Fantastic Four by Ryan North vol. 3: The Impossible is Probable

The first two volumes in North’s run on this title weren’t on the level I was expecting them to be.  There were some stories that delivered on the big-brain sci-fi concept experiences that I was expecting from the writer, and a few that felt like he was explaining to me why I should think they were as good as promised.  Vol. 3, however, is the first time where it feels like all of the stories in the volume are as entertaining as their potential implies they are.

Starting with the first two issues which introduce a delicious cross-universal concept after the title characters investigate a dimensional anomaly near the home of one of Ben Grimm’s friends.  It’s not the last such thing that the family has investigated and it certainly won’t be the last.  It is, however, the first one that shunts them into another universe where all of the familiar Marvel Universe superheroes are dinosaur versions of themselves.

I’d be tempted to call it a win for the simple fact that its first part is titled “Saur Winners” but North and artist Iban Coello deliver some interesting twists on the concept.  From having the heroes find out a rational way to stop fighting, then to reasoning out a way to solve the dilemma they’re in is fun enough.  Then Dinosaur Doom and his human counterpart get involved, and it turns out the only characters that can stop them in a reasonable fashion are Ben and his counterpart.  Everything is neatly wrapped up by the end of the second issue, but that doesn’t stop things from being good fun.  Nor does it dampen my desire to get a poster based on Alex Ross’ cover for the second issue!

The next issue then harkens back to one of the few ongoing storylines this series has developed.  Specifically, how the Baxter Building and its inhabitants were shunted one year into the future to save them from Annihilus’ latest invasion.  While the Four have returned to New York City to ensure the Building’s safe return, they find that its space has been occupied by people playing the latest cell phone game, Metamind, which is being run by a man who has crowdsourced their input to help predict the future.

That’s a clever enough idea on its own, and the complication that North introduces to the concept is well developed in a narrative sense and in the art from Ivan Fiorelli in that issue and the one which follows.  While this seems like a clever enough done-in-one issue, it’s revealed to have long-term ramifications in the next issue, “The China Brain.”  I’d say more about it, except that would be spoiling its plot and emotional impact.  It’s an affective issue which also promises to have long-term impact on the writer’s run as well.

The two issues which follow aren’t as emotional, yet are entertaining on their own terms.  “Exalt Imagination” sees Franklin and Valeria Richards adjusting to attending high school for the first time and trying to complete one of the items on Renaissance-era scientist Robert Boyle’s “To-Do” list.  While the shenanigans that ensue are of the familiar “Don’t tell mom and dad what we’re up to!” variety, they’re still enjoyable due to the outsize consequences they entail, as well as the responses they provoke in the main characters.

“Salvaged From the Wreck of Ages” wraps up the volume as the family finds Sue Storm’s remains at an archaeological dig in Arizona.  How can the Invisible Woman have died back in prehistoric times and left evidence of it?  Well, the fact that the main villain for this story is Rama-Tut is part of the answer, and you’ll have to read the full thing to understand how Reed and Sue manage to outsmart the time-traveler and the nature of time-travel paradoxes themselves in order to survive and continue to star in “Fantastic Four” comics after this one.

Which is a good thing as this volume indicates that North’s run is finally hitting its stride.  I was kind of hoping that we’d have reached this point sooner, yet there’s no denying that vol. 3 is the first time he’s delivered an entire volume of storytelling winners.  The hope is that he’ll be able to keep doing this for the rest of his run, and I’ll keep following it to see if that’s the case.  Since “The Impossible is Probable” makes that prospect seem more like a promise than a threat.