Wait. Didn’t we just have a “Fantastic Four” #1? Relaunches are the name of the game in the current state of comics, but do James Robinson and Leonard Kirk do enough in their first issue to earn the fanfare?
It’s the pick of the week, ya dingus, let’s check it out.
Written by James Robinson
Illustrated by Leonard Kirk
Inked by Karl Kesel
Colors by Jesus Aburtov
Lettered by Clayton Cowles“THE FALL OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR” PART 1
The world’s greatest comics magazine begins anew with Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four! But as the brilliant MR. FANTASTIC, the compassionate INVISIBLE WOMAN, the ever lovin’ THING & the hot-headed HUMAN TORCH embark on a strange mission, they aren’t met with new beginnings, but an untimely end! As the family of cosmic explorers head towards their darkest hour, who could possibly be behind their downfall? And how is one of their oldest enemies, the sadistic dragon known as Fing-Fang-Foom involved? Prepare for the fantastic!
Matt Fraction’s tenure with the “Marvel’s First Family” certainly didn’t last long by Marvel’s recent standards of having writers take their properties on long, elaborate runs. By all reports, Fraction left by his own accord as his workload had become too unwieldily (hell, the man writes at least a half-dozen comics even without the FF and had been doing TV script-writing, as well as acting as a consultant for Chuck Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” comic follow-up). Still, whether he left the book on his terms or not, it was pretty clear that while “FF” was a gem, “Fantastic Four” wasn’t working, and the whole thing felt like it was destined to be a short stay. And that’s okay. After all, despite plenty of recent Marvel evidence to the contrary, Marvel and DC Comics history is full of a higher percentage of misfires and short stays. We tend to remember the longer runs, and those runs obviously tend to be of a higher quality.
That brings us to James Robinson – the last person we thought DC Comics would ever drive off into the arms of their competition. From an aesthetic and sales standpoint, relaunching with a new #1 is obviously a good idea. Collector types can grumble all they want, but when push comes to shove, they’re going to buy a new “Fantastic Four” #1. The question that we ask ourselves when this happens is, does the new #1 earn it? Is this is a creative team with a vision worth following?
The answer is that this first issue is as gorgeous and conceptually enticing as the first issue of Jonathan Hickman’s legendary modern run, without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As Robinson is wont to do, he’s clearly going to make thing very uncomfortable for our heroes pretty much right away. In the early moments of the issue, he teases the downfall of every member of the Fantastic Four – Leonard Kirk heartbreakingly depicts them at their lowest moments. If we’re to believe the pitch, Robinson has an all-encompassing arc in mind for his run, and we’ll see the rise and fall of the team, as well as each member facing their own troubles. All of that promise is present in this first issue.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, as first the team must face one of their greatest villains: Fin Fang Foom. It’s a classic image: Foom wrapping his draconic body around New York City skyscrapers, while each member of the team contributes to a clobberin’. It’s classic Lee & Kirby shenanigans, set against the modern status quo of the “Fantastic Four” and the weird extended family they’ve amassed (It’s good to see that they weren’t shoved into the background now that “FF” is over), with the promise of harrowing stakes we’ve never seen before. When Robinson says he wants his story to take bits and pieces from every major era of the title, he’s backing it up right here in the very first issue.
Something about Fin Fang Foom is different, and it’s puzzling Reed. Likewise, Sue is troubled by the absence of Valeria, who’s currently off in Lateveria. Ben and Johnny are off doing their own things, which involve the rekindling of past storylines. Ben has gone to see an old friend and Johnny has to see whether his music career is still popular with the kids these days. While the characters are hopeful about the way things are going, everything is filled with an air of dread thanks to Leonard Kirk’s artistic approach, which sets these all up as melancholic nods to days gone by, rather than true bridges to contentedness for our heroes.
Continued belowKirk adds his considerable talents to the time-honored sci-fi action tradition of “Fantastic Four.” The family battles Fin Fang Foom with the same dynamism and sense of grandeur that made the title so exciting to read with Jack Kirby on art. An impossibly massive creature in the center of NYC, with all 4 power sets of the Fantastic Four set against it, as people run in terror – it’s what you want from this title. Kirk provides exceptional money moments for each member of the team to get a turn to shine, most notable of all being Ben Grimm’s patented clobberin’ time.
But where Kirk’s approach is most impressive is in the calm before the storm, something vital to get right in an arc that telegraphs the idea that this is the downfall of the “Fantastic Four.” Even in moments that should be happy – like Ben’s aforementioned surprise visit to an old friend – there’s an inescapable feeling that happiness is fleeting. Kirk’s art and Aburtov’s twilight color palette bathe warm moments in foreboding. We know what’s coming, and it makes this all bittersweet. In comics, you never know what the future holds for an art team, but if Kirk is given the opportunity to depict the “rise” of the family again, he’s got the chops to make those moments feel triumphant and make good on all of this foreshadowing. The potential here is exciting, but it’s work-for-hire comics – one hopes that everyone involved is afforded the opportunity to pay it all off.
“Fantastic Four” #1 is something of a reset button for the characters, distilling them back to their most basic character traits and visual iconography. But in doing this, Robinson is careful to keep the threads going from Hickman-to-Fraction-to-now going. In that way, this really is “Fantastic Four for Dummies”, but modern too. Aside from Robinson’s typical two or three oddly-worded dialogue bits (anybody else notice these?), his opener on the title is as rich and balanced as his work has been since his renaissance with “The Shade” and “Earth 2.” Leonard Kirk provides an accomplished, dependable, and surprisingly melancholy take on the property. If their first issue is any indication, it stands to reason that the “Fantastic Four” relaunch couldn’t have come soon enough and fantastic adventure lies ahead.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
