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Title: The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space

Plot: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Gurihuri
Colors: Sotocolors’s J. Roberts, J. Keith, and Soto
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: C. B. Cebulski

The Skrulls make their first Marvel Age appearance, wreaking havoc in the world and in the lives of the Fantastic Four. And we all liked it. My son has been drawing scenes from the story and we regularly remark on the humorous conclusion. All in all, it’s an enjoyable pamphlet. The art is crisp and clear; the story flows. Find some children and read it with them. They’ll be happy. You’ll be happy. If it had Bullpen Bulletins, then Marvel could begin building a new legion of zombies and the world might turn a little more literate.

So, there seems to be a lot of Fantastic Four out there all of a sudden. We’ve got junior, teen-age, regular, and mature. I asked my own pint-size critic whether he wanted to read both Marvel Age and Ultimate Fantastic Four. The answer was a strong affirmative. He appears to be enjoying both immensely. Marvel has clearly modeled themselves on the history of pubescent entertainments that cross-over to all the younger siblings out there (think of all the Saturday morning cartoons featuring pop musicians—does anyone else remember when the animated Osmonds met the animated Jackson 5?). So, we’ll follow our path of FF over-indulgence. At my house, we continue waiting for the Marvel Age Werewolf by Night.

June, 2004