Fantastic Four: Life Story

4.5 stars
This is not the first comic with the premise of superheroic events taking place over real time (i.e. decades pass and characters actually age) and are set against a real historical backdrop. However, this one was really well written. I think the Fantastic Four were a great choice to be the characters we follow because they are also a family and that makes it a lot easier to follow their realistic personal relationship ups and downs over the course of the story as well. Throughout most of the story, there is the looming and pending arrival of Galactus to Earth. I think that was also a clever storytelling device. It made for a good theme concept for Reed Richards and the other FF to live their lives in reaction to over the course of decades, rather than the typical super-crisis events we find in comic book stories. It was interesting to see that life continues and is lived in parallel to these types of crises. The storytelling also had the nice touch of being narrated alternatively by one FF member after another. This really foregrounded the character stories, growth and development. The art was also really well done (for the most part): expressive faces, and dynamic action scenes. It was the perfect style for a life story format. Unfortunately, the climax was a bit of a let down (after so many issues of buildup) and there were kind of several endings (some were more satisfying than others). Thankfully the somewhat sentimental final ending was heartwarming and uplifting, leaving me with a good feeling (as it should).