Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Fantastic Four #600
Marvel Comics
Hickman, Epting, Magyar, Mounts, Di Giandomenico, Yu, Dalrymple & Doyle
The massive 50th anniversary celebration issue that marks the 600th issue (non-consecutive) of the landmark title: Fantastic Four. This issue provides some ninety-five pages of story spread across five chapters all written by Hickman. For the most part this issue is not a celebration of the rich history of the Fantastic Four. Instead the issue pushes a lot of the current storylines forward while tying some loose ends together from the previous highly publicized storyline, which was the death of Johnny Storm. As such, this review will not be spoiler free. The spoiler free review ends after the following paragraph.
What you should take away from this review is that the issue is not very new reader friendly. However, the stories are very good and extremely science fiction centric, as you would expect. As such, this is the kind of issue that some readers that are just picking it up on a whim might end up sticking around. Though the book has different artists taking each chapter, the book has a very smooth and consistent feel to them with the exception of the last six pages. The book carries an eight dollar price tag that might be a deterrent for some and because of the deep rooted plots that are carried through this issue a lot of casual readers probably should stay away altogether. It's a good book and I think it is more aimed at the existing fans than those looking to jump on or get a self-contained read. This ends the spoiler free portion of the review.
The first chapter is summed up as a war. The plot is too long to try to summarize but basically the Fantastic Four and the Avengers are fighting to save the planet from the Kree. The twenty-eight story is an excellent use of Epting. Panel after panel is filled with fighting and characters and a lot of shots of the city coming down around everyone. This chapter ends with Spider-Man heading to the Baxter Building to find a surprise waiting for him.
The second chapter is nearly half the book at forty-eight pages and it is by far the most interesting to me. This chapter connects the dots with the fate of Johnny Storm. Storm died in the negative zone (as far as we know) and this chapter picks up and shows the reader how everything went down. Obviously Storm didn't just simply die and the story told in this chapter is definitely a must read for those that read his "death" issue and has an interest in that storyline. The art is by the incomparable Di Giandomencio and is just stunning throughout.
The final three chapters are each less than eight pages a piece and put forth a couple of new plots. One deals with the Black Queen which ties some of the characters seen in the previous chapter but beyond that I was lost what this story wanted to get across. My guess is some type of invasion is coming but for all I know this may just be explaining something that has already occurred. Another one deals with Galactus talking with Reed and Sue and I really wasn't getting a lot of the references that they were discussing. Though, I kind of followed what the imminent danger is all about that Galactus threw his lifeline out for. Finally, a cute story about how intelligent and vital Reed and Sue's son is to the future of the planet. This story was good but left a cliffhanger that seems like the seasoned readers would understand better than I did. Generally, these three stories were good but they seemed like they were the reward for the loyal reader.
Overall, I was entertained with the issue. However, because of the price tag I was a little put off that this issue seemed like a turning point in the larger story and not an ending (and certainly not a beginning). This issue is by no means a waste of money, such as the Point One issue was, but the book is going to cater to those that have read the Hickman run all along, which I am not. This might be the rare anniversary issue that actually matters in the storyline in recent times. If you are curious and you have the cash I think you will be entertained with what you find and you may even track down the previous issues and continue to read on.
3 out of 5 geek goggles
