Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman (#570-611) (spoilers)

[Ice]

Careful what you say about Bagley's art. Remember what happened last time?

 

[DIrishB]

Careful what you say about Bagley's art. Remember what happened last time?

I heard Bagley drew Doom's mask squinting.

 

[E]

I heard Bagley drew Doom's mask squinting.

Post of the Day.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

I read it.

The way I interpreted it was it was bringing Doom back to the universe proper while teaching him that a universe ruled by him wouldn't work.

It gave Nathaniel a way out of the universe proper.

And it gave future Val what she wanted, a place to do work uninterrupted.

 

[Bass]

I am sad to see Hickman go. I really enjoyed his run. Great ride.

 

[DIrishB]

Post of the Day.

Whoo-hoo! That only took 8 years (my first one if I recall correctly).

 

[E]

I read it.

The way I interpreted it was it was bringing Doom back to the universe proper while teaching him that a universe ruled by him wouldn't work.

It gave Nathaniel a way out of the universe proper.

And it gave future Val what she wanted, a place to do work uninterrupted.

Hmm. Makes sense.

I'm torn between being impressed that his run was pretty self-contained and disappointed that there weren't any long-term ramifications.

 

[E]

I just finished FF #23 which is kind of an epilogue to the epilogue. It was a much better ending. I think this is the first time anyone has written Franklin well. I loved the hat full of adventure ideas, and that could be a pretty good series itself; Franklin and Leech in the adventure universe.

"You can run" is one of the best closing a to a series I've ever read.

I'm really, really going to miss this.

 

[ProjectX2]

It's pretty depressing that Brubaker's Captain America (though that one could have ended a long time ago and I wouldn't have missed anything), Hickman's Fantastic Four/FF and Fraction's Invincible Iron Man all ended at the same time but I look forward to reading them all again now that they're finished.

 

[E]

Hickman did an AMA on Reddit and said that a 2-volume omnibus is coming for his Fantastic Four/FF run.

 

[E]

From the July solicitations:

FANTASTIC FOUR BY JONATHAN HICKMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Penciled by SEAN CHEN, DALE EAGLESHAM, NEIL EDWARDS, STEVE EPTING, NICK DRAGOTTA & BARRY KITSON
Cover by ALAN DAVIS
Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman revamps and redefines Marvel's First Family in a sweeping and epic saga across time, space and reality! And it all begins when Mr. Fantastic decides to solve everything! As the team contends with Norman Osborn's Dark Reign, an older Franklin arrives from the future with an ominous warning! And as the Fantastic Four fight the War of the Four Cities, Mr. Fantastic assembles a band of genius youngsters. But when Nathaniel Richards returns, Galactus rises and a new Annihilation Wave threatens to invade from the Negative Zone, tragedy suddenly strikes. Grieving, the surviving members of the Fantastic Four dissolve the team — but from its ashes rises the Future Foundation! Guest-starring Spider-Man, Dr. Doom, Sub-Mariner and the Inhumans! Collecting DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR #1-5, FANTASTIC FOUR #570-588, FF #1-5 and material from DARK REIGN: THE CABAL #1.
736 PGS./Rated T+ ...$75.00
ISBN: 978-0-7851-6566-8
Trim size: oversized

:rockon:

 

[thee great one]

Now I just need an Uncanny X-Force Omnibus.

 

[E]

I have 2 iTunes gift cards set aside specifically for when this run goes on sale in Comixology. I've been holding on to them for about 7-8 months.

 

[Captain Canuck]

So I finally started reading this arc. I began with Millar's 16 issue run, on the recommendation of E. Millar's take on the book was pretty good. I liked it except for two things: 1) His characterization of Johnny was pretty 2D and boring and 2) his stories all followed a very similar arc. They were all four issues long and had almost exactly the same pacing. An issue of set up, two and a half of escalation, and half an issue of resolution. The resolutions kind of got to the point where they were too quick and neat. But yeah, it was more interesting than F4 usually is.

Then I started on Hickman's run. I'm only 5 issues in so far, but wow... I am really digging this. I think he has three things working for him: 1) He knows exactly where this story is going, right from the start, 2) He has enough crazy and weird ideas to make the "sci-fi/explorers" feel of the book work well, and 3) he does the family dynamic really, really well (I'd say that's probably the most important element).

I'm really looking forward to the rest of this!

EDIT: I just now noticed that Hickman started his run with the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four miniseries. Is that worth checking out? I know he designs the bridge in that miniseries.

 

[E]

1) His characterization of Johnny was pretty 2D and boring

Heh...wait until you see what Hickman does with him.

and 2) his stories all followed a very similar arc. They were all four issues long and had almost exactly the same pacing. An issue of set up, two and a half of escalation, and half an issue of resolution. The resolutions kind of got to the point where they were too quick and neat. But yeah, it was more interesting than F4 usually is.

I enjoyed it. He had some really great concepts and Hickman used a number of them in very significant ways.

Then I started on Hickman's run. I'm only 5 issues in so far, but wow... I am really digging this. I think he has three things working for him: 1) He knows exactly where this story is going

Yes. You'll see even better evidence of this as you get farther into it but all of the crazy things that happen do all tie together in an amazing way. And after that, he goes back and revisits a number of them and makes it all even better.

2) He has enough crazy and weird ideas to make the "sci-fi/explorers" feel of the book work well

It is one of the strengths of this run. No one has ever done it as well as he has.

3) he does the family dynamic really, really well (I'd say that's probably the most important element).

No question about it. Wait until you get to the last issue.

EDIT: I just now noticed that Hickman started his run with the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four miniseries. Is that worth checking out? I know he designs the bridge in that miniseries.

For what it's worth, I've never read it myself.


When you get to the FF stuff, and after Fantastic Four 600, you have to make sure you read it in the correct order. It alternates, but it's not exactly back and forth:


F4 570-588
FF 1-11
F4 600 (plus all the backups)
FF 12
F4 601
FF 13
F4 602
FF 14
F4 603
FF 15
F4 604
FF 16
F4 605
F4 605.1
F4 606
FF 17
FF 18
F4 607
F4 608
FF 19
FF 20
FF 21
F4 609
F4 610
FF 22
F4 611
FF 23

 

[Captain Canuck]

Cool, thanks!

 

[Captain Canuck]

Okay, I've read Fantastic Four #570-588 and FF #1-2 so far. It's really good. Hickman is killing it.

However, I have one issue. Johnny goes to a club called "The Other Side of Zero" where a cult leader with a big minus sign on his forehead is preaching about death. He meets a girl there and brings her back to the Baxter Building. A bunch of insects crawl out of her skin and break into the Negative Zone and NO ONE thinks, "hmmm maybe there's something weird going on at this club... We should go investigate." Seriously, a think tank of geniuses live there and no one thought of that?

But still, I'm loving this. I also like how it tied into Hickman's SHIELD miniseries with Nathaniel Richards.

 

[E]

True, but at that point I don't think anyone is just sitting around looking for something to do. Everyone is wrapped up in their own thing. And I don't think Johnny is the detective type to where he would look into it himself.

 

[Captain Canuck]

Well, but a girl bursting into bugs who then broke into the negative zone is a pretty big deal. I don't think you can explain it away, it's a hole in the story. However, it's minor and the rest of the story being amazing more than fills in the hole.

 

[Captain Canuck]

Okay, I finished. I really loved it. At the end of the last issue, he wrote the obligatory, "this is the end of my run, thanks to everyone" letters. The second half was all about how the book worked because it captured the love of the family. That's true. I really appreciated what he said:

The world sucks. I'm not saying this as an anachronist or idealist, but one of the reasons for this conditions is the expectation of family as a thing of permanence is dying. Which is actually what makes the Fantastic Four so interesting, they exist in opposition to that -- they are a perfect family in an imperfect world...and they represent the hope of what COULD BE. The franchise became relevant again because we tapped into this in a way that resonated, and, even more importantly, the driving force behind it was something we could all understand. Wasn't it?

After all, what was it that made Reed choose his family when he should have chosen utopia? What made Johnny sacrifice himself and what brought him back? What broke an unbreakable Ben Grimm and then found a way to make him whole again? What made Susan strong enough to stand when the others fell? What made Nathaniel always come home, and what was it that made Val and Franklin sacrifice everything to save their father?

It was love. Boundless, unconditional, to the end of time and back, lift you up from death itself, LOVE.

And what's not fantastic about that.

That's good stuff.