“It’s BACK! The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”
Quite a declaration for the new Fantastic Four #1 hitting shelves today…and you know what? This book can back it up.
Today also happens to be the 57th anniversary of the original FF by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby so it’s only fitting that they get a top flight relaunch for their birthday. This time around, the book is helmed by Dan Slott and Sara Pichelli and it’s clearly going to be Marvel’s new flagship title going forward.
I will not be venturing into spoiler territory for this piece but it is your CIVIC DUTY as a fan of all things comic book to get to your local shop ASAP to get this book. Stop reading now and go.
Fantastic Four #1
Dan Slot (w)
Sara Pichelli (a)
Marvel Comics
For those of you still reading, I will try my damndest not to use the word “fantastic” to describe the book. But it is…it just is. Reading the book I was treated to a corner of the Marvel Universe that I didn’t realize I had been missing. The X-Men have been busy doing mutant things, The Avengers have been busy doing movie things, and the Guardians of the Galaxy have been busy…guarding the galaxy.
Now, that’s all cool and stuff. Cinematic, even. But where has the good old fashioned four-colored fun gone? Presumably, it disappeared with Reed Richards and Sue Storm at the end of Marvel’s Secret Wars crossover from a few years back.
This book is very much a reintroduction to what the FF should be for the Marvel. It’s a book about a family of explorers and high-concept sci-fi rigamarole. The bulk of the first issue deals with what the Four’s absence means to Marvel Universe and how various characters have or have not been dealing with it.
Slott manages to nail the characters in the book along with packing in some great BIG moments that move characters in directions they’ve been inching towards for years and years. Pichelli’s art is stellar (as usual!) and I can’t wait to see what she’s got in store in the issues to come.
The final two page spread of the main story for this issue was probably the most “Marvel” a book has felt to me in a long while. Some may get a little misty, others may stand up and fist-pump. But, yeah, “It’s about damn time.”
