Guest review by Niko Kaylor aka Avengerfan223 at the stashmycomics.com forums
When it says on the cover “Co-Starring the Fantastic Four”, the writers were not kidding. A 7-page F.F. story is what the annual begins with. Although it is a Semi-Important part of the story, when you buy a X-Men Annual, one of the last things expect is that a quarter of the book is devoted to another team. As a giant FF fan i found this part delightful and I got lost in the FF story, forgetting it was an X-men story until they showed up.
The story starts out with the FF at home (the Baxter Building) on a typical saturday night where Reed Richards is working on a machine, while The Thing and Johnny Storm help him out. Susan is calling them to dinner when a police call is intercepted, and 
they decide to go after it, since it is right next to their building. They see a female Shi’ar, running with a laser gun. When they try to stop her the invisible Badoons shoot her. Shi’ar’s exact last words are “Listen—so little time. Arkon…Badoon threaten…Lilandra…danger! Must find…tell…Xavier…”and then she passes on. The invisible Badoon’s then shoot
the FF, but Susan uses her force field to block the shots. While on the ground Susan notices theevile Badoons through the Shi’ar’s gunsight. The invisible Badoons take the three guys, and Susan goes to get Franklin; terrified of what will happen to
her Husband/Brother/Friend. Since I feel you all should read this Annual, I will not reveal what happens in the rest of the story.
I loved this issue for more than a couple reasons. My first reason was the art; Brent Anderson, who I am unfamiliar with, drew the issue, and I find that it is more than stellar! It had me drawn in from the start. Another reason I liked this book was because of the story. It was broken into four parts, and at the end of the first three was cliffhangers. Chris Claremont, in my mind is one of the greatest writers, wrote this issue. He kept the story interesting, and to my liking did not introduce the Fantasic Four. I know that sounds silly but I liked that he cut to the chase, not wasting a good story with an introduction, origin, or anything of that nature. The inks suited the art greatly (except on page 9 panel 1 where storm is colored orange; Now where is my No-Prize!) and the art suited the story even better.
I hope this review persuades you to give this issue a try, and if you have already read, or if you read it soon, please comment below.
Art : 10/10
Story : 9.5/10
Parental Concern : Yellow to Orange
