Fantastic Four #1 Review - Mobile Edition

Marvel Comics
Fantastic Four #1 Review
By Andy Frisk
November 14, 2012 - 20:51

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Matt Fraction
Penciller(s): Mark Bagley
Inker(s): Mark Farmer
Colourist(s): Paul Mounts
Letterer(s): VC's Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist(s): Mark Bagley, Mark Farmer, Paul Mounts
$2.99 US

Reed Richards has a problem, and so does his family, although they aren't aware of it yet. The "unstable molecules that have created my elastic physiognomy seem to have reached some point of cellular entropy." In other words, Reed is dying along with his powers. He fears that it will affect his whole family at some point too, so he decides to take the family on a year long trip into unknown universes under the guise of giving their kids a more hands on adventure oriented education. Obviously, Reed has ulterior motives...like saving his family instead.

Matt Fraction, whose writing is sometimes amazing and sometimes uncannily bad, takes over for the now departed Jonathan Hickman on Fantastic Four. Hickman was the writer who not only saved Marvel's First Family from the doldrums of sales and storytelling quality, he made them one of the most interesting superhero groups in all of comics through his fantastically brilliant storytelling. Fraction can write a great story, but he's not going to be able to do with the Fantastic Four what Hickman did. He does have the most guts in all of comics though to follow such a legendary run.

Artistically, Mark Bagley will have no problems following Hickman's run. He is a near legend himself in the comic book art world having drawn characters from the original New Warriors to Spider-Man to now the Fantastic Four. (...and I think he might have drawn them before...). His style is instantly recognizable, excellently detailed, and wonderfully kinetic. It's everything that the Fantastic Four themselves are.

In the new era of Marvel NOW! the Jonathan Hickman penned Fantastic Four is no more. Fraction, if he can pull it off, has the chance to build something brilliant in its own right with the brilliant Mark Bagley along for the ride.

Rating: 8/10