Fantastic Four #2: Revenge of Reborn [Review]
“Promising but flawed” was how I described the first issue of writer James Robinson and artist [...]
"Promising but flawed" was how I described the first issue of writer James Robinson and artist Leonard Kirk's run on Marvel's flagship title Fantastic Four. Fortunately and unfortunately, that assessment can be applied to this issue as well. It's a perfectly enjoyable read that continues to set up elements that one can feel will come into play as this run continues to play out. It's also notable for being one of those issues that reminds the reader that the New York City of the Marvel Universe is essentially a superhero playground chockfull of brightly colored characters. The drawbacks come in some of the dialogue and characterization which may only be apparent to longtime readers of Fantastic Four. Before diving into the issue proper, I'd like to take a moment to give James Robinson credit for something that he did in issue one that I neglected to mention in that issue's review. I always appreciate a writer who puts in little continuity nods and Easter eggs that don't bog down stories but serve to give longtime readers a smile. He did so in issue one by referencing Marvel's "Age of Monsters" in connection with Fin Fang Foom. If one isn't aware, this is a reference to all of the monster comics Marvel used to put out before the resurgence of the superhero with Fantastic Four Volume One, #1 in 1961. Additionally, Reed Richards makes reference to a rumor that Fin Fang Foom worked as a "human-sized Buddhist fry cook," which of course is a nod to the very enjoyable humor comic "Fin Fang Four." My only criticism here is that part of me always hoped that the Fin Fang Four was by some miracle in-continuity and would eventually be revealed to be so. Oh well, makes a great gag anyway! Getting to the book, I'm going to start with a brief synopsis and then jump into the review so…
SPOILERS!!!Synopsis:The book opens by picking up with the swarm of attacking Brood/Annihilation Wave-esque creatures descending on New York City. After making sure the kids of the Future Foundation are secure, the Fantastic Four jumps into action to take on the horde. Franklin has noted and Reed confirms that the creatures come from the pocket universe (Franklin-verse) created by Franklin during Marvel's "Heroes Reborn" crossover/reboot/event thing… Next come scenes of Marvel heroes attempting to minimize the damage and subdue the swarm. The problem is solved though when Johnny Storm stuns a creature so that Reed Richards can take it back to the Baxter Building for study. In almost no time flat, Reed has put together a doohickey that Johnny flies into the sky and activates with his flame. This does neutralize the monsters but Johnny has apparently lost his powers. The Good: Let me just start with the art. I give a lot of credit to Leonard Kirk. He's drawing a great book and I'm very much enjoying what he is bringing to the table. Pages feel full and active, characters are drawn well and expressively, and as I said before I very much appreciate that he isn't afraid to make use of more traditionally paneled pages. When I'm reading a comic, I want it to feel like a comic (if that makes sense) and seeing some familiar panel structuring is very helpful with that. The coloring by Jesus Aburtov is top notch as well. While I was sorry to see that Paul Mounts would no longer be series colorist, I believe that it is safe to say that Marvel has found a worthy successor. Visually, I'm loving the total package here and that includes the new Fantasticar design. It's a slick new look that is still reminiscent of Fantasticars past and I hope it sticks around a while. That isn't to say though that I'll ever complain about a reappearance of the flying bathtub model. Plotwise, I'm definitely intrigued. As with the nod to the "Age of Monsters" and the Fin Fang Four, I very much appreciate Robinson's incorporation of the Franklin-verse as a plot element here. While I have mixed feelings about the "Heroes Reborn" experiment, it largely constitutes a fond memory and I do find myself being drawn into this mystery of what has happened to cause the Franklin-verse to spill monsters into the main Marvel U. I'm even more drawn in by the fact that Reed seems to imply a connection between the Franklin-verse monsters and Fin Fang Foom's rampage. Given the fact that these took place between two different universes, we seem to be treading very deep waters here.
In terms of characterization, there are a number of good points here. I very much appreciate that Johnny is shown to be capable of serious, level-headed action. After the release of the bugs, he's at the Baxter Building in a flash with a situation report delivered in all seriousness. Reed's voice is captured very well too. His theorizing and intellectualizing is very much in character, and gives the reader needed plot details. One might suggest that Reed should have learned his lesson about building portals to other dimensions (the bugs apparently breaking through one he created in the Baxter Building to access the Franklin-verse for study purposes), but he is a scientist and the Fantastic Four are explorers. The day Reed stops building dangerous portals is the day the team has retired or Doctor Doom rules the earth. For the little he says in this issue, Ben Grimm is still written perfectly and Sue is largely where she needs to be as well. I also compliment Robinson on providing an opportunity to showcase a number of different heroes, including Giant Man, Daredevil, Captain America, Wolverine, and Luke Cage, fighting the swarm of creatures attacking the city. I also applaud Kirk for rendering them so well. Another point in the team's favor is the appearance of a classic-style H.E.R.B.I.E. robot in one panel. The Bad: The biggest issue here is the depiction of Johnny Storm losing his powers. On the one hand, I applaud Robinson for showing that he has no hesitation in taking Reed's device and deploying it despite Reed's warning of potential side effects. It has shades of the excellent Fantastic Four #5AU by Matt Fraction and Andre Araujo where Johnny explicitly states his willingness to die for the team and lack of fear of death given his experience in the Negative Zone at Annihilus' hands. Part of me just wishes that was made more explicit here. On the other hand, I feel as though this power loss comes out of nowhere or has too little build. Reed's doohickey comes out of nowhere, Johnny flies into the sky, bright flash, and presto! no powers. It feels a bit like Robinson is simply checking off a plot point that he needs to establish to make the later issues of his run work. There isn't really a build to this event and it might have worked better if Johnny were more of a focus in the issue rather than sticking almost entirely with Reed's perspective. I'm reminded of Fantastic Four #322 where Johnny's eventual power issues are the result of a tense and climactic standoff with Graviton which adds weight to the whole proceeding and makes it about Johnny rather than just introducing a plot point to be explored later.
Also, I take issue with Johnny shedding his single tear in the last panel of the comic. It's a cliché with its own page on TV Tropes and has little to no place being in a serious work of fiction in this day and age. On top of that, the Fantastic Four losing or having issues with their powers is something that happens with such regularity one can practically set their clocks by it. That's even without mentioning that it happened in the very last arc of the comic. Johnny should not be this upset until it has been established that this really is a major problem with no quick fix. Part of this goes to the point that Johnny is often not treated as possessing the level of maturity that he should have developed by this point in his life given his past experiences. The man experienced his own death and has lost his powers multiple times. I simply find it hard to believe that his sense of identity would be so indelibly wrapped up in his super powers that he would shed this clichéd tear. Another issue comes at the beginning of the comic in Sue's framing narration. This is a relatively minor point, but I question Robinson's choice of the Daily Bugle christening the Fantastic Four's eventual demise as "The Fall of Camelot." Perhaps it's just me, but the term "Camelot" in anything other than an Arthurian context is tied to President John F. Kennedy. In fact, this may be an intentional association on Robinson's part. However, in that light, the use of the term seems to be comparing the Fantastic Four's fall from favor with the Kennedy Assassination specifically. As with all reviews and associations, this may be highly subjective so I don't want to criticize Robinson too heavily but I can't help shaking the feeling that this reference is made in slightly poor taste. The Fantastic Four may be important to the Marvel U but evoking the Kennedy Assassination may be going too far. I also have a few minor gripes about word choice from the various characters where they seem to be speaking with something other than their genuine voices. Sue early in the comic describes herself as "frantic" in her concern for the children following the creature-releasing explosion at the Baxter. Given her background and experience, I sincerely doubt that Sue was "frantic" or would apply the term to herself as it implies fear or anxiety to the point of a loss of faculties. Sue is a tough cookie, she knows it, and I would hate to lose sight of that. Additionally, Franklin is a bit young to be articulating the phrase "a moment ago" in a crisis. Finally, and recognizing that this is incredibly nitpicky, I don't believe that Johnny would refer to Reed as "brother." "Bro" or "brother-in-law" perhaps but there is something about "brother" that rings false. As I recall, "brother-in-law" has been used numerous times in the past.
While the art is top notch, it is not without minor faults. Early in the comic following the Baxter's explosion we see Ben Grimm getting doused with water and remarking, "Typical. Just got home 'n' this happens. Course MY room's gotta be where tha' water pipes burst." I question Kirk's decision to have Ben largely in shadow with his head down. It suggests that he is depressed or being a supreme sad sack at this moment. I wouldn't be surprised if Robinson had intended this moment to be played for laughs to lighten the moment but the art does not support this reading. Considering that Ben just reconciled with Alicia (or at least took a significant step in that direction) in the last issue, I should think he would be taking this in stride. Also on the art side, Kirk needs to work on his low-angle close-ups of Franklin Richards as to date they look off. It's less of a problem in this issue than the last but there is still something indefinably awkward about his rendering of this character at this angle. Finally, there is an image of Ben Grimm fighting the creatures late in the comic where his face seems off-model from the rest of Kirk's depictions thus far. It's a minor change but it does appear perhaps slightly more cartoonish than he has drawn elsewhere. The Questionable: Where we talk about things that are neither good nor necessarily bad, but at least are a little head-scratching. Still no explanation for the red costumes. Rather than wasting two pages for a blank void with the title and credits, at least we're only wasting one now. I contend that we do not need a recap page AND an otherwise blank title page. This time, this page could have been used to:
- Give the Johnny Storm, the Human Torch more space to demonstrate his character and add weight and depth to the loss of his powers. Perhaps some panels could have been added with interior monologue as he prepared to deploy Reed's device. Perhaps we could have seen him in some sort of physical pain immediately following its deployment.
- Show Doctor Doom making French toast.
I would just like to end this section by making a general comment about fights in superhero comics these days. It seems that rather than depicting an actual exchange of blows and powers, modern comics are content to settle for large panels and splash pages showing discrete moments in a fight. Here we had guest heroes punching the bad guys so this is less of a problem as there wasn't really space to depict a protracted altercation and it didn't really have the focus on a single character or small group that would allow for that kind of detail, but it's still something I would have liked to see. Consider this more of a general note for the future. It is nice to see actual fight choreography and it seems to me that it rarely happens these days. Showing a snapshot(s) all of the characters in action or that one epic finishing punch is great, but I want to be drawn in to the larger confrontation and see how it actually plays out. Conclusion: It feels as though we are still in setup mode here but there is still a lot of promise. As we move forward, I have hopes that Robinson will find the characters' voices more surely and that the plot points he is establishing here will pay off to great effect. Kirk's art and Aburtov's coloring have been great, and I'm definitely looking forward to more from them. This was a largely satisfying issue with a defined arc and it was a worthwhile read. While this arc has not yet reached "fantastic" levels, it's still a very good one with some great ideas in play. More please!
