From the very beginning, I’ve loved Jonathan Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four. This book went a loooong time without a truly good creative team and it really suffered for it. Fantastic Four has been my favorite comic book since I was eight years old and was even the one that got me into comic books seriously so it really bothered me that it had been so long since I’d been able to call it “good.” Luckily for me, that all changed when Hickman and Dale Eaglesham came on board and it’s only gotten better since then. Since it was announced, I’ve been looking forward to this particular issue to see how Hickman would handle the character of Nathaniel Richards, someone who hasn’t been seen in about fourteen years.As always, Nathaniel Richards proves to be somewhat of a confusing character. This Nathaniel looks nothing like the Nathaniel that readers last saw, one that was much older looking and had a prosthetic eye. Whether or not this detail will be entirely ironed out next issue is unsure, but we are treated to the story of this Nathaniel and his history stems directly from events in SHIELD #2. It’s an interesting twist that leaves the reader having to handle a whole lot of Nathaniel(s). Despite the complexity of the issue, it’s still quite a bit of fun. It’s every bit as heady as the rest of Hickman’s work on Fantastic Four and he has a great handle on college-age Reed, Ben, and Doom. It’s a lot of fun seeing their interactions and all the personalities are spot on. Some might cry foul on Doom’s involvement, but it really isn’t as out of character as some might think; Doom loves to see Reed beg almost as much as he loves to see him die. The issue ends on a fun cliffhanger that leaves plenty of room for crazy action next issue and I’m really excited to see it. I also can’t wait to see what future-Valeria wants with Sue, though I’ll guess it’s nothing happy.
After reading this issue, I had to go back and revise some of my opinions of of artist Neal Edwards. I had previously looked at him as a sub-par fill-in artist, but he has certainly proved me wrong. Edwards is really turning in some strong pencils on Fantastic Four and has clearly improved in his time on the title. He no longer seems like second-rate Bryan Hitch and is, in my opinion, now doing better work than much of Hitch’s recent work. He’s has a great grasp of all the character’s in the issue and really makes them look distinct from one another. He handles all of the crazy of the sci-fi ideas here perfectly and handles the quiet college moments just as well. His level of detail is truly impressive and I had a lot of fun just looking at the panel containing Evil Nathaniel’s “collections.” As much as I’m looking forward to Steve Epting’s upcoming work on this series, I’m starting to actually get sad that Edwards is leaving. He does still have some awkward faces here and there that look almost Mike McKone-esque (not something I like), but it doesn’t detract from the issue at all.
This issue was a whole lot of fun, despite the distinct lack of most of the FF, at least as we’re used to seeing them. I really like this Nathaniel that’s introduced here as he is much more likeable now than he was then, but I hope to see some connection or reference made between this one and the old version. Next issue promises some epic action, especially in the symbol on Evil Nathaniel’s chest is what I think it is and I’m really excited to see how it unfolds, especially with Edwards’ pencils. I don’t know how much effect these two issues will have on the “Three” arc that is coming up soon, but it really doesn’t matter because, even only halfway in, I’m having so much fun now that it wouldn’t bother me even if it turned out to be little more than filler.
Overall: 9.2/10
No comments:
Post a Comment