Marvel’s First Family has had a breath of fresh air blown into its pages by new scribe, Jonathan Hickman. Here, in Touring the Cosmos, we are going to have a look at the latest Fantastic Four issue.
Hickman has been slowly creating a new atmosphere around the Fantastic Four. He has put some emphasis on the powers of Franklin and Valerie, spotlighted Reed quite a bit, and has shown a connection between the FF and various races on Earth.
Fantastic Four #582
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artists: Neil Edwards, Scott Hanna, and Paul Mounts
Cover: Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, and Javier Rodriguez
In “…Because Of All These Things I’ve Done,” Hickman takes a young Reed, Ben, and Victor (yes, von Doom) into the Chronosphere. They are hurried here by Reed’s father, who claims that they must help him kill an alternate version of himself, in order to save himself and the universe. While this may seem like the main plot, it runs parallel with the story of future Franklin and Valerie Richards. Both Franklin and Valerie visit their family in the past in order to warn them of future events. They give Susan Storm a warning, and unlock power in young Franklin in order to help them with the coming “storm.” While giving these warnings, future Franklin and Valerie are also attempting to save the future alongside their grandfather, Nathaniel Richards.
I know, it’s pretty confusing. So far, I have loved everything Hickman has been doing for this series. It is very easy for a title like this to become boring, and it constantly needs a new direction for some excitement, which is exactly what Hickman was doing. But, somehow, Hickman has managed to confuse his readers rather than give them a good finale. I really hate knocking Hickman’s work here, because he really has done some great things. He gives good personality to the kids who can be somewhat uninteresting, and creates a good sense of family relationships, which is what this book is all about. Unfortunately, Hickman starts his stories off with lots of intrigue and mystery, and tends to finish them with a confusing and abstract end.
On the other hand, the art has been pretty good all the way through. The team really knows how to capture the colors of the environments. When the team is in space, you get a spacey feel. When the team is underwater you get a dark and ominous feel of being deep below sea. The characters have been drawn really dynamically during fight scenes, and really the only gripe (I know I seem to have a lot today) is that sometimes the faces are a bit inconsistent. Other than that, Edwards, Hanna, and Mounts have made a great team.
I really, really, REALLY hate to do this, but I’m going to suggest that most people skip this. I know Hickman has the potential to be an amazing writer, as he has done with earlier issues of Fantastic Four, and with other titles such as Secret Warriors, but this one was just too confusing for most to follow.
Buy/Fanboys Only/Skip
Mike Parente
mike@comicattack.net
Well, I had skipped it, but I was thinking about picking it up. I do have a soft spot for anything Doom, but I don’t know. It seems like I could let this pass by.
I gave up on the FF after the whole “Death of the Invisible Woman” storyline. I felt roped in, but then disappointed in the end as usual.