American Update: Catalogue Expansion — Fantastic Four #201-300
*Marvel: The Founding Family of the Marvel Universe, the Fantastic Four, are given overdue recognition this week as we expand their catalogue listing to include issues #201 to #300, and up to their 20th Annual. This run starts and ends with, honestly, frankly bog-standard boilerplate stuff, but encompasses the selection from #232 to #295 where John Byrne took over as writer/artist, and tackled it with a freshness and enthusiasm that had long been absent from the series. Revisiting all the classic villains – Galactus, Dr. Doom, the Skrulls, Ego the Living Planet – and allies old (Inhumans, Black Panther) and new (She-Hulk, Frankie Raye the She-Torch!) into the mix, his enthusiasm and creativity reminded everyone why they’d originally loved the FF in the first place. This run also sees two significant marriages: Black Bolt and Medusa in Annual #18, and Ben Grimm and… somebody (Ssh! Spoilers!) in #300 and an important ‘pilot’ during this run was the X-Factor prelude in #286.