Review: FF # 22 - You are whatever you want to be

After a few weeks of waiting, issue 22 of FF was finally released, allowing me to finish reading this final story about the the Wizard and his "son", Bentley 23 of the Future Foundation.

However, unlike what I was expecting (a continuation of the last Fantastic Four issue), here we saw a story which moved concurrently with part 1 of this tale, occasionally crossing paths with it's big sister title. This side of the story focused more on Bentley 23, who has been dragged away from the Baxter Building by Val Richards to follow the first family to Barbuda in order to get to the Wizard before he escapes. This story then continues until it reaches Bentley's showdown with "father" in the prison cell as depicted previously.

In all honesty, this is a really sweet issue. It's a quaint story that not only focuses on one of Hickman's own additions to the lore of the Fantastic Four, but also focuses on the writers opinion to the answer "What makes you who you are? Nature or Nurture?" However, this is very quiet for a Jonathan Hickman book for my liking and a little bit short, although I think this may have something to do with many action scenes having already been seen previously. I liked this novel way of having a cross-over, but it just didn't feel as action packed. Despite this this issue held a lot of emotion and I really enjoyed it for that and the journey that Bentley 23 has finally concluded (after it started all the way at the start, remember?).

The main problem with this issue could be the art.Andre Araujo creates some beautiful panels and Cris Peter provides very fitting colors, but Araujo looks to struggle with realistic faces, which is a little off-putting. Despite that, he still puts in a good attempt as many of the set pieces have already been shown in the related Fantastic four issue, though with these Araujo is creative enough to put a new spin on them

I had expected an end where young Bentley becomes the new Wizard, which would be in keeping with Hickman's recent stories which appeared to have undone all his work to return things to the status quo. However, I'm pleasantly surprised and fully enjoyed the resolution. With one issue left before Hickman's tenure ends, I certainly can't wait to see how this book finishes it's term.