Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan

    (Marvel, 2005–2006)
™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc.

In the early days of their globe-trotting and dimension-hopping career, the Fantastic Four fought more than one gigantic monster bent on destroying a major city, and this four-issue limited opens with them being honored, appropriately enough, at the opening of the Tokyo Giant Monster Museum and Expo Center in Japan, where they discover they are tremendously popular with the populace—almost as popular as Tony Stark, who shows up for no apparent reason. Of course, when giant monsters attack the city, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing are on-hand to bring them down. This is one huge, eye-popping slugfest from start to finish, and Seth Fisher’s extremely detailed and energetic line-work gives Zeb Wells’ story the kinetic flourish it needs to work as both a super-hero story and an analysis of popular culture not to be missed.

— Thomas Moudry

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

Godzilla, king of all monsters, made his debut in 1954. Giant-monster comics were king at Marvel during much of the 1950s and petered out, when The Fantastic Four and other super-heroes assumed the throne during the early 60s. This confluence of events gave the creators behind this mini-series a nifty idea for a story based in quasi-reality: What if the citizens of Japan were convinced that the proliferation of super-heroes were responsible for the downsizing of the mammoth creatures that used to ravage their country?

Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan #1 doesn’t actually feature Godzilla himself (copyright issues, no doubt), but fans of the fire-breathing fear-monger will enjoy the issue’s basic “destroy all monsters” concept. FF purists may scoff at the kookily creative character and creature designs (check out The Human Torch’s streamlined appearance on page 34), but fans willing to tolerate (and even appreciate) mixed genres and oddball humor will have a good time. Sure, The FF has battled plenty of giant monsters in the past, but never quite like this.

— Brett Weiss
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Dec 2005
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Zeb Wells  ·  A: Seth Fisher
    1 copy for $1.75
  • 2
    #2
    Jan 2006
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Zeb Wells, Chris Eliopoulos, Marc Sumerak  ·  A: Seth Fisher, Chris Eliopoulos
    Franklin Richards backup story
    4 copies from $4.50
  • 3
    #3
    Feb 2006
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Zeb Wells  ·  A: Seth Fisher
    No copies available
  • 4
    #4
    Mar 2006
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Zeb Wells  ·  A: Seth Fisher
    No copies available
  • Bk 1
    Book #1
    Cover: $12.99
    W: Zeb Wells  ·  A: Seth Fisher
    Contains #1–4 and material from Spiderman Unlimited # 8; ca. 2006
    No copies available