Marvel Comics

The second Hickman Fantastic Four omnibus concludes his landmark run, paying off the narrative threads seeded in the first volume while introducing the Future Foundation as the team's replacement — a school for the Marvel Universe's most gifted children, led by Spider-Man as a teacher, operating from the Baxter Building while the FF deal with the cosmic-scale consequences of the Council of Reeds conflict. The Kang/Doom confrontation at the run's conclusion is one of the most satisfying long-form story payoffs in modern Marvel.

The third Fantastic Four omnibus covers the final period of the Lee/Kirby collaboration — the run toward Kirby's departure to DC, featuring the introduction of the Him/Warlock concept, Crystal's full integration into the team after Sue Storm's pregnancy, and the complete Kree/Skrull setup that Thomas would develop in Avengers. These late Kirby issues show a creator pushing against the creative constraints of the Marvel system before leaving for DC and the New Gods concept that would be his ultimate artistic statement.