Fantastic Four #572 – Review

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

The Story: The council of Reeds takes on the Celestials, leading our Reed to make a crucial decision.

What’s Good: This issue’s ending was a thing of beauty and a reminder of what the Fantastic Four should be about.  If anything, Hickman’s conclusion to his first arc is almost a chastisement: ultimately, the FF are not about the wacky science hijinks or the epic cosmic struggles.  Rather, it’s about family.

Hickman illustrates this through making Reed choose between family and his own lofty goals, as he’s forced to take a hard look at the increasingly isolated lifestyle he’s been living.  This leads to a final scene that is grand, beautiful, heart-warming, and maybe even a little tear inducing.  It’s a feel-good read that hits home, blending flashbacks with very effective narration by Reed’s father.  I can’t overemphasize how beautiful this last scene is, nor how touching the last splash image of the book.

In the earlier portions of the book, props have to be given to Hickman for being absolutely merciless with his characters.  Suffice to say, some of the versions of Reed don’t make it, and their deaths are sudden, brutal, and decisive.  More amazing still is how, in the space of three issues, Hickman has actually made me care about these guys, despite only just meeting them a couple of months ago and their being duplicate Reeds.  I was genuinely surprised at the emotional moments Hickman was able to conjure up through them.

All of this is beautifully rendered by Dale Eaglesham, who really shows his range this month.  The flashbacks are warm and intimate while the battle with the Celestials is all-out mayhem.  Eaglesham essentially depicts both big and small, public and personal, in a fashion that makes both sides seem grand.

What’s Not So Good: While it’s clearly intentional, this was still “Reed Richards #572.”  All well and good, but a little irritating when our only scene with Ben and Johnny is only written as a means to get them out of the way.

The biggest problem with the issue though is the fight with the Celestials.  Having a gang of the big dudes fighting an army of Reeds will by nature be chaotic.  In fact, I didn’t even realize that the battle was over when it was.

Part of this is because that the actual means for concluding the struggle are a confused mess of ambiguous deus ex machina.  This has pretty much always been the case with the infinity gauntlet by its very nature, while our Reed magically produces guns that just somehow work against Celestials thanks to some impromptu pseudo-scientific babble.  And of course, Reed has a stack of these lying around at home.

Conclusion: The conclusion to the battle is a bit of a mess, but the rest of the issue is absolutely outstanding, with the ending being one of the finest moments I’ve seen in an FF comic in quite some time.

Grade: B+

–Alex Evans

 

Fantastic Four #571 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Dale Eaglesham (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: Reed must see both the good and the band, before making the decision of whether or not to join the High Council.

What’s Good: As one of the many Reeds says in one of the strongest conversations of the book, “pretend there is no horizon.”

I think that that line really sums up why this is such an excellent comic book.  It’s insane, it’s ridiculous, and it’s thoroughly impossible, and in so being, it ends up being just what a comic should be.  As I saw dozens of Reeds wandering about, reshaping the universe on a massive scale, battling multiple Silver Surfers, and terraforming planets, I was struck with the enormity and grandiosity of it all.  This book manages to ignore realistic boundaries in ways only a superhero comic can, and it makes the impossible possible in a manner that is pure fun.  Is it taut, intelligent, political intrigue?  No.  But this is the sort of comic that makes you feel like a kid again.

It’s also clear that Hickman has a very solid grip on the characters.  Reed’s internal strife is well depicted and his conversation with Sue is tender; one understands her argument, but Reed is so lovable that it’s impossible for the reader not to forgive him just as Sue does.  Meanwhile, a breakfast conversation between Franklin and Johnny is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face as only the FF can.

I also enjoyed seeing the dark side of the High Council, a side that is coldly logical yet incredibly inhumane and unpleasant.  Yet, I appreciated that Hickman doesn’t use this to go the obvious route of making them evil.

That said, returning to the idea of enormity and impossibility, nowhere is this better displayed than in the issue’s ending, which was pure awesome.  It’s great, great cliffhanger that will have you dying for more. This comic is truly all about achieving the extraordinary and operating on a limitless scale.

Meanwhile, Eaglesham has a better outing this month.  His technology looks great, but more than anything, the entire comic has a warm, comforting, and accessible feel to it.  The book feels both awe-inspiring and inviting, friendly even.   Considering some of the massive things Eaglesham’s drawing here, that’s quite a feat.  He also does great work on the facial expressions, being spot-on with his depictions of even the subtlest emotion.

What’s Not So Good: This isn’t really a Fantastic Four book, nor is this looking to be a Fantastic Four arc.  This issue is basically entirely about Reed Richards and his dopplegangers.  The Fantastic Four have one admittedly fun conversation at the breakfast table, but that’s all we see of the team.  Hell, while it was good, that whole scene wasn’t even entirely necessary save to remind us of their presence.

I complained about this last time as well, but Eaglesham also has the annoying superhero artist tendency of making every male character look like a jacked up power-lifter.  Seeing an army of Reeds all looking like linebackers is quite annoying and Johnny looks almost silly, hulking over the breakfast table.

Conclusion: Pure fun and what a comic should be, I’m completely thrilled to be reading the FF again.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans