One of the fun things about this blog is the chance to dip into other comics sometimes, and I am so excited to get to look at 2 issues of the now-legendary Mark Waid/Mike Weiringo Fantastic Four. It became pretty universally hailed as the 3rd best FF of all time behind Kirby/Lee and John Byrne, and to me, dear reader, it is only behind Kirby/Lee. Ringo has sharpened his pencil considerably since last he was featured on this blog, and in 2004, for my money, he’s one of the best in the biz, and he has gone from drawing a good Spider-Man to drawing an all-time Spider-Man. Waid, meanwhile, was a guy who’d been kicking around the biz since the mid-80s until a universally beloved run on The Flash at DC really put him on the map in the 90s. That run was largely drawn by one Mike Weiringo, so their reunion on this title was already pretty special. Waid also had the good fortune to collaborate with Alex Ross on his next project after Marvels made him a superstar, the dystopian possible future of the DCU called Kingdom Come, at the end of the 90s. On the Marvel side of the fence, in the mid-90s, he collaborated with Ron Garney on what was pretty easily the best Captain America in a decade until it was derailed by Heroes Reborn. They reunited when that stunt ended, and then he stayed on Cap for a long time with Andy Kubert. In 2004, he’s got an all-time Daredevil run in his future and some more time with our favorite webslinger, too, among a million other things. Waid is the rare writer of his generation who’s still relevant today, working with Dan Mora on the very best title DC publishes as of this writing in 2023, World’s Finest (AND Shazam, 2 monthlies by the same team!). Ringo, as I have mentioned before, is sadly no longer with us, and was better than ever at the time of his passing, and I’m still not over it, to be honest. But what a pleasure to be able to peek in on some of this seminal run as our guy stops in for a 2-issue visit. Waid & Ringo were aided in this run by inker Karl Kesel, who is also a writer himself, and contributed to discussion about the storylines. And rounding out the team, we have Paul Mounts, one of the early great digital colorists. Just an unstoppable team on this book. We begin with Johnny Storm walking down the street, being assaulted with evidence that people currently like Spider-Man more than him, and getting mad about it. Recent events have left the FF none-too popular, you see.
Little Franklin in a Spider-Man hat was the last straw. Also, Johnny really is the CFO of the FF’s company. Waid really wanted to help Johnny grow up in this run.
I mean, come on, he’s been on one page and this is primo Spider-Man.
Rimshot!
Waid’s Spidey is right on the money, Weiringo’s Spidey is right on the money. It makes you wish they were doing a Spider-Book. We then cut to a really nice scene between Ben and Alicia, currently not a couple, but it’s a lot of talk about recent events in the book that aren’t really relevant to the blog. It’s really good, tho, obviously. The next day, Johnny has shown up to the park. A waterpark. He also has Spider-Man walking around in one of Ben’s oversized trenchcoat and fedora numbers to “blend in.” Johnny is not amused by the choice of venue.
This sort of thing happens to Spider-Man a lot. He runs into villains who assume he’s after them so often.
Johnny can’t catch a break! Hydro-Man smashes some people loose from a waterslide, making the heroes go save them, and Johnny gets put out by a wall of water, making him ditch most of his now soaked clothes.
The most bizarre cliffhanger in Marvel history? Maybe! There follows a 3-page short by Waid and the great Paul Smith, but unfortunately, it doesn’t have Spider-Man in it. Man, this book was great.