Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman vol. 4

Here’s some free advice to Marvel:  When you’re collecting a story that includes the much-hyped death of a major character and want it to remain a surprise for those who haven’t had it spoiled for them, DON’T include a quote on the back that gives it away.  Great job with that.  As for the volume itself, there’s a lot to like about the way that it takes several long-running plot threads and brings them all to the boiling point at the same time.  This is a game-changing moment in Hickman’s run, and it would’ve been all the better if the art had been able to do the story the justice it deserved.

Things start off with the title characters negotiating a border dispute (with their fists!) between the inhabitants of the former city of the High Evolutionary and then having more complications heaped on their plate from there.  Sue gets called off to act as an ambassador between Namor’s Atlanteans and the Ancients, Reed has to explain the death of future Galactus to the present one and gets carted off to Nu-Earth to save its inhabitants, and Johnny, Ben and the Future Foundation kids have to stave off a new Annihilation Wave that plans to use the Baxter Building as its point of origin onto Earth.  The best thing about all of these crises is that Hickman escalates them properly.  Things don’t go from zero to crazy in the space of an issue, but they slowly build until each situation reaches critical mass.  It works out even better if you don’t know who is going to die beforehand since each situation is bad enough for it to be anyone.

That’s not all he does here.  Hickman also makes time for the characters so that you’re fully invested in what’s going to happen to them.  Seeing Ben’s night on the town after he becomes human again was a lot of fun and you wind up hoping that he doesn’t bite it in the end.  We’re also treated to some fun, throwaway, bits like the new Yancy Street Gang being made up of failed dot-com-er’s, and ex-Wall Street traders, and seeing the mole-children try to negotiate their way out of being devoured by Annihilus’ forces.  Yes, the focus may be on who will die, but there’s plenty to like about the living here.

Now I’ve said before that Hickman is a writer who thinks big, and the Fantastic Four thrive on those kind of ideas.  In order to do these things justice, you need an artist who is capable of delivering epic action like Bryan Hitch, or who can deliver scenes that crackle with energy and a willingness to draw anything, like Stuart Immonen.  The main artist here, Steve Epting, can certainly draw what is being asked of him here but the material doesn’t play to his strengths at all.  Epting has done some great work with Ed Brubaker on “Captain America” in the past and his realistic style was perfect for a series that had a fairly realistic bent for a superhero title.  Here, as was the case with “The Marvels Project” his renderings of Galactus towering above the Baxter Building, the Celestial assault on the Council, the scope of the Annihilation Wave, while the work of a professional whose skills are more than “competent,” have very little awe or majesty to them.  You understand the immediacy of these threats, but your breath won’t be taken away.

Nick Dragotta, who illustrates the last issue collected here, comes closer to delivering what I was expecting.  His is an almost silent issue as the above-mentioned death is mourned by the surviving cast members and a large portion of the Marvel Universe.  Though some of the characters’ expressions fall flat, their struggles with this enormous grief is palpable and the various ways in which it’s dealt with also feel believable.  Dragotta also channels “Fantastic Four” co-creator Jack Kirby to a large extent in the issue, but in the context of things it’s a welcome homage.

Even though I wish that this volume had an artist that was better suited to the material, the story Hickman is telling here is still involving enough for me to remain onboard.  What happened to the members of the Council that made it to the Bridge?  How are the Future Foundation kids going to kill Annihilus?  Is the return of a certain character in the last issue a good thing?  And why does “all hope lie with Doom?”  I’m invested in this story enough to pick up its continuation in the new “Future Foundation” series, even if Epting is providing the art there.