Advance Review: Fantastic Four Reckoning War Alpha #1

I am not sure if I have mentioned this in a review, but I am a big Babylon 5 five. I love he grandeur, the opera of it all, the long winded explanations of show not tell and of course the lynchpin of it all the crew of the station itself. I am not quite sure why i bring this up now.

As the Darkhold event ends, up steps Marvel’s next semi big thing. The Reckoning War kicks off in this Alpha issue. In true art imitating art style, certain actions and discoveries lead to the moon being blown-up. I am sure that there is a movie kicking around about now. Anyways, this causes the heroes of New York to assemble with the Fantastic Four taking point in a kind of cosmic why and whodunit as an ancient alien enemy starts making trouble in the universe.

Dan Slott has a load of fans. For me, some elements of his FF run have been good where others feel like treading water. Here, this tour de force is weighed down by a ton of exposition, both in the setup and the dialogue. It is writing by the numbers, how else do you explain Rogue having to hero-splain the Human Torches current inferno status; there is the question of how do she know given that humans and mutants aren’t exactly on the best of terms. Plot-wise, Slot’s writing demonstrates obvious Babylon tendencies as does the aforementioned dialogue style. To be honest, I felt a little insulted by it; I understand that Slott has to bring new readers up to speed, but surely there is a way to do it without excluding current fans.

Art is provided by Carlos Pacheco with Rafael Fonteriz and Carlos Magno. The team do a pretty good job, though it does seems that Pacheco enjoys drawing some characters over others. For example, his Spider-Man is a bit wonky for my tastes, however the main heors of the piece, the Fantastic Four are well represented. The action scenes are pacy, yet the crux of the story way well hang on the Silver Surfer pages. It’s here that the art, and the colors from Guru-eFX, really shines with depth of space. The rest of the scheme is on par with Marvel’s current style or scheme. Letters are provided by VC’s Joe Caramagna, who handles the large amount of dialogue well, not letting the sheer verbiage impact the art. There are a few covers to choose from, it’s really buyers choice.

An ancient enemy, returning as foretold to threaten the universe does sound awfully familiar. “The year is 2022; the name of the place Fantastic Four Reckoning War Alpha”.

Writing – 2.5 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Dan Slott
Art by; Carlos Pacheco, Rafeal Fonteriz and Carlos Magno
Colors by; Guru-eFX
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