When read without any expectations, Fantastic Four #1 is an outstandingly sweet superhero story filled with warmth, creativity, and cleverness. However, the newest issue #1 of Stan and Jack’s foundational series is the last debut to appear without expectations. That’s bound to leave readers, myself included, torn between the quality of comics displayed and the entirely unfulfilled promise of this title and cover. The return of Marvel’s first family doesn’t feature that family, instead opting to tell a bit of prologue focused upon the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing and his wife Alicia Masters-Grimm.
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What is contained in this issue is a Groundhog Day scenario that intersects with the superhero genre, but exists within the whimsically thoughtful tone of the classic Harold Ramis film. There is some action, but violence is a temporary distraction at most. Instead, this story emphasizes relationships and problem-solving that reads more like magical-realism than anything else.
That alone is sufficient to sell me on the series to come because it embraces the oft-spoken, but rarely-followed maxim that the Fantastic Four are not superheroes. Experiencing this minor adventure alongside Ben and Alicia presents readers with a caring family of adventurers open to the unknown. And the fashion in which their unexpected couples’ retreat is told is sincerely impressive.
Artist Iban Coello is a perfect fit for the concepts and tone in Fantastic Four #1. His vision of The Thing captures the character’s iconic nature and makes the “monster with a heart of gold” brilliantly expressive. That emotionality extends throughout the entire cast – allowing a town to quickly come to life with humor and nuance. What’s more is the impressive construction of post-War America as a well-researched and intriguing setting. While the town this issue centers upon is the definition of “small,” Coello’s eye for detail and presentation of a different era proves nearly as interesting as expeditions to the Negative Zone. These depictions benefit tremendously from Jesus Aburtov’s color work, which provides a clear sense of mood in a rapidly evolving narrative focused upon relationships.
Coello experiments with layouts in order to play with the cyclical nature of time in this story with panels extending beyond the bleed to extend the timeline itself. It’s a single effect that provides a tremendous payoff by the story’s end and suggests that the creators behind Fantastic Four are just as interested in playing with the form as the characters within it.
Writer Ryan North’s depiction of familiar heroes Ben and Alicia is just as reassuring. This issue returns to some key notes for each character, but still finds a way to make Ben’s struggle with his “monstrous appearance” natural despite decades of stories celebrating him as a hero at peace with his status. These are familiar individuals who play upon their history naturally to evoke largely modern visions of both.
The townsfolk surrounding them provide much less depth, but undergo a number of brief arcs with both humorous and heartwarming effects. However, certain segments of dialogue bear the clear mark of a writer expressing their own intent. Modern language and understandings make some of the later dialogue in the issue sound didactic – instructing readers on how to address romantic grief.
Throughout all of this, readers are left to wonder where the Fantastic Four are in Fantastic Four #1; they do not receive a satisfying answer. The family is only referenced in the final pair of pages with readers left to contemplate a cliffhanger lacking any notable context. As a result the issue reads like the obnoxiously numbered #0 or #-1 issues that Marvel loves to print, framing Fantastic Four #1 as the prologue to North and Coello’s first Fantastic Four story.
Given the marketing surrounding this title and the implicit promise of the title—Fantastic Four #1—it’s impossible to deny that this story serves as a bait-and-switch. It provides a sincere and wonderfully crafted thesis that contains much of what’s admirable about this specific franchise, embracing exploration and wonder over violent superhero antics, yet it lacks the subjects of its title. That decision may prove only a minor distraction in the long run, especially given how well this creative team grasps how to tell a story about The Thing, but readers will be left to wonder how they might tell a Fantastic Four tale.
Published by Marvel Comics
On November 9, 2022
Written by Ryan North
Art by Iban Coello
Colors by Jesus Aburtov
Letters by Joe Caramagna
Cover by Alex Ross
