Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Fantastic Four #1
Marvel Comics
Robinson, Kirk, Kesel & Aburtov
The re-launch of the Fantastic Four is a good recap of what's come before, a bunch of fun scenes and the setup of the doom to come. It's a very good issue to jump on to in what looks to be an impactful arc. After all, you don't title something, "The Fall of the Fantastic Four" and not have something big planned. This is definitely an issue to check out.
The comic starts out with Sue writing a letter to her kids. It's sort of a sad letter because her daughter has decided to split off from the family for reasons outlined a bit later on. However, the letter also allows the recap of everything that's happened and the events of the day. It's a great and believable technique to let the reader into a character's head.
The book then goes into the events of the present as the Fantastic Four spring into action to save the city from a rampaging Fing Fang Foom. It's a great few pages that definitely give some fantastic dialogue to most of the Four. Fury shows up on clean up duty and it becomes clear that this is more than a seemingly random attack.
The book then moves to its quiet moments as each of the Four have some downtime. Reed and Sue have a deep conversation and reconnect after interacting with some of the young ones in their home. Johnny deals with some of his celebrity management and Ben reconnects with his on-again-off-again girlfriend. This is all great stuff but nothing compared to the cliffhanger that shows how this issue is a game-changer. It's a great ending and setup for issues to come.
The artwork is great. The comic book gives the characters some level of emotion but nothing over the top. After all, the characters have some stress but nothing that they can't deal with. The book has a polished look to it that helps make the book feel epic. I was very impressed with the book's presentation.
The Fantastic Four is a book that has seen some epic runs, two notable ones in the last 10 years. This issue shows that the book is returning to basics but is setting up something epic. The issue is a great point for a new reader to jump on. There aren't a lot of references to previous issues but there is some nice backstory. The book has some action and has some nice character defining moments for a reader to get comfortable getting to know them. This is a comic to pick up.
4out of 5 Geek Goggles
