I don't know, all I know of the Fantastic 4 is from the Spiderman cartoons and the such, but I can't say I like anyone except for Doom and the Thing. What's so special about these guys anyways? I really don't see anything fantastic about any of them.

The movie doesn't interest me that much. I'll rent it, or I'll go if a friend or someone else pays for it. But it doesn't interest that much since it seems more like the movie is about "fancy powers" and such rather than the damn characters.

Go ahead. Flame me. Who knows, maybe after some explinations I'll like them.

 

BTW, what are Doom's powers? All I know is that he's a genius and from the movie commercials it seems like he has eletrical powers.

 

I've never been a big fan of the F4 myself, I did wonder if Doom's powers stemmed from the Ultimate version though (thanks for clearing that up)... anyway, I'll probably still see the movie (I do love the Chiklis)

 

Ah, I see. Thanks for clearing that up, Wreck.

 

I've tried to like the Fantastic Four. I really have (it seems somehow sacreligious that a self-affirmed comic geek doesn't much like the granddaddy of all super-teams). The "Ultimate" book is entertaining (I prefer the sci-fi bent to it), but the regular book has never really been able to hold my interst for more than a few issues. It seems like these characters are ready-made for some decent hard sci-fi storylines, but with the exception of random story arcs here and there, the book never seems to materialize in that direction. It always seems to degrade into contrived, cliched superhero theatrics whenever it starts going in a direction I dig. I'd kill to see Warren Ellis take a crack at this franchise, ala his current Iron Man run or the Ocean mini-series.

 

I am looking forward to this movie after the severe disapointment War of the Worlds.

 

The FF rock. You need to see some of the stuff from the 80s. That was when it was really good.

As to how powerful the other three are. Reed is definately the weakest. He's just not much of a fighter. He's never been.

Johnny Storm is the next most powerful. He's pretty powerful, but he has several limits to his powers.

Sue is arguably the most powerful member of the team. As Malice, she's beaten the FF and Avengers.

 

Well what's so special about them is that the FF was the book that made MArvel comics. Without the Fantastic Four there'd be no Spider-Man, no X-Men, no Hulk, no Avengers, no Doctor Strange, no Millie the Model, etc. The FF launched Marvel's superhero franchise, and laid the foundation for everything to come.

Storywise, the biggest appeal of the FF is that they're a family. The Avengers, the X-Men, their members come and go all the time. The FF has had the same roster from day one (with a few notable exceptions). They're familiar faces to readers, and you can always count on the FF to be pretty much the same book you read and enjoyed years ago.

Myself, I like the FF, but they've never really been my favorite title. There have been a couple of times when it was one of my regular titles, but usually I just leave it on the shelf.

And as for Doom, I can't say anything about the Ultimate version, but the regular Doom doesn't have any superpowers. He's just a really ugly guy in a suit of armor with an incredibly high IQ and diplomatic immunity.

And yeah, the movie looks - if you'll pardon the obvious adjective - fantastic.

 

I dont really care for them much either, and like you i'll pass on the movie. I have picked up the last two issues of the regular comic, But i still don't consider myself a F4 fan.

 

I liked the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby run and the John Byrne run, and also saw the cartoons on that "Marvel Action Hour". But I hardly read the book much since I'm not really that big a fan (Haven't really read much of Waid's run, for instance. I thought the issues I read were all right, but I didn't feel like picking the rest up at the moment).

Still, I appreciate that FF is an importance to the superhero genre. Like Switchblade said, without FF you wouldn't get Marvel as we know it (though I'd have to add that Millie the Model had a comic before the Fantastic Four was published). You also wouldn't get something like WATCHMEN (since heroes before the FF were near-perfect, and FF, Spider-Man, etc humanized them) or THE INCREDIBLES.

 

See, I dunno. That'd be a great choice, but Ellis wrote DOOM 2099 (years ago, but you can see a sorta similarity to THE AUTHORITY in Ellis' storyline), ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, and (is currently going to finish at some point) PLANETARY (in which the villains are a vicious, evil version of the FF)... I think maybe it should be held off for a little while.

 

Yeah, I'm not very well-versed in the history of Millie the Model. I just wanted something humorous to end the list.  

And Gryph, Sue is undoubtedly the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four. She's also the one whose powers have evolved the most over the years. From just becoming invisible to having invisible force fields to having invisbile force beams. A lot of change for the team's original weak link.

And don't discount Reed. His powers are actually far more impressive than they first appear. And don't forget that he's probably the smartest man in the entire Marvel Universe. That counts for a lot.

 

Don't forget he also knows magic. He's in the same league with Dr Strange. In some ways even surpasing him due to his mixing of science and magic.

Some of the best stuff with Doom is in Latveria. I don't know if it still aplies now, but his people loved him. They saw him as a hero.

His reason for world conquest was also very original. He didn't want power. He's already got that. He just honestly believes he could do a better job than anyone else.

 

Personally I'd love to see a square-off against Reed Richards and Monkey D Luffy; the two penultimate rubber-men of the comics world.

Reed would have the advantage of his intelligence but Luffy is not bound by reason or logic; it would be really interesting.


Anyway. I've allways liked the idea of F4 but never got far into the comics. Whith the movie I'm very sad that one of Marvels best villians got turned into a mad power freak instead of the cunning lord-protector of Latveria. Just because it sets the character aside from everything else and makes him cool.

But I've allways been a fan of Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. I also like how F4 doesn't NEED their superhero personas. They just 'are' who they are, nothing more.

 

Lets not forgot.. That once.. The fantastc four was Wolverine, Ghost rider, Hulk and spiderman.. That was kinda weird..


and then when THING went on his own solo adventures, She hulk took his place.

I know what this movie needs. and that is LOCKJAW

 

Yeah, I've never really been a big fan either. I used to watch the cartoon, and never much cared for it. I was also going to pass on the movie until I saw the first trailer for it, and it looks really good. I'm going to see the movie, and who knows, I might become a FF fan. On a side note, I'm a big fan of Dr. Doom, just cause he's cool.

 

I don't know, I know next to nothing about the F4 but there's something in the movie that is not clicking with me, something that doesn't look right.

Maybe its Doom. As some of you said, he's notout for power. Here in the movie he looks like a run of the mill "I want power" villian.

 

Here's one:

http://www.toonopedia.com/nightnrs.htm

 

I've not bothered with any Fantasic Four comics, but I did pick up the TPB for the first volume of Ultimate FF, and I'm quite enjoying it