Fantastic Four #567 – Review

By Mark Millar (writer) Bryan Hitch (pencils) Cam Smith, Andrew Currie, Victor Olazaba, and Mark Pennington (inks), Paul Mounts (colors)

The Story: The Marquis of Death, Dr. Doom’s master, continues his assault on Doom and takes the first steps to destroying the entire universe. Through the battle, we learn about Doom’s dreams and aspirations, his psychology,  and what his true potential might be. Also, Latveria goes through another dramatic phase in its history.

What’s Good: I’m loving the Masters of Doom arc; and this issue keeps the energy and pace of its previous installments. The Marquis of Death is a great character, especially when taking into account his origin story from Marvel 1985. I am really looking forward to his looming confrontation with the FF. Also, his apprentice finally does and says stuff in this issue. The fact that he is constantly being hidden in the background and his face hidden under a hood makes me confident that his identity will be of both surprise and importance. I’m betting on him being a character that we know.

I like the character study on Doom in this book. Although his subconscious desires are all pretty predictable, it was still cool to see. It was also amazing to see how his former master ripped them out of him and used them against him in such devastating fashion.

Hitch’s art is off the hook in this issue and I think this is the strongest outing in this entire run. His design and exposition of the Marquis of Death is the stuff nightmares are built on. My critique on the art in previous issues of this run was on the faces being ugly and inconsistent, but Hitch has righted that problem, as expressions are clear and asthetically pleasing, even if the character itself is ugly.

What’s Not So Good: I don’t see much wrong with this issue, but I question Millar’s use of narration text boxes during Doom’s future. They came out of nowhere and created a forced, fake feel to the story. They also didn’t add much to the story except filling in a few details that could have been deduced from the scenes that followed.

I can see why readers get fed up with Miller as he finds a formula and sticks to it. For example, we see the Marquis of Death wear his fallen enemy’s costume; for those reading Old Man Logan, you saw the Red Skull do the same thing with Captain America’s uniform. So, I see how that can be annoying for readers. I for one am a sucker for those type of scenes and since it works well, I say, go for it.

Conclusion: Millar and Hitch continue their roll with this issue of FF. As I mentioned in previous reviews, I never had any interest in the FF until Millar started crafting these insanely entertaining stories and scenarios that the team has had to deal with. This arc is head and shoulders above the previous installments for both its art and content, as it features the most novel and daring concepts of any comic on the shelves. Well, except for maybe Old Man Logan.

Grade: A-

-Rob G.