So, now that the title has finally slogged through to the end of Millar and Hitch’s run, it’s time for Fantastic Four to get a new creative team. Since “tried and tested” didn’t work out so well last time, Marvel has gone the other direction, and given us a pair of relative newcomers. And it seems to have worked pretty well.

Since Millar and Hitch’s run felt like a dud almost from the outset, a lot of the energy and momentum of Fantastic Four was lost. The first issue of this new arc brings it back in spades. Hickman has already completed an arc on the characters in their “Dark Reign” spin-off series, and although this should effectively be the start of his run, he’s quickly referencing his own story. Luckily, it’s done in such a way that new readers won’t necessarily notice, and as we all know, that’s the proper way to use continuity – as complementary, not essential reading.

Eaglesham gives us bold and traditional superheroics – a welcome departure from Hitch’s ultra-realism. After all, Fantastic Four is one book where realism isn’t part of the appeal. Eaglesham draws a Fantastic Four that look like superheroes, while Hickman writes them as such. Well, I say “them” – this is more of a Reed Richards solo issue than anything. There’s room for that sort of story within the scope of a team book, of course, but it’s odd that he doesn’t start his run with a definitive statement about all four characters. Whether he’ll expand beyond Reed-as-protagonist in the future remains to be seen, but on the other hand… he does write a good Reed. This is a character I want to see more of.

Making the Fantastic Four a potentially interesting read is a difficult task for any writer – arguably, the title hasn’t had a run that truly stood the test of time since Byrne’s two decades ago. Hickman is the first writer in a long time to look like he might have a chance at breaking the mold without trying to reinvent it too, and if the last page is anything to go by, this arc is going to be one hell of an opening shot.

Every month we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published.

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It might surprise some newer comics fans, but there was once a time when John Byrne was considered a credible comic creator instead of the walking bad mood that he is now. In fact, Byrne wasn’t just credible, he was practically his era’s Brian Bendis or Ed Brubaker, reinventing and redefining every title he touched. One such title was Fantastic Four, which he wrote and drew for 6 years from 1981 to 1986. The run was eventually collected in its entirety in 8 volumes of “Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne” but almost over 15 years prior to that, Marvel took the unusual step of packaging certain issues together into a TPB collection – a rare move at the time, when the industry was still heavily focussed on monthly sales.

The story itself sees Reed Richards (rather than Galactus) placed on trial, accused of repeatedly aiding the devourer of worlds – and, in a story included at the start of the collection – even saving his life on one occasion! It’s full of the epic moments Byrne’s run became known for, though the most famous of these is perhaps Frankie Raye’s transformation into Galactus’ herald Nova.

While the former deals specifically with the Four and, specifically, Johnny’s relationship with Frankie, the latter half of the book becomes a cosmic tour of the Marvel Universe – indeed, it was the inclusion of Lilandra and Gladiator in the title that caused a young me to get it out from the library in the first place, at a time when I didn’t read anything without an X-Men connection.

The “Trial of Galactus” story actually ran sporadically across a 20-issue period of Fantastic Four – issue #242 to #262. In order to ensure the focus of the story remains on the plot at hand, some issues are only partially collected, with unrelated material cut out and rearranged in order to make the collection read as a “single” story. It’s not a seamless job, though neither is it particularly disorganised, and the foreword helpfully prepares the reader for the few irregularities that do appear, such as Ben Grimm’s mysteriously changing appearance, and the otherwise inexplicable presence of Byrne himself in the climactic act (actually mandated by Marvel’s “Assistant Editor Month”)

Also included in the collection is Byrne’s issue of “What The…” – Marvel’s best-left-forgotten humour comic. At the time it would’ve been little incentive to buyers but now its satire of the industry and fandom actually makes for an interesting historical document, if nothing else.

Although the collection is now out of print, it remains a favourite of mine, and comes heartily recommended as the best story in a justifiably lauded run – superhero comics at their bronze-age finest.love potion no 9 divx

It’s already clear that Jonathan Hickman is going to be big at Marvel, and with this Fantastic Four series, he now has a good chance to proved to everyone why that is. Hickman is, of course, taking over the main series following Millar and Hitch, so for all intents and purposes, this is his first arc on the title. The fact that it’s a Dark Reign tie-in is, apparently, something he’s not eager to let get in the way of that.

The issue opens with the team rebuilding their base following the events of Secret Invasion. Hickman quickly establishes the character dynamic, with some particularly memorable jokes for the deliberately frivolous Johnny. Is this is representative of the quality of Hickman’s usual characterisation and dialogue, Fantastic Four fans are in for a treat over the course of his run.

Dark Reign fans, however, might want to think twice before picking up the book. For this issue, at least, the event gets only the barest sliver of plot importance. It’s little more than background noise. Instead, things follow the classic Fantastic Four. The family squabbles with one another until Reed invents something, and things go awry. The tone isn’t an especially radical shift away from Millar’s, but something about Hickman’s interpretation of the characters feels slightly more natural.

Chen’s artwork is competent and dutiful, but few scenes truly pop like the artist is capable of. Whether he’s simply not that enthusiastic about the characters or struggling with a fairly subtle script remains to be see, but at no point does the artwork for this issue fall below enjoyable. The one hiccup is in his depiction of Franklin and Valeria, where the latter appears to be roughly the same age – if not older – than the former, when it should be the other way around.

Overall, the series looks like it’ll satisfy those fans who want a Fantastic Four story but don’t want to dip into the Millar and Hitch run, although event-completists can and should stay well away until further notice, because despite the prominence given to the crossover in the title, there’s barely a hint of it in the book itself – it’s little more than a marketing blemish on an otherwise decent comic.

There’s no arguing that the response to Millar and Hitch on Fantastic Four has been, depending on how you want to phrase it, largely underwhelming. While the team garnered praise for re-envisioning superheroes in two volumes’ worth of Ultimates, most of their issues of Fantastic Four seem to pass by entirely without comment. There’s no obvious reason why – both the characters and creators are both consistent sellers, but perhaps there’s something about the pairing that simply doesn’t line up.

While the collection was recently released in the US in the “Marvel Premiere” regular-sized hardback format, Panini have exercised their rights as licensors to collect it as a trade paperback for the UK market. With combined discounts, that means I got 8 issues for £6.50. It’s not hard to see why the singles market is dying when it’s expected to compete with that level of savings.

download geronimo online It’s with only some trepidation, then, that I approach this – a collection of issues #554-#564 – the first 8 issues of their run. And, with the benefit of being able to sit down and read it in one go, there’s actually a lot to enjoy. It’s not quite the ground-breaking material of their Ultimates work, but it is a similar take on the Fantastic Four, steeped in realism while retaining some of the more outlandish territory that the comic traditionally explores.

Indeed, if anything, that’s the problem. The idea of top scientists building a “spare” planet for when ours dies is proper Science Fiction – but juxtaposed against Johnny’s affair with a new super-villain, and Sue’s attempts to start up a support group for victims of super-crime, it doesn’t really work. The tone clashes massively, feeling like separate stories for each character rather than interleaving the way you’d expect a group book too.

Millar’s handle on the group’s relationships is good, though variable. His “Paris Hilton” version of Johnny doesn’t quite ring true, though his take on a more tender, upbeat Ben Grimm is a welcome breath of fresh air for the character. Furthermore, the use of Alyssa Moy and Valeria both represent compelling new developments in the F4 canon. Even the “future Defenders” are an oddly compelling bunch – there’s a familial tone more similar to Clandestine than the Fantastic Four, and it’s easy to see why they’re being spun-off into their own comic.

It’s fairly clear that there’s no inherent problem with the Millar/Hitch F4 run – the dialogue and art are both great, but there’s something of a clash between what readers expect of the characters, and what the intentions of the creative team are. Couple that with a slight lack of coherance throughout the actual story, and you can see why it hasn’t lit up the fandom like people might’ve thought.

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It’s been a quiet week for comics while delayed and mis-timed event books empty the schedules, so this week we’ve only got a few capsule reviews: Captain Britain #7, Fantastic Four: True Story #4 and Wolverine #69, the latest chapter of Old Man Logan. (continue reading…)

Inside this week’s Sunday (and not-at-all Hastily Edited On Monday) Pages, you can find a selection of capsule reviews including Captain America #42, Daredevil #111, Fantastic Four: True Story #3, Ms. Marvel #32, Superman #680, Ultimate Spider-Man #126, X-Men Legacy #216. In addition, we give a quick plugola to an interview with one of our very favourite comics talents, and there’s another big UK show coming up!

(continue reading…)