Fantastic Four #16

I'll be honest here, this post shouldn't really exist!

 

After reading through last month's issue, I realised that I had become overly negative against the Fantastic Four comic. Now this wasn't deliberate but simply a case of frustration of how far (I felt) the title seemed to have fallen under it's current writer (the artists, on the other hand, were really wowing me).

 

Fantastic Four #16

As a result, I vowed that I wouldn't write anymore posts on this book which, upon re-reading, felt too negative on my part (I've got no problem with constructive critique, but I want to be writing about how much I love comics).

 

However, upon reading issue 16 last week (as of time of posting), while I did enjoy it more than I expected (Yes, I did enjoy it and, yes, I'm as surprised as anyone), I had a swirl of ideas about how it could have been better.

 

Now, I'm no writer (not a good one anyway) but I thought that instead of just being all down on the issue, I'd say what I liked, what I didn't and, of those latter points, what I would have done differently.

 

(So, constructive critique then?)

 

Izaakse's is just so moodily gorgeous.
Overseer kinda reminds me of
Annihilus with his outfit.

SO, anyway, this issue picked up from the last with the Four (told) still trapped on Spyre. Johnny takes the time to get to know his new 'wife' and how they are connected. Reed and Sue spend the issue trying to understand what is going on from the rather suspicious Overseer and Ben remains trapped in Lowtown (think Old New York from Futurama) facing off against the 500 monster army of Freak Alley and its leader, Scrum.

 

Like I said, I did enjoy this issue. It wasn't issue 10-14 great in my eyes but nor was it 15 awful either, giving me hope that the prior issue simply suffered from the problems all second parts of a 4 part story face.

 



Seeing Reed shaped as a glider is
awesome (but didn't Sue fly?)

Of course, this issue had as many flaws as it did benefits but, in this attempt to be more positive, I'm gonna focus on the good bits first and chief amongst them was the art (again). I really have loved Sean Izaakse art during this series, it's moody, it's rich, it's just so incredibly beautifiul to look at issue in, issue out. If this guy (and Paco Medina) stay on this book forever I would not have a problem with this!! Then there is the Thing's story in this arc, which I found to be as inspiring as hell here as we got to see him not only show off his heart and fighting spirit (again), but also his speech toward the end to show just how far the character has come in the last nearly 60 years (during a Twist I didn't see coming). I've said it before and I'll say it again, Slott pulls off Ben's voice perfectly and he sounds accurate in my head as I read his dialogue, especially when he's describing Alicia in this issue which is Fantastic (pardon the pun). I've said so many times that I dislike the skewed focus Ben is getting in this run but, when things are evened out a little, Ben's a really cool character to follow.



However, that is where my good points end, for while the issue did feel much more evenly split between the four than the last issue (or even most of the run), Johnny, Sue and Reed just felt totally 'off' when compared to the Ever Loving Blue Eyed Thing. Now, in fairness, many of these problems I saw were mostly just me nit-picking. However, you notice things when you are invested in characters (right?).

 

As such, here's what I struggled with (as well as what I'd have done instead):

• The Johnny/sky dynamic in this issue felt really wooden/forced, with the characters seemingly having no connection as I read their scenes. What I hope is that we discover this is because their 'connection' was faked by the Overseer for some nefarious purpose.
• When Reed discussed (briefly) the armbands, I felt he would have spoken with more scientific interest in his dialogue. While I know it's always been a thing, I've always considered that Reed rarely gives Namor a second thought.

• 

  When you need to reach your friends,
  the classic signals are the best!

  I felt more focus should have gone on Reed's guilt from the discovery that Spyrian citizen's suffered because of him. Reed has always felt guilty about and, while he may of accepted it to a degree, the revelation of further fault would have thrown him off his game more than what we saw (although, it would have been cool to have him realise the Overseer's 'secret' as he dwelled on this revelation).
• While I absolutely loved the wacky image of Reed as a glider, it would have been nice to have a legit reason why Sue wasn't doing the flying. Maybe it was so she could focus on their defence from the solar unparralled. Speaking of Sue.....
• The formation of the team symbol should have been Sue's idea. While Reed is the leader and a smart guy, Sue's deferring to him constantly really undersell her own character. So, doing this would have helped in depicting her better.
• I feel that the Reed/Sue scenes where they subsequently learn the truth and escape shouldn't have been one whole scene and broken up with other pages. Doing this would have made for a better flow for that scene (in my opinion).

Ben looks to be leading a
revolt (who would've
guessed?)

Now, like I said before, this is me kind of just nit-picking and even if these were legit problems as realised by someone who knows what they are talking about, they'd probably have much better solutions than me.

Also, this isn't a terrible issue it's just that, to me, a lot of it feels 'off' and not the Fantastic Four as I know them. Now, I'm not going to say that despite its flaws in cautiously optimistic about the series going forward because I feel I know better. I'm at a place where I'm genuinely wondering if I should drop this series (which, given my commitment to the FF so far, I think emphasises my feelings) but, for now, I'm intrigued to see how this ends because, while some of my prior predictions look set to come true, it appears that something is going to happen which I didn't expect like. 

In the meantime, I just hope that FF Negative Zone one-shot gives me a Fantastic Four team which feels more like I know them.