FF by Allred and Fraction vols. 1 & 2

(Despite what the numbers on the side of these volumes say, you won’t find the beginning of this run here.  The first three issues by Allred and Fraction were collected in “Fantastic Four vol. 1:  New Arrivals, New Departures” which I reviewed a while back.)

I know I always put the writer’s name first when talking about a series, but not this time.  These two volumes are Mike Allred’s show.  He may not have illustrated all of them — Joe Quinones pops in for two issues and hits a nice balance between stylistic consistency and doing things his way — yet his quirky, off-kilter sensibilities are ingrained in virtually every page.  This is good because while the majority of the stories here are standard superhero fluff.  If you’re interested in a sampling of the plots on display here:   She Hulk goes out on a date!  Medusa gets mind-controlled by the Wizard!  A version of Johnny Storm arrives from the future to warn of dire threats!  The threat of Doom the Annihilating Conqueror is faced!  Though these stories may play out in ways that you’ve seen before, Allred’s style makes them move with an unexpected freshness.

Though this isn’t to say that Matt Fraction is inessential to the proceedings, he’s written better stuff elsewhere.  Sales of this comic, and the main “Fantastic Four” title, would appear to bear me out as they tanked so hard that Fraction was pulled off them to focus on his commitments to the “Inhumanity” event… before being replaced by Charles Soule on the main “Inhuman” title.  (One can only wonder about the conversations that were had that led to this chain of events playing out in real life.)  It can be tough for any series to overcome the loss of the writer that was driving it, but “FF” had two key advantages here.  As I said before, this is Mike Allred’s show and the writer brought in to work with him was his brother Lee and the issues they worked together on show them to be very much in sync.  Also, Lee was working off Fraction’s plots so the main thread about Scott Lang getting revenge on Dr. Doom for the death of his daughter is still followed through and manages a satisfying build and climax in the end.  Though the abbreviated nature of this run may only merit it a footnote in the history of “Fantastic Four,” it’s still a great showcase for the skills of its lead artist and good superhero-driven fun.