FANTASTIC FOUR
Fractured family
★★★★
RELEASED OUT NOW!
Publisher Marvel Comics
Writer Ryan North
Artist Iban Coello ISSUES 1-3
Superhero comics often thrive on familiarity – and if there’s one thing that’s been true since the Fantastic Four’s first appearance in 1962, it’s that they’ve always called New York their home.
All that has changed, however, in this latest reboot for Marvel’s First Family. After a mysterious incident that destroyed the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four have finally gone their separate ways. While Johnny Storm is desperately holding on to a life in Manhattan (via a secret identity), the rest of the FF are adrift in small-town America.
These first three issues have yet to explain the cause of all this, but what’s most surprising is that writer Ryan North is also telling largely self-contained, done-inone stories in each instalment.
A highlight of this old-fashioned approach is issue two’s oddly sweet tale of Reed and Susan Richards encountering a town entirely populated by Doombots. While not every issue is a slam dunk, it’s still a pleasing change to get a regular beginning, middle and end, rather than just a tiny fragment of a much larger saga.
Backed up by expressive, energetic art from Iban Coello, North also shows a confident hand with the characters, giving plenty of dimension to each of the Four (especially in issue three’s Johnny Storm adventure) without lapsing into cliché.
It’s hard to tell how long the done-in-one approach will last, and there’s a degree of earnest cheesiness here that won’t be for everyone, but otherwise this new take on the Fantastic Four is off to a promising start.
Saxon Bullock
Ryan North started out as a programmer, and made several tools to help webcomic authors manage their material.
Telling largely self-contained, done-in-one stories