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Writer: Ryan North / Penciller: Iban Coello / Colour Artist: Jesus Aburtov / Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna Collects: Fantastic Four (2023) #1-#6 / Marvel / TP
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Review by Paul Dunne
10th October 2023 (Released: 12th July 2023)
The Pitch: Something has gone terribly wrong in New York! The Thing and Alicia are travelling across America to escape it! But when they stop for the night and wake up the morning before they arrived, they find themselves caught in a time loop that's been going on since before they were born! Meanwhile, Reed and Sue are on the run from their troubles - and make an unfortunate stop in a small town full of killer Doombots! But what is their terrible secret? And Johnny is left alone in New York - a city that hates and fears him! So it's time for a new identity - and a new job! Can the FF find their way back together and somehow rebuild their lives?
There's a question when all new writer and artist teams start their runs on well-established characters. It isn't 'What If'. That, if anything is the response. No, the question that all writers and artists must and (probably do) ask themselves is: 'What do you do that hasn't already been done?' North and Coello smartly decide to take a leaf out of another character's book, taking both the 'mysterious, guilt-ridden inciting incident – 'What did The Fantastic Four do?' from Wells' run on The Amazing Spider-Man and adding the fact they've become the enemies of the city they call home. It's an interesting direction for the FF to be positioned in. Their adventures are usually on a much larger scale, often stretching across the cosmos. With this, they're rooted on Earth, and the action is played out on a smaller but no less weird and sci-fi-driven scale. We start with Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters-Grimm, who in what I think is a first for a first family book, is credited along with with rest of the FF, given the special guest star 'And' credit reserved for the elder statesmen actors like Anthony Stewart-Head from Buffy.
Twilight Zone territory for Ben and Alicia Grimm.
The happy couple is bounced back, unknowingly, to 1947, landing right in the middle of a literal ghost town - one whose residence supposedly vanished into thin air the night Ben and Alicia arrived... But here they are, one day later, like it never happened. There's a lot of fun in this section as the audience is marginally ahead of the heroes. Like all good time loop stories, it becomes fun and games for a while, allowing North's lightness of touch to come through, as well his ghosting in of themes, one of which is taking responsibility for yourself and your actions. The small-town settings of the early issues put us in twilight zone territory. Meanwhile, Reed and Sue find themselves investigating Doctor Doom's sleeper Doombots, almost by accident as they commiserate the thing they did that's turned everyone against them. And Johnny? Johnny Storm is put in the position of having to help the little guy, never a place he likes being.
Coello, bringing the fire for action scenes.
Reed and Sue's adventure has reassurance about it. Later, Reed's desire to preserve all life - even alien, enemy life - comes into play and is referenced throughout. Johnny meanwhile is first shown how he's nothing without his family, then given a triumphant moment, becoming a champion again, albeit one he has to accept in a porn-star mustache. The threats the FF faces are tailored specifically to the individual family units, weirdly not to their weaknesses, but instead to their strengths. North remembers that sometimes, this stuff can be fun. The FF never seemed to have their DKR period, but it doesn't stop them from sliding into a seriousness that doesn't always befit the Marvel Universe. I think I'm of the feeling that the reason Marvel's Worlds are so daffy is because they're meant to be ours, and there's no way anyone can look at modern life and take it seriously.
Even Doombots need compassion.
Which kind of begs the question: despite their hi-tech, futurist trappings, is the FF a rebuke against modernity? Are they not only a nuclear family, but THE nuclear family, one that represents all the ideals that came with that label? Funnily enough, it's hinted that a nuclear event affects the townspeople that Ben and Alicia meet in the first issue, rooting us back in the early days of Marvel. Like early Marvel, North, and Coello find interesting ways to tackle ongoing themes, like prejudice. Also interesting is that North and Coello choose not to focus on the event that turns NYC against the FF but on its aftermath. I'm a big advocate for fiction portraying what happens after the big disaster, after the villain wins, after the World ends because that's the space we're living in now. In another resonant beat, it's Johnny Storm who gets it worst of all. He has to live his life as a schlub working, of all things a job, with a boss, having to go somewhere to work every day! But within that, he finds the one thing all Marvel books must have and that the FF especially have at their core: HOPE.
THE Nuclear Family risks going ballistic.
North's writing is fast and fun, thematically holding together whilst getting out there and trying things. He underlines the beats of the story with wit and zip. He's clearly not as tied to the weight of the Marvel that's gone before, but pays respect to it anyway. The decision to move back to an earlier storytelling period by making the book a series of connected one-shot stories is refreshing and welcome. Coello's pencils are clean and detailed, giving finesse to the book's visuals. His storytelling is coherent and concise. He keeps things suitably contained, bringing the fire for the big action scenes. He handles the expressions of the characters with cartoonish zeal, reminding you it's comics, rather than leaning into a dreary realism. Aburtov's colours are excellent, with a nice line in atmospheric lighting, especially in the final two chapters. Caramagna does his usual fastidious lettering work, giving us some joyful sound effects work and getting the distinct voices of the FF spot on. This is a definite and fascinating start for this generation of FF stories, and an excellent jump-on point for new readers, placing the Four in a place they're not often seen in, as the perceived enemy of the people. 'WHAT DID THE FANTASTIC FOUR DO?'. Find out, you'll love it!
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