Collecting Fantastic Four #232-240, written and illustrated by John Byrne.

So begins John Byrne's legendary run on the Fantastic Four. Byrne had written or pencilled the odd issue before this, but this marks the beginning of the run he is best remembered for on the book. This collection begins with #232, in which Diablo plots revenge on the Fantastic Four by sending his Elements of Doom against them. In #233, the Human Torch is embroiled in a murder investigation with links to Spider-Man's old enemy Hammerhead. In #234, a seemingly normal man with astounding power goes about his life as new York falls to pieces around him. We find out why New York is falling apart in #235, Ego the Living Planet has arrived and his proximity to the Earth is causing havoc.

In #236, Doctor Doom joins forces with the Puppet Master to place the Fantastic Four and Alicia Masters's minds in miniature puppets. As always, Doom wants to prove his superiority to that blasted Richards, but the Puppet Master just wants Alicia to be happy. In #237, Reed and Sue encounter an alien with hypnotic powers that has fallen in with a gang of thieves. In #238, we find out Frankie Raye's big secret. She is the step-daughter of Phineas Horton, the creator of the original Human Torch. When Frankie was a child she was accidentally doused in some of Horton's chemicals. Horton hypnotised Frankie in forgetting all about this, but her relationship with Johnny Storm has brought all the old memories back. It is also revealed that Frankie has flame powers of her own. In #239, Ben Grimm's old Aunt Petunia turns up at the Baxter Building looking for help, but it turns out she isn't so old after all! Finally, in #240, Quicksilver seeks the Fantastic Four's help in curing a plague that has afflicted the Inhumans.

I have known Susan Richards as the Invisible Woman for so long that it feels weird to see her called the Invisible Girl. John Byrne is the one who renamed her, so I guess it's only a matter of time before I get to see the actual name change. I love Sue's new haircut too. It was good to see Sue being more creative witht he use of her invisibility powers as well. She isn't content just to turn invisible or make force fields any more. You have to feel sorry for Johnny Storm as well. He never seems to have much luck with women. Crystal had to go back to Attilan because the pollution in New York was killing her. Frankie Raye ended up in space as the latest herald of Galactus. Then, just when Johnny thought his luck was finally going right and he married Alicia Masters, it turned out she was a Skrull spy in disguise. Poor, poor Johnny.

Ben Grimm never seems to have much luck either. He is losing his powers all the time, only to regain them once more. Or he goes through another change that mutates him even more, like he did in #238. In this issue Reed tried to use a machine to cure Ben of his rocky hide, but all it did was revert him to his classic lumpy form. Later on, cosmic rays mutate even more to given him into an even mor emonstrous form. Thankfully, in the modern comics, it looks like Ben is back to his more familiar brick-like appearance for the time-being.

I think it should be clear which of the issues in this collection is my favourite. Yes, it was the issue with Doctor Doom an the Puppet Master putting the Fantastic Four's minds into miniature robot bodies. I was worried that there wouldn't be any decent villains to fight in this collection, but I needn't have worried as Doom saved the day. Also, it was good to finally read something with Ego the Living Planet again. Before reading this collection, the only other comics I had read that featured Ego was a couple of issues of the old Exiles comic book. I think the concept of Ego as a character is pretty interesting, so I'll have to check out more of his comic book appearances.

It was good to finally get a look at Ben's old Aunt Petunia, except she wasn't so old after all. I shouldn't be so surprised that Petunia Grimm looks so pretty, John Byrne always did draw such lovely women. I always liked getting to know more backstory about the characters, so it was nice to hear more about Ben's family life. #239 wasn't all about Ben reminiscing about his family tree, it was about the people in an Arizona town being frightened to death.

It turns out that a mysterious illness isn't the only thing the Inhumans have to worry about. A group known as the Enclave is attacking Attilan and they have joined forces with Maximus the Mad. It turns out that the mysterious illness stems from a bad reaction the Inhumans are having to the pollution in the Earth's air. I seem to remember that being the reason why Crystal had to break up with Johnny back in the day as well. Any way, #240 is the issue where Attilan is transported to the moon. In more happier news though, it is also the issue where Quicksilver and Crystal's daughter is born.

A very enjoyable collection. I will definitely check out the rest of John Byrne's run on the Fantastic Four. Assuming I can find the other volumes at a reasonable price. Hopefully Comixology will be having a Fantastic Four sale some time.

My rating: 3.5 stars.