Review: Fantastic Four #1

So, last week saw the release of the comic book I was both eagerly anticipating and fearing in equal amounts. Fantastic Four #1 is the first issue under the new creative team of the great James Robinson (who kicked off Earth 2, which is an awesome series) and Leonard Kirk (who drew Captain Britain and MI:13, which is also an awesome series) and is also the issue that would make or break my Fantastic four collection (which is 10 years worth of comic books, god bless ebay).

Fantastic Four #1

If it was good, this issue might make up for the previous (poor) run. If it wasn't, well, I'd rather not think about that.

The story is told from the hindsight perspective of the Invisible Woman, who sombre from an unrevealed tradegy that will befall Marvel's first family, begins the story with a fight against Fin Fang Foom (wow, this character DOES still get used). Upon defeating him with some fancy tech (as only the FF can do), life seems to return to normal within the Baxter Building until a portal in Reed's lab activates and a horde of monsters escape it.

Now, overall, this may not seem like too thrilling an issue and, in terms of set pieces, it is not. This is more of a setup issue that is used to give readers the lay of the land. However, whether despite of or because of this, this issue read fantastically. It's a fun book (which is what a fantastic four comic should be), helped by nice cameos by the future foundation kids. Rooinson seems to have picked up the personalities of the characters beautifully.

And speaking of beautiful, how great to see Leonard Kirk's art again!!! I remember how great it was to look at the panels in Captain Britain and it's just as great looking at these. Kirk seems to have shown a great understanding of what these characters look like, giving me reminiscient feelings of the character art from Mark Waid's run. Also, the art is consistent and greatly enhanced by the added colours.

Now, yes, this issue is a tad quiet for an action comic, and maybe I'm allowing my love of the characters to influence my opinion, but to me there is no flaw with this book (well, maybe the red costumes, but I can live with that). It's a gorgeous book which was an entertaining read and left me with enough questions to want to come back for more. That's all you can ask for to come back, and if the action ramps up any then it'll just be a bonus to what is already great. I think the bad taste of the last run, looks set to be washed away.