Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 5: The Name is Doom by Stan Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Note: My continuous effort to include sequential storytelling/comics in my book reading.

Took awhile to get through this. This is my first time actually reading Stan Lee and Jack Kirby stuff.
It answered two questions for me.
1) I really don’t like science fiction – especially in garish comic book form.
2) Why DC comics has always been my comics fare of choice.

I’ve always been angled to DC Comics. Even though the Claremont/Byrne years got me buying Marvel comics and Miller’s Daredevil had me follow most of those, I always ended up back in the DC world. This volume is a perfect example why. DC has always been more based in reasoned logic and Marvel has been more outrageous. This volume is a perfect example of the outrageous.

I get that Marvel was working to draw in the crowd looking for a wild time. Dear friends who indulged in these comics are a far wilder lot than I. There is certainly a contrast to DC of Kirby’s crazy metal space ship stuff everywhere and pages of explosions due to various wavering of hands. The endless stories included here of one being after another wanting world and/or universe supremacy is beyond ridiculous. The writing effort to connect all of these as one story than separate stories inflames the goofiness of it all. Much easier to swallow (and tougher to write) single issue stories. With so many battles happening in every issue, a more believable move would’ve been to have gaps in between with some illusion of rest included.

Stan Lee is the sole name as writer and I don’t like a bit of it. I know people love his work. It’s over done and frankly boring of repetitious nonsense. Lee was no Bob Haney or Len Wein. Again, i understand the effort to draw a crowd, but I’m reviewing this of my view and decades involved with comics. The heavy hand of action and romance is peculiar in itself. To mix the super hero stuff is too much.

The artwork does fit the writing. Kirby was as outrageous as Lee. The style is OK for the tales. Though, I don’t care for his style.

Overall the characters are excellent in construction. The settings are mostly, too. The otherworldly settings were typical science fiction nonsense. The approach make-it-up-since-it-doesn’t-exist-anyway style.

I am well aware this collection is considered legendary in comics. It’s just not my kind of legendary and I know all of it could have been done so much better.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.

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