Advance Review: Fantastic Four # 35 (Lgy 680)

The Fantastic Four will always have a place in my heart as it was one of the books, thanks to the Pocket series) that I would regularly mange to get. Thanks to those books I got the best comic education with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby which included the Inhumans, Silver Surfer, Galactus, and the Black Panther. From those halcyon days, Marvels first family has had probably more bad days than good, leading to the books hiatus from which they only recently returned. This is a 60th year anniversary issue, based on the date of the first issue rather than continuous publication. Therefore, we get an extended issue.

Following the aftermath of Doctor Doom’s wedding, Johnny is stuck in “Flame On” full power mode. Seems like a perfect time then for Kang and a quad of time travellers to instigate a horcrux type of quest throughout the history of the FF.

The main story is provided by Dan Slott who manages to weave in some tv series continuity to proceedings. When time travelling is involved it can (and it does) get a little complicated. Of course the time travel elements are only a means to an end as we get to see the FF at various point in their own timeline, minus Malice for some reason? Slott uses Johnny as a means to deconstruct the idea that Reed is the most brilliant mind on the planet; after all he has never managed to cure Ben, what chance has Johnny got. As Slott is applying physics when it comes to Johnny’s predicament, you would figure that if Johnny went to live in Atlantis he should be fine, but thats a solution for another day. The interaction between the extended family is fun enough. But with all the time shenanigans, I am afraid that I lost the plot and the will to persevere. Jason Loo drops a kid friendly remake of the first monster battle the team had. Mark Waid adds a surprisingly emotional revere of that fateful rocket ride and the now famous repercussions.

One of my favourite artists is back at Marvel; John Romita JR, an acquired taste for sone, never lets the side down. You may think that his style may not suit the cosmic scale, being more of a down to earth artist, but as Slott and Waid constantly remind us, the Fantastic Four is about family. Its the interactions between the group which Romita Jr. gets so right. Additionally, he does to have fun with Ben Grimm and the various iterations of Clobberin’ Time. Romita is helped out by a swathe of inkers including the likes of J.P. Mayer, Scott Hanna, Cam Smith Rafael Fonteriz and Mark Morales, each adding a different look to Romita Jr.’s pencils. Jason Loo’s art in the middle story is quaint for sure. However, its Paul Renaud who almost steals the show with an impressive homage like Adam Hughes faux style. Colrs are provided in the main story by Marte Gracia with Erick Arciniega; both do a great job making the chaos of time travelling pop. For the other stories, with no colorist credited, I am left to assume that Garcia and Archiniega did them or the respective artists. Finally, VC’s Joe Caramagna gets to charge double bubble for the extend page count. VC’s stable of letterers demonstrate quality in every issues; Caramagna is no exception with clear dialogue flow that never impacts the art.

Truth be told, I picked this up as I wanted to catch up on the Torch storyline. had I know it was a big time travel type of thing, I may have not bothered. But thats just me. The book demonstrates everything that fans of the Four enjoy; grandiose schemes, twists and turns and a fragile hero. Maybe its not the Fantastic I remember, buts it’s still a damn good read (no pun intended!)

Writing (Slott) – 3.5 Stars
Writing (Loo) – 3 Stars
Writitng (Waid) – 5 Stars

Art (Romita) – 4.5 Stars
Art (Loo) – 3 Stars
Art (Renaud)v- 4 Stars

Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 4 Stars

Written by; Dan Slott, Jason Loo & Mark Waid
Art by; John Romita JR., Jason Loo & Paul Renaud
Colors by; Marte Gracia & Archiniega
Letters by; VC’s Joe Caramagna
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network