Polite Dissent

This should be a good time for Fantastic Four fans as there are three different series about the FF (not counting the Human Torch series). First, there is Mark Waid’s and Mike Wieringo’s run on the Fantastic Four, highly anticipated and highly publicized. There was even a successful letter-writing campaign to bring them back after an apparently premature termination. Next came the Ultimate Fantastic Four by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Adam Kubert. This series brought the FF into the Ultimate universe. Finally, there is the Marvel Knights 4, by Robert Aguirre-Sacasa and Steve McNiven. Compared to the other two series, this one has seen much less praise and press.

Unfortunately, only one of the series really shines. The others are just unimpressive Fantastic Four tales or weak attempts to retell a good story.

As much as I looked forward to Waid’s run on the Fantastic Four, I haven’t found it anything remarkable. The revision of Dr. Doom from a man of science to a man of magic was clever, but the rest of that arc was a rather standard Doom story, just with “magic” substituted for “technology”. Too many of the recent stories have been dealing with the dangers of technology, and Reed is clearly the focus of Waid’s tales. Everyone else, even Doom, just acts as a foil for him. We understand that it’s Reed Richards, flawed and guilt-stricken hero, but enough already. Move on. At least Ben and Johnny get some time in the spotlight, Sue just seems to exist just to be Wife-to-Reed and Mother-to-Franklin-and-Val. I was totally unmoved by the recent trip to the afterlife and meeting with the “creator.” The peril all seemed superficial: Ben can’t get through the door to Heaven because you built it Reed! Wieringo’s art is good, but sometimes the characters look too child-like. This series does have the best covers, as they are action covers, not poster covers.

The Ultimate Fantastic Four is just a weak re-hash of the original, reminding me way too much of the “Heroes Reborn” Fantastic Four. No one has yet improved upon the original Fantastic Four origin. Reed and Sue as teen prodigies trying to open a channel to the Negative Zone just doesn’t have the visceral thrill of the tragic space flight. Reed and Ben come off the best here. Johnny is pretty much a typical tag-along comic-book style teenager. Sue is the least member of this team, too, existing solely to be rescued by the others. The de-condensed story telling works against this title, dragging out a thin story too long until it’s even weaker. And as for changing Doom’s last name? Now I can’t think of him without a picturing a certain Belgian B-movie actor. The covers are way too poster-ific.

On the other hand, I find that the least anticipated series stands head and shoulders above the others. Over at Marvel Knights 4, we have a more plausible scenario of the Fantastic Four losing their millions and having to join the workforce than in Waid’s Fantastic Four. These aren’t action-laden stories by any stretch; instead they’re character studies of each individual as they have to go out into the “real world” and face what normal non-super powered people must deal with every day. Aguirre-Sacasa has a better grasp of the characters than Waid does. The stories have been well written and every character gets a chance to shine equally here. The art by McNiven has been nice as well. The covers, while poster-styled, are better than most of Marvel’s poster covers.

So my recommendations are to pick up Marvel Knights 4, ignore Ultimate Fantastic Four, and substitute any of the Fantastic Four Essentials volumes for the currrent Fantastic Four.