Fantastic Four! How long has it been? Despite them appearing with surprising frequency in Spider-Man comics (That, itself, despite the whole registration thing), we’ve not seen an issue of FF since Civil War, and we’ve not seen one with Spider-Man in it since the classic FF 513. This is just the 5th issue of Jonathan Hickman’s landmark run on the series (After a Dark Reign: FF mini that is an essential part of the run). Theoretical regular penciler Dale Eaglesham only made it through 3 issues before needing to be spotted, and this is Neil Edwards and Andrew Currie’s 2nd issue, with colors by Paul Mounts. Neil Edwards’ stock in trade is a shameless and rarely convincing knock off of Bryan Hitch. He came into the FF’s orbit as Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s disastrous run was coming to its frequently delayed conclusion, as a co-writer stepped in with Millar and it was kind of all hands on deck to get people to draw it. Really asking for delays pairing Millar and Hitch. Not that I read the run, mind you. I’d learned my lesson on Millar by then. But I was on the comics internet, so I heard about it. Now, tho, it’s a Brand New Day for the FF, and comics’ most meticulous planner and one of its most ambitious storytellers is at the helm, for a run with more crazy stuff going on than at any time since Jack Kirby was plotting it. Hickman threw a barrage of new concepts at the book, while rethinking and redefining existing classics, never losing sight of the core family. Several issues could go by without a real fight scene, fully devoted to exploration, scifi and family, and no one missed the fisticuffs. By the time he gets teamed up with stalwart Steve Epting, the book is really cooking, and will have a bigger impact on my Spider-Man blog than people might expect. In fact, Jonathan Hickman’s work at Marvel in the 2010s is one big story across many titles, as shocking for its mammoth scope as for its successful execution, and we’ll be checking with parts of it repeatedly. So let’s get in there, already.
Valeria is leading Franklin into a surprise birthday party. Best not to dwell on his age too much. Franklin has been artificially aged, de-aged, and re-aged so many times I have no idea how they’d know how old he is in-world. A key aspect of Hickman’s run is the FF’s family expanding. They take in a variety of kids, such as the X-World’s Artie & Leech, one of the Power Pack kids, and a young clone of the Wizard. Dragon Man, now an erudite pacifist, is the kids’ teacher and minder. As various FF subplots not germane to the blog play out, The Thing wants everyone’s attention for a special guest.
Yeesh, this art.
Franklin loving Spider-Man to Johnny’s annoyance has always been one that lands for me. Spidey starts swinging Franklin around, and Johnny grudgingly says he’s happy Franklin is having a good time.
Turns out, this is the very issue where most of the kids start living at the Baxter Building. Hey, it’s been 15 years since I read this, I’m allowed to be a little rusty. Some very sweet moments. Would that they looked nicer. Well, everyone’s having a great time, and there’s a few more cute moments, and then we hope ahead to “Later,” when a “timequake” occurs, and a mysterious man appears in the Baxter Building. He quickly stymies the FF’s attempts to get to him with force fields and things, and then Franklin wanders out into the hallway.
They will eventually learn that that’s Franklin himself, come from the future to try to change it. He gives Valeria some cryptic warnings that will play out over the coming months. She figures out who he is immediately, and then he disappears as the FF closes in on him. Reed asks Val if she’s ok, and she says everything’s fine.
Uh-oh. Franklin’s mostly been in one of his de-powered phases since creating the Heroes Reborn universe, but the guardrails just came off. What can a child with unimaginable power do under a writer as crazy as Hickman? Sadly, we’ll not get to see on the blog. But the collections of the run sure are worth seeking out.