Friday, March 16, 2012

Fantastic Four #604

First of all: Fantastic Four #604 is the best comic of the year.

So far.

Second, being a manly kinda guy, there are some things I hate to admit - but full disclosure requires me to tell you that the ending of this issue made me shed an actual tear. Maybe two.

Pretty amazing (and rare) when a comic book manages that.

What we have here is nothing less that the wrap-up of one long storyline that Jonathan Hickman has been weaving since he took over the title. We see how a decision Reed Richards made at the beginning of the story has played out into the possible destruction of Earth and the extended FF family.

All the pieces are in place - the four cities, the Negative Zone, the Council of Reeds, the Inhumans, Johnny Storm's death (and return), the Future Foundation, Dr. Doom, Galactus, the Mad Celestials and some guest stars.

The art is by Steve Epting with Rick Bryant, and it's outstanding work, covering everything from massive cosmic battles to small personal moments and everything in between.

I can't talk any more about the comic without giving the events away, but let me just say: it's wonderful to see such a complex story pay off in such a satisfying way. Loved it!

Grade: A

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So Hickman's long arc finally comes to an end. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. But I couldn't get over the disappointment of the lack of payoff for Doom. All that build-up only to have him vaporized. Even the "other Reed" got to use a nulifier. Everything else paid off, but that one was severely lacking.

Chuck said...

Anon, I agree that the bit with Doom seemed a bit abbreviated, but I suspect that's one of several details yet to be dealt with.