"You wanna reach the stars?" Fantastic Four Fanfare review

Fantastic Four Fanfare was a 4-issue mini-series released this year to celebrate the release of the film Fantastic Four: First Steps. It's an anthology series with 3 stories per issue. I do wonder why the series didn't feature 4 stories per issue - I mean, why not? What we have here is a mix of stories either featuring the Fantastic Four as a team or a spotlight tale on one (or two) members of the FF. Several of these stories were written or drawn by past creative teams on Fantastic Four. I'll briefly describe the 12 stories:

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #1 spotlights the Human Torch and features "You Realize, of Course, This Means War" by Mark Waid and Ramon Rosanas, "Life's a Gas" by Alan Davis and "Monster Island of Love" by Andrew Wheeler and Sara Pichelli. Waid wrote Fantastic Four 2002-2005; Davis has been a frequent Fantastic Four cover artist, served as penciler briefly in 1998 and wrote and drew the 2007 mini-series Fantastic Four: The End; and Pichelli was briefly the Fantastic Four penciler in 2018.

Waid's story is about Johnny's love of playing practical jokes on Ben, which Waid accelerates to the nth degree; in this story, Johnny had an entire filing cabinet labeled "Ideas for Pranking Ben." Many of the pranks are depicted in the style of a 1960s "Marvel Masterwork Pin-Up," which is a fun joke. Davis' story features the FF on a mission underground where Johnny's flame is bit more dangerous than usual; it's pretty light, but Davis is maybe the finest living FF illustrator, so it's worth a look. The final story features Johnny as a constestant on a reality TV program which turns out to be the favourite program of the Mole Man.

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #2 spotlights Mr. Fantastic and features "Dinner and a Movie" by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver, "Future Uncertain" by John Tyler Christopher and "Hide and Seeker" by Mark Buckingham. Hickman wrote Fantastic Four 2009-2012; Buckingham drew a few Fantstic Four stories in 2003.

This issue is very mixed; Buckingham's story concerns two of Dr. Doom's underlings trying to recover his robot the Seeker; it looks terrific but it's incredibly slight. The other two stories are simply underwhelming.

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #3 spotlights the Thing and features "Fight or Flight" by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin, "Another Round" by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz and "Universal Appeal" by Chip Zdarsky and Mike Allred. Dan Slott wrote Fantastic Four 2018-2022 and wrote a Thing solo series in 2006; DeFalco wrote Fantastic Four 1991-1996 and the Thing's solo adventures in Marvel Two-in-One 1981-1983; Zardsky wrote the Thing and Human Torch in Marvel 2-in-One 2018-2019 and Allred drew F.F. 2013-2014.

This issue is certainly my favourite, as it features three writers whose work I truly admire. Slott's story - with phenomenal art by Martin - focuses on Ben's experiences as a pilot over the decades. It's a very good character piece. DeFalco/Frenz's story brings back the Sandman, whom they'd done a bit of work rehabilitating into a hero back in the 80s, only for later writers to revert Sandman to a villain; this story tries to thread the needle, restoring his friendship with Ben but suggesting he'll still be a problem in the future. The final story features Johnny heading to an extraterrestrial fashion shoot, only to be upstaged by Ben.

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #4 spotlights the Invisible Woman and features "Ain't No Grave" by J. Michael Straczynski and Cafu, "One Night" by Greg Weisman, Mark Bagley and John Dell and "Clobberin' Time" by Daniel Warren Johnson and Tyrell Cannon. Straczynski wrote Fantastic Four 2005-2006 and Bagley penciled Fantastic Four 2013-2014.

Straczynski's story (which seems to be set circa 1970?) is about the Mole Man on his deathbed - which means this anthology won't read well in a trade paperback as this follows on the humourous treatment of Mole Man in issue #1. Still, it's a very good character piece on Mole Man that takes him seriously, which is not how... well, anyone else in the last 35 years has treated the character. Weisman's story is set around the time of Fantastic Four Annual #5 and features the Circus of Crime; it's appealing fluff. The last story is a kind of embarrassing story about the Sub-Mariner fighting the FF in a tournament but at least the art's appealing.

Anthologies are always a mixed bag; in this case, you might want to just cherry-pick the creators you enjoy the most. Still, taken as a whole, this is a fine collection of stories.

Starlin's Thanos, part 10 of 10: Forever Infinite.

Need to catch up? Part 1: The Mad Titan and the Cosmic Cube; Part 2: Chaos Meets the True Neutral; Part 3: Laid to Rest; Part 4: The Gloves Are On; Part 5: The Power Glove; Part 6: They Bite; Part 7: The Holiest War; Part 8: Gazed Too Long; Part 9: False Conclusions

And just like that, Thanos was everywhere.

He was in Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley's Avengers Assemble; he starred in a mini-series by Jason Aaron & Simone Bianchi; he was the instigating antagonist of Jonathan Hickman & Jim Cheung's line-wide crossover Infinity; and he was in a post-credits scene at the end of 2011's hit film The Avengers.

Where Thanos wasn't was under Jim Starlin's thumb.

The courtesies previously granted to Starlin were now clearly on the skids; creators (such as Hickman & Cheung) had no problem with altering Thanos' costume, sending him after the Infinity Gems again and otherwise treating him as a constantly-restless would-be conqueror.

Starlin hadn't even been given notice that Thanos would be making his big screen debut and it rankled him; fortunately, with all the cash Thanos was bringing into Marvel, there was a little to spread around. Starlin had spent most of his time since the Thanos ongoing working for DC Comics, but Marvel hired him back to run a series of original graphic novels starring Thanos.

The first three novels tell one long story of Thanos battling Annihilus. They are titled: Thanos: The Infinity Revelation (2014), Thanos: The Infinity Relativity (2015) and Thanos: The Infinity Finale (2016). Starlin drew the first two books, but brought in Ron Lim to draw the third (all inks by Andy Smith). Marvel was definitely banking on the combination of Thanos + Starlin + Infinity to once again = $$$$. For his part, Starlin brought in elements from the contemporary Marvel cosmic titles, using the Annihilators and Guardians of the Galaxy teams.

Between the graphic novels Starlin authored tie-ins; first came Thanos Annual (2014), drawn by Ron Lim and inked by Andy Smith; set following Thanos' defeat by Captain Marvel, it has Thanos encounter his future self from The Infinity Gauntlet, who tries (and fails) to enlighten his younger self.

Next came Thanos vs. Hulk #1-4 (2015), drawn by Starlin and inked by Andy Smith; finally there was Infinity Entity (2016) #1-4, drawn by Alan Davis and inked by Mark Farmer. The collaboration between Starlin/Davis/Farmer seemed a happy one as soon after they reunited for the mini-series Guardians of the Galaxy: Mother Entropy.

Just this month, Starlin/Davis/Farmer united yet again for Thanos: The Infinity Siblings, yet another original graphic novel. According to Starlin, this graphic novel is actually setting itself up as the middle part of a trilogy (the earlier Revelation/Relativity/Finale being the first third). How many combinations of 'Infinity __________' can Marvel publish? I suppose we'll find out. The new graphic novel is quite good and, for the first time, shows Starlin taking an interest in Thanos' brother Eros as Eros finally matures and demonstrates some careful long-term planning - and the two brothers are even united in common cause. Starlin once again demonstrated some good faith to other creators as he utilized the costume & thralls Hickman & Cheung had given Thanos during their Infinity.

Starlin remains somewhat short-tempered when interviewers ask him about Thanos, but if he truly means to continue his current storyline over the next few years, I'm all for it. Keith Giffen aside, I haven't found that Marvel has any authors willing to grant Thanos the wit, intellect and sense of wonder that Starlin imbues his creation with. Thanos is best left in Starlin's hands, as other creators tend to simply retread The Infinity Gauntlet (and only the first 4 issues of the series at that).

Very shortly the feature film Avengers: Infinity War will reach theatres. The fortunes of that film will no doubt determine a portion of Thanos' future in the comics.