Reviews (Marvel)
Review: Fantastic Four #255
FANTASTIC FOUR #255
(Cover by John Byrne)
Published and © by Marvel, June. 1983
“Trapped”
Synopsis: Mr. Fantastic is dead (or is he?), the FF are trapped in the Negative Zone, and Annihilus threatens everything. Yikes!
Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: Byrne
Inker: Byrne
Review: The world as we know it is coming to an end! No, wait … the universe as we know it is coming to an end! No, wait … make that TWO universes! John Byrne ratchets the tension up to 11, bringing in guest stars (Daredevil) and leaving the Thing’s blind girlfriend at the “mercy” of Annihilus. Meanwhile, back in the Negative Zone, Marvel’s first family finishes up a dandy, sci-fi adventure. Unfortunately, the art is probably the poorest of Byrne’s entire FF run, as the artist adds a thicker line to his already rough inking style.
Grade: B
Second opinion: “… An agreeable issue although the inking does look rushed in places, lessening the impact of the otherwise stellar artwork. 7/10.” — Matt C, Paradox Comics Group.
Cool factor: After several issues focused on the Negative Zone, the subplot back on Earth heats up.
Not-so-cool factor: Byrne’s inking. It wouldn’t take him long to find a decent balance, but this might have been the issue that started all those “inking with a Sharpie” cracks.
Character quotable: “Not so fast, mucus-face.” — The Human Torch, master trash talker.
Collected in:
Tags: Discussion
One comment for “Review: Fantastic Four #255 ”
Post a comment
By the way, since the comment thread for the review of #253 went off on a complete tangent, I have to say that at the time I loved this Negative Zone story arc - fun stories on an epic scale. Byrne really was at the top of his game here, homaging the cosmic Lee/Kirby stories while still doing his own thing (I don’t even remember the art bothering me that much…)