The Essentials are a way for Marvel to bundle together a lot of comics at once and get people to read the old classics. They are in black and white which is always a sad thing to be hold, but you have to admire the passion that went through these comics. They may be in black and white in this version, but you can still behold the impressive skills that were needed to draw these comics. The Fantastic Four have always been a fun bunch to read about, and this collection doesn’t change my mind!

The comic starts out with a bang since Franklin has been kidnapped by Agatha Harkness. The Fantastic Four go after them, but they have to get past the Eliminator. this guy is no weak potatos and he is ready to destroy the Fantastic Four once and for all. Perhaps they have finally met their match, but these heroes will not go down quietly and they will keep on fighting until Franklin is with them once more! They will have to deal with many threats and even Salem’s Seven are here to try and defeat the young heroes.

Reed Richards completely loses his powers during the arc and starts to have some doubts as to how useful he can be to the others. It doesn’t help that the Molecule Man decides to strike and ends up possessing the fearless leader. Can the other members of the FF save Reed and his pride without mortally injuring him? It will be tough, but nothing’s too tough to handle for the Fantastic Four!

Still, nothing can save Reed’s confidence and he disbands the Fantastic Four. We get to see solo comics for Human Torch, Invisible Woman, and the Thing as they get to have their own adventures. Disbanding was tough since the Plunderer was in town, but they managed to stay away from each other for a while. Unfortunately, The Invincible Man may prove to be the end of the heroes. They just don’t seem to stand a chance against this guy!

The next few comics are about the Fantastic Four’s greatest foe….Dr Doom! Dr Doom claims that he will step down from the throne and let his son take over, but the resistance decides that this should not happen. The Fantastic Four aid them and Reed Richards decides that this is the last time that they will face Dr Doom. He engages the dictator in a fight to the death. He declares that one of them will die in this fight and it almost makes you believe him! The fight is pretty epic and one that should not be missed!

Iron Man seemingly attacks the Fantastic Four after this event and they decide to go get their revenge. Unfortunately for them, it would appear that the real Iron Man had nothing to do with the attack. They decide to team up against the true threat and get ready for a solid fight!

Finally, the best group of comics was at the end with the Skrulls. A member of royalty arrives on Earth and is pursued by the Super Skrull. The Fantastic Four quickly try to help her, but they are effortlessly defeated. Reed manages to defeat the Skrull with a cool gun, but now they must face an entire army of them. Human Torch decides to stay on Earth because his social drama is more important than the fate of a planet. He goes to a college, but it’s evil and they quickly mind control him. Luckily Spiderman is here to save the day! Meanwhile, Nova and his pals are also closing in on the Skrulls!

There were two breaks from the ongoing issues as we got an Annual story where the Mole Men returned and this time he was not a complete villain. Will wonders never cease!? I didn’t really buy it since he still stole stuff and wasn’t very polite, but he tried. The comic was all right I suppose, but the Thing should have looked better, considering the circumstances. Another annual was about the Sphinx and he attacked the Inhumans and Fantastic Four. His abilities are considerable and none of the Fantastic Four were able to damage him in any way. The Inhumans looked equally helpless until Black Bolt arrived. Can he defeat the Sphinx once and for all!?

One thing that should be noted is that the Fantastic Four members are the quickest to enter “Rage Mode” than any other Marvel team. In almost every comic, they start unleashing their threats when their comrades are in danger. The only problem is that you cannot take them seriously after a while because of the fact that they keep losing. Sure, The Thing will threaten that he’ll destroy an opponent, but then he’s quickly defeated. Invisible Woman states that she will take down at least half of the opponents out of rage since the other members of the Fantastic Four were destroyed, but she is defeated without defeating any of them. Human Torch has a bundle of these moments as well, but someone always takes out a water hose or a bucket and just knocks him out. These guys need to play it cool or actually use their rage a little wiser. The threats are still fun to hear, but they cannot be taken seriously at all.

Mr Fantastic is still the courageous leader of the group and he’s not someone to be taken lightly and he proves this several times as he manages to go up against enemies without his powers. I think it’s fair to say that it takes guts and determination to do that. Invisible Woman gets upset at him several times because he’s constantly worrying about her, but he worries about all of the team members and can you blame him for being extra careful with her? He is still prone to losing his temper with the Thing and friends and the loss of his powers definitely not does not help with that. I’ll admit that he was a not a very great character to behold during that period, but he was still solid overall and he can talk a good game when he needs too. Also, Reed does knot how to fight with some decent hand to hand skills.

The Thing is still the power hitter of the group and he’s always ready for a solid fight. A lot of the enemies still end up being stronger than him, but he takes it pretty well. One could almost say that he talks more than Spiderman because he is constantly making quips or threats. Either way, The Thing is pretty enjoyable on screen and it reminds me why he was so much better back then. I dare say that he’s more fun to reed than the other members of the team because of all much he can talk. The whole issue of him reading from his diary may have been a little much, but it’s nice to see him take on so many people without breaking a sweat.

The Invisible Woman continues to show that her abilities can be very dangerous as she pulls off some pretty big feats in this comic. The Thing couldn’t make a dent in a forcefield that was standing up against the FF, but she was able to absorb it. It takes a lot of energy to stop The Thing, so you can imagine how tough it would be to absorb that. She still does make some rookie mistakes in the comics, such as underestimating her opponents which can lead to her defeat. Nonetheless, Invisible Woman does pretty well in this collection and she even got to make some threats of her own. It’ll be nice to see how her powers continue to improve as she has the potential to be the deadliest member of the Fantastic Four.

The Human Torch was my favorite Marvel character back in the day. He has dropped considerably through the years as I have uncovered many other Marvel characters over the years like Deadpool. The Human Torch is a solid character for the most part, but he does have his low moments. Getting brainwashed twice in a span of 24 hours was pretty bad, but not even that was as bad as his decision to stay on Earth and attend college instead of saving the universe from the Skrulls. Many innocents perished because of his actions, but The Human Torch does not even regret his actions. Aside from those unfortunate setbacks, The Human Torch is a pretty fun character to read about and he can be just as entertaining as the Thing.

The Sphinx is one of the more notable enemies in this collection. He’s a pretty great character and his power is definitely something that should be feared. Not even the Thing was able to deal any damage to the Sphinx, which is definitely a solid feat. The Sphinx was about to get some more action when the collection abruptly ends, so I’m definitely hyped for the next issue. The Super Skrull was another good villain, but he didn’t appear for very long. That being said, I eagerly await his next appearance.

Dr Doom is the main villain of one of the comic arcs and he’s as tough as you may have remembered. His plan may be a little risky, but he can fight his way out of almost any unforeseen event. He manages to make all of his opponents look pretty bad for a while. I wonder where he goes from here because Latveria is always his fortress, so it’s a little strange to see him have to leave. I have a feeling that things don’t end up going well for the Resistance! Dr Doom inadvertently saved the FF, so they owe him one!

Everyone’s favorite neighborhood friend Spidey also makes a guest star appearance in this collection. He goes undercover to find out what’s happening at the phony college that Human Torch went too and he quickly realizes that something is not right. Spiderman’s portrayal in this collection was spot on and his Spider Sense got the respect that it deserves. Spiderman really could not be touched in this issue and he defeated Human Torch effortlessly. Spiderman was also not mind controlled and he basically stopped the whole operation on his own. He may have only appeared for one issue, but it was definitely a great appearance!
The Art for the collection is very solid and this was before the digital age where everything got a lot easier. It took a lot of skill to get these comics out so regularly and without error. It’s definitely something to think about as you behold the comics. The size of this collection is considerable and you are getting a lot of funnies for your money. The collection brings over 20 comics and it’s a way to remember your favorite FF adventures forever!

There really aren’t any negatives with this comic, which is becoming the norm for Fantastic Four adventures. The only real negative that I would mention is the fact that the comics are in black and white. That’s a negative for the collection as a whole, but not really for the comics. That being said, I am used to black and white so it’s not a big negative for the comics and it certainly won’t impact the overall score. If Marvel wants to save some money on ink….it’s their choice. Also, we have the omnibus volumes now, which will eventually catch up to all of these and those are in color.

Overall, this is a very fun collection of Fantastic Four comics. They face many threats that range from local to cosmic in scale. The main reason why the comics are so great is that they are entertaining, no matter who the villain is. That’s because the main cast is likable and the dialogue is always strong. This is why I miss the classic days of comics right now. You just don’t see 5 Star dialogue like this nowadays. I highly recommend checking this comic out whether you are a Marvel fan or not. Don’t think that this means you should ditch DC for Marvel, but it’s a great comic. All comic fans should check out the happy adventures of the Fantastic Four, and I’m sure that you will enjoy it. The collection does end with an extremely epic cliffhanger that will make you want to keep reading. I don’t believe that they made a volume 10 for this series, so you may need to visit your local comic store for the single issues!

Overall 7/10