Overall, I hated Millar's run. His annual was crap, Crossover was good, Tomb of Namor and President Thor both were crap, and Frightful was only decent because Doom and the Zombies were in it. I'm very much a hard sci-fi guy. Yes, Millar, it IS called "Fantastic" Four, but that doesn't mean it should turn into fantasy. As for Land. . .I think his art is pretty, but its not suited for comic book art which should be dynamic.
I completely agree with everything in this paragraph. Crossover was an old-fashioned staple of science fiction with a clever twist, so it worked really well, but Tomb of Namor and President Thor both went ridiculously over the top. The only good part about President Thor was Ben beating the hell out of the Super-Skrull. The Namor and Thor and Inhumans plotlines were straight-up fantasy. Baby Ultimate clones? A robot that can be anything? Reed is getting exponentially smarter? Namor is a demigod with no weaknesses or explanation? They were incredibly weak and didn't really provide any potential for development.
Carey's run, as has been said, has been very hit or miss. The annual was forgettable, but I loved God War. The only complaints I have about God War are the very Mary Sue-ish Seed Nineteen characters and the small amount of page time Thanos got. Everything else was awesome. And, of course, Diablo was also very forgettable. As for the artists, I love Ferry. I don't know why, but there's something about it that just fits. Usually, I love Brooks, but his art in 'Diablo' just didn't do it for me.
God War reminded me of Whedon's Runaways arc--Carey, do you want to write UFF or The Fantastical Journey of Seed Nineteen? I don't even remember what happened in Diablo and I didn't care about Silver Surfer and whatever that thing was with Agatha Harkness. I mildly liked the story with the red ape creature that tried to steal Sue's DNA, for reasons which I will explain below.
I feel like the Ultimate Fantastic Four themselves are potentially interesting characters. In the beginning (until Millar ruined it), there was some restraint on Reed's intelligence. Yes, he was creating ridiculous flying saucers and interdimensional portals, but it was implied that physics and engineering were his strengths. He still knows more about chemistry and biology than any of us will ever forget, but he couldn't genetically engineer things from scratch. That was Sue's specialty. I liked that scientist/scientist dynamic. It adds a twist to Reed and Sue's otherwise boring relationship (okay, they're cute, but there's not exactly any conflict there). I loved it in the red Russian ape thing when Sue talked about not having her own identity, because that can be a real problem with her character. I'm not saying I want them to have constant drama and break up/make up every other arc, but there should be
something to keep it interesting.
Unfortunately, this ties into one of the problems inherent in the Fantastic Four. They're a family and nobody in their right mind believes that will ever change. It's something that can really give weight to what would otherwise be cheesy scenes, but it can also kill all the tension in a story. Sue isn't really going to run off with Namor. Johnny and Ben's latest argument won't really kill their friendship.
Adding a new twist like scientist/scientist is one way to mix it up. Another example can be found in that subplot from a while back with Johnny and Sue's dad. He was angry at Reed for taking Johnny and Sue into danger. This definitely should've been explored. It brings up a critical issue--what is their (in-universe) purpose, really? Why are they all working together? It also creates interesting drama by putting people who have to work together at cross-purposes. You got the sense that there might actually be consequences for the characters.
Another thing to do in UFF is explore neglected relationships. All we know about Johnny and Sue is that they love each other and sometimes she acts like his mom (though apparently not as much as 616)--why not give them more development? What about Reed and Johnny? How do they feel about each other?
Also, when it comes to science, UFF should be the canon (which is already ruined by the ****ing time spiders). It could be used to explore questions like the status of time travel and the N-zone. VERY significant restraint should be practiced with things like artificial intelligence and time travel, otherwise it raises questions like "Why don't they do this all the time?"
That's my dream for the Ultimate Fantastic Four. A team of scientific explorers who can't seem to help coming into conflict with everything from interdimensional beings to Victor Von Doom, with plenty of dramatic subplots that don't raise the stakes unbelievably high (or at least make you want to know
how they'll get out of it, even if you know they will). I think the series could be really fantastic if it got the writer it deserves.
