Lucas Blogs About Fantastic Four Vol. 1

Took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that the fire in the back was the Human Torch.

So, what's this book's deal?

Remember when I blogged about Doctor Doom?

How could I forget? It was two weeks ago.

Good, so I didn't really like Doctor Doom (the comic book, not the character, I enjoy Doctor Doom as a character), but I thought that maybe I was being unfair and that maybe if I had more context for what was going on, I might gain more appreciation. So I picked up Fantastic Four Volume 1: Fourever.

And did you gain a greater appreciation for Doctor Doom?

No, this first volume of Dan Slott's recent Fantastic Four doesn't really have much Doctor Doom content, though it does have a little side story that explains who that Victorious person was. Anyway, this is the story of how the Fantastic Four got back together.

Wait, when did they split up?

Oh, in some big crossover event that I didn't read. I don't like big crossover events. Anyway, at the start of this volume Ben "The Thing" Grimm and Johnny "Human Torch" Storm are adjusting to life without Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards and Sue "Invisible Woman" Richards (née Storm) (more on them later) who disappeared with their children Franklin and Valeria a few years ago. When a prank leads to false hope that Reed and Sue have come back, Ben Grimm decides it's finally time to move on with his life and he proposes to his longtime girlfriend Alicia Masters. This leads to friction when Ben asks Johnny to be his best man, because Johnny thinks it should be Reed. Ultimately, this leads Johnny to accept that his sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew are really gone, just in time for a real signal from Reed and Sue to light up the night sky. See, they've been trapped outside the universe with their kids and a bunch of other super-powered preteens (the Future Foundation, I don't have time to explain) exploring and cataloging the universes that Franklin can create as his mutant power (look, it's a comic book, you'll just have to accept that someone can have the mutant power of being a literal creator god). They're confronted by the Griever at the End of All Things, who is trying to hasten the destruction of reality but allows Reed to summon the other members of the Fantastic Four to his aid. This means that anyone who has ever been a member of the Fantastic Four is summoned to join them (hence the signal) and a significant chunk of the Marvel Universe shows up: Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Wolverine, She-Hulk, Black Panther, Storm, Medusa, Ant-Man, Ice Man, etc. Anyway, after that whole mess is resolved, Ben, Johnny, and the Richards family all go back home where they find that a new four-person superhero team, the Fantastix has somehow managed to take their place.

So, it's less interested in being a specific story and more about establishing a serial superhero team format?

Yeah, it's the ongoing adventures of the Fantastic Four, not a limited series or anything.

So wha'dya think of it?

I enjoyed it. It's pretty standard superhero stuff and pretty standard Fantastic Four stuff.

So . . . superheroics with family drama thrown in?

Yeah. Dan Slott does a good job writing the leads in a way that's consistent with past characterizations. Although sometimes his writing for the children has a "How do you do, fellow kids?" quality to it. I mean, I don't think I've seen anyone actually seen a character say the words "Gag reflex" to indicate their disgust in at least a decade. And yes, it's petty, but I'm calling him out for it because Slott's also written one of my favorite recent non-Squirrel Girl comics. The writing for the Griever at the End of All Things is also lacking. She's sort of a bog standard godlike entity that wants to destroy things for . . . reasons? But there's also a lot of moments that do work, like when asked to name the best singer on the team, Sue says it's her and everyone else (including her husband and her son) say it's Johnny, or when Reed Richards isn't upset that his daughter has a crush on a boy, but that she plays dumb so as not to intimidate him.

Okay, and what about the art?

The art's mostly good. The first three issues were drawn by Sara Pichelli, whose work I was previously unfamiliar with, but she has a mostly realistic style with some exaggerated comic book elements. What she really excels at here is facial emotion, but her page layouts also communicate action quite well. The colors in those issues were done by Marte Garcia and are quite dramatic, highlighting the emotion of a drawing and creating striking spacescapes. The fourth issue is drawn by Stefano Caselli, and while I do think he shares several strength with Pichelli, I didn't like his style quite as well. Maybe it's that his drawings are less detailed, but I didn't find his work as visually dynamic. Also, Nico Leon is credited as an artist in all four issues, but I'm not sure if there's a particular reason that the other artists are given top billing.

Anything else to say about it?

Well, the first issue does feature two minicomics (I already mentioned the one about Doctor Doom). In the Doom one, artist Simone Bianchi and colorist Marco Russo create a vision of war torn Latveria that's like a cross between the storming of the bastille and a medieval woodcut. Meanwhile artist/colorist team of Skottie Young and Jeremy Treece illustrate a one page comic of the Super Skrull complaining about the fact that only two members of the team appear in the first issue. They're both pretty fun.

Then what's the verdict?

Overall, Fantastic Four, Volume 1: Fourever is a fun but inessential superhero comic. I wouldn't say to go out of your way to read it, but if you're into the Fantastic Four and want a good place to jump in, it's a pretty good place to start.

Fantastic Four, Volume 1: Fourever written by Dan Slott, drawn by Sara Pichelli, Nico Leon and Stefano Caselli, colors by Marte Garcia and Erick Arciniega, Marvel trade paperback edition, 2019, 136 pages, pairs well with a Cherry Coke and a summer afternoon

Links:

Many of the people who worked on this comic are on twitter, if you're into that kinda thing.

You could also check out Marvel's website, which will also let you find more comics by the writer and artists.