It’s not often I talk about covers, but then it’s not often that I enjoy a cover concept I have on Fantastic Four. The tagline for the title has been “the world’s greatest comic magazine” for years. Now it actually looks like a magazine – a celebrity lifestyle magazine at that, with the story events trailed as headlines. It’s not like similar things haven’t been done, but F4 is certainly doing the most modern take on the concept, and nicely plays up the Four’s status as celebrity superheroes which is an aspect of the characters that’s almost unique in the Marvel universe.

As you might expect, putting Millar and Hitch on the Fantastic Four means that it’s got undeniably shades of the (real, not Loeb) Ultimates running throughout it. That said, Millar appears to be trying something new. Instead of the damaged, dark look at superheroes, Millar is trying to beat Grant Morrison at his own game, revealing a concept so crazy that the last place I saw it was an episode of Pinky and the Brain. Reed’s ex-girlfriend, the Claremont-created Alyssa Moy (making a welcome return) has been building… a replacement Earth. A 1:1 scale model of our own planet, ready to evacuate humanity to. Now, leaving aside the science of this - surely, if they can build a new Earth, they could repair our own – it looks like there are going to be some amazingly big ideas coming out of Millar’s run. A substantial portion of the issue is devoted to merely discussing the specifics of how such an evacuation might be made to go smoothly – maybe this discussion is telegraphing later plot points, maybe not – it works because it’s simply an interesting read in itself.

While Ben warns Reed about letting Alyssa get to him too much, Johnny is meanwhile having his own women problems, getting rather too close for comfort with a new super-villainess. Johnny’s girlfriends have often provided brilliant source material for F4 stories, and this one looks like it’ll be no exception. I’m not even clear on her powers or name yet, but I’m already interested in who she is, and it’s always a good feeling when someone creates a new character that doesn’t seem tedious.

Hitch’s art is, as ever, nothing short of amazing. Although I find myself disliking his specific character designs for Reed, Johnny and Sue, the detail and storytelling is spectacular. It’s not quite as fresh as it was when he came to the Ultimates, but it’ll never be disappointing. Few artists can carry a double-page spread well, but Hitch is one of them.

The only problem I have with the issue is that Sue isn’t even in it. Admittedly, you can’t always cram every character into an issue of Fantastic Four, but it feels a lot more like it’s being paced for the trade, which given Millar’s insistance that it won’t be collected for at least 18 months, is a bit self-defeating… Still, it’s top-quality comics, as if that was ever in doubt. Millar’s F4 is a refreshing take on the characters, playing down the superheroics in favour of the fantastic. A must-buy.