. Diablo, Grey Gargoyle ve Skrull saldırıları yaşanıyor ama zaten seri ruhunu yitirmişken bu B sınıfı kötülerle de bir yere varması beklenemez.

[David]

I really enjoyed this collection. In fact, I adore the 1998 reboot of the FF.

It was a solid, entertaining, visually appealing run for about the first 50 issues. Around 1997 or so Marvel pulled itself from its worst period in history, creatively speaking and by '98 and '99 was producing some terrific super-hero stories.

First Alan Davis had a short run to kick off the reboot. Marvelous work there. Then Chris Claremont and Salvadore Larocca had a interesting 30 issue run that introduces major character, Sue's second child, Val. The oft overlooked Claremont run has a X-men flavor and it's a fun adventure start to finish.

This present book collects Carlos Pacheco's first few issues and it's the best yet of the reboot series. Essential reading for any FF fan.

[Josh]

Kind of a forgotten era for the FF as they struggled a little bit to find their footing after the Image detour and subsequent "Heroes Return", which had some decent late-period work from Claremont (marred a little bit by him returning to some Excalibur characters/plots that don't really fit that well). Pacheco took over in driving the train and I think it's solid, overall.

Pacheco is much better known as an artist than a writer (this FF run is one of his first works as a writer, and he got script help from Jeph Loeb and Raphael Marin on this run) and he needs a little more experience on the writing side, but his overall storytelling is good. He's a fine artist whose work I've always appreciated (Arrowsmith in particular was a real highlight) and this is good work.

(This is another one where I've got the original issues, not the trade. Grabbed a big run of this in some quarter boxes)

[Jdetrick]

After an interminable run by Chris Claremont, these issues are like a breath of fresh air. Pacheco's art is always enjoyable and the plotting and characterization are solid. This is above average comic booking, and a lot of fun to read.

[Utkarsh Bansal]

Unsalvageable. The FF have never been my favourite heroes, but this book did an exceptionally good job at making me not care what happened to them. Even Ben's depression was written so bad it didn't move me. Need to get my hands on the Waid stuff somehow, for my own sanity.

[Will Cooper]

Hey, yeah! Great artwork usually helps, but this was a fun little scoot into some adventures that start shaping what the FF will have to deal with next.

[Gary Lee]

The Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 171

[Joey]

Not a bad read, just low stakes.

[Fugo Feedback]

Había arrancado a leer esto en la edición BoME de Panini que el Librarian sorete que anduvo eliminando libros borró, aunque la acabo de resubir. Los capítulos que llevaba leídos eran medio aburridos y los que le siguieron repuntan un poco pero sin llegar a engancharme del todo. Va para dos y medio, pero como me gusta bastante el dibujo de Pacheco (y porque "la intención es lo que cuenta"), promedio para arriba.

[Jedi Sunni]

I enjoyed this read on a couple different levels. This story had both good character development and story line. I saw the true personalities of the characters which help me to understand were the stories were headed. The ending was quite intriguing with a nice little surprise at the end. My rating for this book is 4.4 out of 5.0.

[Troy-David Phillips]

After an 11 year hiatus from comics, I picked up this volume and re-immersed myself in the stories of Marvel’s first family.
I was not disappointed. Flesh & Stone had very good characterizations, well-paced plots, and the rebuilding of essential elements like the Baxter Building. Ben gaining the ability to transform: to use his power as the other four members did was a high point.

[Angela]

A lot happens in this graphic novel, the Fantastic Four battle Diablo, Skrulls, the Grey Gargoyle and lawyers. The lawyers subplot is intriguing and I do wonder where they are going with this. A good read.

[La Revistería Comics]

Comienza la etapa de Pacheco-Marín-Merino con Reed-Sue-Johnny-Ben en la añorada colección Best-of-Marvel-Essentials.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Recopilatorio número 1 con la primera etapa de los Cuatro Fantásticos escrita por autores españoles.