YMMV / Fantastic Four: Life Story

• Complete Monster: Life Story gives the following duo Adaptational Villainy:
  • Galactus, the Greater-Scope Villain for most of the series and lacking the Blue-and-Orange Morality of other versions, is a Planet Eater that feeds on the consciousness of the inhabitants of the planets that he devours. In just the millennia that the Silver Surfer has been his herald, Galactus is responsible for the destruction of millions of worlds and the deaths of billions of beings. After Reed Richards accidentally creates a psychic connection with him, Galactus taunts Reed about seeing terror in his soul before vowing that he's coming for his people. Galactus begins making his way toward the Earth to either destroy it or spare it if Reed agrees to be his new herald, all the while Reed is plagued by visions of the worlds destroyed by Galactus. When Reed seemingly agrees to be his new herald, Galactus cruelly strips the Silver Surfer of his powers and allows him to suffocate in space.
  • Victor Von Doom starts out as Reed Richards's lab partner, working with him to create weapons to fight Galactus, only to betray Reed after they've finished building a power suit for Doom to wear. Victor, now calling himself Doctor Doom, attacks a gathering of heroes at the United Nations building, attempting to turn the heroes into stone while gloating about using them for decor for his palace after he takes over the world. Despite being defeated, Doom escapes prison with the aid of the Mad Thinker and the two attempt to destroy most of the Earth by causing a nuclear war so that Galactus will see the Earth as not worth his while. Later, Doom meets with the Silver Surfer and proposes that he rules the Earth on Galactus's behalf and in return he will implement an aggressive breeding program that would allow Galactus to consume five hundred million people a year. After Galactus is defeated, Doom drops all pretenses of saving the world and begins to conquer his neighboring countries with his army of Doombots. Upon being defeated, Doom orders his Doombots to fan across the world, destroying what they can before self-destructing, giving up on conquest in favor of inflicting as much death and carnage as possible out of sheer spite.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Long-time FF fans are not happy about some of the unnecessary backstory changes the series makes, particularly as the series gains very little by making them.
  • Ben Grimm and Reed not being friends is considered a change for the worse. Not only has their friendship been a hallmark of the characters in pretty much every major continuity, it weakens Reed's guilt over Ben transformation into the Thing.
  • Doom losing his iconic rivalry with Reed and classic backstory, combined with his Adaptational Wimp treatment.
  • By deconstructing the Fantastic Four's familial dynamic to almost non-existence, the series loses a key draw and much of the charm a FF story normally has.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Reed working with Doom to prepare for Galactus is an interesting concept to explore, especially if it's Reed's arch-rival taking him seriously. But since Doom's entire backstory with Reed was jettisoned, it feels somewhat underwhelming and obvious that Doom would backstab him.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Many fans found themselves in this camp when the story decided to deconstruct the Dysfunctional Family aspect of the Fantastic Four to the extreme, saying it kills the appeal of the book. Reed's paranoia over Galactus, Sue's marital infidelity, Johnny dying, and Ben no longer being friends with Reed has made many turn away from this book.

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