FF #14 – Review

by Matt Fraction, Lee Allred (Writers), Michael Allred (Artist), Laura Allred (Colorist)

The Story: Both sides of the imminent battle prepares as both Dr. Doom and the Future Foundation gets their stuff and strategies together.

The Review: Cohesion is not something to be underestimated or dismissed in terms of importance. Sure, every readers desire a certain amount of memorable scenes, great lines and solid action, but not everyone thinks about their context and how important it is that every scenes follow each other in a natural manner. We may get fan-favourites characters or some of the best concepts ever put on paper, there needs to be a setting in which they can grow naturally to perfection before being unleashed for the readers enjoyment.

This issue, in a way, shows a certain lack in that regard as while the crazy antics and the rather fun mix of serious and comical matters are still very much present, not all of the scenes leads up to another really well.

It’s a bit of shame, as a lot of the very best elements that makes this series enjoyable are present, with the children’s antics, the willingness to mock some of the elements of its premise and the use of the odder ideas of the Marvel universe. The council of Dooms, the search for various robotic replicas, the Watcher and his girlfriend, Dakor the magician along other such ideas are used rather well in this issue, with a certain degree of importance, yet levity given to them.

Avengers #18 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Leinil Francis Yu,Gerry Alanguilan (Artists), Sunny Gho (Colorist)

The Story: Many of the empire and civilization of the entire Marvel universe gathers together, Avengers included, to prepare the battle against the builders.

The Review: Infinity is finally here, with the build up to it being behind us as 17 issues of Avengers were needed in order to prepare for its arrival. Now that the event has started, though, does it mean that the book has gotten the shot in the arm that it needed most of the time?

The answer, thankfully, is a resounding yes as this issue brings many interesting concepts and do something that the series hasn’t done for quite a while: go big in a very explicit way. While the earlier concepts of that title always hinted at big things, those were mostly teasing or hint at what was to come. Now that the very event has arrived, the comic benefit as it brings us many new elements into play while using some of the older one.
The first one and best, in my own humble opinion, would be the very cosmic tone of the story as the scope of the story gets incredibly bigger. It’s no secret that I have a particular fondness for stories set in space, yet this one really bring a lot of the best of what these stories are about, as Hickman use the galactic council created by Bendis to great effects, showing a cohesion of the major empires to vanquish a greater threat. Many of the cosmic favourites are present, as the Shi’ar, Brood, Kree are present as well as characters like Ronan, Gladiator and Annihilus.

Another race that Hickman plays really well with are the Skrull, who gets a welcome reintegration to the larger Marvel universe as the writer use both what happened in Annihilation and Secret Invasion to build up from there, showing us a race that is on the brink or death, yet fight will all of its might to survive and stay relevant. The scene featuring Kl’rt, another fan-favourite, and the other warlord as they try to fight the builders shows a human side to these aliens as well as some nobility that really heighten the whole race. I sure do hope that Hickman will continue writing them during the tie-ins, as the rejuvenation of these aliens and the cosmic aspect makes for some interesting comics.

FF #3 – Review

By: Matt Fraction (story), Michael Allred (art), Laura Allred (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: The mysterious visitor from beyond the veil turns out to be more familiar than thought, telling tales of a horrifying (and pretty ludicrous) villain.  Also, the Yancy Street Gang strikes!

The Review:  I had high expectations for this book and as such, I ‘d be lying if I didn’t say that the first issue disappointed me a bit insofar as nothing much seemed to happen.  Then, last month, it started to click.  Now, with the third issue, I think this might stand along Hawkeye as among the very best books Marvel is currently publishing.

The reason for this is one word: fun.  That is really the best and perhaps only word I can use to describe this issue.  It’s off-kilter, it’s genuinely funny, it has a team with great chemistry, it’s thoroughly mad-cap, it’s human, and it’s clear that the creative team is having a great time putting it all together, which really shines through in their work.

FF #18 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Nick Dragotta (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: Johnny takes the class on a field trip to the Negative Zone.

The Review:  For the second straight month, FF proves that Jonathan Hickman has a really solid grasp on comedy.  Unlike the last issue of FF, however, the comedy in this issue isn’t always the direct focus, nor is reliant on big gags with set-up.  Instead, Hickman lets the dialogue bring the laughs, mostly courtesy of Johnny, whose voice Hickman has an excellent handle of.  From his trademark arrogance to his wonderful dynamic with the students, Johnny is really great this month.  I loved the simultaneously affectionate and dismissive stance he takes to the kids and his treating them like the ordinary kids they aren’t leads to some great laughs.

I also really liked the fun spin Hickman put on the insect denizens of the Negative Zone.  They’ve long been seen as the faceless, single-minded swarm, so seeing them rebel for….democracy and self-government (?!) was a brilliant, brilliant twist by Hickman that led to an amusing, but also quite smart issue.  It also leads to a wonderful conclusion however that balances things very well – while the bugs of the Negative Zone may want democracy and self-government, they’re ultimately still bugs from the Negative Zone.  It’s almost a quasi-historical/political statement by Hickman; if you interfere with another culture’s politics and that interference leads to them taking after your own political practices, that may not necessarily mean the erosion of that culture’s inherent beliefs and values.  Despite all the fun and comedy, it’s a nice turn by Hickman and made me wonder if he was at all inspired by the current situation in Egypt, where after rebelling and gaining democracy, they look to be on their way to electing either an Islamist regime or electing to bring back the military-authoritarian regime they just got out of.  Who knew that cosmic insects and the Marvel’s first family could be so relevant?

There’s a lot else to like about this isssue; once again, we get to see Franklin flex his cosmic muscles, which is always a treat.  The final page is also an excellent cliffhanger.  While the twist could perhaps be easily predicted, Hickman does it in a way that at least is guaranteed to get a laugh.

FF #17 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (writer), Nick Dragotta (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story:  Can Peter Parker possibly survive the sheer, mind-imploding aggravation of having Johnny Storm for a room-mate?

The Review:  Jonathan Hickman is among my favourite writers, but he wouldn’t exactly be my first choice to write a sitcom, much as I wouldn’t choose, say, Brian Azzarello to write a romantic comedy.  Yet, somehow, Hickman gives us a superhero sitcom with this issue and it is, well, fantastic.  All the jokes are hits and this is a book that is guaranteed to get you smiling.

In both Hickman’s energetic, upbeat script and Nick Dragotta’s cartoony, high-paced artwork, this issue of FF maintains a consistently jocular tone that keeps you in a mood primed for laughter.  Pete’s increasing level of suppressed anger, slowly rising to boiling point, is matched perfectly to Johnny’s complete and total obliviousness.  Hickman plays the dynamic perfectly; he gives us peaks into Peter’s mind, which only make Johnny’s behaviour all the more ridiculous.

Fantastic Four #602 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Barry Kitson (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Review:  This issue of Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four reminds me of those really badass episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that I totally geeked out over as a kid…and then rediscovered years later in college, only to geek out over again.

It’s a gigantic space battle with tons of ships and multiple participants.  The result is epic, large scale combat that is everything a cosmic book should be.  Better still, like those great DS9 episodes, Hickman knows how to ratchet up the tension by bringing in new sides/participants to the conflict.  When the tide seems to be shifting one way, someone else shows up to the battle to change the dynamic entirely.  All told, it’s massive stuff with lots of action and, despite being a gigantic scale space battle, it feels emotionally meaningful.  In a medium full of hollow action scenes, that’s pretty significant.

As usual, Hickman does a great job of hitting his narrative high-points.  There’s a sense that he continues to up the ante and there are enough moments that, individually, will either make you smile, inwardly cheer, or, in a couple instances, give you chills of awesomeness.

As far as the cheering/smiling bit goes, Hickman does a great job with Sue this month.  As he has done throughout his run, Sue is nothing less than a badass and Hickman never shies away from her very high power level and the unique uses her powers can be put to.

Fantastic Four #601 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writing), Steve Epting (pencils), Rick Magyar & Mark Pennington (inks), Paul Mounts (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: Johnny brings the cavalry.

The Review:  This past summer, Marvel and DC both put out company-wide events that were pretty underwhelming.  Truth be told, however, I haven’t really, really enjoyed an event from Marvel or DC since Civil War.  Blackest Night was all right, while everything else since has ranged from “sucked” to “disappointing.”

This arc of Hickman’s Fantastic Four, and issues like this one, show that Hickman succeeds where these events have failed.  In this issue, for instance, he manages to tell a story with universe wide implications and a fairly large cast, but at all times, there is an emotional core to the story that makes it all meaningful and gives the story heart.  Hickman balances the large-scale events with personal emotions in his characters, and the result is what I’ve been waiting for: an event that actually has a soul.

Of course, that’s the irony, isn’t it?  This isn’t an event at all, it’s just a story-arc set within Fantastic Four and FF.  That alone shows how impressive this issue is.  Despite being highly centralized, it feels massive in scale and effect.  The battles are immense, the stakes are enormous, and there is a substantial number of moving parts in the story.  The result is something that feels downright epic and, moreover, it all feels like it has been built up accordingly.  A lot of events are promoted as having been built up to for years, but in the case of Hickman’s Fantastic Four, that’s actually true, and one can feel the narrative weight of that.

Fantastic Four #588 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Nick Dragotta & Mark Brooks (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Rus Wooton (letters)

The Review:  Given the upcoming involvement of Spider-Man in Jonathan Hickman’s upcoming FF, it isn’t a stretch to think that Hickman and Dan Slott have been corresponding with one another, and Fantastic Four #588 may provide evidence of that.  As such, Hickman makes similar creative decisions in his dealing with character death as Slott did in this week’s issue of Amazing Spider-Man.  As such, many of the strengths that my cohort Mr. Stell expounded upon in his review of that comic also apply to this one.

Perhaps the most noticeable similarity is Hickman’s decision to have the entire issue, save the back-up and the final page of the main feature, go entire without dialogue or narration.  What results is an experience that’s far more haunting and emotional.  The images on the page and the events they depict become so much heavier and more laden with significance, as the emotions and sorrow of the characters does not have to be expressed, and hence contained, in words.  When it comes to conveying raw emotion, language is a limitation.  It takes, in this case, powerful grief, and shoves and squeezes it into the shape demanded by language’s framing structure, which forces it to adhere to context and that which words can actually express.

Without dialogue, we are without restriction or middle-man.  The emotion of the characters and the story are far more direct, far more honest, and not at all mitigated.  We are allowed to feel the brunt and truth of the emotional pain created by Johnny Storm’s death amongst his family, friends, and the world he left behind.  It’s a serious, heavy comic that is unrelenting, unwilling the compromise the significance of Johnny Storm’s passing with any attempts at banter.  The grief and sorrow are served to us without spice, chaser, or sweetener.

And really, as such, it’s a wonderful farewell for a great character, what that’s guaranteed to hit any FF fan hard.  More than that, at various points, the reader will become so caught up that he will most likely feel the characters’ emotions alongside them.  While I think various readers will respond differently to different scenes, for me, my eyes watered a bit during Ben’s emotional breakdown, which was beautifully told by Hickman and co.  Similarly, I found myself just as enraged as Reed by Annihilus’ absolutely grotesque taunting.  It was utterly sickening and almost too much for me to bear.  In other words, it’s fabulous writing.

Fantastic Four #586 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Steve Epting (pencils), Rick Magyar (inks), Paul Mounts (colors), and Rus Wooton (letters)

The Story: Sue tries to stave off war as she learns a starting secret, Reed journeys with Galactus, and Ben, Johnny, and the kids attempt to hold back the Negative Zone.

What’s Good: I’ve found the “Countdown to Casualty” on the front cover to be cheesy from the get-go, and yet that’s exactly the message that Jonathan Hickman so skillfully crafts this month.  In the last issue before the death occurs, the tension has reached a fever pitch.  In that sense, “Three” has been a beautiful arc; each issue was more tense than the last, as each month, the members of the FF find themselves in increasingly bad situations.

As far as that tension and anxiousness goes, this issue is by far the tightest and, at times, most breathless.  It’ll have you hankering for the next issue and truly at wit’s end over who it is that will meet their end next month.  In this sense, Hickman’s announcing the casualty early works great, as this month ends up being a “what if” guessing game.  This is a riveting, edge of your seat read where everything stands incredibly precariously. Nowhere is this tension clearer than in the running dialogue Reed and Galactus.  I’ve always loved mortal/god conversations because of uncomfortable dynamic, and that serves Three’s purposes well here and leads to a truly heroic splash page and resolution on Reed’s part.

Despite all the darkness and nervousness though, Hickman still finds time for his wacky humor.  He writes the kids brilliantly this month, who function as a kind of almost surreal comic relief amidst all of the darkness.  Seeing them gleefully building rifles and grenades is pretty damned hilarious, particularly given the circumstances.

Other than that though, there’s a reveal regarding the Atlantean conference and Namor’s intentions that is very well played and will have you re-evaluating and possibly re-reading previous issues.  It’s a wonderful twist by Hickman and one that I certainly didn’t see coming after last month’s issue.    Ultimately, big, big things are on the horizon for the Fantastic Four.  Those who have complained about the lack of narrative progression in Hickman’s Fantastic Four should love this issue, as a lot happens, or at least is revealed.

Once again, Steve Epting’s artwork serves this arc well.  It’s moody and dark, but still distinctly FF and his Galactus and Negative Zone monsters all look great.  I could ask for much more.

Fantastic Four #578 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Dale Eaglesham (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Rus Wooton (letters)

The Story: Johnny has a run-in with some Negative Zone badness while the undersea denizens revealed last month make for an unhappy Namor.

What’s Good: It’s great to see Johnny get some love this month.  As much as I like Reed and the kids, and Reed is probably among my top three comic characters, I’m glad that Hickman is trying his best to share the spotlight a bit.

What’s better still is that Hickman doesn’t write Johnny as the two-dimensional comic relief/jerk as it’s all too easy to do.  Sure there’s humour and arrogance, but there’s also heroism and even responsibility.  I’m glad Hickman decided to give Johnny a more serious look and when Johnny’s taking responsibility for his own mistake ends up being an even bigger mistake, there’s a tragic, bittersweet taste behind the irony, seemingly because he doesn’t know how to go about fixing his messes.

The self-reflection on Johnny’s part is outstanding.  It’s all the better due to how little Reed actually has to say; Johnny is already well aware of his shortcomings.  It’s always a strangely voyeuristic pleasure to see Johnny ashamed of himself, perhaps because the character is so defined by his douchebag persona.

Dale Eaglesham continues succeeds at the sci-fi insanity as usual, this month with a horror tinge, but it’s the more subtle stuff that caught my eye.   His work on his characters’ facial expressions is truly outstanding this month and absolutely spot on.  His work on Val and Johnny feel incredibly human, even adorable at times while the opening portrait is sure to catch the eyeballs.

Annihilation (TPB) Volumes #1-3 – Review

By Various

When this series came out a couple of years ago, I picked up the first two issues and was so completely lost that I never bothered to pick up the rest of the series. The problem was that there were “prologue” books that came before, opening up the storylines and the characters of the series. Well, I missed out on those books. and after hearing many raves regarding this crossover from friends, I decided to give it another shot. Thankfully, Marvel was kind enough to put the series in chronological order when it compiled this series into three trade paperbacks. It all makes sense to me now, and boy did I miss out on one heck of a story.

Before I get into what this story’s about, let it be known that you don’t need to know much or even anything of Marvel’s cosmic continuity to enjoy it. Trust me, because I pretty much have never kept up with this stuff either. I always thought Nova (at least from the New Warriors) was a little boring, Silver Surfer was a cool concept that never really grabbed my attention, and the Skrulls and Kree were just kind of silly. Then you have Thanos, who, thanks to Jim Starlin’s ego and vanity, was always a completely bloated and lame character. But with Annihilation, all your preconceptions of these characters go out the window. Sure, at times, they are portrayed as a bit too silly with their monologues and one-liners (“This ends now!” is said like six times throughout the series), but those moments are few. Instead, these characters are humanized, triumphant, and set on a destiny of greatness (and tradgedy).

The prologue issues go into great depth, explaining who the main cast of characters are and their motives. By the time we get to the actual Annihilation storyline, we’ve got all the information we need to dig in and enjoy it for what it is. What also helps are a series of “biography files” inserted at the end of each issue, explaining the main characters, their backgrounds, and powers. We get a good understanding of what’s at stake in the whole scheme of things. The Annihilation Wave is unlike any force seen in the Marvel Universe. It destroys planets, reaps the dead, and frees ancient evil from captivity.

Knowing that this wave cannot be stopped alone, an uneasy alliance is formed and a huge cosmic war commences. How the heroes on Earth can be so oblivious of the bigger picture and not lend a hand to this galatic conflict is beyond me. Annihilation is, in my opinion, the best crossover event that Marvel has ever done. Released during a time when Civil War was king and DC’s 52 was queen, Annihilation imposed a strong storyline on many galaxies set within the Marvel Universe. It literally changed the cosmic make up of the universe.

What Annihilus does is castastrophic. The epic events his invasion puts into motion make Civil War seem like squashing an ant hill. Imagine Thanos finally meeting his maker or Galactus being captured and used as a universal weapon of mass destruction. This is the kind of large scale stuff I’m talking about here, folks! More people peope die in this series than if you combined all the issues of Marvel’s back catalog. I mean, you have the Skrull Empire which loses more than half of its population to this war. And yet, these goons want to invade Earth after the fact? This, I don’t get.
It’s such a shame that this storyline never got the attention it really deserved. If you’re still on the fence, I urge you to pick up the trades. If you’re tired of big crossover events not delivering or being retconned within months after their release, Annihilation will reinvigorate your excitment in these events. (Grade: A)

– J. Montes