The Official Fantastic Four Thread

[Anubis]

That looks freakin' awesome.

He writes a good Sue.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I love this book so damn much :heart:

 

[Punisher RULES]

2 Questions for the FF nuts.

1. I'm buying the Hickman FF HC next week. I've never read anything by him (minus the List SW one shot) and I'm buying it without really knowing much. What should I expect?

2. In Ultimate FF#7, when the flashback of the transformation is shown, why the hell is Man-Thing in that group shot?

 

[Manic]

The only previous thing I'd read by Hickman was Nightly News, which was simply amazing, but more of a social commentary collage than a sci-fi tale.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I read Pax Romana's first issue and found it incredibly heavy-handed and boring. It wasn't really a comic, though, it was mostly just text printed over full-page images.

But Hickman's doing a great and far less experimental job on Fantastic Four so far.

 

[Texas]

I read Pax Romana's first issue and found it incredibly heavy-handed and boring. It wasn't really a comic, though, it was mostly just text printed over full-page images.

But Hickman's doing a great and far less experimental job on Fantastic Four so far.

If you haven't already, check out his Secret Warriors. I've read the first two trades and find it an enjoyable read

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I read a few issues, dropped it because the HYDRA/SHIELD retcon was mind-bogglingly stupid, then read the "God of Fear/God of War" arc because of Ares. It's gotten better, but I still wasn't really that interested. If the focus shifted more to Fury and the Howling Commandos PMC, I might stick with it. But I'm not particularly interested in the Caterpillar squad.

 

[NightBeetle]

First Look: Fantastic Four #577

Courtesy of Marvel Comics, CBR presents an exclusive First Look at this Dale Eaglesham splash page from this month's "Fantastic Four" #577 depicting the royal family of the Inhumans in their one-time home in the Blue Area of the moon. No further information accompanied the piece.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Who's Floaty McFloaterpants up there?

 

[Anubis]

That's High Priest FLoaty McFloaterpants.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

More preview pages of Floaty McFloaterpants Monthly the upcoming Inhumans-centric issue of FF.

 

[NightBeetle]

FANTASTIC FOUR #580
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Penciled by NEIL EDWARDS
Cover by ALAN DAVIS
THE HEROIC AGE IS HERE!
A giant toy store full of deadly videogame kids and killer Legos. An underground labyrinth inhabited by needy Swedish nannies. The Impossible Man. Arcade. And a babysitter named Johnny Storm...Enter the Frank-tastic Four.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99

FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #32
Written by JOE AHEARNE
Pencils & Cover by BRYAN HITCH
When Reed and Sue became parents it changed the Fantastic Four forever. What happens when Johnny Storm finds out he's going to become a dad? Especially as he has no recollection of the night in question. Turns out the truth lies within Johnny as the rest of the FF shrinks down inside the Human Torch where they find a trap laid by one of their most powerful enemies. How can Reed, Sue and Ben cut loose to win the battle without hurting Johnny? And how can Johnny defend himself from an outside threat without flaming on and killing his friends inside him? A wild journey into fatherhood and inside Johnny Storm!
48 PGS./Rated A ...$3.99

 

[NightBeetle]

Fantastic Four #577 Preview

March 25, 2010 -
Fantastic Four #577
Written by: Jonathan Hickman
Art by: Dale Eaglesham
Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 31, 2010

On the Blue Area of the Moon, the Fantastic Four discover that the history of the Inhumans runs much deeper, and richer, than previously believed. It's big adventure on a cosmic scale, its Prime Elements part three: Universal Inhumans!

- Marvel

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Ah-ha, so Señor McFloatypants is some heretofore unknown Inhuman called the Wayfinder... whose purpose is ironically to stay behind while the Inhumans traveled elsewhere...

 

[Franklin Richards]

That is one good lookin' Black Bolt. And Medusa doesn't look as *****y.

Great art, Eagle!

 

[Franklin Richards]

This tweet is for you, Corp.

JHickman Yes, it's true. This is the issue of FF where they get their sleeves back. I'm also drinking a Red Rock strawberry soda

.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I just read the issue, in fact. Sleeves > arms.

 

[Dread]

Repost of my Examiner review, with spoilers:

Book Of The Week - FANTASTIC FOUR #577 (Marvel Comics)

This is a slow week for this Examiner's pull list (only two books, and next week may be just as slow), but in a way this is a good thing. It is about time the Johnathan Hickman/Dale Eaglesham run on FANTASTIC FOUR got the attention it deserves. Often, every week an issue comes out, other comics come out that manage to out do it in the "awesome" factor. It often is months between official reviews here. This week, it stands alone on top, and it certainly is a run that deserves attention. This isn't a run that is tying into a line wide crossover, much as the runs of J. M. Stracynski and Dwayne McDuffie were. Nor it is a run where the star power of the creator team is superior than the actual story itself, much as the prior run with Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch (until the last two issues) were. And those three creative teams take us back to 2006 on this title. Hickman and Eaglesham were coming off of JSA for DC Comics before landing this, which is a big book for DC but nowhere near as hot as, say, GREEN LANTERN is now. Unlike even INCREDIBLE HULK, AVENGERS, SPIDER-MAN, WOLVERINE, X-MEN, or even DEADPOOL, the FANTASTIC FOUR remain a franchise in which they only have one main title. Perhaps this is due to sales on spin off title attempts always falling quickly (THE THING in 2006-2007 only lasted about eight issues), but it gives the Four an exclusive quality that is rare in big two books today. Even Image's INVINCIBLE is making slow steps to branch off into spin off series. The other critical aspect to the Hickman written run is his approach to the characters. He doesn't try to go crazy on the "weirdness" to them, nor does he try to top himself with endless one liners or explosions. He has gone back to basics with the Four, in a method that hasn't been as effective since the Mark Waid/Mike Wieringo run earlier in the decade. The Fantastic Four are a family of experienced super heroes, but what they do best is explore strange new realms or meet exciting new aliens; they have been doing this before STAR TREK made such things mainstream. For the past few issues, Hickman has chosen to expand upon the Marvel universe and, while tying into past adventures and travels involving the Four, expands upon this. Last issue, the Four discovered "The Lost Tribe of Atlantis", which expanded on the underwater humanoid species of Marvel to include more than just the blue skinned "homo mermani" of Namor the Sub Mariner's tales (www.examiner.com/x-19829-Brooklyn-Comic-Books-Examiner~y2010m2d25-Picks-Of-Comic-Book-Week-for-22410). The issue before that, the Four discovered a new underground city left over from the High Evolutionary full of "Evolved Moloids" that has risen to the surface (www.examiner.com/x-19829-Brooklyn-Comic-Books-Examiner~y2010m1d27-Picks-of-Comic-Book-Day--12710). While this is part of a "Four Kingdoms" arc, each issue has stood alone for months now, to be picked up and read by any casual fan who has maybe seen a Four movie or cartoon.

This month, after expanding on Silver Age adventures with the Mole Man or Sub Mariner, Hickman and Eaglesham expand on the Inhumans. Out of many former Four franchise characters, they have remained a property of their own the longest (aside for Silver Surfer, who had his own series until the start of the new century). Hickman even writes this tale in a way that acknowledges that the Inhumans themselves have left "the blue area of the moon" to be in Kree space for years now (WAR OF KINGS and all; see below). And as Hickman goes about on his exploration and expansion stories, he continues to handle the Four perfectly. Reed is the leader, ever intelligent and curious. Susan is his deputy leader and what she may lack in sheer book smarts she makes up for with heart and intuition. The Thing is their working class bruiser and while Johnny Storm is the light hearted, wise cracking one, Hickman does not write him as an inexperienced idiot with borderline ADHD, as some writers tend to.

Spoiler

Upon seeing a space craft land on the moon, the Four naturally go up to investigate (as they are often Earth's first line of defense, or diplomacy, to new alien races). They discover Dal Damac, an Inhuman with an ability similar to that of Invisible Woman (at least the force field part) who has remained on the moon for Black Bolt to summon and welcome the other races of Inhumans. Apparently, ancient man on Earth was not the only species that the Kree experimented on to create "Inhumans" thousands of years earlier, but on other alien races within the galaxy. Now they are all meeting in a council to await the return of Black Bolt from Hala, the Kree home world, before planning to settle on Earth. This includes alien races that have come up in Marvel Comics before that now have a clearer origin; the Dire Wraiths (off shoots of the Skrulls who were supposedly "magical"), the Alpha Centurions (familiar to anyone who knows Yondu from the original GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY), and the Kymellians (the horse headed aliens who empowered and often interacted with POWER PACK). There also are the reptile like Moords, ruled by a Badoon Queen (interesting because the Badoon supposedly hid all their women on their home world while the men spent their time being nasty space invaders). Speaking of the POWER PACK, several issues ago during Franklin's birthday party, wasn't Alex Power invited to remain more involved with the team by Reed? And now the Kymellians are coming in? See how Hickman is assembling his bricks?

As usual, the artwork by Eaglesham, alongside colors by Paul Mounts, is exceptional. It is detailed enough to handle things like space suits, space ships, and diverse aliens with complexity without the details distracting the eye and being hard to follow. All that plus a maintained letters page, something that is also becoming a lost art in mainstream comics these days (due to the whole Internet thing). And all for a price that remains $2.99! While sales for the Four, even with Mark Millar as writer, always seem to drift to "mid card" level, hovering around the Top 40-50 sellers list regardless of whether it is a good or bad month for direct market sales, this is good because if the Four sold better, the core book would be $3.99, it would have at least 1-4 spin off titles featuring every member doing needless things, and the brand would be diluted and lose value. In such a way fans of some franchises should be grateful that they sell more than well enough to continue, but too low for them to be "spammed" like the X-Men, Spider-Man, Avengers, or so on. Much the same way sports fans whose local team makes the playoffs are rewarded with later games with higher ticket prices, but that is a digression. The Fantastic Four fill a niche for sci fi exploration adventures better than any other franchise, and this is run that is playing that to the hilt. While those who enjoy the "celebrity super hero" aspect of the Four may miss that, or the lack of action in some of these issues, they end up bringing genuine contributions to the universe that a simple slug fest and pithy dialog alone cannot. It is not to be missed.

 

[SpideyInATree]

My friend at the comic shop told me to start reading Fantastic Four. When I saw Dale Eaglesham was doing the artwork I grabbed it quickly. I have to say that Hickman really hooked me and I've started grabbing this book monthly. It's the first time I've been reading Fantastic Four on a monthly basis. Freakin' amazing!

Man, Dale Eaglesham should just draw everything!

However, I'm bummed to see that # 580 won't be drawn by him.

 

[Dread]

Eaglesham needs a break every 3 issues; at least on FF. That usually has been the routine.

I do agree, though, he is exceptional.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Ok. Been avoiding spoilers all week because I just got the mag today. Along with GL and Blackest Night but I digress. Anywho...


Loved it.

Is Eaglesham still not using an inker? Great stuff.


*SPOILERS AHEAD*



Ok. We got the 4 new races of Inhumans. Dire Wraiths, Badoon, Centaurian, and the Horse People from Power Pack.

Awesome.

Haven't seen the Wraiths since ROM. Have they been in the Space Books? I musta missed 'em. I thought there was a license problem or something.

Centaurians always remind me of that archer guy from the Original Guardians of the Galaxy but I also remember them some during the Nova stuff in Annihilation. Anywho, good to see them again.

Badoon. Nice. They've always seemed to be in a "cocoon" mode. Always gathering in the darkness waiting for the time to strike. With a squad of Inhumans they just might finally emerge. Haven't really heard alot about them from the Space Books. But then I'm always catching up with them.

Horse People from Power Pack. NICE!!! Now the question is will we get a new Smart Ship outta the deal? What was the name of that thing? Great to see them. Weren't they destroyed or something in the final days of the mag? Or was it that our guy was just exiled or something. heh... like the way my mind vomits onto the pages for you to read?

Sorry gang.



As for the issue. Another fine delivery from the boys. Now on to the filler issues. But don't miss those guys because even during the Waid years our fillers were things like Authoritative Action which was pretty badass and set things right with the ones pissed over Doom's transformation during Unthinkable. These issues could be nice.

I'm kinda tired of Davis' covers though. I'm not really impressed. Let Eaglesham do them. Or a cover superstar.


Alright. Later guys.

 

[Dread]

I thought the impression was the reptile race was called "the Moords" and they were represented by a Badoon Queen, which is a big deal since the Badoon have usually banished all of their women to their home world while the men go off and make war. The other races, though, were clearly stated.

I don't mind the Alan Davis covers. Eaglesham can barely handle more than 3 issues at a time even without drawing covers; I doubt he could handle covers too.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Maybe Copiel should just stick to covers for awhile. I wouldn't mind seeing his version of the FF.


Moords eh? Hmmmm. Now I need another reading. I guess I saw Badoon and just filled in the blanks in my head.

 

[Duneboy]

anyone ever read the the ff 'heroes reborn' series? Just picked up the tpb.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Sure. It was alot better than Ultimate FF if you ask me. Nice work by Jim Lee too. That reminds me, I miss Wyatt Wingfoot.