Saturday 27 February 2016

The 68th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: The comics that we remember..

It is amazing to me the comics that we remember.  You know you read your first issue of say....the Amazing Spider Man and for some reason, the pages from that issue stays with you.  Whenever you read a different comic book and still somehow you remember that one issue from your childhood.  Everyone has that issue that brings you back to your childhood, to the years when you first picked up a comic book.  It really didn't matter if it's because of the character, the artwork or even the colors, there's something about that first issue.

Some of us are lucky enough to be able to hold on to that comic book, most of us (like me) we were maybe a little careless, I know I was, I lost that comic.  Never to be seen again.  I still remember my first comic book, I mentioned it in my broadcast before.  I remember the pages and somehow I still remember the story line, the art and the cover.  As I said it's amazing how these comics stay in our memories.

I've already talked about my first comic which is an issue of Fantastic Four, that was my first comic, one that I will always remember and I hope that one day, I can maybe get a copy of that issue.  Well, apart from the Fantastic Four, there's another title that I remember vividly.  I've been wanting to talk about this for a while but I just could not find these five issues.  I couldn't find the comic.  I know I had these comics a long, long time ago but I just couldn't locate a physical copy.  So I had to shelve this edition of the broadcast.  I thought yeah, I'm going to give up on this topic.  Then a friend of mine said: "Hey, you know that 1984 comic you were talking about?  I have it, well I have the digital edition."

Well, I was over the moon.  I started compiling some pictures from this title and this is what I'm going to share with you for this edition of the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast.  For this edition, it's the comics that we remember.  Let's get started.

The year was 1984.  The JLA satellite is in ruins and the Justice League of America is disbanded.  Yeah you heard me, the JLA is no more.

Well, at least that's what Aquaman wanted.  He's calling for the Justice League to disband in order for the United Nations to charter a new, full-time League. Most of the members of the team leave, but a few stay and are joined by new members: Vixen, Steel, Gypsy and Vibe. The team relocates to the Bunker in Detroit which was built on orders of General Hank Heywood, Steel's grandfather.  All this took place in Justice League Of America Annual # 2 by Gerry Conway, drawn by Chuck Patton and Dave Hunt.  The JLA Annual also featured the first appearance of the Bunker, which is the JLA's new Detroit headquarters and also the first appearance of Vixen's classic costume.

The Annual's Editor, Alan Gold elaborated on the background on how the new team came to be in the indexer notes of this comic. The text also notes that Justice League of America #233 (cover date, December 1984) is to appear "60 days from now".  I don't have this issue, JLA Annual # 2 but I remember reading it a long time ago, I think a friend of mine bought a copy and he told me about it and let me read it.  Well after JLA Annual # 2, I decided to look for the next issue of Justice League Of America # 233 and wouldn't you know it, it was probably my lucky day.
Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of their other team books, which focused upon heroes in their late teens/early 20s, Gerry Conway and artist Chuck Patton revamped the JLA.  As I mentioned before, it's amazing what the mind remembers and what the mind forgets.  I cannot recall anything that took place in school but this I remember, this issue of Justice League Of America # 233.  Before I go any further, a few years later I read that this version of the JLA was called JLA Detroit and despite my own err fond memories of this team, well, there were a lot of people who weren't too pleased with one character in particular and that's the guy on the cover, Vibe and for good reason too.
I read that a lot of readers and in fact even a few well know writers and artists didn't really like the Vibe character for a few reasons, he was considered too cheesy and his character was depicted as the stereotypical latino street punk.  I didn't know at the time because this was in a way my introduction to the world of DC Comics.  Up until that point I only knew two characters in DC Comics Superman and Batman.  This was something different to me.  The creative team behind this issue was Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton and Bill Anderson.
In this issue titled Rebirth One: Gang War, The League stops a gang fight between the Skulls, led by Crowbar, and Los Lobos, led by Vibe's brother, Armando Ramone. In jail, Crowbar is taken by Overmaster.  This issue continues with it's introduction to the new members of the JLA. 
Apart from getting reacquainted with Zatanna's powers and Vixen's as well, we found out what Vibe was capable of. 
Apart from Vibe, there was another character introduced through JLA Detroit, he was one of the new young heroes in the JLA, his name is Steel.  As a matter of fact he was the second Steel, the late Henry "Hank" Heywood the III.  Hank was the grandson of the original Commander Steel, Commander Steel, Henry Heywood, a wealthy industrialist, incorporated the same mechanized components into his grandson, much to his grandson's disapproval.

 Although it was originally stated that Heywood performed unnecessary surgeries on his grandson, it was later revealed in Justice League of America #260 that if he hadn't made his grandson into Steel, "Hank would have been dead... years ago" . Now, I'm not too sure about that, as Hank later remarked that his grandfather may have been driven insane by the metal in his skull.
This issue ended with Malcolm Tandy meeting his destiny on his way to becoming a super villain.  After reading this issue, I couldn't wait for the next issue, I waited and waited and again I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this cover.
Issue # 234 featured Vixen on the cover.  The concept of the four issue titled Rebirth was simple, each issue would features one of the new characters, a different one in each issue until # 236.  This issue was titled Rebirth Part 2: Claws.
This issue centered on Vixen who takes down a group of Red Dawn terrorists. She learns the group is financed by the leader of the African nation of M'Changa, General Maksai, her dead father's half-brother. Fifteen years ago, her father, Reverend Richard Jiwe, lead a peaceful revolution in M'Changa. But, after being elected president of the nation, Reverend Jiwe was killed by General Maksai who took over as the nation's strongman via a military coup. 


While this issue was mostly focusing on Vixen and her history, I was more into the dynamics of the new team as shown here in the three pages where Aquaman was a bit of a jerk.  Hey, even Zatana agrees.  While all this was happening, a new bad guy named Overmaster is making his moves and recruits Shatterfist into the Cadre.  While watching from behind the scenes was the Monitor, I didn't know at the time the significance of this character and what would happen later on.


I was like Wow, there's just so much going on in one issue and we're just two issue into JLA Detroit, things were shaping up for a showdown between the JLA and the Cadre led by Overmaster.  I couldn't wait for the next issue and I guess the newspaper vendor or whoever who owned that shop kept ordering some more comics because 30 days later, I found this issue.
Justice League of America # 235 was titled Rebirth 3: Heavy Metal.  In this issue Vixen attacks General Maksai, who wants Vixen's Tantu totem for his own, in the M'Changa embassy but is shot. The League comes to her rescue and refuse to hand her over to the NYPD for her role in breaking into the city jail to interrogate the members of Red Dawn who she previously captured. 




In this issue, we see more and more how Aquaman is treating the younger members of the team and how he'll do whatever he needs to.  Case in point, how he persuaded Steel to see his point.  What's interesting is the Martian Manhunter's reaction to all this happening around him.    

Since this issue is titled  Heavy Metal, we get to see Steel in action against a member of the Cadre.
Oh, see that lady over there, well that's Gypsy, another new addition to the JLA, she's been making sporadic appearances over the past few issues.


In flight, the JLA learn that Steel was transformed into a cyborg by his grandfather. An instant later, the team is transported by Overmaster to face The Cadre.  It was time to finally meet the Overmaster and his entire team, the moment had come, we'd seen a few of their members but now it was time for the big reveal.  Conway and Patton to me did not disappoint.  Was it worth the wait?  Yeah, I thought so, what a great page, what a reveal!!
I could not wait for the next issue and luckily I was able to buy this next issue.
This is the cover to JLA issue # 236 titled: Rebirth Conclusion: Gypsy Genius. The Justice League battle Overmaster and the Cadre in his Arctic mountain headquarters. 


Finally we got to see the entire Cadre on one side and the JLA on the other.
So, what happened next?
This issue featured some really great artwork from Chuck Patton along with Rick Magyar who did the inks for this issue.  I think they worked well together in my opinion.  It featured some really memorable pages for me like the one above when we saw the powers of Black Mass.
Wait what happened to Gypsy?  Does she get involved?  She wasn't on the flight when Overmaster transported the JLA away.  Well, worry not because Dale Gunn and Gypsy fly from Detroit to help the team. 

This issue had some really great artwork as I mentioned and some unforgettable sequences as well, like this one, here's a look at what Aquaman can do, which is more than just talk to fish.


The Justice League finds out that Overmaster was some type of power hungry parasitic creature living off the real Overmaster host. The Cadre disappears and the Overmaster's spaceship blasts out of the mountain into outer space.

These pages are still in my memory, vividly.  I can't understand why these four issues were so memorable to me but they are, comics I'll think of fondly.  One thing I remember is that when you combine the four issues together, they make a nifty poster. Whatever happened to these issues, I don't know, I know for a fact that I had them and that I enjoyed reading them but I can't recall where they are now.  Maybe when we moved to a new house years ago, they were left behind some how.  I can't remember.  I hope one day to find these issues again, reading them on a mobile device or tablet is great but nothing beats the feeling of having a real comic book in your hands.  

What happened to JLA Detroit, well the final storyline for the original Justice League of America series  which ran from #25 to #261 concludes with the murders of Vibe and Steel at the hands of robots created by long-time League nemesis Professor Ivo, and the resignations of Vixen, Gypsy, and the Elongated Man during the events of DC's Legends miniseries, which saw the team disbanding.

There you have it, a look at the comics we remember.  I'm sure you have one or maybe more than one comic that will always be in your memory, if you want to tell me about it, leave a comment.  Thanks for dropping by for this edition of the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, I hope you liked it, it was for me a walk down memory lane.  Thanks again, see you next time for the next broadcast and as usual take care.

Wednesday 24 February 2016

The 67th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: Uncovering More Gems Part 2.

I had the hardest time thinking up the title for this edition of the broadcast.  I was leaning towards using a movie title but I thought Nahhh.  I finally decided to use Gems, The Awakening Part 2 but after a lot of thought, I decided that was a little cheesy, okay very cheesy, I changed it to Uncovering More Gems Part 2.  Remember I started talking about what I call Gems because a few months ago, I found some comics I had forgotten about, I totally forgot I bought these comics and some I totally forgot I had in my collection.  Early last year I saw that all my comics were not in great condition.  At the time I put all my comics in a closet.  Some without backing boards and plastic bags, some were in bags but the majority of them were just laying in the closet.  I also found my comics in big plastic boxes.  They were in bad condition too, no bags, no boards.  I decided to move them out to the living room.


What you see in this picture is what I call a rescue mission.  A rescue mission that took up most of the living room for the better part of a year.  Well I was lucky in that I managed to find a few comics that survived after all these years. While I was on this rescue mission, I found a few gems in my collection.  I was surprised and happy that I came across these gems. Very surprised that these comics were still in good condition.

When I found these gems, I decided to get some good bags and boards and rescued as many of my comics as possible.  I think I was able to make two orders of bags and boards and managed to rescue a few of my comics and some gems as well.  So for this edition of the broadcast, here's a few of the Gems I found.

Thanks for dropping by, this is the 67th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast.  Let's start with this, the first "Gem"
Anyone remember this comic?  Challengers Of The Fantastic # 1.  This issue was released in June of 1997 after the major cross over event of Marvel Vs. DC.  After that runaway success, both companies were on friendly terms and put out what they referred to as Amalgam Comics.  I was a sucker for Amalgam Comics and bought whatever I could find.  My main reasons for buying this title was because it featured The Fantastic Four amalgamated with Challengers of The Unknown.  Second reason was the creative team.  This issue was written by Karl Kesel, drawn by Tom Grummett and Al Vey who also did the great cover.  Despite the fact that this issue is not mint, if you notice, there are a few defects , wear and tear on the cover.  Despite all that, I've decide to keep the comic that featured the adventures of Sue "Ace" Storm, Reed "Prof" Richards, Johnny "Red" Storm and Senator Ben "Rocky" Grimm, The Challengers of The Fantastic!!
Here's Wildcats # 50 featuring a cover by Jim Lee and Scott Williams.  What I neglected to show here is that this a wrap around cover by Lee and Williams.  Image comics were all the rage back in the day and I was one of those who jumped on the band wagon.  I think I collected quite a few Wildcats issues right up until this issue and then I stopped.  I realized that the only reason why I collected Wildcats was because of Jim Lee's art and waiting for him to come back to the comic would be an exercise in futility.  The comic is in good condition which was another surprise, yep I'm keeping this one, if for nothing else and for no other reason than to enjoy the art of Lee and Williams.  
This is Stormwatch # 1 not Vol 1 which was released in 1993 but the one released in 1997.  This issue features a cover by Travis Charest.  This version of Stormwatch was written by Warren Ellis with art by Oscar Jimenez and Jason Gorder.  This issue has the dubious distinction of featuring an unauthorized  appearance of Peter Parker and Ben Urich from the Daily Bugle.  If you have this issue, go look it up.  I didn't believe it when I saw it and I thought it was hilarious.
Arcanum # 1 was released in 1997.  Arcanum was written and penciled by Brandon Peterson and a whole army of inkers.  If memory serves, this comic featured a few characters from a Spawn Limited Series also drawn by Brandon Peterson.  It was Mid-evil Spawn or something like.  I bought this comic because it was released by Image and Image was hot at the time.  Arcanum was an interesting concept and was a fun read.  This comic goes into a bag.  Gonna keep it for sure.
Before Marvel Knights, before Joe Quesada became the Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti published their own comic books in Event Comics.  The first character from Event Comics was Ash! The cover to this issue was penciled by Quesada, inked by Palmiotti and colored by Reuben Rude.  Ashley Quinn is a firefighter turned hero.  I am a huge fan of Quesada and Palmiotti and when I found out these guys were self publishing, I jumped on the band wagon and I never regretted it, great concept and really beautiful artwork.  Issue # 1 featured a beautifully drawn and colored wraparound cover.  I love this comic.  
This is The Darkness # 1.  When it was announced that Marc Silvestri was going to pencil The Darkness, that was all I needed to know.  Top Cow at the time was known for their high quality art and colors and the fact that Marc Silvestri himself is the penciler plus the fact that Garth Ennis is the writer, well I jumped in to this comic too.  I think I stayed with it for as long as I could.  The quality of Top Cows' comics was the main draw for me.  Apart from Wildstorm, Top Cow really stood out with their releases. Unfortunately upon close inspection, there is a lot of wear and tear in this issue but I am definitely going to bag and board this one.  Great first issue.  
Anyone recognize this comic book?  This is Starman # 1 from the year 1994, not to be confused with a Starman comic released in 1988.  Two totally different characters.  This Starman is Jack Knight.  At the time Starman had received a lot of praise from critics for the story and art.  Storywise, Starman was written by James Robinson and drawn by Tony Harris and Wade Von Grawbadger.  By the way Tony Harris also painted that cover for Issue # 1.  A beauty ain't it?  Already bagged and boarded this comic.  Definitely a keeper.
This is Rogue # 1 which was released in 1995, this is the first issue in a four part limited series written by Howard Mackie, penciled by the late Mike Wieringo and inked by Terry Austin.  I think I only bought three issue, missed out on issue # 4.  I can't seem to find the other two issues, only this one.  This first issue has a nifty foil enhanced cover.  I'm a huge fan of Mike Wieringo's art which was the reason why I bought this series, just wish I had the whole set.  
I was a little surprised to find this comic in my collection.  The first Issue of Steampunk by Joe Kelly, Chris Bachalo and Richard Friend.  I recall that I started buying Steampunk because of Chris Bachalo's art, he had just finished his stint on the Uncanny X Men and naturally he went to Image with Joe Kelly and released Steampunk.  Steampunk was really interesting at first but eventually the strange and heavy dialogue combined with Chris Bachalo's artwork which looked as if it were fighting with the word balloons made me stop.  I think I have a few issue of Steampunk. Somewhere.  Hopefully I'll be able to locate them.

And that's it for this edition of the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, hope you enjoyed reading about some the "Gems" I found.  Speaking of Gems, if you're looking to read something different and maybe even want to be a part of a new comic project out there, then why not drop by this site


Have a look at Alter Life by Caleb Thusat.  Alter Life is a tale of love and redemption. An everyman named Jake learning to live with past regrets and use his newfound power to bring meaning to his existences. 
 Guys, meet Jake.

Jake has the chance to find the perfect existence, become a hero, or sink to the lowest depths of humanity.  You have a chance to be a part of this new exciting project by backing this project on kickstarter. Drop by and have a look.  You wouldn't want to miss out on Alter Life.

And if you have even more time, drop my newly established youtube channel, just look for Comicbook Broadcaster and have a look at my video.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPW1zowTtkk6DGmSAvEJ_ZA

Yeah there's only one video there now but I am working on a second video as of right.....now.  If you'd like, you can like the video and subscribe to my channel.   You can also follow me right here on The Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast which will be back soon with more comics.  So until then as usual you take care my friend.

 

Tuesday 16 February 2016

The 66th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: Farewell Fantastic Four.

Farewell Fantastic Four, I never thought I would ever say something like that.  I never thought I would see the day when Marvel Comics would cancel or stop publishing what is definitely their flagship title, the first family of Marvel, of Comics.  The word went out early that Marvel was considering cancelling this title.  I remember when Marvel launched Marvel Now, I was relieved to see the Fantastic Four.  So I told myself this would not happen, Marvel will not cancel the Fantastic Four.  Well, I was wrong.  Boy, was I ever wrong, as it turns out they did.  It was big news all over the comics world, everyone was tweeting about it, news sites picked it up, everyone was buzzing and I'm pretty sure a lot of fans were confused as to why.  Was the title not generating the numbers?  Were sales bad?   The answer to all that was No.  The answer to that question came from elsewhere.

Back in the day when Marvel was trying to get their characters on to the silver screen, a lot of Marvel's properties were optioned out to various studios.  The X Men was optioned to Twentieth Century Fox, Spider Man was optioned to Columbia Pictures while the Fantastic Four also went to Twentieth Century Fox.  Fox produced three Fantastic Four movies.  The first had a rating of 5.7, the sequel scored a rating of 5.6.  Then the geniuses at Fox decided that they would reboot the Fantastic Four, make a better movie with a younger director and a younger cast.  Basically turn the FF around, bring the fans back and in 2015 they released their reboot of Fantastic Four, IMDB gave the movie 4.3 rating, 4.3 out of 10.  You see a trend here, each movie scored less than the original.  Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 9 % rating. 9 %!!  Can you believe that?  Even Ted 2 scored a 46% rating.  The movie bombed at the box office and it was a bomb with critics and fans.  Rumors were flying around about how the Director Josh Trank was difficult, the studio was difficult, there were major re shoots without Trank's involvement, there was no real story, all these rumors were flying around faster than Johnny Storm.  Let's not even mention what they did to Dr. Doom.  Fox in three movies managed to screw up a major character from the Fantastic Four comics.

Apparently before the piece of crap.....sorry "movie" was released, Fox had a test screening or something and Fox basically told the media to not say anything.  A gag order of sorts was ordered.  That was a weird move.  A move that shocked everyone but the writing was on the wall, something was wrong.  I guess Marvel knew something was up because before all the tell tale signs started bubbling to the surface, they announced that they would stop publishing the Fantastic Four with Issue # 645.  Writer James Robinson who was writer of the Fantastic Four confirmed that the new FF title that was launched in February of 2014 would be going away for a while.  James Robinson together with artist Leonard Kirk's run on the Fantastic Four was apparently moving towards the end of the title.  So it was confirmed, what fans had dreaded for the longest time was true, the Fantastic Four would end.  The title which first hit news stands in 1961 would be no more.

No official reasons were given as to why the Fantastic Four was going away for a while but a lot of fingers were pointing towards Fox.  Their selfishness, ego, greed and stupidity real came shinning through.  They would arrogantly say that they would reboot their reboot and make another Fantastic Four movie.  Why?  Because they were apparently rivals.  They were Marvel Studios' competitors and they wanted to show Marvel Studios who was the better studio or something equally as childish.  They refused to let the rights of the FF return to Marvel.  Columbia saw the light when their Spider Man reboot and sequel were doing well.  They knew they couldn't do it so they made the right and some would say smart move in collaborating with Marvel instead of doing what Fox is doing. Which is grabbing the ball and going off to sulk and screaming "I don't wanna play no more, I'm taking YOUR ball and I'm going home!!!"

Fox was basically being a sulking bully who didn't like it when others were not afraid of them.  A number of the people involved with the Fan4stic fiasco were really arrogant about how they will see that the sequel or reboot will be made.  We all know what happened to that idea.  It was reported that the reboot of the reboot or sequel to Fan4stic has dissipated or has gone missing from their calendar of movies.  As you can tell from my words, I am still pretty sore with the attitudes of these Hollywood bigwigs and a#$&holes.  Even though it appears the movie is not longer an option, they are still holding on to the rights to the FF.  What do they want with the rights?  You've already proven that you guys are incompetent and the bunch of you couldn't even get yourselves arrested even if you think really really hard.

Anyway, that's the back story to this edition of the broadcast.  I don't know when or if Marvel will bring back the first family, I hope they do.  They should but as it stands right now, it's clearly not happening.  So I've decided to dedicate this edition of the Broadcast to the Fantastic Four.  Time for me to say Farewell to the Fantastic Four. As you can see, I feel very strongly about this subject.  I feel that this is something that shouldn't happen.  It took place because of callous cowardly people.

I think I've mentioned before that my first comic book ever was Fantastic Four.  It was one of the first comics I ever read.  This was the issue:
I loved this comic book to bits.  Literally cause I can't find it anymore.  I must have read it over and over and over again cause I remember a few of the pages vividly.  In fact whenever anyone asks what was my first comic, I would talk about this issue even though I had no idea who drew, who inked and who wrote this issue.  There's a big rocky guy, there's a girl who can turn invisible, another becomes a fire guy and one guy can stretch (I'm pretty sure at the time I didn't know the word stretch, I must have used...another word to describe Mr. Fantastic) and they were losing their powers and they fought some Vikings.  I can still picture the pages in my head, well these days you don't have to do that.  I never found my copy of Fantastic # 224 but I hope one day to maybe find a copy out there.
I remember these panels.  It was at the time a story you need to read to believe.  The Fantastic Four's powers were going crazy and Ben Grimm The Thing was losing his rocks.
I didn't know at the time about the creators who did this issue, Fantastic Four # 224 was written by Doug Moench and while the art was done by Bill Sienkiewicz  who did the breakdowns while Pablo Marcos did the finished art and inks as well. 
I remember this page very well, I was going crazy reading about how Ben Grimm's powers were just going crazy, look at him, half his rocks are gone, Susan Storm is partially visible.  It was a memorable issue for me, memories of this issue was something I cherished quite often.  It would a few years later after I read a few more comics then I realized there's a storyline in comic books.  I never bought Issue # 225 to find out what happened.  Maybe one day I will.    So what did happen in this issue?  A strange red mist descends on New York and messes with the FF's powers. When they head to the Arctic to investigate, they are captured by a race of scientific vikings who need help with their dying god.

After I lost this issue, I stumbled across more Fantastic Four Comics and by then a writer/artist who had previously worked on The Uncanny X Men had take over the World's Greatest Comic Magazine. I immediately followed Fantastic Four again and bought as many issues as I could.  I'll tell you the story about John Bryne's run on Fantastic Four on this broadcast soon.

In February 0f 2014 as part of Marvel Now, James Robinson together with Leonard Kirk  launched a new Fantastic Four series.
I loved that Marvel had launched a new Fantastic Four title for Marvel Now, I loved everything about it, the writer, the artist except for this:
This looked almost exactly like the Fan4stic move logo, I didn't like it but I don't think Marvel would have changed anything because one guy didn't like it.  Well, seeing as how Marvel had launched a new number one issue, then I thought all the talk about the cancellation was just talk, rumors and hearsay.  Unfortunately I was wrong. James Robinson would later confirm that the Fantastic Four would indeed be cancelled.  I guess I should have known as this new title didn't start off with a happy note.  Here's a look at a few pages from Fantastic Four # 1.
It was as if the series was starting with the end of the team.
While the Fantastic Four by Robinson and Kirk received a lot of praise, there were a few bagging questions, chief among these questions, Why the change in costume color?  Why Red?  I remember reviewers were asking why this wasn't touched on or explained? I was more concerned with why this title was to be axed.
Still all the questions, Robinson and Kirk delivered a great Fantastic Four comic.  Robinson and Kirk even introduced a new Fantasticar.  Cool!
For the first issue, Robinson and Kirk delivered a great story.  Guess what time it is!!
For a brief moment there, I almost forgot that the Fantastic Four would come to an end.  After a while, it was all but confirmed that the FF would end.  It was confirmed by James Robinson that the FF would revert to it's original numbering, it would be Fantastic Four # 645.  So the question now is what would happen to the Fantastic Four?  Well it was finally revealed in Marvel Comics' Secret Wars. 
Now if you have not read Secret Wars # 9, then there are spoilers ahead.  Consider yourself warned.  In the aftermath of this issue, the Thing is now working with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Human Torch is acting as an ambassador with the Inhumans and with Franklin's powers restored and Reed having absorbed the power of the Beyonders from Doom, the Richards' family are working on travelling through and reconstructing the multiverse. 
Well, I guess it wasn't an ending that sucked.  The Fantastic Four go on to do more good this time in the multiverse.  Recently on instagram, someone reminded me that like a few characters that were killed off before, they'll be back, eventually.  I hope so, I hope they do come back.  So late last year, I made a very specific purchase, I bought the final four Fantastic Four tradepaperbacks.

The end is fourever?  I hope.  I truly hope one day soon, Marvel will bring the First Family of comics back.  I hope Marvel will bring back their Flagship title.  Well, this is my farewell to the Fantastic Four, hope you enjoyed it, come back soon for more right here on the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast.  Thanks for taking the time to have a look at this blog of mine.  Follow the blog if you like, leave a comment.  Thanks again and take care.
Farewell Fantastic Four

Your 116th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast.

Here's a blast from the past. It's a classic featuring my favorite wall crawler and one of my favorite super-villains. This is t...