Let's get one thing straight, this is not a FF
series for old-school Marvel fanboys; the kind who
complain that an adaptation is cheesy if it is 100%
faithful to the original material but go ballistic
if they change anything from the comic. I know you
know who I'm talking about. This series is a fresh
reinvention of the superheroes we know and love and
personally I enjoyed it. A lot.
The animation is certainly above average for a
cartoon; it's not exactly Pixar, but it's far
superior to the more traditional Fantastic Four -
The Complete Animated Series with it's horrible
theme song. The look is a uniquely modern mix of
eastern and western styles with some nice CG, all of
which may be off-putting to those who just want an
animated version of a forty year-old comic book
(that's already been done...twice) but it works
nonetheless. The series' best attribute by far is
it's sharp sense of humor. For example, in one
episode Dr. Doom manages to switch bodies with Reed
Richards after imprisoning himself. Reed, in Doom's
fully armored body, escapes and hails a cab. As he
sits down in the back of the taxi, the driver eyes
him for a second before commenting, "Hey, you're
that Iron Man guy, ain't ya?". Reed/Doom -rather
than explain the insane situation- simply looks at
him and responds, "Yes. Yes I am.". Great stuff, but
if the notion of poking fun at classic comic
characters is sacrilegious to you, skip this show.
Johnny Storm's obnoxious insistence that everyone
call Annihilus "The Annihilator!" as if he was a
professional wrestler won't earn him any fans among
the overly earnest Marvel old guard of fandom. But
his Doom impression is laugh-out-loud hilarious.
As with all Marvel animated series, this one's got
it's share of guest stars including Iron Man, Ant
Man, the Hulk (note to self: don't make fun of his
momma), The Sub-Mariner, and more so three cheers
for that. The series is episodic so there are no
continuous arcs to follow, each show is a twenty
minute story full of humorous situations, cool
action scenes, and new interpretations of classic
villains (the episode where the Skrulls disguise
themselves as the FF's neighbors and ask them
bizarre questions about their powers/weaknesses is
another fun one). There are recurring characters and
call-backs to previous episodes, but the stories
themselves are self-contained. Nice and simple.
While the early 90's animated series was much more
faithful to the comic, the animation has not aged
well and the early episodes are nearly as cheesy at
times as the unwatchable 60's incarnation. It's a
superior show for fans of the comic that improved
greatly as it went on, but there is a lot more to
like about this incarnation if you can get over the
lack of faithfulness to the source material. This is
the FF at their funnest.
Anybody who prefers the older version has probably
repressed the memory of Johnny Storm rapping ("flame
on and on and on...).
I'm extremely pleased that Marvel has given us this
series and NOT based it on the films; and even more
so that they have released a full season boxed set.
Sure, they milked some of you with a few single-disc
releases first, but for those of you (like me) who
crossed their fingers and hoped, here it is: Season
One of "Fantastic Four- World's Greatest Heroes"
complete with NINE unaired episodes, cool
featurettes and commentaries, and even an art
gallery. Even the packaging is top notch. I am
well-pleased with this set. I rate it 4 1/2 stars
rounded up for successfully taking on the very
difficult task of reinventing one of the last
generation's flagship titles. Enjoy. Now, for the
umpteenth time: Marvel, will you PLEASE release the
90's X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Incredible
Hulk series' in their entirety?! I know you don't
hate money so what gives?
