Review: Fantastic Four #583

It's been a few weeks since this came out (and since I got it), but I'm finally getting my review of the start of Fantastic Four's “Three” storyline out. Read on to see what I thought.

Fantastic Four #583

• Written by Jonathan Hickman
• Pencils & Inks by Steve Epting
• Colors by Paul Mounts
• Cover by Alan Davis

So, after more than a year of build-up, Jonathan Hickman starts bringing it all (or much of it, at least) together in “Three” — a five-part story that ends with one member of the Fantastic Four dead. This is a huge event for the Fantastic Four, as you can tell not only because of the outcome but also because this is only the third multi-issue story in Hickman's run on the book, and it is by far the longest. That much space dedicated to one story (when most things have been told in one issue) announces its importance even more than knowing someone will die.

Also announcing this arc's importance is the arrival of some of the Fantastic Four's biggest names. Until now, in Hickman's run there have been very few big-name players in large roles. Sure, the opening arc had Celestials, but that, as the opener, needed the “I'm big” announcement, too. Other than that, we've only seen subdued versions of the Wizard and Mole Man. Everything else has been shadows of big-name characters or teams: not Namor but new (well, old, technically) races of Atlantians; not the Inhumans but new (okay, unknown, really) races of Inhumans; not Annihilus but an Annihilus-worshipping cult. But nothing says “big Fantastic Four story” like Doom — the main focus of this issue, besides Valeria.

Somehow, the texture in the coloring here makes this page. It really sets the tone.

It's interesting to note that, again, the “villain” is a subdued version of his normal self. The Mole Man was not a villain when he appeared; neither were the new races of Atlantians and Inhumans. The Wizard was, basically, already defeated. The main focus there was on his son/clone. And here, Doom is a little of both. He's suffered from brain damage as a result of the Intelligencia draining his intelligence in World War Hulks, and he's ready to relinquish control of Latveria. Valeria comes to him asking for his help because All hope lies in Doom, as her future-self told her.

In fact, there has been very little of the standard “bad guy's doing something bad — fight fight — yea heroes” — there's been very little fighting, period. There have been a number of people just in the letters column complaining about Hickman's writing, but I find this refreshing. He's building a large, complex tale, and the quieter style really helps make the story more robust. There doesn't have to be a fight every issue to make a good comic.

In every issue of Hickman's run, I've felt like everything he puts there is important, and that feeling is confirmed (once again) here. Valeria discovers her father's “Bridge” machine from the first arc and brings what Reeds remain to the safety of her Earth. What seemed like something for one arc (especially since, at the end of that arc, Reed shut down the machine and cleared all of his “Solve Everything” notes) comes back as a major focus in the biggest story to date. But, even though I could see that nothing gets wasted in Hickman's writing here, at the end of this issue I found out that I didn't even have a clue as to how far that went. So I don't give away too many spoilers, I won't say what it was specifically, but what seemed at the time to be just an awesome visual comes back in a big way, bringing another major Fantastic Four character into the fold.

Odd Valeria faces

In addition to the new storyline, this issue brings us the beginning of Steve Epting's run as artist. His recent work includes high-profile books like Captain America and The Marvels Project. I actually haven't seen any of his work before now, however. Overall, it's good, but there is one issue. Valeria plays a prominent role in this issue, and her face is rather inconsistent. As a general rule, I think Epting makes her look too old, and there is variance in how old she looks in different panels. I've seen many different takes on how old she looks — I wish the different artists could come to a consensus on this. That is the only major issue with the art. Some of it is marvelous.

In a way, this issue doesn't scream “Start of Major Story” — it's much more subtle, which, if you've been reading Hickman's run thus far, you'd be used to by now. His approach has been a quiet one, and it really works for me. With that said, this issue does have an epic feel to it, and, as mentioned, it announces the largeness of this story without resorting to fireworks. It's more of the gradual swelling we've seen throughout Hickman's run — only stepped up a notch. If you're looking for lots of action, you may be disappointed (but not for long, methinks), but if you want a complex, well-crafted tale, you will find it here.