Review: Fantastic Four #584

Computer problems and Thanksgiving (here in the States) brings a flurry of posts today and nothing else until next week. It also means this long-ish review gets none of the pictures I usually add. So, onto the all-(mostly)-text review….

Just in time for today's release of the third issue, it's the second issue of Fantastic Four's “Three” — and I couldn't help but do a full-on review! I tried to keep anything major out, but be warned, there may be spoilers. If that doesn't worry you, read on to find out why I'm more excited with every issue of this book (and especially this story).

Fantastic Four #584

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

Part two of “Three” focuses on the start of Ben Grimm's week-long reprieve from his normal rocky form. In case you don't know, Reed Richards brought together a number of highly intelligent young people (including his daughter, Valeria) to form the Future Foundation. They chose, as their first project, to develop a “cure” for Ben's rocky state. What they ended up with was a way to give him one week a year as human-looking Ben.

He begins his week here, and highlighted throughout the issue is the relationship between him and Johnny Storm. This is a marriage of two of my favorite concepts from Fantastic Four, going back to the first issues: Ben's struggle with being the only inhuman-looking member of the team, and the dynamic between him and Johnny. They have a very strong relationship, and they often express it through bugging each other to no end. That's shown beautifully here, as Johnny first tells Ben his transformation went horribly wrong (it didn't) then makes him savor the moment and determinedly takes him out on the town for the best day [he's] had in a very long time.

All this makes for a very sweet issue (and I love how Johnny decides to end Ben's evening — especially because I love the old issues of Fantastic Four), but there's humor, too (and more serious stuff, but we'll get to that later). There's little things, like Spider-Man sticking his card to his forehead with webbing during a poker game with other super heros (I'm not a big card player, but I guess it's that one version where you let everyone else see a card, but you can't see it yourself). There's also longer scenes, like the one with the modern version of the Yancy Street Gang. Because of the recession, the gang's now populated with failed dot-com-ers, ex-Wall Street traders and failed hedge fund managers who force people into letting them manage whatever money [they] have on [them].

As for the more serious side of things, Susan heads out for her diplomatic mission between the Tribes of Old Atlantis and the modern-day Atlantians. This will be the focus of next issue, and she's just heading out, but there's still tension built here, as Namor greets Susan with a very subtext-filled greeting. It may amount to nothing (I'm not too sure, based on the cover for the next issue), but it works well here. Steve Epting draws a very impressive Namor, and his look really cements this page (which could've been seen as throwaway filler if done poorly in writing or art).

The other serious-slash-ominous thread involves, much like the end of the previous issue, the Silver Surfer, as he confronts Reed. Again, Epting makes these pages awesome with some excellent expressions on the Silver Surfer. Some other faces aren't as good, but the art is very good overall, and Paul Mounts is doing an excellent job with the colors — he really made a few scenes shine, as well.

Two issues into the five-part “Three” storyline — in which one member of the Fantastic Four will die — and Jonathan Hickman has me thrilled to see what's coming. He keeps building the tension, even with this being mostly a “guys on the town” issue. Just the solitary page with Namor has me pumped for the next issue, and continuing thread involving the Silver Surfer gives the whole arc an ominous feel. Interesting to note in this issue is the use of a strict timeline for each scene. The first scene is labeled as Day 1, and the issue barely gets into Day 2. Does this mean that the rest of the arc will occur during Ben's week as a regular person? It has me feeling like a lot will happen in a short time and that has me even more tense for what will come.